UK will not stand in VI’s way of independence– Dr Pickering
Appearing as a guest on the special edition of Honestly Speaking with Claude O. Skelton-Cline on ZBVI 780AM on October 20, 2022, Dr Pickering added that The United Kingdom does not owe the VI anything in terms of where the county is at the moment.
“We have a legal relationship with them, not a moral one. They don't have any moral obligation to us They have a legal responsibility because of a colonial historical past that we continue to allow. The question is do we want to continue along that path?,” he questioned.
Dr Pickering reminded that it is a decision for the VI to make and not the United Kingdom's.
“The United Kingdom is not going to stand in our way if the majority of people in this country said they wanted to break ties, they're not going to stand in our way… I've heard that enough time to be able to repeat it,” he said.
Independence for VI to demand - Dr Pickering
Dr Pickering noted that the matter of independence is for the VI to demand what it wants from the UK.
“But we cannot demand what we want until we understand what it is we want and understanding what it is individually and collectively,”
He said the VI may be going through challenging periods of its domestic economic, social, Intellectual and spiritual lives.
“Just a reminder that the butterfly is proof that you can go through darkness of varying intensities and still become something beautiful, still become a masterpiece design by that great creator of humankind,” he said.
He called on the VI be like a butterfly.
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14 Responses to “UK will not stand in VI’s way of independence– Dr Pickering”
What will we gain and what will we lose as a territory?????
You all only hinting on the matter but no one is letting the country know the consequences of going independent !!!! That is the damn conversation we need to have. You all keeping the answers to yourselves because of being in a position of power but right now before independence we need good governance damnit!!!
Moreover, under UN charter, the VI as 1 of 17 remaining non-self-governing territories (NSGT) and its people have the right to pursue the self-determination status of its choice, ie, independence, integration, free association, or some other status. Further, the UK as the ‘Administrative Power’ tasked by the UN has the responsibility for assisting, guiding, and helping the VI pursue a full measure of self-governing. To date, the UK has not push the throttle all the way forward in the self-determination effort. For example, the VI constitution is a dependency-modeled constitution with the UK-appointed Governor having unilateral power(retain powers and special responsibilities, reserved powers, assent power) and few devolved powers. And any devolved power can be easily reversed , ie, suspending the VI constitution and imposing direct rule as is currently the case. A referendum giving Virgin Islanders the opportunity to choose a self-determination status, including independence is needed soonest. The self-determination status needs to be settled at least for the near term and the other critical issues attacked. The change of political status should be based on a majority vote(50%+1 of eligible voters), not just a simple plurality of votes cast. To date to my knowledge and among OTs, only Bermuda, Gibraltar and Falkland Islands have had self-determination referendums.
Living among us are many ethnic Europeans fro the UK. Some of the children af Grandchildren also. The UK has the right to see to it that good governance is being administered in the BVI to ensure their lives, as do we locals, belonged, and residents, Spiritually, socially, economically, mentally, physically, and educationally.
Over the period of many years, especially in this new Millinium, good governance has not been administered fairly among the various demographic of our people, especially good money management by many of our past elected politicians. The UK has the legitimate rights to demand of our political leaders better governance for the people of the BVI.
Please don't misunderstand me. I am not challenging that we should not seek for independence. But before independence there most first be genuine accountibility to the UK, our head ruler, our Overseas Boss, and the general public, the politicians local Boss.
Thank you for your timely explicite outline of our needed goal for future independence, but fist thing first then the othees following accordingly in line with true democratic standards.