The Premier of Bermuda has filed a Motion which calls for the House of Assembly to reject what he describes as the unwarranted and unjustified attempt at intervention into Bermuda’s domestic affairs.
This action follows from several recommendations put forth by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that, among other things, all UK citizens who reside in Bermuda should be allowed to vote and hold elected office there, all Overseas Territories (“OTs”) should legalise same-sex marriage, and all OTs should make their beneficial ownership registers public.
The Report does not accept that there is any justification to deny legally-resident British OT and UK citizens the right to vote and to hold elected office and found that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office should establish a deadline for phasing out discriminatory elements of belongership in the OTs. Premier David Burt has characterised the findings and overreaching and called on the UK Government to reject the report and its “retrograde” recommendations.
The Motion is likely to receive bipartisan support in the House.
