Jamaica: King’s Coronation accelerates plans for Jamaican Republic – with referendum ‘as early as 2024’
“God Save the King” – four words unlikely to be on the lips of many Jamaicans at the weekend during the Coronation of King Charles. “Happy and glorious” – also a long stretch.
In a world exclusive, a senior Jamaican government minister has told Sky News that the Coronation of the King has accelerated the country’s plans to become a Republic – as soon as next year.
Sky News can reveal that an “urgent” referendum could be held “as early as 2024”, which means Jamaica could become independent of the British monarchy and have its own president by next year, according to Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s Minister for Legal and Constitutional Affairs.
She said: “While the United Kingdom is celebrating the coronation of the King, that is for the United Kingdom. Jamaica is looking to write a new constitution (…) which will sever ties with the monarch as our Head of State.
Marlene Malahoo Forte
“Time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands. We have to get it done, especially with the transition in the monarchy. My government is saying we have to do it now.
“Time to say bye bye!”
Ms Malahoo Forte has described her timeline as “ambitious”, as it requires public consultations and a Bill being brought to Parliament – which she hopes to introduce this month, after the King’s Coronation.
Passing the Bill could take up to nine months, which would subsequently need to be passed by the people in a referendum – effectively “a general election”.
Why now?
The Former Attorney General said: “A lot of Jamaicans had warm affection and identified with Queen Elizabeth II. When Jamaica became independent, Queen Elizabeth was already on the throne.
“But they do not identify with King Charles. He is as foreign as it gets to us. Plain and simple.”
Malahoo Forte told Sky News that Jamaicans do not identify with King Charles
Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News that her government’s desire for Jamaican self-determination has, in part, been influenced by the Royal family’s “own set of issues internally”.
“Issues,” she added, “which have been playing out in the news. Jamaicans are saying this is a time for Jamaica to sort itself out – and doing so means we want another form of government.”
An apology – or lack of – for the slave trade
According to Ms Malahoo Forte, Jamaica has a “complex” relationship with the United Kingdom.
“(Republicanism) is about us saying goodbye to a form of government that is linked to a painful past of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.”
According to the National Library of Jamaica, during the transatlantic slave trade, around 600,000 captive Africans were forcibly sent to Jamaica – making Britain one of the largest slave traders in the Atlantic in the 18th century.
This historic event is still a major issue in the present.
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Prince William: Slavery ‘forever stains our history’
Last year, during the Prince and Princess of Wales’s controversial tour to the Caribbean – Prince William acknowledged the issue, but fell short of an apology.
In his speech, Prince William lamented that “slavery was abhorrent” and that “it should never have happened”.
However, for the descendants of those once enslaved, his words were simply not good enough.
“A step in the right direction, but not far enough at all,” Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News.
“If you acknowledge that it is wrong… I wonder, why not a full apology? It is because you may have to give back the wealth of the monarchy, taken from the people? Taken from the places that were colonised? Taken from the places where the people were enslaved?”
March 2022: A royal tour beset with poor optics and echoes of colonialism, say critics.
The Question of Reparations
The Minister’s nod to reparations did not stop there. “If there is any sincerity in the acknowledgement, it has to go further,” Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News. “Nothing short of a full apology, plus concrete steps to repair the wrong, will suffice.”
“[Reparations] are what the people of Jamaica want, and it is something that the government will do.”
She added: “I think it is something that the monarchy should think long and hard about as they themselves are grappling with their relevance today. I’ve looked at the polls!”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said that King Charles takes the issue of slavery “profoundly seriously”, and that the matter of Republicanism, “is purely a matter for each member country to decide.”
HMT Empire Windrush arrived in 1948 carrying people from the West Indies to settle in the UK to fill post-war job vacancies
The Windrush Scandal Hitting Home
However, it’s not just the Royals swaying public opinion in Jamaica.
Political decisions made four-and-a-half-thousand miles away in Britain are also responsible for Jamaica’s acceleration towards a Republic, Ms Malahoo Forte told Sky News.
“Jamaicans living in the United Kingdom have experienced the worst of policies that can be regarded as racist.
“Windrush was personal for our people. Personal. Many [affected] are our families, our friends, our people.
“Unfortunately, the UK government got it so wrong. For people who went there to build up the wealth (of Britain). The policies are racist and unjust – by virtue of nationality, ethnic background, and the colour of your skin.
“It’s just not right.”
A government spokesperson told Sky News that the UK is “committed” to its relationship with Jamaica “regardless of its constitutional status”, and that it remains “determined to righting the wrongs of Windrush… to make sure such an injustice is never repeated.”
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Going Republic – ‘The unfinished business of decolonisation’
Professor Rosalea Hamilton, co-chair of the Advocates Network pushing for constitutional reform, told Sky News that the drive for republicanism is “the unfinished business of decolonisation and emancipation”.
She said: “Nobody has been able to put to me – or to anybody – a convincing, tangible benefit for the King as the Head of State.
“Many young people are especially asking what’s the relevance? How does a King affect the price of bread?”
But are Jamaicans ready to sever ties?
“There are Jamaicans who will sit very glued to their television and will enjoy the pomp and ceremony. The older generation… saw Britain as a motherland,” Professor Hamilton said.
In capital Kingston, there are remnants of colonial architecture in almost every street
In Downtown Kingston, Sky News came across a group of elderly Jamaican men playing a heated game of Dominoes.
Banton was among them – he disagrees with the 2024 timeline, and strongly believes that the status quo – with King Charles as the island’s monarch and head of state – should remain.
He said: “The Crown is protection for Jamaica.
Banton strongly believes the King should remain head of state in Jamaica
“I want to tell you sumtin. Stick to the evil that you know. I’m not saying they’re good. They are evil. But I will stick to the evil that I know.”
His friend John added: “It’s not a good idea. We don’t think we are ready for it. We don’t have the resource. We don’t!
“We are like a child. You cannot leave a child like that!”
A Jamaican Republic is far from a done deal – and the Jamaican government have their work cut out for them if they are to stick the timeline they shared with Sky News.
However, if the government’s plan succeeds, 2024 could be a major year with huge ramifications – not just for Jamaicans, but the monarchy, and the Commonwealth as a whole.
UK
Home secretary vows to end UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers – as Denmark-based reforms to be unveiled
The home secretary is set to unveil sweeping measures to tackle illegal migration, vowing to end the UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers.
People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, in the changes expected to be unveiled on Monday by Shabana Mahmood.
Modelled on the Danish system, the aim is to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants and make it easier to deport them.
Planned changes mean that refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review, with refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.
The Home Office said the “golden ticket” deal has seen asylum claims surge in the UK, drawing people across Europe, through safe countries, onto dangerous small boats.
Under current UK rules, those granted refugee status have it for five years and can then apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to citizenship.
As part of the changes, the statutory legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked.
The government will seek to remove asylum support, including accommodation and handouts, to those who have a right to work and who can support themselves but choose not to or those who break UK law.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Pic: PA
‘Last chance for a decent politics’
A government source said Ms Mahmood believes her reforms are about “more than the electoral fortunes of her party”.
“This is the last chance for a decent, mainstream politics. If these moderate forces fail, she believes, something darker will follow,” they said.
“But this demands that moderates are willing to do things that will seem immoderate to some. She has reminded those who are reluctant to embrace her ambition for bold reform, with an ultimatum: ‘if you don’t like this, you won’t like what follows me.'”
Ms Mahmood said they were the most sweeping changes to the asylum system “in a generation”, as she vowed the government will “restore order and control to our borders”.
The home secretary also told The Sunday Times that “I can see – and I know my colleagues can – that illegal migration is tearing our country apart”.
Read more:
What Sky News witnessed after tip-off about migrant crossings
Could Danish model save Labour’s bacon?
System being ‘gamed’
The source said Ms Mahmood believes the system is being “gamed by those travelling on boats or abusing legal visas”.
Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey across the Channel so far this year, according to the latest Home Office figures.
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The gangs smuggling people to the UK
That is an increase of 19% on the same point in 2024 and up 43% on 2023, but remains 5% lower than at the equivalent point in 2022, which remains the peak year for crossings.
What happened in Denmark?
The UK government points to Denmark remaining a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, while also cutting the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years and successfully removing 95% of rejected asylum seekers.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Labour government has “lost control” of the UK’s borders” with illegal channel crossings “surging to over 62,000 since the election”.
He said some of the new measures were welcome but “they stop well short of what is really required and some are just yet more gimmicks – like the previous ‘smash the gangs’ gimmick”.
Mr Philp added: “Only the Conservative borders plan will end illegal immigration – by leaving the ECHR, banning asylum claims for illegal immigrants, deporting all illegal arrivals within a week and establishing a Removals Force to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants each year.”
And Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, said: “These sweeping changes will not deter people from making dangerous crossings, but they will unfairly prevent men, women and children from putting down roots and integrating into British life.”
Ms Mahmood will be appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.
UK
Rail worker who protected passengers during mass stabbing on Huntingdon train discharged from hospital
The train crew member who was seriously injured while trying to protect passengers during a mass stabbing has been discharged from hospital.
Samir Zitouni, 48, known as Sam, was working on board the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train from Doncaster to London when the attack began in Cambridgeshire on Saturday 1 November.
LNER said Mr Zitouni, who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, was credited with helping to save multiple lives.
Mr Zitouni had been in a critical condition, having suffered multiple injuries in the incident, but was discharged on Saturday.
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Mahmood praises rail worker
His family said: “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from the public, and very touched by all the kind words about Sam’s brave actions on the night of the attack.
“While we are really happy to have him home, he still has a significant recovery ahead and we would now like to be left in privacy to care for him as a family.”
Earlier this month, LNER said he has been a “valued member” of staff for over 20 years, working on board as a customer experience host.
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Train mass stabbing: A timeline of events
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: “In a moment of crisis, Sam did not hesitate as he stepped forward to protect those around him.
“His actions were incredibly brave, and we are so proud of him, and of all our colleagues who acted with such courage that evening. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Sam and his family. We will continue to support them and wish him a full and speedy recovery.”
The attack is understood to have started shortly after the train left Peterborough, with passengers pulling the emergency alarms on the LNER service.
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Police believe train attacker filmed waving knife
Train driver Andrew Johnson, who served in the Royal Navy for 17 years, contacted a signaller and requested an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station.
11 people were treated in hospital after the mass stabbing – nine were initially reported as having life-threatening injuries.
Anthony Williams, 32, was remanded into custody at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on November 3, charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the incident.
He will appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.
Donald Trump has said he will sue the BBC for between $1bn and $5bn over the editing of his speech on Panorama.
The US president confirmed he would be taking legal action against the broadcaster while on Air Force One overnight on Saturday.
“We’ll sue them. We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion (£792m) and five billion dollars (£3.79bn), probably sometime next week,” he told reporters.
“We have to do it, they’ve even admitted that they cheated. Not that they couldn’t have not done that. They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
Mr Trump then told reporters he would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend, and claimed “the people of the UK are very angry about what happened… because it shows the BBC is fake news”.
The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month that an internal memo raised concerns about the BBC’s editing of a speech made by Mr Trump on 6 January 2021, just before a mob rioted at the US Capitol building, on its flagship late-night news programme.
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BBC crisis: How did it happen?
The concerns regard clips spliced together from sections of the president’s speech to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell” in the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.
Following a backlash, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness resigned from their roles.
‘No basis for defamation claim’
On Thursday, the broadcaster officially apologised to the president and added that it was an “error of judgement” and the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.
A spokesperson said that “the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited,” but they also added that “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim”.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn unless it apologised, retracted the clip, and compensated him.
The US president said he would sue the broadcaster for between $1bn and $5bn. File pic: PA
Legal challenges
But legal experts have said that Mr Trump would face challenges taking the case to court in the UK or the US.
The deadline to bring the case to UK courts, where defamation damages rarely exceed £100,000 ($132,000), has already expired because the documentary aired in October 2024, which is more than one year.
Also because the documentary was not shown in the US, it would be hard to show that Americans thought less of the president because of a programme they could not watch.
Read more from Sky News:
Key findings in 20,000 pages of documents in the Epstein files
Banksy art theft lands burglar with 13-month prison sentence
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Sky’s Katie Spencer on what BBC bosses told staff on call over Trump row
Newsnight allegations
The BBC has said it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph, that its Newsnight show also selectively edited footage of the same speech in a report broadcast in June 2022.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”
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