Aid used in Caribbean child sex inquiry

Posted on 30 September 2018.

Tom Harper, Home Affairs Correspondent

The Sunday Times

David Brandt, who led the Montserrat government from 1997 to 2001, is being investigated
David Brandt, who led the Montserrat government from 1997 to 2001, is being investigated – CHRIS BRANDIS

TMR:

There is so much more to this story in several areas – but seen here taken from the angle which once again shows the bias about money being spent in Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory. There is however a more than suspicious nature of moneys spent as mentioned, which reportedly is more than the £230,000 mentioned in the story. In Montserrat the question regarding the money is, what about the case that warrants almost or over EC$1 million to be spent? Reports are that there is more money being spent in other unrelated matters which represents another situation involving what some refer to as overzealous behaviour, but which is really deeper than that. All matters which must be of concern and interest to the government and the tax payers. Yes there are many issues questions that are much better placed than why the money is spent here instead of there! The writer should note that the money is benefiting their own and not Montserrat. Their research is misplaced and shows the bias only.

Britain has handed more than £200,000 of its foreign aid budget to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate the former chief minister of Montserrat on suspicion of child sex abuse.

Officers from the elite crime-fighting force, dubbed the “British FBI”, are making regular trips to the tiny Caribbean island, one of the UK’s overseas territories, to help police investigate David Brandt, who led the government there from 1997 to 2001.

The NCA inquiry in an outpost of Britain’s colonial past — which was devastated by volcanic eruptions in the 1990s — comes at a time when police chiefs in the UK are warning there is not enough money to investigate the “unprecedented” scale of child sexual abuse at home.

Tony Blair met David Brandt in Downing Street in 1997
Tony Blair met David Brandt in Downing Street in 1997 PAUL HACKETT

Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk police and national lead officer for child abuse investigation, has previously called for increased rehabilitation and treatment for low-level sex offenders, rather than prosecution, in an attempt to meet swingeing budget cuts.

Documents seen by The Sunday Times show that the Foreign Office has assigned almost £230,000 of public money to the NCA inquiry, which is understood to have been active since 2016.

The news will raise fresh concerns over child sex abuse in British overseas territories following scandals on Jersey and St Helena.

The Foreign Office said: “All our funding programmes follow the government’s agreed standards and receive robust financial scrutiny.”

@TomJHarper


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A Moment with the Registrar of Lands

Tom Harper, Home Affairs Correspondent

The Sunday Times

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David Brandt, who led the Montserrat government from 1997 to 2001, is being investigated
David Brandt, who led the Montserrat government from 1997 to 2001, is being investigated – CHRIS BRANDIS

TMR:

There is so much more to this story in several areas – but seen here taken from the angle which once again shows the bias about money being spent in Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory. There is however a more than suspicious nature of moneys spent as mentioned, which reportedly is more than the £230,000 mentioned in the story. In Montserrat the question regarding the money is, what about the case that warrants almost or over EC$1 million to be spent? Reports are that there is more money being spent in other unrelated matters which represents another situation involving what some refer to as overzealous behaviour, but which is really deeper than that. All matters which must be of concern and interest to the government and the tax payers. Yes there are many issues questions that are much better placed than why the money is spent here instead of there! The writer should note that the money is benefiting their own and not Montserrat. Their research is misplaced and shows the bias only.
See for background information regarding this current matter.– https://www.themontserratreporter.com/lawyer-brandt-arrested-charged-on-sexually-related-counts/

Britain has handed more than £200,000 of its foreign aid budget to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate the former chief minister of Montserrat on suspicion of child sex abuse.

Officers from the elite crime-fighting force, dubbed the “British FBI”, are making regular trips to the tiny Caribbean island, one of the UK’s overseas territories, to help police investigate David Brandt, who led the government there from 1997 to 2001.

The NCA inquiry in an outpost of Britain’s colonial past — which was devastated by volcanic eruptions in the 1990s — comes at a time when police chiefs in the UK are warning there is not enough money to investigate the “unprecedented” scale of child sexual abuse at home.

Tony Blair met David Brandt in Downing Street in 1997
Tony Blair met David Brandt in Downing Street in 1997 PAUL HACKETT

Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk police and national lead officer for child abuse investigation, has previously called for increased rehabilitation and treatment for low-level sex offenders, rather than prosecution, in an attempt to meet swingeing budget cuts.

Documents seen by The Sunday Times show that the Foreign Office has assigned almost £230,000 of public money to the NCA inquiry, which is understood to have been active since 2016.

The news will raise fresh concerns over child sex abuse in British overseas territories following scandals on Jersey and St Helena.

The Foreign Office said: “All our funding programmes follow the government’s agreed standards and receive robust financial scrutiny.”

@TomJHarper