THE UK Government will not act internationally on Guernsey’s behalf ‘without prior consultation’, it said yesterday. A 10-point document, designed to clarify the constitutional relationship with the Crown Dependencies, said that it would also ‘seek to represent any differing interests when acting in an international capacity’.

But it has not been stated openly that the islands have lost the power to veto actions proposed on their behalf.

The framework – drawn up by the chief executives of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, and officials from the Department of Constitutional Affairs – appears to be in contrast to DCA guidelines which state that ‘UK legislation does not normally extend to the Crown Dependencies and must never be extended to them without their consent’.

Asked whether the UK could be prevented from taking a particular action, a spokesman for the DCA said he could not comment on a hypothetical situation.

‘Although the UK remains responsible for the international affairs of Guernsey, by convention it does not act for Guernsey in such affairs without prior consultation,’ he said.

Chief Minister Mike Torode said that there was a lot of things that the UK could and could not do in respect of Guernsey’s international position.

‘It means what it says,’ said Deputy Torode. ‘The UK will not act internationally on behalf of Guernsey without prior consultation. As Deputy Dave Jones would say, it does exactly what it says on the tin.’

Jersey’s international relations officer, Mike Entwistle, in the absence of Chief Minister Frank Walker, said if there was an occasion when there was a differing of opinion, the UK would seek to represent Jersey’s differing interests in an international capacity.

Deputy Torode said the document did not affect the constitutional arrangements of the islands.

‘I believe that it is a positive and helpful expression of political support from the DCA for Guernsey’s stated objective of developing its international identity,’ he said.

However, the framework remains unsigned because the DCA has concerns over Sark.

The Policy Council’s statement and the draft framework document may be downloaded as either a Word or plain text file.