UK Labour government insider proposes incorporating BOTs into Britain

In a recent interview with Winston Marshall, former UK government foreign affairs advisor, Ben Judah, made some very provocative comments about the future of the British Overseas Territories, including Bermuda (podcast links, timestamped youtube link).

The bulk of the interview was about the UK decision to hand the Chagos Islands (a BOT like Bermuda but hosting a US military base of the very highest level of importance for the USA and UK) over to Mauritius. Judah was intimately involved with those plans as special advisor to David Lammy, the then Foreign Secretary. He has been tagged as one of the most influential people shaping progressive British politics.

The part of the interview about Chagos is very interesting in itself, but the reason I am sharing it is Judah’s thoughts on the British Overseas Territories more generally. To be clear, Judah was merely an advisor in Government, but his views will reflect a strand of opinion within Government, and point to a possible future for the territories.