Proposal to give Gibraltar and OTs representation in Lords revealed amid Chagos debate

A former special adviser to David Lammy has revealed that he once worked on proposals to give the Overseas Territories their own seats in the House of Lords.

In an article for The Sunday Times, Ben Judah writes that he spent more than a year at the Foreign Office developing the policy before a Cabinet reshuffle saw him moved on.

In answer to GBC questions, the Government has confirmed that the policy aligns with its own position.

As an Overseas Territory, Gibraltar has no direct representation in Westminster - something that campaigners have long fought for.

Writing in The Times, a former special adviser to former Foreign Secretary David Lammy, says he was drafting a policy document proposing that the OTs have their own seats in the House of Lords.  

Ben Judah says he believes the country is suffering from an ‘almost psychic wound’ caused by what he describes as a ‘vast diminishment’ - referring to the loss of territories as they gained independence.

Mr Judah proposed addressing this by replacing the Overseas Territories with Overseas Kingdoms, which are more integrated into the United Kingdom.

He says: "I did not want to leave the longing for a greater Britain to the right. Then my boss, David Lammy, was reshuffled. The next day I was in the Ministry of Justice, doing comms for prisons."

In answer to GBC questions, the Gibraltar Government says this has been its own position when giving evidence before the Foreign Affairs and Constitutional Committees of the two Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

The Times article follows news that a number of Chagossians, protesting over the UK's decision to hand over the ChagosIslands to Mauritius, had their deportation temporarily blocked by a British Indian Ocean Territory judge.

The ruling complicates the UK Government’s attempts to hand over control of the islands to Mauritius.

The Chagos Archipelago became British territory along with Mauritius in 1814 as part of the treaty of Paris. When Mauritius was decolonised in the 1960s, the islands remained under UK sovereignty, including the joint UK-US military base in Diego Garcia. 

Many Chagossians have opposed the deal which would see the UK pay £101 million annually to Mauritius to maintain control of Diego Garcia. 

Fabian Picardo has previously told Parliament the UK has made the right decision in handing back the islands, demonstrating that decolonised territories cannot be divided.

However, President Trump has called the move "an act of great stupidity."

The controversy continues, as does the campaign for Gibraltar to be given direct representation in Westminster.