Wheatley Praises UK for Restraint
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley commended the United Kingdom for choosing not to impose direct rule after the Commission of Inquiry recommended suspension of parts of the Virgin Islands’ constitution. He said local leaders’ decision to form a Government of National Unity and pursue governance reforms helped avert suspension and led to the formal revocation of an unused Order in Council in March 2026.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has praised the United Kingdom for exercising restraint after the 2022 Commission of Inquiry (COI) recommended the possible suspension of parts of the Virgin Islands’ constitution and the imposition of direct rule. Speaking in the House of Assembly during a debate marking the formal revocation of the reserved Order in Council, the Premier said the UK ‘‘had every intention of suspending the Constitution’’ but ultimately chose not to follow through on Sir Gary Hickinbottom’s recommendation.
The COI report, published in April 2022, proposed sweeping governance changes that prompted the UK to prepare an Order in Council as a contingency measure. Wheatley told legislators that the threat was real and not merely theoretical, noting the UK’s readiness to take similar action in other overseas territories.
He said that restraint by UK ministers and governors should be acknowledged, and that their engagement in negotiations over reforms had been ‘‘very difficult and arduous’’ but constructive. Faced with the possibility of suspended self-government, local political leaders came together to form a Government of National Unity.
Premier Wheatley credited that cross-party unity — including cooperation from opposition members who joined the effort — with enabling the territory to implement reforms and demonstrate a commitment to strengthening institutions. The Order in Council, prepared but never brought into force, remained on reserve until March 2026, when the UK formally revoked it after deciding sufficient progress had been made on governance reforms.
Wheatley said the outcome proves the Virgin Islands can reform its own institutions, practise good governance and deliver for residents without losing democratic control. He urged continued momentum, saying the experience should boost public confidence in self-governance and inform ongoing constitutional discussions. ‘‘We must not stop on this journey… we need a leadership that will encourage us to keep taking steps forward,’’ he told the House.
For BVI residents, the episode underlines both the fragility and the resilience of local democratic institutions: fragility in that external intervention was a genuine possibility, and resilience in that local leaders and civil servants worked with UK officials to address the COI’s concerns and remove the spectre of direct rule.
The Premier’s comments close a chapter that began with the COI report in 2022, but signal the work on reforms and constitutional dialogue will continue.
Primary source: BVI News