OT minister will back exit campaign in EU poll
(CNS): James Dudderidge, the FCO junior minister who looks after the affairs of the British overseas territories, is one of 100 MPs who will be campaigning over the next few months for the UK to leave the European Union, as Britain prepares for the in-out referendum on its membership. Prime Minister David Cameron announced this weekend that the UK government will hold the national ballot on 23 June to decide the future of Britain and he along with the Chancellor George Osbourne will be campaigning to stay in.
But after the British PM promised a free vote, several leading Cabinet figures were quick to announce their plans to join the ‘out’ campaign. Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, are some of the leading Tory Cabinet ministers that will be campaigning to leave.
According to BBC reports about who in the Conservative party camp will be on what side, Dudderidge is cited as one of the members who will be voting for a departure for the UK from the EU.
The campaign is likely to see some interesting bedfellows as politicians on both the extreme right and left in UK politics join hands on the issue of departure. George Galloway from the UK’s Respect party tweeted that his new found alliance with Nigel Farage from UKIP was like the one between Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with Winston Churchill during World War Two, as the unlikely pair have joined forces on the Grassroots Out campaign.
The campaigns officially started at the weekend after Prime Minister David Cameron returned from Brussels following difficult talks with European leaders to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership.
Fears that the British public could actually vote to leave the EU saw the pound hit its lowest level against the dollar in almost seven years on Monday. So far this year, fears of a British exit from the EU, dubbed ‘Brexit’, have already pushed the pound down by more than 4% against the US dollar and Moody’s has warned that leaving the EU would impact the UK’s credit rating.
Despite the influence the EU has on the UK’s crown dependencies and overseas territories, the impacted island nations will not be invited to take part in the June referendum.
Category: UK, World News
It looks to me like the fork in the Cayman Islands road is coming.
Stay in Europe and the push will be on for the right to free travel, residency and work in any area of the EU such as Martinique, the Azores, Madeira, etc. Get ready to add about 20,000 more voters to your ranks too.
The Overseas territories will be opened up leaving PR applications pointless, a waste of money and unnecessary.
Leave Europe …. Well, I guess the term kicked to the kerb is about the nearest. Even just travelling into Europe would be difficult. You will be the wrong side of the tracks and offshore finance will be even more so in the firing line.
Interesting! And here in Cayman our Premier is talking about EU Human rights concerns while his handlers in the UK are talking about getting out. I wonder if he realizes that his perception that the UK means well for us is wrong and that he needs to stand up and lead his people and stop worrying about what the UK or EU have to say. They are not concerned for us and until we have a leader who recognizes that our people come first we will forever be battered and bruised by mother. Im still waiting for him to say SOMETHING about the Tempura disaster. Is he afraid of the FCO?
All the Premier can do is spread his mouth. When it comes to action, he is on the back burner. No guts, no balls.
Human rights obligations are not derived from the EU. You just opened your mouth and let your belly rumble buddy.
Oh really. I beg to differ. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights
You may differ, but you are wrong I am afraid. It is a common misconception that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an institution of the European Union. It is not.
The judicial arm of the European Union is the European Court of Justice (the ECJ). Whether or not the UK leaves the EU is a entirely separate question as to whether it remains a signatory of the ECHR.
If you read your Wikipedia article carefully, you will see, for example, that the Council of Europe, which are the members of the ECHR, includes Switzerland.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU.
Right-wing British tabloids frequently take advantage of this misunderstanding to blame the EU for the “bonkers” decisions of the ECHR, so you are not alone.
The UK PM is for staying in…
Sure, we can have UK passports and some rights, but not vote in a matter that could significantly affect us? Talk about being treated like a second class citizen.
If I had a French passport and was living in Martinique, not only would I get to vote, but I would also have an MP in parliament.
Yes, but such an arrangement would mean that the Cayman Islands would be just another UK constituency in addition to the existing 650, and the other UK MPs would be able to vote on Cayman Islands affairs.
One matter which I imagine would rear its head quite quickly was why the constituency of the Cayman Islands should be exempted from UK income tax.
Such an arrangement also requires immigration reciprocity. The French, and indeed citizens of the European Union can enter and reside for an unlimited period in Martinique.
Be careful what you wish for…
Free movement of workers, freedom of establishment and free movement of services will be extended by the EU to territories such at the British OTs in due course anyway.
Exactly, why would you want to get all in the Uk business. I prefer it the way it is. I am on my second passport, made one trip mainly because I was going to Switzerland, I enjoyed the few days lay over in England . We do not need more than that.
If you get that, then I as a British citizen want to vote in Cayman elections…something tells me you wont like that even though we can see through the BS
You should not complain,at least we do not have to pay taxes.! Why you want to vote on uk issues. It hardly matters to us.