Two weeks ago four British ministers including William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, plus a large number of senior officials and representatives of UK companies met with Caribbean foreign ministers, officials and others in Grenada. The event, the much delayed biennial UK Caribbean Forum, sought to reset Britain’s agenda with the region.
Opening the meeting, Mr Hague made very clear that the UK wanted to invest in the relationship. “We want to build a new partnership between Britain and the Caribbean that creates opportunities on all sides – in development, climate change, the economy, security and foreign policy,” he said. As such the event marked a defining moment in the UK’s long relationship with the region as it represented a significant move away from the past and an end to any lingering assumptions.
Unusually, the outcome of the forum was not conveyed in a communiqué of the opaque style favoured in the past, but in the form of a detailed action plan setting out what was agreed, identifying future areas for joint activity. This document makes clear that a
