The volcano-hit island of Montserrat

Commons to Investigate Short's Role in Montserrat Crisis

The Commons International Development Select Committee wants to see Ms Short before the Commons returns from its summer recess in October. Its chairman, the Conservative MP Bowen Wells, met her in Whitehall and asked her first to submit written evidence to the committee.

Mr Wells said the committee's inquiry into events on Montserrat would be "wide ranging" looking at the role of government departments and officials on the island. The committee also plans to visit Montserrat themselves.

It is unusual for select committees to meet during a Commons recess, but Mr Wells said the seriousness of the situation had prompted the move.

Bernie Grant Attacks Government's "Megaphone Diplomacy"

Bernie Grant: man with a mission

The Labour MP Bernie Grant has arrived on the island to discuss the crisis. Mr Grant is expected to meet Montserratian ministers on the island to talk about the Government's response.

Mr Grant arrived on a mission, he said, to heal the wounds that have opened up between Britain and Montserrat. He blamed what he called "megaphone diplomacy" across the Atlantic for the breakdown in the relationship.

There is growing anger among the islanders that the British Government is not doing enough to help. The people of Montserrat have long been calling on British politicians to come and visit them in their moment of crisis.

Evacuees forced to live in insanitary conditions

Mr Grant said: "We have to sit down face to face to discuss these issues. What I do not accept is that the British government can say from Whitehall and determine what is necessary for the Montserratian people. What I am interested in doing is bringing people together so that we could sit down and talk about the situation."

The MP was taken by helicopter to fly around the volcano itself, and British scientists on board informed him about the increasing dangers it poses.

He is also visiting the shelters, where those made homeless by the volcano now have to live in overcrowded and insanitary conditions.

Mr Grant, who is meeting the island's governor and chief minister, said he wanted to express solidarity with the people of Montserrat and to report back to the British Government on what help they need in both the short and the long term.

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Government of Montserrat and Montserrat Volcano Observatory