Would the UK ever cut Bermuda loose?

The UK House of Lords is currently running some hearings into the UK's relationship with the British Overseas Territories (BOTs). Bermuda's Attorney General, Kim Wilkerson, is due to give evidence on the 11th February, and I will keep an eye on that.

On Wednesday, they heard from Lord McDonald of Salford, a former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, who has direct experience of working with the BOTs. He gave a window into the usually sealed world of the the Foreign Office. The Royal Gazette reported on some of his comments yesterday. Some of what I draw on below was covered in the Royal Gazette article, but there were also some other interesting comments that did not make the RG report. He touched on what options the UK has for when a BOT might damage the UK's reputation, which leads to some thoughts on when a BOT might be forced to be independent, and even on whether a BOT government could use non-cooperation as a strategy to move towards independence when democratic routes like a referendum may be unlikely to succeed.