UK committee reviewing relations with BOTs

Tom Tugendhat in the House of Commons

(CNS): As the Cayman Islands Government makes plans to renegotiate parts of the country’s 2009 Constitution and its relationship with the UK, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the British Parliament is reviewing how the Foreign Office manages its responsibility to its overseas territories and how it envisages their future. A release last month said the committee was seeking submissions from stakeholders, including the people of the territories, before 3 September on issues such as governance, financing, representation and the relationships’ benefits to both the parties.

Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat MP explained the intention of the review: “The overseas territories have a special place in our constitution. They are self-governing but part of the United Kingdom. As our place in the world changes, we need to think about the effect on them and whether the structure of our relationships still work. The committee will look at these distant parts of our community and look at how we work to support all our communities.”

The UK has 16 territories around the world and is responsible for their security and stability, while respecting the principle of self-government, which the committee said presents a major challenge to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

While many of the territories raise their own revenues, some still depend on funding from a range of British government departments and international organisations. Some, like the Cayman Islands, are entirely self financing. As well as presenting challenges to the UK Government because of small or unsustainable economies, some are the subject of controversy and sovereignty claims.

But the territories also include some of the world’s richest biodiversity maritime zones, though heavily exposed to climate change and extreme weather events.

“In recent years, the OTs have been exposed to shocks, from the Panama Papers in 2015, to the Brexit vote in 2016, and Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. This led some OTs to question the government’s willingness to support them. Relations have been put under further strain due to high-profile instances of divergence between the UK and some of the OTs on issues such as civil rights and financial transparency,” the committee’s release stated.

“In the light of these concerns, this inquiry will consider the resilience of the OTs, how effectively the FCO manages its responsibilities towards them, and how it envisages their future. The inquiry is likely to be structured around overarching themes but may look at individual OTs, as and when appropriate.”

Anyone wishing to submit comments before 3 September can do so here

See the committee’s release here