Gibraltar, Falklands and other overseas territories MUST get own MPs, says campaigner

Anthony Webber, a member of the Friends of the British Overseas Territories (FOTBOT), as well as a former member of the States of Guernsey, the island’s Parliament, is working on a set of proposals which would involve the creation of nine Parliamentary constituencies, with Tory MPs Andrew Rosindell and John Penrose already having indicated they are supportive of the broad principle. Meanwhile Mr Webber has accused Parliament of a “dereliction of duty” in failing to address the situation up until now.

Roughly 265,000 people live in the various territories scattered across the globe, which apart from the three mentioned comprise the Falkland Islands, British Antarctic Territory (BAT), British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) in Cyprus, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

A further 160,000 live in the Channel Islands, plus the Isle of Man.

Mr Webber told Express.co.uk: “The UK is the only country in the world which does not provide UK Parliamentary representation for its dependent territories.”

In terms of other nations which have dependent territories, the closest analogies were France, Denmark and the Netherlands, Mr Webber said, all of which had incorporated them into the fabric of the nation – in the case of France, for example, all of its inhabited overseas “departments” enjoy representation in the National Assembly and Senate.

Overseas territories must get own MPs

Overseas territories must get own MPs (Image: Getty)

The Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean is also in British hands (Image: GETTY)

Mr Webber added: “All the dependent territories involved have different categories of autonomy in respect of their national Parliaments.

“Some have reasonable sized populations, some have very few or none.

“This makes no difference to the right to have representation.”

The question of whether such representation should be extended to people living in British Overseas Territories had gone unanswered for decades, stressed Mr Webber.

He said: “More recently the only reason that UK Parliamentary representation has not come about is because the UK Parliament itself has not brought this about.

READ MORE: Gibraltar and Falklands need own MPs post-Brexit, say ex-minister

The rock of Gibraltar

Mr Webber has accused Parliament of a ‘dereliction of duty’ (Image: Getty)

“The absolute mistake which has been made by the UK Parliament has been to assume that the dependent territories need to ask for such representation.

“It is as crazy as asking the local authorities in Portsmouth, Belfast, Glasgow and Swansea if they want UK national Parliament MPs as well as their local representation.

“In such circumstances it would be entirely possible for one of those cities to say yes, and the others say no. It is clearly a nonsense.”

Employing strong language to illustrate his point, he added: “The same with the issue of slavery.

“One reason the abolition took a while to bring about was taking too much notice of the slave owners.”

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Guernsey

Guernsey, one of three Crown Dependencies, would also get Parliamentary representation under Mr Webber’s plan (Image: GETTY)

It is the UK Parliament’s responsibility, no one else’s, to bring this about

Anthony Webber

“This is not something which is supposed to be decided by local areas or dependent territories, it is something decided by the UK national Parliament.

“It is the UK Parliament’s responsibility, no one else’s, to bring this about.

“Therefore it can be strongly argued that the UK Parliament has had a dereliction of responsibility to provide such representation.”

Mr Webber said having discussed the issue with MPs and representatives of all major parties, he felt confident there would be cross-party support for legislation enshrining the voting rights of people living in British Overseas Territories.

He added: “It simply needs the presentation of the Bill to bring this about. It is this Bill which we are finalising.”

Gibraltar facts

Key facts about Gibraltar (Image: Daily Express)

“The extension of the franchise is part of the evolvement of such over the years, even though it is long overdue for the BOTs/CDs.

“The need for the BOTs and CDs to have constituency MP’s in the UK national Parliament has been made further necessary because officially, existing UK MP’s are only able to deal with their own constituents, and no one else.

2BOT and CD citizens need to have their own constituency MPs in the UK national Parliament to not only look after their own local needs, but to represent their constituents in every respect, the same as other UK MPs do for their constituents.

“There are also numerous subject areas, especially Defence and Foreign affairs, which are decided by the UK Parliament.

“Indeed the UK Parliament and government is the supreme authority on all matters concerning the BOTs and CDs.

2BOT and CD citizens need to have their own constituency MPs in the UK national Parliament

2BOT and CD citizens need to have their own constituency MPs in the UK national Parliament (Image: Getty)

“The proposals, which are nearly finalised, involve BOT and CD MPs being elected in nine constituencies.

“These will be subject to boundary and size changes, the same as for all UK constituencies.

“As for all UK constituencies, all pay and expenses will be covered by the UK Government, as will the costs of holding the MPs’ elections, which will be subject to the same timings as the UK MPs.”

Envisaging an ambitious timetable, Mr Webber said: “There is no reason why Elections cannot be held within a year or so to elect MPs to fill their roles up until the next General Election.

“As for the House of Lords, we recommend that there are some immediate appointments, as this part of being part of the UK Parliament can commence without delay.”

Falklands facts

Falklands facts (Image: Daily Express)

He added: “We also prefer there to be a new Ministry for BOTs and CDs, very similar to the Ministers responsible for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“At present there are at least three Ministers responsible for the  BOTs/CDs, which is very much a defunct way of dealing with these vital and important territories.”

Mr Rosindell, MP for Romford in Essex, told Express.co.uk: “It is undemocratic that in 2020, the UK has areas which have no say.

“We are not letting them have a voice and in that sense we are still acting like a colonial power.”

Mr Rosindell stressed that none of the territories would lose any autonomy as a result of being granted representation at Westminster, but added: “They need their own voice and the only way to do that is to give them elected representatives – the same kind of rules which apply to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“Brexit is an opportunity to look a lot more outwardly and this is one way in which we can do that.”

Speaking last month, Mr Penrose said of the idea: “It creates an opportunity for them to access the UK’s internal market, that’s potentially, I would hope, useful and valuable in a post-Brexit world, both for the UK, but also for the individual overseas territories. “But also, it means that if they are going to be involved in that way then they may decide they want some democratic representation along with us, and I think that’s only fair and right.

source: express.co.uk