Bermuda is a “wonderful and successful place” which should be held in “extremely high regard” by officials at Westminster, according to the peer who led a review into Britain’s relationship with its Overseas Territories.

Lord Strathclyde, the chairman of the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, spoke to The Royal Gazette today about the need for civil servants at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to rethink how they deal with the island and the other inhabited territories.

His comments came as he published the findings of the committee’s review in an open letter to Stephen Doughty, Minister of State for the UK Overseas Territories. The missive called for the British Government to fulfil its promise to ensure its relationship with the territories is one of “openness and mutual respect”.

Lord Strathclyde told the Gazette: “The point about the whole report and Bermuda is that, as we took the evidence, it became increasingly obvious that the attitude of the FCDO was a little bit outmoded and outdated.”

That wasn’t a criticism of ministers, who took their jobs “very seriously”, he said, but a reflection of the committee’s finding that the “corporate view of the Foreign Office was that these territories were not first order issues.

“In our inquiry, we came to the reverse conclusion: that these territories are extremely important and places like Bermuda, Cayman, Gibraltar and the Falklands are vital strategically, [they are] geopolitically important for Britain …

“These are countries who have decided that they want to be part of the wider British family and we should welcome that and encourage close co-operation and as much goodwill as possible.

“That is the key part of this report which we hope that the [British] Government will take seriously.”

His 34-page policy letter does not probe whether any of the territories want to pursue independence but Lord Strathclyde said the issue was touched upon by the committee.

“There is a complete understanding on the committee and in the British Parliament that if these territories want to assert their own independence, that is up to them,” he said.

“In other words, self-determination of the people of Bermuda is their decision.

“But for as long as they wish to stay within the wider British family, then it is right for the British Government to recognise that aspiration and make it as easy as possible.”

The hereditary peer, a Conservative politician, added: “What we're saying is all these territories are important in their own right and should be treated as that by the organs of the British state.”

He said the committee understood that “Bermuda runs itself and the people of Bermuda live their own lives without unnecessary interference from Westminster”.

“What our letter was about, really, was to say to the British Government … if they are … a wider part of the family, you need to treat them with respect, take them seriously, be engaged and involved.

“ … in that respect, I think [the review] could well have an impact on the people of Bermuda.”

Lord Strathclyde shared that he spent his honeymoon in Bermuda in 1992, resulting in him having a “huge affection” for the island.

He said: “It's a lovely place and it's a symbol of all that is best about Britain and an island, almost in the Caribbean but not quite, and they run their affairs extremely well.

“Bermuda is a lovely, wonderful and successful place, which we should hold in extremely high regard. We need to make Bermudians aware of those feelings.

“This was really a nudge to the British Government: take them seriously, because not to do so is the wrong thing to do.”

He added: “Nothing in the letter is designed to cause trouble, to cause a problem.

“There are stirrings in the Foreign Office. What it is, is ‘hang on, you may have got this wrong, this relationship wrong’.

“It has evolved, it has changed and, as we look into the mid-21st century, we need to take all these people seriously and be part of the wider British family, which is important, not just for the UK, but for wider global reasons.”

The key recommendation from the committee was for the British Government to produce a new policy document, a White Paper, on the OTs.

The last one was in 2012 and there has been what Lord Strathclyde termed a “proliferation of extant and proposed documentation” since then, including a 2023 Joint Declaration, which was the subject of the review.

Mr Doughty, who visited Bermuda in September, told the committee in January that a White Paper was not possible at present.

Lord Strathclyde said the review findings gave “an opportunity for the Government to rethink their stance on a White Paper”.

He said it also “encourages both people within the Overseas Territories and within the Foreign Office … that people right at the heart of the parliamentary machine … have examined this issue and we take it immensely seriously”.

The chairman said that by having country representatives give evidence to the committee, “we felt we were getting the authentic voice and authentic hearing of what the government institutions felt in the various Overseas Territories, including Bermuda”.

He added: “I hope that they feel satisfied that they have been heard loud and clear.”

Asked if thorny issues about Bermuda such as cannabis or same-sex marriage legislation were broached, Lord Strathclyde said: “There was a bit of discussion.

“The conclusion we came to … although it doesn't form part of the report, is that there is inevitably a creative tension between the Overseas Territories and the UK on certain issues.

“Over time, these will be dealt with. Obviously, the UK has international obligations.

“Obviously, the governments of Bermuda need to reflect the needs and desires of the people that they represent. But on the whole, over time, we can muddle through these issues and find the right way forward, which will suit the people of Bermuda and the British Government at the same time.”

The Constitution Committee of the Lords comprises former Cabinet ministers and ministers of state, as well as high-ranking judicial figures.

Its review of the Joint Declaration followed a report last year on the rule of law.

Lord Strathclyde said: “We'd been thinking of doing a slightly shorter inquiry and the Overseas Territories and the Joint Declaration … looked ripe for us to have a look at.

“We also felt that institutionally the Foreign Office perhaps wasn't giving it the good care and judgment which they … deserved.

“So we called for evidence, we met a lot of people, we discussed it with … two former permanent secretaries, under secretaries from the Foreign Office.

“It wasn't all one-sided at all and we spoke to two ministers, the current one and his predecessor. So we had a very good feel for what was happening.”