UK Speaker hosts inaugural meeting with British Overseas Territories

Sir Lindsay Hoyle has made it a mission of his Speakership to extend a welcoming hand to the 14 BOTs, which are located from the Pitcairn Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean to the British Indian Ocean Territory almost 10,000 miles away.

He told an inaugural virtual meeting of 10 of the islands that have Speakers or Administrators: "For too long I have felt the British Overseas Territories have been overlooked, yet so many of the decisions we make here in the UK have a huge impact on their futures.

"This is why it is so important to me that during my term as Speaker we engage with and learn from all of the British Overseas Territories, so I am really pleased we have been able to make history and connect today."

On the call were representatives from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Sir Lindsay hopes the new forum, entitled Speakers of the House of Commons and Overseas Territories Conference, will help its membership foster contacts, share information and experiences.

The aim is for the meetings, which will be held virtually at first, to include one physical gathering in 2022.