Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of British Overseas Territories on providing those territories with observer status at the Commonwealth Summit in London in April 2018.

​The UK is committed to strengthening the links between Commonwealth countries. The only category of Commonwealth membership is that of sovereign states. Any decision to create a new membership status would need to be agreed by consensus of Commonwealth Heads of Government.

Whilst the Overseas Territories are unable to attend the Heads of Government Meeting in their own right, their interests will be represented by Her Majesty's Government at the Summit next April. My hon. Friend Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN will be discussing a range of issues, including the Commonwealth Summit, with Overseas Territories' leaders at the Joint Ministerial Council at the end of this month.