Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

Commentary: Britain & The Overseas Territories: Toward Soft Colonialism Or Modern Partnership?

Commentary: Britain & The Overseas Territories: Toward Soft Colonialism Or Modern Partnership?

As the United Kingdom (UK) General Election approaches, the country’s ongoing political turmoil over Brexit continues to overshadow the strained relationship between the Overseas Territories’ (OTs) and UK.
The critical issue is whether the UK and OTs will have a closer relationship going forward or a more distant one.

A cloud of uncertainty has hung over OT-UK relations ever since 2018 when the UK Government, in response to pressure from the UK Parliament, chose to legislate the adoption of public registers of beneficial ownership by the OTs without their consent and before public registers are established as a global standard.

The UK measure will have far-reaching consequences for the economies of Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands if implementation is forced upon them given their high dependence on financial services that accounts for a large share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment and government revenue.

The OTs discontent was amplified by the exclusion of the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man from the UK legislation, despite these jurisdictions also being among the so called ‘offshore’ centres that fly the Union Jack which supposedly should be aligned with the UK. The exclusion of the Channel Islands and inclusion of the OTs demonstrated the clear bias of UK decisionmakers against the OTs.

Relations between the OTs and UK were further strained in 2019 by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) publication of a report on Global Britain and the British Overseas Territories that recommended the UK force the OTs to legalise same-sex marriage, abolish Belonger status as a category of citizenship conferred by the Territory Governments, extend voters' rights to non-Belongers and widen eligibility criteria for elected office to include persons presently not constitutionally permitted to do so.

The FAC’s blatant disregard for the OTs’ constitutions exposed the colonial thinking that remains among a number of UK parliamentarians.

The FAC report, coupled with the UK imposition of public registers on the OTs, reversed much of the goodwill gained by the UK after the British military and wider UK Government came to the aid of the Caribbean Territories that were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017.

UK Government attempts to pacify the OTs over the public registers issue by setting an implementation deadline of 2023 has not succeeded in restoring relations to their former state as serious doubts remain among the OTs as to whether they still have a modern partnership with the UK.

While the UK Government maintains that it is committed to a modern partnership under the 2012 White Paper on the Overseas Territories, the signals that have come from certain quarters of the UK Parliament indicate that respect for OTs’ self-governance is diminishing in the UK's premier political institution which is considered to be sovereign.

The UK must be careful to not allow itself to drift toward a soft colonialism, regardless of the justifications by UK parliamentarians for overriding the OTs' constitutions.

Concrete steps will have to be taken by the UK Government to reassure the OTs that it is not the UK’s intention to revert to a colonial posture toward them.

Among other things, the UK must put on the table for consideration some form of constitutional safeguard for all OTs to restrain the UK Government and UK Parliament from arbitrarily legislating for the OTs without their consent, particularly in areas of governance constitutionally delegated to them and over which they have managed successfully on balance.

Also critical is the preparation of a new UK White Paper on the OTs whose guiding policy should reinforce the principle of self-governance and affirm the OTs inalienable right to self-determination under the United Nations (UN) Charter (i.e. Article 73-74), UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960) and related UN resolutions and decisions.

The OTs should seize every available opportunity to push the UK on their future relationship, including participating in dialogue within British society on the UK’s own post-Brexit future should the country successfully leave the EU.

The OTs have called on the UK for the past three years to support a post-Brexit economic partnership underpinned by international trade.

This has gained some traction with a UK-OT International Trade Summit held in the Cayman Islands in June.

The OTs are well-positioned to help facilitate UK trade through their own trade links in Asia and various regional markets around the world and expertise as financial jurisdictions.

The UK in turn can assist the OTs in accessing new markets for their goods and services as the UK Government negotiates new trade deals with partners in regions such as Latin America.

The Commonwealth would also feature prominently in a future UK-OT economic partnership as the UK seeks to tap markets among the political bloc's fast growing economies in Africa and Asia.

Beyond trade, the future partnership between the OTs and UK should extend to the challenge of climate change and pursuit of sustainable development.

UK support to the OTs on climate change adaptation should include grants to all OTs in line with UK funding to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through the Green Climate Fund and Commonwealth Secretariat. This approach would assist the OTs in building climate resilience and underscore UK leadership in this area.

The UK should also establish a Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) to replace European Union (EU) funding for sustainable development that will be lost by the OTs in the event of Brexit.

The OT-UK relationship remains under strain, but this can be overcome if the UK is committed to renewing its modern partnership with the OTs under a new policy framework that reinforces the self-governance of the OTs and is buttressed by constitutional safeguards to protect them from UK overreach. These can be overlaid by a future economic partnership and meaningful cooperation on climate change and sustainable development.

Once the UK General Election is over, it is in the interest of both the UK and OTs to reset relations and find the right balance for a post-Brexit relationship going forward.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
×