Black Immigrant Daily News

The late Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II

Anguillians, and the rest of the world joined the nation of Great Britain, and its other realms and territories, in a final farewell to the late Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II, with a military procession and state funeral on Monday, September 19, 2022.

Anguilla’s Governor, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, and Premier, Dr Ellis Webster, were among world leaders, and foreign royalty, who joined King Charles III and the Royal Family for the funeral service at Westminster Abbey.The day began in sombre pageantry as the Queen’s lying-in-state in Westminster Hall had ended and her coffin was mounted on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, drawn by 142 sailors in a solemn procession to Westminster Abbey.King Charles III walked alongside the coffin with his siblings, the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, and Princes Andrew and Edward. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex walked side-by-side behind their father along a route lined by representatives of all parts of the military.

Thousands of people packed Windsor’s Long Walk as the Queen made her last journey to the castle, where she and Prince Philip had spent the Covid lockdown.

As the Queen’s coffin passed Buckingham Palace for the last time, staff stood outside to say their final goodbyes.

The funeral cortege then drove the 28 miles from London to Windsor, along a route that avoided motorways – to allow as many as possible to pay their final respects.

Throughout the route, thousands of mourners lined up to make their own emotional farewell – some with tears, some with applause and others with flowers strewn at the hearse.

As the funeral procession entered the Abbey, world leaders, politicians and foreign royalty stood as the coffin was carried up the aisle to be placed on a catafalque – draped in the royal standard with the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre on top.

A unique floral wreath from the Queen’s son, King Charles III, was prominently displayed on top of the coffin. A handwritten message from the King – “In loving and devoted memory, Charles R” – was placed in the wreath of flowers cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Highgrove House and Clarence House at his request.

Members of the Royal Family were prominently seated together in the Abbey. Some of the youngest members of the family were notably in attendance at the service – the Queen’s great-grandchildren Prince George and Princess Charlotte, aged nine and seven, and sat with their parents the Prince and Princess of Wales.Prime Minister Liz Truss and her husband were present alongside cabinet ministers and all of the UK’s surviving former prime ministers. They were seated in the abbey’s quire.

Presidents, representatives of foreign royal families, and heads of government, were also present and joined the 2,000-member congregation at the Abbey for the funeral service.

At the service, the Dean of Westminster paid tribute to the Queen’s “lifelong sense of duty”, and the Rev David Hoyle spoke of her “unswerving commitment to a high calling, over so many years, as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.

“But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered, when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten.”

Westminster Abbey holds much of the late Queen’s own personal history. It is here where she was married, and where her coronation took place. Psalm 23 – The Lord Is My Shepherd, was sung at her wedding, and was also heard at her funeral service.

Towards the end of the service, the nation came to a standstill for two minutes’ silence, then the Last Post was played – by the same musicians who performed it at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral at Windsor last year.

As the service neared its end, the crown jeweller removed the instruments of state – the imperial state crown, the orb and sceptre – from the coffin before they were put on the altar, symbolising the end of the Queen’s reign.

King Charles III then placed on the coffin a small crimson regimental flag called the Camp Colour – traditionally used to indicate the location of the commanding officer. The Lord Chamberlain, former MI5 chief Lord Parker, also “broke” his wand of office and placed it on the coffin. The snapping of the staff signals the end of his service to the sovereign as her most senior official in the Royal Household.

The coffin was then lowered into the royal vault, as the Sovereign’s Piper played a lament and exited the hall.

The congregation stood silently with the King as the national anthem was sung.

The funeral service for the late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, was watched on television around the world. It was the first state funeral since Sir Winston Churchill’s in 1965, and the biggest ceremonial event since World War II.

After the funeral service – in a non-televised event – the Queen’s coffin was taken by gun carriage to Wellington Arch and then on to its final journey to Windsor Castle and a committal service. The committal service was conducted by Dean of Windsor David Conner, with a blessing from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Queen was laid to rest on Monday night, next to the Duke of Edinburgh, at a private family service in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, located inside St George’s Chapel, a statement on the Royal Family’s official website said. A senior palace official had said previously it would be “entirely private, given it is a deeply personal family occasion”.

When Prince Philip died 17 months ago, his coffin was interred in the Royal Vault of St George’s – ready to be moved to the memorial chapel when the Queen died. The Queen’s parents and sister Princess Margaret are also buried in the vault.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Mr. E. Valentine BanksMr. David Carty

Former banker, Mr. E. Valentine Banks, and climate change activist, Mr. David Carty, have joined the CEO of the Anguilla Electricity Company Ltd (ANGLEC) to help with the electricity company’s thrust to migrate from fossil fuels to renewable energy technologies, through exclusive local participation in the renewable sector and the renewable energy roll out initiative. Mr Banks and Mr Carty spoke to the issue on the radio programme Talk Anguilla Rebranded, Part 2, on Wednesday, September 21.

Mr Banks said that he was excited about Mr Sutcliffe Hodge’s appointment as the new CEO of ANGLEC, and noted: “As a minority shareholder in ANGLEC, I was aware of some of the situations that have plagued the company over the years, and I felt that a lot of the issues came out of policies that seemed to be dragging the company in a direction that it should not have been going in.

“If Mr Hodge was going to achieve what he enunciated as his goals and objectives for ANGLEC, he needed to have solid systems in the company for dealing with human resource and corporate issues. That is where I have some experience for over 20 years, so I volunteered to assist him if he needed my services in ensuring that policies and procedures were aligned with his thinking.”Mr Carty reiterated that his only involvement in ANGLEC is underpinned by his desire to assist the CEO of ANGLEC in “his iron-clad commitment to make the change to renewable energy, a position that I have been advocating for so many years.”

Mr Carty stated that he wholeheartedly supports the CEO’s argument for exclusive local participation in the renewable sector and roll out.

He said: “We cannot, should not, must not, do otherwise than to hold ANGLEC in Anguilla, for Anguillians and run by Anguillians.”

While he acknowledged that the Government may want to do things differently from the way the ANGLEC Board and Management want to do things, Mr Carty cautioned government “not to be lured into a quick fix – the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which has been on the table for renewables for over 20 years.”

He explained that although the legitimate business pitch of PPAs allows for a company to fund the purchase and implementation of the renewable system, at a contracted price for a specific period of time, the PPA typically goes on for 20-25 years:

“Whereas, you can be lured in by [the premise] that you don’t have to outlay your capital, but can buy a contract and pay it out over a number of years, in ANGLEC’s case, that would be millions. Although that’s a lure, you have to look at it for the long-term.”

Mr Carty made the point that whereas in the past, it might have been easier to go the route of PPAs due to cost, today, because of climate change issues, moneys are more readily available for funding renewable energy roll outs, making it less attractive to choose a PPA option:

“Climate change is now becoming a planetary issue. As a result, more and more funding is becoming available for renewables simply because one of the fastest ways to save the planet is to stop burning fossil fuels – diesel and gasoline – and switch to using renewables.

Mr Carty indicated that he plans to assist the CEO in finding the best source of funding for ANGLEC to roll out its renewable energy initiative, either through institutional lending agencies – at less than 2% – or through non-governmental agencies and grants facilities around the world that are eager to offer funding to make the transition to renewables.

He urged the government not to be lured by ‘the quick fix’ but, instead, to “sit down with a very objective conversation with ANGLEC to find a rational way forward.”

Mr Banks outlined, from his professional standpoint, a way forward for ANGLEC and the government in finding a resolution to achieve the objective of migrating to renewable energy:

“ANGLEC has over 1,000 small shareholders with the government, in a sense, controlling ANGLEC. Unfortunately, the government is also one of the largest creditors of ANGLEC, and at this point in time there is not a clear path that the government has put forward for dealing with that obligation.”

He stated that there has not been a sit down between government and ANGLEC, or a meeting of the minds regarding the issues, and expressed concerns about recent decisions made by the government and the Governor – concerns about the timing of the appointment of an Electricity Commissioner and the questioning by, and directives of, the National Security Council.

Mr Banks shared that the issue of government’s debt owed to ANGLEC must be addressed, especially in light of the rapid increases in fuel prices:

“Two years ago, the cost of diesel was EC$7.00/gal. On a yearly basis that was $40.8 million. Today, the cost of diesel is EC$16.00/gal which means it is over EC$93 million a year. That is over 100% increase – a huge gap which has to be dealt with.

“So, a creditor can’t just say, we’ll deal with it. There must be a real way to deal with it. And I think it can be worked out. I think these things have not really been addressed as they should be.”

Mr Carty underscored the fuel cost issue by emphasising that ANGLEC is burning over 16,000 gallons of diesel everyday and has to pay for it. He noted that whereas in the past they were paying EC$41 million, today they are paying EC$93 million, a difference of EC$52 million annually.

Mr Carty offered a suggestion as to how government can deal with the debt owed to ANGLEC, and proposed that the Government mortgage some of its shares to help ANGLEC at a time when it is preparing to develop a renewable energy plant.

The Government of Anguilla, the Social Security Board and the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA), own 79% of ANGLEC’s shares, combined and Mr. Carty observed:

“One of the options the government can exercise is to call in the Board of Directors of NCBA and Social Security and formally pool their shares together, mortgage the value of the shares and raise funding on a temporary basis, or long-term basis to get ANGLEC over the bump – a year or two of having to continue buying diesel.”

Mr Carty expressed frustration that over the years, the government and ANGLEC had not made the connection between ANGLEC and climate change:

“It has infuriated me for fourteen years that governments and ANGLEC have never tied ANGLEC and renewable energy to climate change. They have never understood that the obstacle of climate change was the way to get renewables.”

He noted: [The] “Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has recognised that energy independence and climate resilience have to be tackled by getting concessionary funding for renewables.

“Anguilla desperately needs water, but the water needs electricity and that electricity isn’t being paid for.

“Here is where the government has to be creative and walk with ANGLEC [and others] and say to the British Government that we have a major environmental issue, and the way to start with it is to help ANGLEC stop pumping green-house gases into the atmosphere – change from diesel to renewables, and we have a plan.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The crisis crept up on Gareth Southgate.

Just 14 months ago, England were playing in a European Championship final — and coming oh-so-close to winning it — backed by fans who rediscovered their connection with the national team.

Fast forward to the last few days when Southgate’s players — without a win in five games or an open-play goal getting on for 500 minutes — were holding private meetings without any coaches present.

Jeered by England supporters in the team’s most recent home game, a scarcely believable 4-0 loss to Hungary in June, Southgate knew he would be facing even more vitriol if Germany, England’s fierce rival, came away from Wembley Stadium with a victory on Monday.

So, how should the wild 3-3 draw in what in sporting terms was an unimportant Nations League group game be viewed?

The Southgate believers will say it showed a team playing for its coach, especially with England 2-0 down after 70 minutes and looking on course to be heading into the World Cup with another morale-sapping defeat.

The growing number of Southgate’s critics, however, will argue the chaotic 12-minute period — from the 71st to the 83rd — when England scored three goals from three shots to move into a 3-2 lead simply papered over the cracks.

The truth might be somewhere in between.

For now, the storm around Southgate and his players has relented, even if another might be just around the corner in Qatar.

“You can try and avoid pressure but it’s coming,” Southgate said. “Maybe it’s the third group game, maybe it’s a quarterfinal . . . whatever it might be, it’s coming.

“So, better that we feel it and we learn how to deal with it. We talked about how we needed to react if Germany scored and the players reacted in the right way.”

Indeed, things had gotten so bad for England that Southgate said, perhaps tongue in cheek, he had almost forgotten what it felt like to see his team score a goal.

So when Luke Shaw scored to make it 2-1 with his first goal for club or country since that Euro 2020 final, in doing so ending England’s 565-minute drought without a goal from open play, Southgate’s team was energized.

There followed a curler into the top corner from Mason Mount and a clinically dispatched penalty from Harry Kane and, suddenly, England were awash with belief, looking much more at home as a front-foot team than one sitting back and relying on their creaking defense.

And, despite that recent lack of goals, it is the defense which is Southgate’s major worry heading to Qatar.

On no one will the scrutiny be fiercer than Harry Maguire, at fault for two of the goals against Germany and seemingly a player bereft of confidence after being dropped by his club, Manchester United.

For the moment, Maguire still has the backing of his national coach but the next few weeks at United seem key to his chances of still being in the lineup for England’s World Cup opener against Iran on Nov. 21.

“In these moments, we’ve got to back our best and our most experienced players,” Southgate said, “unless we’re in a situation where, you know, it’s almost untenable and impossible to pick them.”

A shortage of other top center backs may save Maguire, especially with John Stones limping off with a hamstring injury against Germany.

Similarly, at left back or left wing back, Luke Shaw continues to be first choice despite also dropping out of United’s team in recent weeks. Ben Chilwell, a potential replacement, doesn’t appear fully sharp after a long-term injury and didn’t play a minute in this international break.

With the World Cup looming, the big loser over the last few days might have been Trent Alexander-Arnold who, to many, has redefined the role of a right back with his playmaking performances for Liverpool in recent years. With Alexander-Arnold’s defensive ability increasingly questioned, though, Southgate clearly has his doubts and didn’t even include him in the matchday squad of 23 against Germany.

Alexander-Arnold, somehow, looks to be the fourth-choice right back for England and might not make the World Cup squad.

On the other hand, central midfielder Jude Bellingham maybe secured a starting spot against Iran, injury permitting, with a strong display against Germany that improved as the match went.

At 19, Bellingham — a regular starter for Borussia Dortmund — has a long future ahead of him with England.

The same maybe cannot be said of Maguire, and perhaps even Southgate if England doesn’t build on those wild 13 minutes against Germany when the team gets to Qatar.

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