12th October 2021 Via Email
Rt Honourable Elizabeth Truss
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and
First Secretary of State
Foreign Commonwealth Office and Development Office
elizabeth.truss.mp@parliament.uk
fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk
elizabeth.truss@fcdo.go.uk
Your Excellency,
I take this opportunity to welcome you into the role as the Secretary of State for the Overseas Territories and the responsibility which you now hold as a fixture in the Constitution of Anguilla.
We are fully cognizant that your role is extremely demanding. It was for this reason that we allowed for an intervening period since your appointment on 15th September 2021, as you became acclimated into the role and as we have seen, made your appearances on world stages.
To the extent that your office as Secretary of State features so prominently and distinctly in our written Constitution and to the extent that this matter is time sensitive, we must at this stage lean in and assert our standing in seeking your considered attention to a matter that has captured the attention of the People of our island and the Anguillian Diaspora.
By now, it being a month since detailed correspondence to your predecessor Rt Hon Raab MP (as he then was), you ought to have been apprised of the several grave issues surrounding the passage of legislation on our island – the Goods and Services Tax Act. Despite several glaring anomalies with respect to the Act and to its passage, the Governor of Anguilla passed the Bill into law.
The Concerned Citizens of Anguilla and the thousands of People of our island, who had previously petitioned the Speaker of the House and subsequently petitioned the Governor of Anguilla are dissatisfied with the gloss and palliative response that is seeming to be applied by the Governor.
Under Section 59 (1) of Anguilla’s Constitution you are the only functionary who is empowered to disallow the Goods and Services Tax Act and as such for all the grave reasons outlined in that correspondence addressed first to your predecessor and which now falls to you, we seek your hand to disallow this Act.
Regrettably, time is not in our favour as this Act was passed into law on 30th July 2021, followed by a chain of correspondence to the Governor which culminated in the substantive correspondence to the Rt Hon Raab on 10th September 2021. We are therefore seeking your comprehensive response to the Concerned Citizens of Anguilla. We believe that fourteen (14) days to receive that response acts as reasonable balance, as that would have allowed a period of over six (6) weeks since the office of Secretary of State would have first received our substantive correspondence.
We therefore look forward to your considered response on or before Tuesday, 26th October 2021.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Josephine Gumbs-Connor Mr Mitchell Lake
Miss Khadijah A. Muhammad Mr Percy Thomas
For and on behalf of the Concerned Citizens of Anguilla
Contact Info: jagconnor@yahoo.co.uk; admin@jagcolaw.com; anguilla70@yahoo.com; Khadijah.am68@gmail.com cc: Her Excellency, The Governor, Ms Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Dileeni.danielselveratnam@fco.uk Hon Speaker of the House, Mrs Barbara J Webster Bourne Barbara.websterbourne@gov.ai Hon Premier, Dr Ellis LWebster Ellis.Webster@gov.ai Hon Miss Dee-Ann K Kentish-Rogers Dee-Ann.kentish-rogers@gov.ai Hon Mr Kenneth M Hodge Kenneth.Hodge@gov.ai Hon Mr Kyle J Hodge Kyle.Hodge@gov.ai Hon Mr Haydn Hughes Haydn.Hughes@gov.ai Hon Mr Merrick T Richardson Merrick.Richardson@gov.ai, Hon Mrs Quincia M Gumbs-Marie Quincia.Gumbs-Marie@gov.ai Hon Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Cora Richardson-Hodge Cora.Richardson-Hodge@gov.ai Hon Mr Evans M Rogers Evans.Rogers@gov.ai Hon Mr Cardigan Connor Cardigan.connor@gov.ai Hon Mr Jose Vanterpool Jose.Vanterpool@gov.ai Hon Attorney-General, Mr Dwight D Horsford Dwight.Horsford@gov.ai Hon Deputy Governor, Mr Perin Bradley Perin.Bradley@gov.ai Dr Hyginus “Gene” Leon President Caribbean Development Bank – leonh@caribank.org The Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association – ahtaaxa@gmail.com The Anguilla Chamber of Commerce – info@anguillachamber.com Anguilla Christian Council – wohodge@hotmail.com Anguilla Evangelical Association – philcynth@hotmail.com Anguilla Bar Association – president@anguillabar.com Anguilla Civil Service Association anguillacsu@live.com; suehodge2004@yahoo.com Anguilla Youth Council – NeilGumbs@hotmail.com Anguilla Nurses Association – anguillanursesassociation@gmail.com Anguilla Teachers Union – anguillateachersunion@gmail.com Police Welfare Association – moranfleming51@gmail.com Mr Matthew Salik, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association – matthew.salik@cpahq.org Ms Lydia Buchanan, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association – lydia.buchanan@cpahq.org The National, Regional and International Press
