Overseas Territories leaders. From left: Charles W. Misick- Turks and Caicos Islands, Dr Natalio D. Wheatley-Virgin Islands, Cora Richardson-Hodge-Anguilla, E. David Burt-Bermuda and Andre M. Ebanks- Cayman Islands. Photo: Facebook

They all pushed back against re-colonisation and were clear that the partnership between both sides should mean that each OT must be listened to, and consensus and a win-win must be the goal.

The Virgin Islands was proud of our own leader, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), who co-chaired the meeting in his capacity as President of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA).

There must be one standard- Premier of Bermuda

E. David Burt, the Premier of Bermuda, spoke strongly about the blatant double standards as to how the OTs are treated as opposed to the Crown Dependencies, such as Gibraltar and Jersey.

Premier Burt told his hometown newspaper, the Royal Gazette, that “The reality that Bermudians must understand is that Overseas Territory is a new and fancy term for a colony...it’s all semantics, nothing has changed insofar as the nature of the relationship”.

On the issue that is also vexing for the Virgin Islands, the matter of beneficial ownership, Mr Burt made it clear that “The Bermuda Government is going to move in line with international standards and not in line with UK dictates.”

The photo of the day shows the big five OT Premiers who were very vocal at the just-concluded meeting.