London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 29, 2025

HoA Speaker blasts ‘disrespectful’ CoI Commissioner

HoA Speaker blasts ‘disrespectful’ CoI Commissioner

Speaker of the House of Assembly (HoA) Honourable Julian Willock has come to the representation of the legislature and its Honourable Members, following alleged disrespectful treatment meted out by the sole Commissioner of the Inquiry into governance in the Virgin Islands.

Hon Willock was using the occasion of the opening of the Virgin Islands Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Members Training today, Monday, June 14, 2021, to voice his concerns over the behaviour of United Kingdom national, Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom.

Commissioner Gary R. Hickinbottom has allegedly violated parliamentary sovereignty, norms, traditions, convention and the rule of law by asking Honourable members to appear before him on days of HoA sittings despite being told about the schedule of sittings.


‘Blatant disregard for HoA’


After listing a number of concerns with the CoI, which he believes was called by ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert because he was not allowed to get his way with violating the VI Constitution, Hon Willock said what should be of greater concern is the “blatant disregard” by the Commission of Inquiry for the House of Assembly and its members.

"Take for example; the one-man commissioner had the audacity to ask the fifteen grown adult members of the Legislature to write him an essay on what is good governance?”

Speaker Hon Julian Willock was of the view that the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) was called by a 'vexed' ex-governor Augustus J. U. Jaspert because he was not allowed to get his way with violating the Virgin Islands Constitution.


High-handness by CoI Commissioner


Hon Willock said even more insulting and disrespectful was for Hickinbottom to tell professional men and women that they are to use numbered paragraph with no less than 1.5 line spacing and a font size that is no less than 12 and that footnotes should be avoided.

The Speaker said Hickinbottom continued with his “disingenuous behaviour” by suggesting to HoA Members that the position statement must not be more than fifty (50) pages in length and it should not be submitted in PDF format.

“Could you imagine the further high handedness of this one-man commissioner, to tell big men and women in which thirteen (13) were elected by the people of this country that any statement that does not comply will be sent back for amendments? Students nowadays in high schools and colleges are not even given such insulting instructions for a term paper.”

Hickinbottom above the law?


Mr Willock was emphatic that the commissioner continues to violate the rights of members and has no regards for the schedule of the House of Assembly, “where in the British Westminster System it has long been established, almost five hundred (500) years now, that the parliament is sovereign and no other activity, including a commission of inquiry, shall not interrupt the work of parliament.”

The House of Assembly will be sitting this week on June 15, 16 and 17, 2021.

According to Mr Willock; however, Hickinbottom still violated parliamentary sovereignty, norms, traditions, convention and the rule of law by asking Honourable members to appear before him on those dates despite being told about the schedule of sittings.

“Even today many of our Members are not attending this workshop because again they are asked to appear before him on, the day of a Parliamentary activity after we told him in advance of this event.”

Notwithstanding, he said some House of Assembly members, “in the spirit of co-operation”, have decided to so appear before the CoI on the conflicting days.

Members of the UK House of Lords, BVI representative in London and the European Union, Ms Tracy Bradshaw, other Executives and staff of the CPA, were reportedly also in attendance at the workshop opening in a virtual capacity.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
Corrupt UK Politician Ed Davey Demands Elon Musk’s Arrest for Supporting Democracy
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
×