Statement by Governor Alistair Harrison speaks to External Affairs of Anguilla

I would like to say a few words about my responsibility for Foreign Affairs, the fourth of my five constitutional responsibilities that I have addressed at these press conferences. At my next conference I will try to pull together all of my duties by saying something about good governance. As usual, I will be happy to take questions on any subject, and in particular on the Foot Review on which I issued a statement last week.

The Constitution of Anguilla gives the Governor responsibility for the External Affairs of Anguilla, and the ability to delegate particular issues within that area of responsibility to a Minister or Ministers. This is a fundamental area in which the Overseas Territories differ from independent jurisdictions, as their external relations are usually conducted by the United Kingdom. In particular, Anguilla and the OTs are not members of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and many other international organisations and rely on the UK to speak up for their interests there. As it happens, I had some experience of this in my posting in New York a few years ago, where I regularly crossed (metaphorical) swords with my Argentine and Spanish colleagues on behalf of the people of the Falklands and Gibraltar respectively. Fortunately, there is no sovereignty dispute affecting Anguilla, but the UK Government has recently had to be robust in defending the interests of all the UK offshore financial jurisdictions in international for a - there are a number of powerful countries with no offshore jurisdictions for which they are responsible who have taken a different view to us. The Foot Review helpfully produces evidence to the effect that, although the international financial activity in the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories is important to the territories concerned, the global effect of the financial flows generated is not particularly significant.

One other important area is the way in which external relations impact on domestic legislation and policy. International conventions bring benefits for the people of Anguilla, whether it be limiting marine pollution or enshrining the rights of the child. It is important that all countries fulfil the obligations imposed on them by the key conventions negotiated at the UN and its Specialised Agencies. Such obligations will require Anguilla, for example, to abolish the use of corporal punishment in schools here to meet our obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights.

In practice, of course, much of Anguilla’s “foreign policy” is rightly carried out by EXCO.  Anguilla has membership or associate membership of the ECCU, OECS (we are hosting its Summit very shortly), CARICOM and other regional arrangements, and business there is dealt with by the elected Ministers. I suspect membership of regional organisations will become ever more important for all Caribbean territories, and I have observed that in this region independent and non-independent countries co-operate very successfully in a way that is fairly unique to this region. Ministers and officials were responsible for negotiating a series of Tax Information Exchange Agreements recently.

So external relations are a feature of the partnership which is at the heart of the governance of Anguilla, and I am sure the UK and Anguilla Governments will continue to work together in this area for the good of Anguilla