Barbados to ditch Queen Elizabeth II as head of state
The island nation of Barbados has decided to distance itself from the UK by removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and transitioning to a republic.
The Caribbean island-state has expressed a strong desire for “full sovereignty” by the time it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the UK in November 2021.
“The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind”, the Caribbean nation’s government said.
The proposed move has been framed in an anti-colonial context with a speech written by Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, quoting the island nation’s first PM, Errol Barrow, who famously warned against “loitering on colonial premises”.
“This [removing the Queen as head of state] is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving”, the speech read.
For its part, Buckingham palace struck a non-interventionist tone by saying the proposed move was a matter for the “government and people of Barbados”.
The Barbados’ government statement was part of the Throne Speech, which sets out the government's policies and programs ahead of the new session of parliament.
While the speech is written by the island nation’s PM (Mia Mottley) it is actually read out by the governor-general, Dame Sandra Mason.
If Barbados follows through with its declared aim of removing the Queen as head of state it will become the first nation to do so since Mauritius in 1992.
Before that Guyana took that all-important step in 1970, less than four years after gaining independence from the UK. Trinidad and Tobago ditched the Queen in 1976, a move emulated by Dominica in 1978.
Although Buckingham Palace has tried to strike an indifferent tone to Barbados’ bold move, there are indications the British political establishment is worried about the potential repercussions.
According to the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent, James Landale, Barbados’ plan to become a Republic gains additional political significance in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has staged protests across US and UK cities throughout the summer.
Landale expresses concern that if the removal of the Queen as head of state is placed on a par with the “removal of a statue of a slave trader”, that could pose “difficult questions” for both the British royal family and the Commonwealth.
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