UK minister dispatched to Virgin Islands for governance talks

After an inquiry advocated for the reinstatement of UK rule, the UK government dispatched a minister to the British Virgin Islands.

In a tumultuous week for the foreign territory, its leader, Andrew Fahie, was detained in the United States on suspicion of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Following his incarceration, a commission chaired by a British court recommended that direct control be imposed from London due to corruption concerns.

However, the acting leader of the British Virgin Islands has stated that he opposes the UK seizing control.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory with a population of over 35,000 people that consists of more than 40 islands in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico.

It is a parliamentary democracy, with the premier presiding over the elected government alongside the governor, who is nominated by the UK government and represents the Queen.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced that Amanda Milling, the minister for foreign territories, would visit the island on Saturday for talks with BVI Governor John Rankin and other senior individuals.

Following the meetings, she said, the UK government would explain the next stages of the island’s governance.

Mr. Rankin, who is being proposed to take over as governor of the territory, has stated that his major priority would be the best interests of the people of the BVI.

Acting Premier Natalio Wheatley, on the other hand, has stated that the territory opposes London’s intentions to impose direct rule.

“What this would mean in real terms is that there would be no more elected representatives who represent the people of the districts and the territory in the House of Assembly where laws are made for our society,” he said.

“There also would be no government ministers to advance the public’s priorities or a cabinet to approve the policy. All of this authority would be vested in the governor.”

He told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight that the BVI could handle governance issues without resorting to UK direct rule and that he did not believe the BVI people wanted the constitution to be suspended.

“Every country in the world has challenges with governance, including the UK,” he said.

Mr. Wheatley said he had had productive talks with Ms. Milling and was expecting those to continue when she arrived in the territory on Saturday, although he said some conversations might be “uncomfortable”.

The island’s situation came to a climax on Thursday, when it was revealed that Mr. Fahie had been arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Agency in Miami.

He was imprisoned alongside Oleanvine Maynard, the chief of the BVI’s ports, whose son was also arrested in connection with the investigation.

They were charged with cocaine trafficking and money-laundering schemes after appearing in a Florida court via video link on Friday, according to US authorities. They will be detained until a bond hearing on Wednesday.

Mr. Fahie is accused of agreeing to a $700,000 (£560,000) payment with an undercover informant to allow traffickers to use BVI ports, according to accusations filed in the United States.

Questions regarding governance in the territory predated the arrests, with long-standing worries about governmental corruption and misuse of taxpayer funds, but the news accelerated the release of an inquiry into how to effectively address them.

The assessment, commissioned in 2021 and overseen by British judge Sir Gary Hickinbottom, branded the level of governance in the British Virgin Islands as “appallingly terrible,” but it is unrelated to the premier’s detention.

It proposed that the UK government suspend the overseas territory’s constitution and apply home rule for at least two years, thus returning the islands to direct rule from London.

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