Lords call for ‘urgent’ White Paper on OTs
A House of Lords committee has urged the British Government to “urgently” publish a new policy document on its Overseas Territories, echoing a call this year by Bermuda’s Attorney-General for a “revised, modernised paper”.
Lord Strathclyde, the chairman of the Constitution Committee, wrote an open letter to Stephen Doughty, the United Kingdom’s minister of state for the OTs, with recommendations for ensuring Britain’s commitments to the ten inhabited territories are met and for improving the nation’s relationship with them.
He said the committee “strongly” agreed with the territories that a White Paper published in 2012 was “now badly out of date and that a new White Paper is urgently required”.
Lord Strathclyde added: “We urge the UK Government to bring forward a White Paper during the next parliamentary session.”
The call came after Mr Doughty told the committee in January: “We understand there is a strong desire on behalf of a number of OTs for a new White Paper.
“That will not be possible at the current time but we remain open-minded as to the future.”
Lord Strathclyde told The Royal Gazette that the committee’s findings presented “an opportunity for the Government to rethink their stance on a White Paper”.
He said: “The purpose of a White Paper is to lay out the thinking behind government actions and the relationship between it in London and the Overseas Territories.”
His policy letter to Mr Doughty concludes the Constitution Committee’s review of the Overseas Territories Joint Declaration, a document signed in 2023 by Bermuda and the other inhabited territories of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha, and the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The declaration encouraged the OTs “to enter into bilateral agreements with independent nations and other bodies and to strengthen links with regional and international organisations”.
It said Britain would support any OT seeking greater autonomy.
It was meant to lead to a framework for moving forward the relationship between the UK and the OTs as a whole and to develop partnership agreements ― known as compacts ― with individual territories.
However, at a series of hearings at Westminster this year, several country representatives questioned what tangible results the declaration had achieved and said there were no compacts yet in place.
Kim Wilkerson, Bermuda’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, gave evidence by video link in February.
She spoke of the need for a new White Paper to be used as the clear, guiding principle of the relationship between Britain and the OTs.
Ms Wilkerson said the new policy paper should prompt a review of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 and an assessment of whether it remained “fit for purpose and whether that genuinely reflects the territories as part of the UK family”.
Lord Strathclyde, in the letter published yesterday, wrote: “The proliferation of extant and proposed documentation concerning the Overseas Territories since the publication of the White Paper in 2012 has engendered uncertainty about the status, relative standing and inter dependence of the various documents.
“This uncertainty strengthens the case for publication of an overarching and definitive new White Paper.
“In the meantime, we call on the Government to clarify how the various documents relate to each other, which of them are still in force or to be developed in the future and whether the 2012 White Paper continues to take precedence.”
His letter spoke of the “vital societal, cultural, environmental, economic and strategic role that the Overseas Territories play as part of the wider UK family”.
Lord Strathclyde wrote: “We welcome, in particular, the vital work played by the Overseas Territories in the management of unique terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as set out in the UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy.
“We also, however, draw attention to the unique exposure of the Overseas Territories to global challenges, not least in relation to climate change and geopolitical uncertainty, and to the potential impact on the UK.”
He emphasised Britain’s constitutional obligations to the OTs in relation to foreign affairs and defence.
The committee’s other recommendations were for:
• the UK Government, working with the OTs, to ensure commitments and principles in the Joint Declaration were met by monitoring and reporting on progress
• the urgent introduction of “bilateral compacts” for those territories that want them
• an end to the “regular turnover” of ministers and officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office so that “structures for effective engagement are deeply embedded” and “not vulnerable to changing personalities”
• a review of whether the OTs should remain under the FCDO
• partnership between Britain and the OTs to tackle the “underlying tension between the UK’s overarching responsibility for good governance and upholding international commitments” and the territories’ desire to exercise autonomy
• principles of “early engagement, ongoing and transparent communication, and clarity about roles and responsibilities” to be embedded across all UK government departments, with a list of responsible officials in each to be provided to OT governments.
Lord Strathclyde said in a statement: “The relationship between the UK Government and the Overseas Territories is of fundamental constitutional importance.
“It has matured and modernised significantly in recent decades and is in many respects positive and constructive.”
He added: “The Overseas Territories do not always feel appropriately respected or valued and the 2012 White Paper is now badly out of date.
“A cross-Whitehall culture that respects and values the Overseas Territories is central to effective engagement.”
• To see the policy letter from Lord Strathclyde, see Related Media
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