That UK debate declaring BOT “self-determination” deserves another look – despite a deluge of demands for our attention. For those who missed it, the May 11, 2023, session was entitled, “Future of Overseas Territories Debate in the House of Commons” as initiated by Alicia Kearns MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in the UK Parliament.1 Commendable themes nonetheless included some sounding uncommon in our British Overseas Territory.
White Out Since the 2012 White Paper – But Be Assured, BOTs Are Not Backwaters!
The debate was inspiring; however, the attendance was worrisome, with barely a handful of the 650 MPs present in the UK House of Commons. That was an unsettling context for MP Kearns to, “…urge the Minister to have all Government Departments update their strategies on the OTs, because not one of them is less than a decade old.” Well said. Not sure anyone heard, but that corresponded to the 2012 White Paper.2 She also prefaced her BOT motion by seeking assurances that the overseas territories directorate “…is not seen as some sort of backwater…”1 Hear, hear.
And, after speakers asserting that BOTs are “neither foreign, nor commonwealth” ? who summarized? None other than David Rutley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, who added: “The Prime Minister has also agreed that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office should lead on a new cross-Government strategy for the overseas territories … At this point, I am not able to say what the strategy will look like, but I am clear that the commitments in the 2012 White Paper remain relevant and that it will be developed in partnership with—I stress the word ‘with’—the overseas territories.” Okay. Not clear but sounds good.
Rhetorical Rhapsody of Family, Not Foreigners!
While “self-determination” references were remarkable, “partnership” and “family” were uttered throughout. They extolled the fact that UK citizenship was unilaterally granted to BOT citizens under the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 while stressing the imperative to protect their rights and interests. And MP Kearns highlighted helping “tackle any lingering belief in paternalistic governance.” James Sunderland, MP for Bracknell, added, “We need to do more to cement our relationship with the overseas territories. They should not be seen as somehow subordinate to the UK. They simply want to be partners, and self-determination must therefore be perceived as well as real.” 1 Indeed.
Amid such rhapsody regarding our UK relationships, MP Kearns offered a Falklands riddle, which she noted are “…classified as a non-self-governing territory [by the UN], but we know that is factually incorrect, both under the first Falklands constitution, signed in 1985, and under the new constitution, signed into law by Her Majesty the Queen in 2009.” How is that? She continued, “The Falkland Islands is self-governing but willing to refer its foreign and defence policy to the United Kingdom. The [UK] Government should help the Falklands to correct that misclassification, …[to] be recognised at the UN as the proud, self-governing territory that it is.” 1 Well, okay then.
Why Now?
MP Stephen Doughty described BOTs as a “crucial and indispensable part of our global British family”! While some fear exploitation of marine minerals and other resources, one consideration drawing Britain closer to the BOTs is their climate change agenda. The BOTs enable Britain to “play a leading role in global conservation” by doing “more per head of population than anywhere else on earth” to protect the oceans, citing the Blue Belt and Darwin initiatives.1 Given apparent lack of interest in land-based oceanic pollution when inducted into the Blue Belt programme, distinguishing public relations preening from being serious about much deeper issues nevertheless requires further assessment.
Perhaps the most urgent reason for renewed interest was a “global footprint” given “geopolitical threats, whether from China, Russia, or elsewhere” such as, access to military base locations – and enforcing Russian sanctions. Chinese expansionism and “debt trap” loans underpinned the observation that “hostile nations …are looking for new friends, especially in strategic locations, so we should not take our traditional allies for granted.” 1 Good to know if Mandarin or Russian language lessons aren’t in one’s plans.
Benefits to the BOTs?
Also good to know, they reported that HMS Dauntless (with 1 helicopter!) will be sailing the Caribbean this storm season, which ties to the MPs debating UK support for “good governance” 1 – a farce for Anguilla, where the FCDO has failed to right-size the government for financial independence, including disaster reserves. Assenting to the quadrupling of the tax burden for the same services and same population is the antithesis of good governance. So, good luck going into storm season! What brutal tax would they add to GST if, God forbid, we need humanitarian aid again, as with Irma?
While apparently not for Chagossians, global security to protect the right of self-determination was once sacrosanct, but the debate regarding illegal fishing by Chinese supertrawlers in the Falklands’ waters today led to suggested economic diversification! Likewise, internal security emanates from HM police services, which they noted as late and lacking in Turks and Caicos, with a recently mind-numbing murder rate fueled by Haitian chaos.1
Borrowing at UK “beneficial rates” was also tantalizingly mentioned, but maybe not for Anguilla, which they have allowed to amass unmentionable debt. Easing access to NHS supplies pricing and services, as well as tuition loans and related education resources in the UK, also sounded promising. As did willingness to support both physical and digital “infrastructure” such as airport access, renewable energy, and attention to our water situation – but at what cost? And their help to “digitise the services [BOTs] provide to their citizens” 1 requires meaningful restructuring and attrition planning to reduce our tax burden and avoid meaningless jobs for our public servants, accelerated by artificial intelligence.
And a Colonial Curiosity…
With this reassuring reminder of BOTs as “family” with rights to “self-determination” in the House of Commons, one can only contemplate our immediate fate as a colonial curiosity: Some may recall that the Concerned Citizens of Anguilla wrote to Liz Truss imploring withdrawal of assent to the GST law undemocratically passed in July 2021. That October, Paul Candler, Director, Overseas Territories, replied instead, and he wrote: “The United Kingdom does not plan to take any steps to disallow this [GST] Act.”3
Paul Candler arrives June 23 as our Acting Governor until 9 September, upon arrival of Governor Designate, Julia Crouch.4
Demand repeal of GST – and a balanced budget bill. Now!
This article reflects cultural and economic issues raised on July 5, 2021, at the House Select Committee on GST Public Hearing. 1https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/b05ebc74-3359-4f0c-aa60-fe2537962602 (14:01:50sec); 2https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32952/ot-wp-0612.pdf; 3https://theanguillian.com/2021/11/concerned-citizens-conduct-gst-survey-to-determine-next-steps/; 4Press Release 18/23; Governor’s Office Anguilla: Governor of Anguilla: Confirmation of Arrival and Departure Dates (23 May 2023).
