A major upheaval at the top levels of the British government has resulted in a new Foreign Secretary with direct portfolio responsibilities for the British Virgin Islands 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 recently two weeks ago, 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 BVI and 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 in-tray for the Overseas Territories was 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.
The BVI has been very clear about recognising the importance of ensuring regulators and others who have a legitimate need to information for the purposes of fighting financial crime can get that information quickly and easily.
However, it has also recognised that there are legitimate reasons for the owners of companies to want privacy, including cases where harm could be done to vulnerable issues, or where there may be grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the request.
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 the 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.”