HAMILTON, Bermuda – Bermuda’s Premier Dr. Ewart Brown completed an important round of meetings with senior Government officials in the United Kingdom today at the site of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton.
The day began with a meeting with Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to HM Treasury.
Premier Brown said, “Mr. Timms had previously expressed his support for Bermuda’s sound regulation and echoed this in our meeting today (Tuesday, Sept. 29). Looking forward to the ‘Foot Report’ on Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, Mr. Timms was confident that the final report would be complimentary to Bermuda.”
In what was their second meeting, the Premier and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband discussed the global economic situation and other issues pertinent to Bermuda.
“The Foreign Secretary is likely to accompany Her Majesty the Queen on her visit to Bermuda in November and I conveyed to him the strong desire of the Government that he meet with key stakeholders in our economy while in Bermuda and I think he understands the importance of this,” the Premier said.
Meantime, the Foreign Secretary reiterated the U.K. Government’s position with respect to the innocent Uighurs formerly detained at Guantanamo Bay and the means by which they came to Bermuda. The Premier expects to receive the U.K. Government’s formal position in writing soon.
Also on the Premier’s meeting schedule today was a first meeting with Margaret Hodge, Minister for Culture and Tourism. “I took the opportunity to make the Minister aware of our keen desire to see competition again on the Bermuda-London route. She was receptive and supportive,” the Premier said.
Mrs. Hodge has extensive Ministerial experience in the area of education and employment which was of particular interest to Minister of Works and Engineering Derrick Burgess who accompanied the Premier at the Labour Conference today. Minister Hodge discussed the U.K. Government’s apprenticeship scheme designed to combat youth unemployment.
Minister Burgess said, “The very real challenges posed by the economy have made these schemes critical to economic rebounds. I will be looking within my Ministry and discussing such schemes with my colleagues as a useful means to address some of our own challenges.”
Dr. Brown added, “I was struck by the problem in the U.K. shared by us at home of attracting young people into the hospitality industry. The Minister took careful note of our Hospitality Institute and commented favourably on our efforts to promote careers in tourism to our people.”
