UKOT minister expected in Cayman this week

| 25/01/2022 | 38 Comments
Cayman News Service
UKOT Minister Amanda Milling

(CNS): Amanda Milling, UK Minister for Asia at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whose responsibilities include the overseas territories, will be visiting the Cayman Islands this week, officials have said. Speculation that Cayman was to get its first visit from a British minister for more than two years was confirmed in a press release Monday, which stated that Milling had “singled out Cayman” for her first visit to the region but did not state why.

The minister will arrive on the evening of Wednesday, 26 January, for a three-day visit, where she will meet the usual dignitaries and a few regular folk.

Ahead of the visit, Minister Milling said the UK and its overseas territories have a deep and special bond and she was pleased to be visiting Cayman.

“The UK and Cayman Islands have a very strong relationship based on mutual trust and respect,” she said. “I look forward to following up on the actions of the successful Joint Ministerial Council held last November, and seeing first-hand how the Cayman Islands has responded to the pandemic. I am keen to deepen our partnership.”   

Premier Wayne Panton said the country was proud that she had chosen to come here. “Minister Milling has responsibility for all of the British Overseas Territories and singled out the Cayman Islands for her visit to the region,” he said.

“We look forward to discussing with her the way the United Kingdom Government can work with the Cayman Islands Government to further enhance our relationship with the UK to the benefit of our country and our people.”

While here, she will be briefed on Cayman’s COVID-19 response including, the vaccine rollout and our ability to detect variants of concern. Despite the prevalence of the virus, she will be engaged in meeting various groups, including students campaigning on climate change issues, the fact that these are low-lying islands, and the importance of protecting our biodiversity.

On a visit to Little Cayman, she will see the work of the Department of the Environment to conserve indigenous species, tackle invasive species and deal with the impact of stony coral tissue loss disease. The minister will also tour the Central Caribbean Marine Institute’s Field Station and hear about their coral restoration efforts. 

Also on the agenda are visits to meet members of the Cayman Islands Coast Guard, the Cayman Islands Regiment and the RCIPS Air Operations Unit to see how these organisations play their part in the security and protection of Cayman. 

Governor Martyn Roper said he will be delighted to welcome Minister Milling to Cayman – her first visit to an overseas territory since her appointment on 15 September last year.

“Due to COVID, this is the first UK in-person ministerial visit for over two years. Such visits enable us to deepen relationships and mutual understanding. It will enhance our already strong relationship. I am certain we will be able to give the minister a very favourable impression of our wonderful islands and community,” he added.

Although 94,000 people tested positive for COVID in the UK today and another 439 people who were positive for the virus died, the British government dropped all of its restrictions on Thursday as it appears the Omicron variant has peaked. A large percentage of the adult population in the UK (65%) has had a booster shot.

At a press conference in London last week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that while the virus is still around “we must learn to live with COVID in the same way we live with flu”.


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Category: Politics

Comments (38)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    It would be extremely useful and economically vital for the UKOT Minister to seek to allow OTs a copy of mother’s NHS COVID PASS to register vaccine status and negative LFT results for access to public spaces.

    24-48hr LFT Passports should be the normal minimum courtesy now, until community positives are reduced back down to far below 1%.

    We could drop all the other bureaucratic testing – save for confirmation PCRs for those wishing certified positives for travel purposes.

    • Anonymous says:

      You need to be up on the news, vaccine passports are being dropped like a hot potato for one simple reason. THEY DON’T WORK!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Let’s see if she shakes the hand of a convicted woman beater.

    • Anonymous says:

      She won’t be shaking the hands of woman beaters, liars, thieves, adulterers, deceivers, fornicators and other such dross.
      She won’t be shaking anyone’s hand. Not mine, not yours.

      • Anonymous says:

        To get where she is she has shaken a lot of hands as a matter of common courtesy. No doubt some were disreputable, but a handshake is not an endorsement.

  3. Anonymous says:

    ….and OT Minister Milling gets to meet our own Ministers Sabrina Turner, Kenneth Bryan, Jay Ebanks, et al. Wow!

  4. Sarky says:

    Of course it’s nothing to do with a jolly to the sunny palm fringed beaches of the Caribbean during the coldest most miserable period of the famed English winter.

  5. Anonymous says:

    She might want to rethink her visit.

    • Anonymous says:

      I would beg to differ – free mudslides and Cayman fya coral 😉

      Simply cannot be beaten anywhere in the world but here bobo.

      • Anonymous says:

        Global Britain. Don’t forget about the windrush generation in the UK and how they were treated. The UK only knows how to exploit.

        • Anonymous says:

          How exactly did the UK exploit you? By sending you free vaccines back when there weren’t even enough to go around the UK? By taxing you? How exactly? As for the windrush generation just look at how you treat work permit holders, permanent residents and even status holders.

        • Anonymous says:

          Hmm… move to a foreign country to work, follow the rules, fill out some forms, do your time, no problems, just like the vast majority of Windrush generation expats. Don’t follow the rules, don’t bother with the forms, leave the country… well that’s going to cause problems anywhere. Ring any bells?

        • Anonymous says:

          And yet you keep turning down independence …

      • Anonymous says:

        Bit like the infection rate – world class

        • Anonymous says:

          Haha jealous? Go back britain! Pure trash weather and ill mannerly people all around.

          • Anonymous says:

            Ignoring that you can barely write, have you actually read what you wrote? Complaining about “ill mannerly people” whilst telling someone to “Go back britain”. I’ll take “trash weather” over a trash person every time.

      • Anonymous says:

        As long as Mac, doesn’t have too many mudslides and start beatings of his own…

  6. Anonymous says:

    “Premier Wayne Panton said the country was proud that she had chosen to come here. “Minister Milling has responsibility for all of the British Overseas Territories and singled out the Cayman Islands for her visit to the region,” he said.”

    Nice try Wayne but how it actually works is they focus on the OTs that they are most concerned about. You made a lot of deals to form your government eg getting into bed with MAC. You have embraced a “marl road” talk show host to get your governments messages out, Then you all came with this oversized budget with no mention of the Bullet Bond (UDP style) until after the budget was voted on. Oh and your Deputy Premier tried to cancel the LFT order with BlueWater giving the million dollar contract to some company overseas, only to be told he couldn’t do that. Oh let’s not forget the recent change in policy that Government Ministers have to sign off on Govt expenditure, which crosses the line of separation of powers and opens the door to corruption. Then the tourism stipend was taken away from Kenneth, and finally your airport board chair Johann picks a fight with the Governor trying to convince us the drop off area fiasco was the UKs fault .

    Ps. Mario Rankin’s admission that you personally funded his talk show brings your integrity into question as well, is that how you silence potential critics during the campaign period ?

    All of this my friend adds up to one thing! FCO are very concerned and have sent their Minister to sort you out! She will do that behind closed doors and then make a flowery speech about how well the islands are doing. But we are not fool fool!

    • Anonymous says:

      “Nice try Wayne but how it actually works is they focus on the OTs that they are most concerned about.”

      I guess they were as concerned in 2016?

      https://caymannewsservice.com/2016/09/baroness-picks-cayman-for-first-ot-trip/

      Clearly your dishonest nature does not allow you to admit that they focus on the OTs they are happy to visit!

    • Anonymous says:

      Uh, no. Sure, there will be some topics to discuss, but the Minister isn’t coming here out of concern. You’re just trying to put a political spin on the visit. This visit follows from the one by Charles & Camilla and the knighting of our last head of government, and reflects Cayman’s increasing prominence and key role as probably now the leading OT (Bermuda is not interested in playing a constructive role, and Gibraltar is a one-issue deal re sovereignty and Spain/EU). It is an oasis in the Caribbean, and the only OT worth visiting in the region. The Minister chose well, and is coming here because Cayman is the OT which best rewards investment by the UK in the relationship.

    • anon says:

      She might also be asking a few questions about why vaccines funded by UK tax payers were given to American tourists (and also children before that was even authorised).

      • Anonymous says:

        Haha., anyone and everyone was lining up for free covid shots in Miami Airport. The Americans didn’t need British jabs old spar.

    • Anonymous says:

      8.55 thank you thank you for telling it like it is.
      Gov Taylor stood up to Mac UDP, but Roper doesn’t have the backbone to control Saunders and Kenneth, and hopefully FCO will step in and stop these self serving amateurs from turning us into Jamaica.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Welcome to the Cayman Islands Minister Amanda Milling. We look forward to you meeting with the local government representatives and hope that you enjoy your stay.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Let’s have a party! BYOB! Ambush with a cake possible!

    • Anonymous says:

      Govt house will host the usual social climber hangers on party.

      • Anonymous says:

        Ah yes, the Gov’s usual BFF & tea party crowd, he probably invited her for her jolly visit. I very much doubt she’s going to tackle invasive species like the big, styrofoam monster billionaire man, she’ll probably just get chatty with his first and second in command.

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, “when I was at Harvard..” will be there for sure.

    • Anonymous says:

      See you all at Governors Beach for a “work meeting “ at 4pm Friday!

  9. Anonymous says:

    Will she be traveling to all three of our islands and subjected to PACT overreach in order to be able to do so?

  10. lil' bobo in East End says:

    Maybe the direct rule guys are flying her out…

  11. Anonymous says:

    Hope she will be required to be tested on day 2, gets a positive and then is subjected to the same torture regime as our own people.

    • Anonymous says:

      Not bloody likely 😜

    • Anonymous says:

      You really have no sense of proportion. Equating inconvenience to torture is really melodramatic.

      No one likes the measures but this isn’t about pleasure. There is no way that our plight can be compared to those real sufferers of torture whether it’s political or domestic.

      You sound spoiled and entitled.

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