It was the first of many bombshells to hit the Isle of Man courtesy of the UK over the coming 12 months.

But in truth this particular shellburst created hardly a ripple at first.

Health Minister Eddie Teare merely described it as 'another major challenge' but added: 'We do have time to react. These proposals are unlikely to come into effect before 2010'.

His most immediate concern was the £2.8 million hole that would be blown in the DHSS's budget by the ending of the agreement.

That was the money that the UK gave to the Island to pay for the treatment of its nationals here, payments that began in 2004 to offset charges for clinical patient referrals to hospitals in the North West, treatment which up to that point had been free.

And this issue has always been one about money just as much as it has been about principle.

The civil servants in Whitehall spotted a chance to save £2.8 million, peanuts in terms of the English NHS budget but a hefty sum for our health service.

Given that the Island's DHSS was to lose £2.8 million for its budget and it spent an estimated £2 million each year treating UK visitors requiring hospital admission, it suited health chiefs that travellers would be required to take out travel insurance.

While retaining the reciprocal deal would be preferable, at least the private insurance alternative would reduce the shortfall.

The Manx Government clearly expected the issue to blow over. Most people would be able to get insurance cover and those that couldn't could get help from a government safety net.

And there was the hint, never publicly stated, that to avoid uncomfortable headlines about visitors being stranded in hospital without travel insurance, the government would quietly pay for them to be patched up and brought home.

Any attempt to renegotiate the reciprocal health deal on more equitable terms for the UK would cost the Manx Government more.

The question is, did ministers ever seek to negotiate another deal? Or was it, as they have always insisted, non-negotiable?

Clearly, UK Health Secretary Andy Burnham was more willing to listen to the arguments than his predecessors.

But when a meeting was finally arranged with a Manx Government delegation in January, Mr Burnham told Chief Minister Tony Brown and Health Minister Eddie Teare that there would be no going back on the decision.

So why, then, the sudden change of heart?

Speaker Steve Rodan believes that in the last few weeks the political activity behind the scenes was getting 'ratcheted up' at Westminster.

This followed the intervention of backbench Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay.

He put his first parliamentary question in the Commons in November, having been briefed by the Speaker.

In the months that followed he tabled 40 more questions, lobbied MPs and Peers and brokered the meeting between the UK Health Secretary and the Chief Minister.

He submitted an early day motion calling for the scrapping of the deal to be deferred, to which 63 MPs put their names.

In December the Manx Independent published a letter calling on all residents to get their relatives living across to write to their MP about the issue.

All newspaper titles in our parent company Johnston Press in the UK were asked to print that same letter, sparking a concerted letter-writing and lobbying campaign.

We also highlighted the inequities of the decision to end the reciprocal deal — the fact that war veterans who had fought for the British Crown would not be exempt from charges and the fact that the nationals of far-flung countries like Tajikistan would be treated more favourably than British passport holders from the Isle of Man.

Then in February, the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Cavan in Ireland, unanimously voted in support of a motion by Mr MacKinlay calling for the cancellation of the reciprocal deal to be deferred and reviewed — a vote described as being of 'critical significance'.

Yet still, Mr MacKinlay, Mr Rodan and other critics in Tynwald, including David Cannan (Michael), were accused by Manx Government ministers of raising false hopes.

Behind the scenes, lobbying continued. Mobilisation of veterans raised the prospect of a Gurkha-style campaign.

At a hearing of the Commons Justice Committee, Labour MPs with constituents in the North West described the actions of the UK Department of Health as 'appalling' and insisted the Isle of Man had accepted the decision to scrap the deal only because it had been given no choice. Clearly we had friends across the water.

Mr Rodan believes mistakes were made right at the outset.

'Instead of agreeing to the decision we should have said "No, we don't agree — we accept it under protest. Our preferred stance is to negotiate a new deal that is not detrimental to the UK taxpayer".'

The Council of Ministers appeared to have seriously misjudged the strength of feeling as public anger began to grow, culminating in two public meetings at the Douglas Legion Hall.

At the first, members of 20 ex-servicemen's organisations passed a resolution to write to Gordon Brown urging a rethink. At the second, organised by campaigner Henry Ramagge and others, protesters voted to press the Manx government to pay the costs of a six-month deferment of the agreement, pending more talks.

Constitutional pressures were also brought to bear with questions raised as to why the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were not consulted.

Finally, with a general election in the UK just weeks away, and Labour MPs in key marginals concerned about losing seats, Tynwald was given the news that Andy Burnham had reconsidered his position following a lunchtime call with Chief Minister Tony Brown.