Governor Jaspert's comments came after the Government of the Virgin Islands made a request for a grant to help persons made unemployed as a result of stringent measures to fight the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), now with three confirmed cases in the territory.

VI Gov't asked UK for assistance

Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1) in a statement on Saturday, March 28, 2020, had said Government was trusting that the Governor is able to assist the Territory with accessing these funds to match what the VI was making available to its unemployed population as a result of COVID-19.

The Governor in a statement responded, that while the UK stands with the people, “We [VI] have healthy reserves and the Social Security Board Fund is very robust." "I know, like sister Territories, BVI is proudly self-sufficient, and will be considering every resource to support our people,” Gov Jaspert further noted.

However, according to Skelton-Cline, the UK has never had a history of assisting the territory in any meaningful ways in times of need.

"I keep telling us, don't look to for help to come from anywhere else, be the hope and the help you are looking for," he said on the Thursday, April 2, 2020 edition of his 'Honestly Speaking' show.

'We got to start within... don't look for nobody coming in riding in on a white horse, they ain't coming," he said.

UK backed loans was never in best interest of VI - Skelton-Cline

According to the Man of the Cloth, the Virgin Islands and the situation that it has now found itself in with COVID19, shows that it was never in the best interest of the territory to take the UK backed loans for hurricane rebuilding efforts under a number of stipulations.

"This is a perfect example of why we shouldn't, because right now we would have been in breach of protocol, inability to ultimately pay," he said with a reminder that the Premier Fahie led government was pushing for the measures of the loan guarantee to be laid out in 'black and white.'

"Who saw coronavirus coming? Who saw a global pandemic? we didn't see it... and so, therefore, it is just cause to have these things in black and white, not subjectively, not arbitrarily but reduce them to black and white," Skelton-Cline said.

The Honestly Speaking moderator further lashed out and the UK Government and by extension, the Governor of the Virgin Islands, for never assisting the territory in worthwhile ways.

UK never assisted VI in meaningful ways - Skelton-Cline

"The United Kingdon, on the heels of the floods and the hurricane, did some in-kind, sent some kits, did some stuff, a ship came but proportionately to what it could have done in terms of grand and the redevelopment, did not do it," he underscored.

Skelton-Cline said that a majority of the rebuilding efforts in the territory was done by the people and the private sector of the Virgin Islands even with industries down.

He said over in the UK, their government has approved its own funding to help the country and Governor Jaspert had noted in his statement in response to the VI's plea for assistance, that the United Kingdom is also facing its own challenges due to the impact of the pandemic.

"When you boil this down for what it really is... we have to do what we must do for ourselves, do not look, the UK does not have a good history when it comes to assisting the Virgin Islands in any meaningful way," Skelton-Cline said.