London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

COMMENTARY: BVI a global laughing stock

COMMENTARY: BVI a global laughing stock

The British Virgin Islands has become a global laughing stock.

And only a permanent and powerful governance watchdog will prevent future repeats of the present misadventure and travesty that has beset the islands.

In recent days the Virgin Islands has been in the spotlight, especially in the UK Press. And not for great reasons. The latest is links between the government and a colourful and wealthy character from the UK.

Now any resident travelling abroad today will feel a pain in the proverbial gut telling people overseas, he or she is a citizen of the British Virgin Islands. It is the same feeling one gets when stating you are from Nigeria or Haiti, where poor governance is a culture, with devastating economic and social consequences.

People you tell that you are from poorly managed countries such as Venezuela or Afghanistan will look upon you with pity, consternation, and even sadness, in a world striving forward, in terms of culture, society, technology, science, and innovation.

BVI look upon with amusement


The British Virgin Islands is looked upon with amusement, and even some derision today, when compared with Caribbean neighbours. The simple reality is that the present generation has totally dropped the ball socially and economically. And the future generation appears unprepared for taking over the governance and economy of the island.

The country is looking like a comic book to the international community. The reason for this poor reputation is a very bad press internationally, feeding upon the country’s governance woes.

The latest example of bad press is the allegation that the British Virgin Islands Government plans to spend up to $5m on a high flying UK lawyer and politician, a Member of the UK Parliament, who according to the UK Guardian, attempts to turn the inquiry “from an examination of corruption and misgovernment, into an examination of near- colonialist conduct by Ex-Governor Augustus Jaspert”.

Bad press


The UK Lawyer appears to be paid thousands of dollars an hour, from BVI taxpayer cash, in a country that cannot fix its schools, roads, and the most basic infrastructure.

And this bad press has been a feature of the country’s international reputation for years, with words such as dodgy, corrupt, illegitimate, opaque, and illegal, used to derogate the country by specific journalists and newspapers, especially UK news media.

On the other hand, neighbouring Caribbean islands plough ahead to a greater future, with better social and physical infrastructure, far better governance, even establishing direct travel links with foreign capitals in the USA, Europe, and Asia; while the BVI chases a BVI Airways, that appears to have flown to the moon, and doles out taxpayer cash to people, based upon their connections with politicians.

Roads are the same as they were 30 years ago


Thirty years of self-governance and self-autonomy, and the most infrastructure development to show has been the building of churches on every street corner for the business called religion. Roads are the same as they were 30 years ago.

Then the country after spending millions continues to suffer water woes. Albeit there has been some infrastructure improvement: a state of the art Pier Park, a decent regional airport, and a large fully air-conditioned hospital facility. However, the country should be much further ahead. Foreign investors who rule the global economy will probably prefer to park their cash in the Caymans, Turks and Caicos, and even Anguilla, these days, as these countries have their politicians reined in. How did the Virgin Islands get to this sad place?

Change the sorry trajectory of governance locally


Well, instead of throwing the wool over resident’s eyes with silly assertions, and pontificating on colonialism and racism, and driving up the hatred of migrants and foreigners, the country’s leaders should do everything to change the sorry trajectory of governance in the land, and turn the country’s tailwind receive a tail wind towards a far better future. But that takes competence, vision, and savvy, which is nowhere to be found, apart from the savvy to spend taxpayer cash foolishly.

The tragedy of the Sir Geoffrey Cox affair is that it reads like the type of sleaze and unethical behaviour found in a John Le Carre’ spy thriller. A top UK politician and lawyer defending allegedly crooked officials on a Caribbean Island.

Traumatised


And in a land horribly traumatised by allegations of criminal misconduct and criminal conspiracies at the very highest levels of government, and a Commission of Inquiry that appears to most residents of the Virgin Islands to be the last hope for the tiny country’s welfare, security, and safety, the appearance of a jet setting millionaire, UK high official, politician and lawyer, with vast tentacles and deep links to the top of UK government and society, throws a fog over the Inquiry, and further worsens public cynicism and doubt, that the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry will be fair and just, driving a change towards good governance for the Virgin Islands.

The hire of this wealthy, Conservative Party Grandee, over and above thousands of extremely competent Caribbean lawyers, smacks of the type of executive impunity the Commission of Inquiry was appointed to stop.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×