UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Amanda Milling said she wants to be “a champion for the Overseas Territories” during her first visit to the Cayman Islands last week.
It was the minister’s first visit to an overseas territory since taking office in September last year, and followed the Joint Ministerial Council meeting in November 2021 in London.
That meeting had shown a desire to work together and emphasised the importance of the relationship between the UK and its territories, “which are family”, Milling said at a press conference at Pedro St. James on Friday.
COVID response
In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK’s ability to support its far-flung territories with vaccine donations demonstrated the true value of the bond.
She said trips like the one to Cayman were an opportunity to deepen the relationship and build on the cooperation during the pandemic.
The response to COVID-19 had been one of several topics of the minister’s packed agenda during the week. It included visits to the COVID test and genomic sequencing lab, the field hospital and welcoming the British Airways flight with the latest batch of vaccines donated by the UK.
To get an overview of the UK’s shared responsibility for border security, Milling met with the police, Coast Guard and Cayman Islands regiment.
Environment
In her meetings with Cabinet, the minister discussed future cooperation and was briefed on government’s commitment to address Cayman’s environmental challenges and work to develop sustainable polices.
Milling met with representatives from environmental activist groups, and on Little Cayman heard about the Department of the Environment’s efforts to preserve biodiversity, including the Rock Iguana and the Central Caribbean Marine Institute’s work on coral restoration.
The UK’s hosting of the United Nations’ COP 26 conference on climate change last year underscored the importance of the environment and climate change, “and that we all have a clear responsibility to ensure that we do everything that we can to tackle this,” Minister Milling said.
“I really welcome the premier’s ambitions and real leadership in this area.”
She said climate change unites all the overseas territories, because they are most vulnerable to the effect of hurricanes and storms and the impact on coral reefs.
She added, “The UK government is here to support through a number of different programmes and also technical assistance.”
The UK will also continue its support in relation to the imminent inclusion of Cayman on the EU’s list of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering, and other financial services issues.
“I know that a lot of progress has been made in terms of this area,” Milling said.
Asked whether she was comfortable with government’s plans to increase debt as part of the current budget, she said it was down to the government to make those types of decisions on how to govern the Cayman Islands.
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