Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

People think we benefit financially as a UK territory

People think we benefit financially as a UK territory

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has posited that many residents are afraid of changing the BVI’s status as a territory because they fear losing fundamental benefits they believe the country gets from the United Kingdom (UK).
The Premier said efforts need to be made to educate the public on what the BVI currently gets from the UK as this will put people in a better position to discuss the political advancement of the territory.

“Despite what we’ve told persons, some may believe that the UK gives us money or grants and things like that. And what is more likely is that nations that have a lower per capita income will get those big grants and despite our relationship with the United Kingdom government, we won’t get those big grants because of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) rules,” Premier Wheatley said.

He said the public must realise that becoming more independent doesn’t mean the BVI has to discard all the institutions it now enjoys because of its connection with the UK.

“Independence is not the only route, of course. But let’s say you go independent, you can still keep the legal system that you have, you can still keep the privy council as your final court of appeal. Persons need to understand these things because perhaps maybe they feel if there’ll be some fundamental shift that will hurt you in some way and persons need to be properly educated so they can consider next steps,” the Premier said.

Premier Wheatley also encouraged the community to consider the BVI’s state of readiness in comparison to Caribbean nations that severed ties with the United Kingdom in the 1900s. He said he believes the BVI is in a far better situation than those countries were at the time and this may be a good indicator of whether the territory is ready to advance politically.

“Persons must consider whether we are in a lesser state of readiness in 2022 than Jamaica was in 1962 or St Kitts in 1983 or Antigua in 1981. Is our economy stronger than those economies would have been back then? I’m not sure completely but I know we have a thriving financial services sector, a thriving tourism sector. We are considered a middle-income country with a very decent income per capita. Not to say that we don’t have our challenges but are we really that far behind all those other independent countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East at the time when they became independent?” Premier Wheatley said.

The public is divided on the matter of political advancement in the BVI. Some sections believe having the UK as a governing authority helps to keep elected leaders in check while others believe the BVI is fully capable of governing itself and should ditch the UK as a ‘mother country’.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×