GUERNSEY will weaken its position with the UK when its signs off a new framework agreement, it has been confirmed.
Chief Minister Lyndon Trott (pictured) will put pen to paper on the agreement which leading advocates have already said is a retrograde step. With the UK not budging on the wording, which drops the need for Guernsey to agree to the UK acting internationally on its behalf, the island was apparently left with few options.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the framework document clarifies, in broad terms, the constitutional relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies and sets out their international identity.
When asked whether the framework meant that the UK could act on behalf of Guernsey without its agreement, he said: ‘The UK is responsible for the international relations of the Crown Dependencies, including international agreements and obligations, and acts for them in those respects - but, by convention, it does not do so without consultation.’
External Relations Group member Dave Jones backs Guernsey having a bill of rights that replaces the constitutional position in law. ‘The Ministry of Justice is adamant this is the only wording they will accept.’
The External Relations Group discussed it at length. ‘I put forward my reservations. I simply don’t believe the wording is strong enough,’
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