A former UK government adviser drew up a proposal to fully incorporate the Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, into Britain, with representation in Westminster.

Ben Judah told the Winston Marshall Show — a British podcast — at the weekend that he was asked to develop the idea while working as special adviser to David Lammy, who was then the Foreign Secretary.

Mr Lammy, now Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, was “intrigued” by the concept, according to Mr Judah.

“I just came to the conclusion that we can't let them go on as … basically colonies, as Overseas Territories, and we need to start thinking big and incorporate them into Britain,” he told the podcast, which was released on Saturday.

Mr Judah added: “I was working on a proposal … which was that, as a first step towards something bigger, they could appoint members of the House of Lords, start to tie them into the constitution, and we can have a sort of Overseas Territories volunteer corps, just part of a sort of campaign of talking about them and raising awareness of them.”

The bulk of the interview was about Mr Judah’s involvement in Britain’s controversial ― and now stalled ― Chagos Islands deal, to cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.

He explained how he became interested in the OTs while working at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 2024 and 2025, envisioning them as being woven much more tightly into the fabric of British life, with schoolchildren taught about them, news coverage of their activities and each being “represented in our parliament”.

He highlighted the different approach taken by the French in “wrapping up its empire” by giving some overseas territories, such as Guadeloupe, the same status as metropolitan France.

“We haven't done that, and I think we need to move in that direction, and I'd love to see places like Bermuda or the Falklands become overseas kingdoms, part of the United Kingdom …” he said.

Mr Judah added: “I think we need to start dreaming big as a country and, for me, all of the politics of this, the 4D chess of this, is so difficult that I thought that the Labour Party needed to show that we don't have a surrender agenda.

“Actually, we want an expansion agenda. And the best thing to prove that would be to actually do it.”

The British author and political commentator suggested that Britain could get involved in providing public services in the territories.

He said: “They're not huge populations, but places like the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and these places have become a bit of a problem for the UK because they don't receive any sort of large amounts of money or support from us.

“In some ways they become quite corrupt, like the British Virgin Islands; a lot of corruption that takes place there.

“Brits don't even know about them. The best outcome, in my view, would be to incorporate them boldly and proudly into the UK, give the people better public services so their local elites don't need to do this sort of ‘fraudulenting’ that they're doing. And I think it would be a great statement about a global Britain.”

Mr Judah later clarified to The Royal Gazette that his remark about fraudulent behaviour was not a reference to Bermuda and that he was not proposing taxing citizens of the island to pay for public services.

Mr Marshall asked if Mr Lammy liked the idea of incorporating the territories into Britain.

Mr Judah replied: “He was intrigued and told me to go away and develop it and said … come up with some first steps.

“So the first steps I came up with was representation in the House of Lords and an Overseas Territories volunteer corps.”

He said Mr Lammy, whose parents were Guyanese, was “really passionate about the Caribbean for obvious reasons …”.

Mr Judah added: “He was intrigued with the proposal. I was working on it.

“I think I could have got there on the members of the House of Lords, at least with him; when it went up to [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer, I don't know what would have happened.”

Mr Judah was moved to the Ministry of Justice after a Cabinet shuffle last September. The Gazette has asked the Governor and the FCDO if his proposal is still being developed although it is understood that the change in appointments put the brakes on the adviser’s suggestion.

Mr Judah told the podcast the Chagos situation was an “exceptionally complicated” situation, adding: “For the rest of them [the OTs], because we don't want imbroglios like this happening again, and because we know the Chinese are an issue, that's my dream, incorporate them into Britain.”

Mr Judah said his “little vision” could only work if the territories “want to become part of the United Kingdom and have representation in our parliament”.

He added: “We have a British family out there. These places chose to remain British and we should offer them the best protection and [do] the best we can for them and I think it would come through something like being an overseas kingdom, title to be debated.”

• More from The Royal Gazette’s interview with Mr Judah to follow