The UK Parliament Member Promotes Autonomy for the BVI

A member of the UK Parliament Mark Simmonds during his familiarisation visit in the British Virgin Islands has informed about his plans to promote more autonomy for the British Virgin Islands in discussions with his Conservative Party colleagues in the UK.

On February 8, Mark Simmonds addressed members of the Tortola Rotary Club during their weekly luncheon meeting. In his speech he told about the objectives of his visit, one of which was to understand the intricacies of the territory to feed into his party's development of policies regarding the UK/BVI relationship. It is interesting to note that there is another prominent person with the same name Mark Simmonds - Senior Active member of the Rotary Club of Tortola.

Simmonds noted that the subject of the Overseas Territories is not raised in the Parliament as often as it should be, and added that he would like to see improved links between the UK and the Overseas Territories.

"One of the reasons I'm here is to understand more about the opportunities that exist in BVI, and also to go back to the United Kingdom Parliament with a much greater knowledge and be able to cement and improve the links between the UK and BVI and other Overseas Territories," Simmonds said.

The government of the British Virgin Islands is engaged in the talks on constitutional changes with the UK government, the third round of which took place in October. All the negotiations are based on the territory's request for a new constitution, and the points discussed are taken from the report of the British Virgin Islands Constitutional Commission.

The general points discussed include the duties of the Attorney General, the definition of belonger status and the rights of local population. Other issues touched upon in the talks are the creation of the sixth ministerial position, the need for a human rights chapter in the constitution, the functioning of the Executive Council and the reserve powers of the governor. The possibility of establishing a cabinet system of government is also under consideration. The one recommendation already implemented is establishing the position of director of public prosecutions.

Mark Simmonds, the opposition party's shadow minister for international development, has left the Territory on Saturday, after a weeklong visit. Another round of discussions on the constitutional changes will take place in London at the end of February, with Foreign Office Minister David Triesman.