The relationship between Britain and its Overseas Territories is
underpinned by shared duties to each other.
However, the Government’s response to the Foreign Affairs
Committee Report on the UK’s relationship with the British
Overseas Territories, published today, risks diluting the shared
values and commitments of the relationship and those of the
flagship FCO policy of ‘Global Britain.’
The Government says it is committed to complying with the
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 provisions.
Parliament has judged public registers of beneficial ownership to
be a matter of national security and the Committee called for a
clear and detailed timetable for the publication of registers of
beneficial ownership in each Overseas Territory before the 2019
Summer Recess.
Today’s Response says the FCO will not prepare an Order in
Council until the end of December 2020, with the Territories
expected to have fully functioning publicly accessible registers
as soon as possible, and no later than the end of 2023. The
FCO undertakes to inform the Committee of detailed timetables for
each territory, and the timetable for implementing registers in
each OT, when this becomes clear.
As acknowledged in the Committee’s Report, the issues of same-sex
marriage and ‘Belongership’ were always going to be points of
friction in UK/OT relations. Same-sex marriage has been legalised
in all but the five OTs in the Caribbean, though this bar is
currently being challenged in the Cayman Islands.
The Committee’s Report asked the Government to set a date by
which it expects all OTs to have legalised same sex marriage, and
to intervene through legislation or an Order in Council if the
deadline is not met. The Response rejects the idea of
intervening on the issue beyond raising it with leaders, saying
the relationship with the OTs is based on partnership and it
should be for the territories to decide and legislate
appropriately.
MPs did not accept there was any justification to deny
legally-resident British OT and UK citizens the right to vote and
hold elected office, concluding that belongership and its
equivalents were wrong. The Government Response does not
engage with the Committee’s recommendation in any meaningful way.
The Chair of the Committee, MP, said:
“The concept of Global Britain, underpinned by shared values
and commitments, lies at the heart of our foreign policy. All of
the British Overseas Territories have their own constitutions
but, rightly, share a bond with the UK and a pride in their
deeply rooted British identities. Our Report made a variety
of recommendations to strengthen those bonds but by not backing
our calls against belongership and for same-sex marriage, the
Government risks weakening messages of core sympathy for each
other’s core values.
“We will hold the Government to their commitment to keep us
informed of timetables relating to fully functioning publicly
accessible registers for the OTs.
“We will also be seeking an update from the Foreign Secretary
on one of our key recommendations, thatGovernment should
commission an independent review into cross-government engagement
with the OTs and the FCO’s management of its responsibilities
towards them. We are told this will be considered when the
Inter-Ministerial group meet in the summer.
“The Committee is determined that duties and responsibility
are shared by the British family, whether in the UK or OTs,
including on values and security. That’s why the Committee made
the recommendations and remains confident that the Report
supports the shared interest of the British family.”
Further information:
The Committee’s Report, Global Britain and the
British Overseas Territories: Resetting the Relationship, was
published in February 2019.
