As the British Virgin Islands (BVI) gears up for constitutional negotiations with the United Kingdom, Premier Dr. Natalio Wheatley has vowed to push back against any attempt to diminish the territory’s control over key institutions, promising to “negotiate very hard” to protect BVI’s autonomy.
Speaking on the Virgin Islands Voice radio programme last week, Premier Wheatley laid out his administration’s priorities ahead of the highly anticipated talks. At the top of the list: retaining local authority over immigration, customs, and the territory’s Financial Investigation Agency.
“We are going to negotiate very hard with the United Kingdom to ensure that we are able to maintain control of our immigration department, maintain control of our customs department, maintain control of our financial investigation agency,” Wheatley said.
These negotiations follow a critical self-assessment tied to the 2022 Commission of Inquiry (COI) reforms, which were enacted after the UK threatened to impose direct rule over the BVI. Dr. Wheatley noted that the government had made major progress on implementing the UK-BVI Framework for governance reforms, passing about 17 pieces of legislation and completing extensive policy work.
“We were on the brink of direct rule, and now we have a pathway to self-determination,” Wheatley said. “We fought through and we got through it.”
Although the BVI remains under an Order in Council that allows the UK to suspend the constitution if governance benchmarks are not met, the Premier said a formal self-assessment report had already been submitted to the UK’s Minister for the Overseas Territories. A decision on the next steps is expected by the end of June.
While expressing appreciation for the UK’s support during the reform period, Wheatley stressed the importance of moving beyond the current oversight framework. “We cannot stay in the position where we are forever… We have to be able to advance, we have to be able to move forward.”
The Premier also addressed recent tensions stemming from a UK-commissioned law enforcement review, which local leaders fear could undermine the territory’s autonomy. In response, Wheatley said a letter articulating the BVI’s concerns had been drafted and urged all 13 members of the House of Assembly to sign it in a show of unity.
“We want every single member to join together in lockstep,” he said. “Not one over here doing their own thing and another over there doing their own thing. I look forward to all 13 members signing that letter and [to us] having a united front and a united voice.”
The upcoming negotiations could shape the BVI’s constitutional future, as the territory continues its push toward greater self-governance.
