I’m still unable to leave Montserrat, so it looks like I’ll be here for a while. My partner, whose contract ends at the end of next month, has to go. She has a mortgage to pay, and no sane person will run up debts in the current economic situation. The world is not a happy place at the moment, but the UK is heading for a full-blown humanitarian crisis, so she can’t afford to hang around. She has found herself a rather glamorous Procurement Manager job in central London and is due to start in November.
In last week’s FCDO review, I saw that the Governor and Premier have written to FCDO in London with a list of improvements required to the procurement function. It didn’t say what they were but I have no doubt they know what they are doing. I’m sure there will be a seamless transition to the new arrangements in November. I’ll be watching.
We are happy to go, and we actually applied for a job share in another British Overseas Territory at the start of the year. They didn’t like our proposal, though, so I have instead decided to study an LLM in Procurement Policy and Law, which I enrolled on last week, and my partner has decided to join the British Civil Service (specifically the Department of Culture, Media and Sport). We have decided to go our separate ways professionally as I am still interested in the Overseas Territories, and am still technically the Caribbean correspondent for a couple of online procurement journals. In the year we left to come here, I was shortlisted for procurement professional of the year (in the world, I think), but that doesn’t count for much over time, so I need to put some effort into restarting my career.
It’s all exciting, and the only problem has been that two months’ notice (or three if you count from when her job was advertised) isn’t enough to sort out a new job and all the other things you have to do when you emigrate. Also, there is a lot that the GoM has to do before we go, and they are not driven by the same sense of urgency that we are. For example, we are still waiting for the written explanation from GoM (in accordance with General Order 805) of why they mistakenly believe we aren’t entitled to a flight home (per the employment contract). There are several other even bigger issues to resolve too. For example, we can’t close the bank account until the various tax issues have been sorted out and all the salary owed has been paid. These matters are all out of our control.
We have decided that she will only get out on time if I stay on for a bit. We don’t live together in the UK anyway, so it’s not a problem. I’ve booked her a flight out on the 5th of November and booked flights for her children to come and get her and carry her optical equipment. The British Civil Service has agreed to replace her office equipment, which is now very old, so she only needs to use her own for remote work. Worryingly, it was cheaper to book a return flight from the UK than it was to book a single from here, paid for in dollars, and booked with a UK credit card. Things are not looking good for the UK.
We’ve had the cats chipped, but one got distressed and ran away, so we couldn’t give her the rabies jab. So I now can’t leave until two months after I find her. Not unless I leave her here anyway. There is still the option of leaving some of them, and we have had some interest from potential adopters, but I don’t need to rush into a decision now. The most dependent one could probably stay in my flat in England.
I’ve spoken to Immigration, and they say I can stay on after my visa expires in November. I need to persuade my landlord to let me stay on for a while too. There is no agreement yet, and he’s threatening to kick me out, but I don’t want to relocate three or possibly four cats at the moment, particularly as one is already spooked. The rapidly devaluing pound doesn’t help either, so a cheaper house might be inevitable, eventually, if I stay too long. I earn my money in UK pounds, so living in Montserrat on a UK income has become very expensive. I have to go to the UK in January and don’t know whether I’ll be back. There is still too much uncertainty. I can live anywhere, so could come back and outlast another Governor, but we’ll see. At the moment, my plan for November and December is to study and sleep. I need a break.
Craig Brewin’s Blog 