London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

The Virgin Islands - post Commission of Inquiry

The Virgin Islands - post Commission of Inquiry

Like Hurricanes Irma and Maria, when the talk was what would the Virgin Islands look like after the devastating storms: it appears the country has learned very little from the two devastating hurricanes.
Now that a Commission of Inquiry is upon us, will the British Virgin Islands learn anything new from another traumatic time in its recent history?

Crises can be beneficial for societies. But only if governments and people learn from them.

Post Irma, the talk was ‘’ we must build better and stronger.’’ And that meant building stronger institutions of governance. However, since 2017 there is scant evidence this learning has been the path followed. It has been business as usual.

Someone described the BVI as being a reactive society: we act when the horse has already bolted from the stables. Whether this is so I leave for people’s personal beliefs. There is a tendency to blame everyone else for the country’s ills: The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Columbian Drug Cartels, down islanders, disruptive youth on illegal scooters, even the expatriate owners of the maritime industry.

In any event, there comes a time for self-reflection, and the time is now.

This is a country in love with the media: social media, talk shows, commentators, and so on. However, the prognostications and diagnostics of social activists, and even the public through these avenues are heard and then ignored. Until, the proverbial ‘’poo hits the fan.’’

And it is impossible to predict how this Commission of Inquiry will impact the country post the report and recommendations of the Commissioner.

Will the UK step in for a period as happened with Turks and Caicos? Will the processes of government be restructured? Or will matters be left alone to the government of the day to correct? It is difficult to perceive the last of the preceding being allowed by the UK after all of the work put in to establish and conduct an official inquiry.

There is no guarantee there will be elections in two to three years. The fact is the BVI is going through a very difficult and unpredictable time.

What brought the country to this place? Were there truly effective checks on the Executive Branch, would the country be in this position? Checks on the impunity of the executive branch can be conducted by the courts, either through the intervention of individuals or organizations. But this has been nearly impossible to initiate, especially under the parliamentary model of government.

‘’Power corrupts:’’ so the saying goes. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human nature is such that very few people exercise power with patience and humility. Hence the need for effective checks on the powers of the executive branch of government.

Consequently, post this traumatic period, any change in the constitution or processes of governance must see the establishment of effective checks on the powers of the Cabinet when excesses are identified. And that check must be conducted in time, and before the damage is done.

Absent of the Office of the Governor- which has been an effective check on Overseas Territory government excess, is there another option of institutional intervention when matters decide that the executive requires circumscribing?

In the US system, the Supreme Court is able to curb excess when the President and his cabinet ‘’run wild,’’ even when the President appoints supreme court justices he believes will support his actions.

Maybe the time has come, absent the intervention of the Governor, where an Overseas Territory’s Chief Justice, together with a team of justices with seats on the Privy Council, is able to intervene when there is clearly illegitimate activity, and swiftly, before the trauma of a Commission of Inquiry becomes necessary.

Absent a check on the executive branch, the result is dictatorship and tyranny.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
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
×