Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Government of the Virgin Islands on constitutional reform and the development of a partnership framework between that Territory and the United Kingdom.

On 14 April, I formally received the Virgin Islands Government's proposals for constitutional reform, some of which draw on the report of the Virgin Islands Constitutional Review Commission, and I discussed elements of these proposals with the Premier on 19 May. My officials will begin to engage in formal negotiations with the Virgin Islands Government in the coming months.

On the development of a partnership framework, I refer the Hon Member to the first paragraph of the answer provided on 7 January in response to Question 101093.