British Virgin Islands broadcaster urges ‘benevolent dictator’ as Mandelson arrest follows tip-off
Claude Skelton Cline has called for a “benevolent dictator” to steer the british virgin islands through mounting governance, population and preparedness challenges. His remarks coincided with the Commons Speaker confirming he passed information to police that preceded the arrest of Lord Mandelson.
British Virgin Islands leadership call
Talk show host Claude Skelton Cline, speaking on his Honestly Speaking radio programme this week, argued the territory requires stronger and more decisive leadership amid global instability and local policy gaps. “We need a bad — a double scribble leader in this country. A benevolent dictator, ” he stated, acknowledging the sensitivity of the term and adding: “I hate to use the word dictator in this era of Trump. But the adverb or the adjective is benevolent. ”
Governance, census and population
Skelton Cline framed his remarks within a wider critique of governance, saying the territory has “lost control” of key policy areas and declaring: “We are not just losing control of this country. We have lost control. ” He pressed for clarity on the long-delayed census, asking: “What is the status of our census exercise… Why is it that that exercise in regards to our census has never been completed, report never been gotten, nothing published. Why?” He further claimed that available figures suggest the population is rising sharply: “The data and the numbers they do have so far, we are 50, 000 people in the Virgin Islands going north. ”
Immigration, infrastructure and security
Skelton Cline compared the territory’s immigration framework with those of other UK Overseas Territories, citing the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and Bermuda, and arguing the Virgin Islands lacks clear statutory limits on work permits and population management. He warned of vulnerabilities around fuel storage, food security and infrastructure planning, saying the territory remains exposed to global supply chain shocks and declaring: “We can’t wait until it starts raining to build an ark. ” He urged residents to prepare at the individual and community levels: “One of the ways to minimise worry and stress… is preparation… Prepare spiritually. Prepare mentally. Prepare emotionally. Prepare financially. ” He also called for enforceable policies to address population growth, derelict vehicles and long-term planning.
Speaker passes information before arrest
The Metropolitan Police apologised to the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, after he confirmed he was the source of information that led to the arrest of Lord Mandelson. Sir Lindsay told MPs he had given “relevant” information to the force and said he had done so “in good faith”, considering it to be his “duty and responsibility”. “It is regrettable this rapidly ended in the media, ” he added. He did not provide details of the information he passed on, but he said it was information he received in the British Virgin Islands during a visit last week that Lord Mandelson was planning to travel there.
Arrest, detention and searches
Lord Mandelson was arrested at his London home on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office and taken to Wandsworth police station for interview. He was at the police station for nine hours before being released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It is understood he surrendered his passport as one of his bail conditions, and the Metropolitan Police has bailed him to the end of May. The arrest followed search warrants at two addresses in Wiltshire and Camden. On Monday, he was seen being led away from his London home by plain clothes officers who put him in the back of an unmarked car. The arrest was carried out by officers from the Met's central specialist crime division. Consultations between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are ongoing.
Lawyers’ response and police assessment
Mishcon de Reya, Lord Mandelson’s lawyers, complained about the decision to arrest him and said he had agreed to an interview next month. They said the decision to take him into custody was prompted by a “baseless” suggestion he was planning to “take up permanent residence abroad” and called that suggestion untrue. A spokesperson for Mishcon de Reya said: “Peter Mandelson was arrested yesterday despite an agreement with the police that he would attend an interview next month on a voluntary basis. The arrest was prompted by a baseless suggestion that he was planning to leave the country and take up permanent residence abroad. There is absolutely no truth whatsoever in any such suggestion. We have asked the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] for the evidence relied upon to justify the arrest. Peter Mandelson's overriding priority is to cooperate with the police investigation, as he has done throughout this process, and to clear his name. ”
Protocol, credibility and past allegations
Senior officers from the Met will meet Sir Lindsay on Wednesday to explain the situation, which the force regards as a serious breach of protocol. The force is understood to have conducted its own assessment of the credibility of the information before deciding to arrest Lord Mandelson on Monday afternoon. Lord Mandelson’s lawyers have written to the Met asking what information and evidence they based their decision on. The arrest comes after the force launched an investigation earlier this month over allegations that, while he was serving as a minister, Lord Mandelson had passed on market-sensitive government information to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; other coverage of the same matter described Epstein as the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Local reactions and online comments
Listener and reader reactions to Skelton Cline’s call and the wider issues ran from support to condemnation. Posted comments included: “YOU ARE RIGHT, WE NEED A DICTATOR LIKE YOU, OR YOUR PATHNER “JUDGE WIGGIE”, BY THE WAY, HOW COME YOU AIN’T BLAMING THE WHITE COLONIALIST SLAVE MASTERS? ?”; “It’s not any of your uncles so drop your crap from now. ”; “Man for a pastor there is a place in hell for you. But let say witn all the talk if it your family running county not word. You just there to put a sword. Wicked”; “watch the show, the guy has some good points”; and “Have you ever seen one? Problem is they have unchecked powers and eventually use them for their own benefit and crush their people. They also don’t know when to leave. I very much like the idea of the people choosing their own reprresenatives with a strong set of checks and bal”.
Senior figures in Westminster have also been drawn into the sequence: Lord Forsyth was twice named as a source of the information passed to police but denied involvement on Tuesday evening, calling the suggestion “entirely false and without foundation. ”
Both the call for firmer leadership in the british virgin islands and the developments around Lord Mandelson have left officials and residents pressing for clearer data, firmer policy and tighter protocol on how sensitive information is handled.
Closing: Claude Skelton Cline urged stronger leadership, improved data and enforceable policies to change the territory’s trajectory, while the Metropolitan Police has apologised to Sir Lindsay Hoyle and is addressing the procedural fallout from the tip-off that preceded Lord Mandelson’s arrest.
