Minister says UK 'ought to' discuss giving Channel Islands seats in parliament
The UK's Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Steve Baker, told ITV News the UK "ought to have" a conversation about how the Channel Islands are represented in Westminster.
A British government minister suggested the Channel Islands should be given more of a voice in Westminster, echoing comments made by the Speaker of the House of Commons last week.
Steve Baker MP, the UK's Minister of State for Northern Ireland, did not commit to any specific measures but told ITV News it's a "conversation we ought to have".
He said: "Jersey has about the population about the size of a constituency, so it's difficult to see how it would be more than one Member of Parliament representing the Channel Islands, possibly two, but it's a conversation that we possibly ought to have".
But Mr Baker said he was "not aware" of any current plans on the issue.
It comes after comments last week from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who said the Crown Dependencies have been "overlooked for too long" and had been "excluded" from UK parliament debates which affect them.
Mr Baker was in Jersey on Monday (15 May) speaking to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which was meeting in the Channel Islands for the first time in the group's history.
Kristina Moore, Jersey's Chief Minister, says it is important to maintain good relations with the UK without the island losing its autonomy.
Jersey's Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, also addressed the meeting. Afterwards, she spoke to ITV News and said "It's important that we always communicate with the United Kingdom government and also backbenchers and opposition in the United Kingdom."
She added: "We have a voice and we maintain good relations at all times, we have good channels of communication. I think that's really important.
"But the UK parliament does not legislate for us, we have our own assembly as does Jersey and the Isle of Man from which we can do that."
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