British Overseas Territories: Politics and Government

(asked on 21st January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the future governance of the Overseas Territories; what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) a devolution settlement for those territories similar to those for devolved nations of the UK and (b) representation for those territories in the UK Parliament.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 27th January 2020

Each of the United Kingdom's 14 Overseas Territories has its own unique constitution setting out the responsibilities of the local government and the Government of the United Kingdom. The requests for constitutional reform have been driven by the people of each inhabited Territory. In the last year the Government has held formal negotiations on constitutional reform with the Cayman Islands and Anguilla. None of the Overseas Territories have requested a constitutional relationship akin to the devolution settlements within the United Kingdom.

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