NEW TOP OFFICIAL FOR OVERSEAS TERRITORIES IN UK CABINET RESHUFFLE

By Staff Writer

A major upheaval at the top levels of the British government this past Friday has resulted in a new Foreign Secretary with direct portfolio responsibilities for Cayman and the other UK Overseas Territories (OTs).

Yvette Cooper, who was the Home Secretary, has replaced David Lammy, who has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary.

The wide-ranging Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last Friday followed the sudden resignation of his Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

Ms Cooper will oversee the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office(FCDO) which includes the OTs in its remit.

Stephen Doughty remains in place as Minister of State for the Overseas Territories, a vital point of contact between them and the Secretary of State. He will also continue to function as Minister of State for Europe and North America. Other changes within the department which directly impact the OTs and the Caribbean include Baroness Jenny Chapman of Darlington as Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean.

With new Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper settling into her first week in office, her intray for the Overseas Territories will be stacked with several common issues across the 14 territories spread across the globe. Among them is the matter of the enactment of UK legislation for Public Access to Registers of Beneficial Ownership(PARBO). Meant to counteract money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing, it has been a sore point between the UK as administering authority and several OTs, especially those with a financial services industry, over privacy issues.

There are also specific issues regarding governance and constitutional reform - including matters surrounding self-determination and independence recently coming to the fore in some OTs.

Just days before Friday’s dramatic Cabinet reshuffle, self-determination for the OTs was in focus during a UK Parliamentary hearing. Minister of State for the OTs, Stephen Doughty, was asked by Conservative Party Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel about the continuing involvement of the United Nations Decolonisation Committee.

She had asked specifically “if he will make it his policy to (a) reform and (b) abolish the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.”

Mr Doughty responded: “The Government believes the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation is outdated and no longer has a relevant role to play with respect to the UK Overseas Territories. For those Territories who wish it, the UK will continue to support requests for the removal of the Territory from the United Nations list of non-self-governing Territories and to support the right of the people of the Overseas Territories to address the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation directly.”

The recent extensive Labour Party government Cabinet reshuffle was prompted by the sudden resignation of then Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner, under pressure over her property tax affairs. She was found to have violated the Ministerial Code by failing to make full declarations of her tax liabilities on her properties.

The issue, which had been the subject of widespread political debate and speculation in the preceding days, came to a head on Friday when Ms Rayner submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.