§ Mr. Bernie GrantTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make a statement on his meeting on 6 December with a delegation from Montserrat; and what plans he has to meet any other delegations from Montserrat;
(2)what additional powers he proposes to confer on the Governor of Montserrat;
(3)what changes he is contemplating to the constitution of the dependent territory of Montserrat;
(4)what plans he has to lay before Parliament orders relating to the future of Montserrat.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he himself will be meeting the chief Minister and other representatives of Montserrat, now visiting London, before their departure on 9 December, and if he will make a statement on the purpose of their visit;
(2)if he will be allowing the people of Montserrat to express their view before 18 December on the constitutional changes proposed for the dependency; and if any steps have been taken for that purpose;
(3)what constitutional changes are proposed for Montserrat; what will be their effect on local self-government; what independent legal advice is officially available to the chief Minister in regard to the changes; what representations his Department has received in regard to the changes; and what replies have been made;
(4)what steps have been taken to consult the people of Montserrat on the proposed changes to its constitution.
§ Mr. SainsburyWhen I visited Montserrat on 5 November, I put to the Chief Minister certain proposals to improve the regulatory framework of the offshore finance sector and invited his Government to consider them. As these proposals necessitated changes to Montserrat's constitution, we took the opportunity to put forward a draft, incorporating other changes, including consolidating the territory's various constitutional instruments into a single document; and making some other improvements, including a Bill of Rights. A Foreign Office legal adviser went out to Montserrat a week later to explain and answer questions on the proposed new constitution. The Chief Minister was also advised by the Attorney General (legal adviser to the Government of Montserrat).
As part of the consultative process, I had further talks in London this week with the Chief Minister of Montserrat and his delegation. Following our discussions at the Foreign Office on 6 December, the Chief Minister and I recorded the understanding we had reached in an Exchange of Letters on 7 December.
We agreed on the benefit for Montserrat of the introduction of a consolidated constitution for the territory. We made the following undertakings:
- (i)a new Constitution would be introduced as soon as possible by Order in Council, along the lines of that presented to the Government of Montserrat on 5 November, but with amendments agreed between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Montserrat including a provision recognising Montserrat's right to self-determination. The main change to the existing constitution would be the transfer of responsibility for the offshore finance sector to the governor.
- (ii)the Government of Montserrat would enact at the earliest possible date the legislation relating to the offshore finance sector recommended by the
500 Coopers and Lybrand report. Thus, we felt that we could withdraw our earlier insistence that the governor be given powers to promote and pass legislation. - (iii)Her Majesty's Government would provide the necessary technical assistance to enable the Government of Montserrat to set up the necessary regulatory structure for the Montserrat finance sector, as recommended by the Coopers a nd Lybrand report.