Foreign Office updates Parliament on major UK/Overseas Territories conference

Thursday, December 12th 2013 - 21:16 UTC

Full article 5 comments

The commitment of the governments of the Overseas Territories and the UK to continue to work together in partnership was underlined by Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds MP when he updated Parliament on the outcome of this year’s Joint Ministerial Council, which was attended by leaders from eleven OTs including the Falkland Islands. Read full article

Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules

Anglotino
It is very hard for those that look from outside to see how the British system works. They have trouble seeing these Territories as being individual and having their own identity.

They see them as colonies or colonial relics without realising that they each have their own direction and own futures. And that they are not trapped within a system that they despise or dislike but are quite happy to stay as they are.

There will always be people within the UK or the BOTs who want to change the system or see it as unfair or unmodern. However the vast majority of all people with the UK and the BOTs are quite happy with the status quo.

There are no two states in the world that have the exact same consitutional setup or arrangments and nor should there be. The UK works for all its parts, nations, territories etc. and there is nothing any other state or organisation such as the EU or UN can do to change it.
Dec 12th, 2013 - 11:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
-+
Gordo1
Comment removed by the editor.
Dec 13th, 2013 - 07:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0
-+
Britworker
@1
The countries that don't understand our ways are mostly countries that are clinging to a diluted version of democracy being led by despots with an imbalance of wealth, rife poverty and under-performing economies.

So long as we outgun them, it matters not!
Dec 13th, 2013 - 10:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0
-+
Conqueror
@1 Well said. BUT the British government must recognise that, as they work with the Overseas Territories to increase economic growth and so forth, each improvement makes the OTs a greater “prize” for certain unscrupulous “states”. The UK MUST demonstrate that it WILL deploy defence forces and be prepared to use them. OTs must be prepared to host British forces for their defence. The Falklands ARE defended. Argieland knows it stands no chance. Gibraltar isn't properly defended. Who would have thought that a fellow EU member and NATO ally would attack our territory? But, at the end of the day, Spaniards are latinos. Like argies, they have no honesty and no honour.
Dec 13th, 2013 - 11:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0
-+
Britworker
@4
The Falklands are fortified by the sea, Gibraltar is physically attached to Spain and within their territorial waters. There is no way we could place the kind of hardware in Gibraltar that we have in The Falklands, there is no room for a start. It is a different problem that requires a completely different approach, not least because pretty much every person you know in the UK has a relative that has sold up and is living in Southern Spain.

The Gibraltar problem will wax and wane depending n which government the Spanish have in place. It is a diplomatic problem that requires a diplomatic approach.
When Spain starts to crumble in the next few years with Catalonian and Basque independence, Gibraltar will be the least of their worries, in a similar way that the Argentine economy is to them at the moment and the Falklands has pretty much dropped of their agenda again.
Dec 13th, 2013 - 12:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
-+

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!