Rescuing hundreds of stranded Britons from Libya last week would have been all the more difficult without the protection of the Royal Navy.

The presence of HMS Cumberland patrolling the North African coast was a powerful signal from the government that they intended to protect stranded UK citizens and get them out safely. A level of protection and security that it would seem from the latest decision by the Ministry of Defence is no longer offered to fellow UK citizens on the other side of the Atlantic.

For the scaling back of the Royal Navy's surface fleet as part of recent defence cuts, means that for the first time in history the 200,000 plus British Oversea Citizens spread over six small dependencies in the Caribbean can no longer rely on a Royal Navy warship for protection or for help in civilian emergencies such as hurricane relief.

The downgrading of the commitment to send a frigate or destroyer to the region, instead sending a civilian crewed supply ship is evidence, if any is needed, that the Strategic Defence and Security Review is going to have a real impact on the way the UK conducts foreign policy. The reduction of the Navy fleet of frigates and destroyers from 23 to 19 means that the RFA will become entirely responsible for regular patrols in this area.

According to the Ministry of Defence handing over the task to the RFA full time will not affect the Navy痴 ability to carry out its role in the region.

But the irony of Channel 5's fly on the wall documentary 'Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol', currently being screened, surely cannot be lost on senior officers. The very ship featured in this thinly disguised PR exercise, the Type 42 destroyer HMS Manchester, has now been scrapped and along with it the role of regular warship patrols in the Caribbean.

In the past Britain would rotate warships in and out of this region all year round, helping to catch drug traffickers off the coast of Colombia, Venezuela, Jamaica and elsewhere. The mission, also known as Atlantic Patrol Task (North), also provided reassurance to those living in British overseas territories.

As British overseas citizens the residents of Bermuda, the Caymen Islands, British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla and Monseratt have the same rights as UK residents as outlined in the British Nationality Act 1983. This includes the first responsibility a sovereign state has for its citizens, the right of protection.

The presence of a strong Navy presence has been vital to these fragile islands particularly during the hurricane season when helicopter support is crucial in evacuating and supplying remote communities. But it is not just hurricanes that are a risk. Montserrat was devastated by a volcanic eruption 1995 that eventually buried the island's capital, Plymouth, in more than 12 metres of mud, destroyed the airport and made the southern half of the island uninhabitable. Without Royal Navy support at the time the disaster could have been much worse. The patrol also serves as crucial diplomatic role in a region where international tensions continue to be strained. HMS Manchester was recently the first Royal Navy warship to visit Cuba in more than 50 years doing much to improve relations between the UK and island state. Remember also it was the the decision to withdraw the ice patrol ship Endurance from the South Atlantic that finally persuded the Argentinians that the UK wasn't interested in defending the Falkland Islands. Having a forceful presence is an insurance.

These territories are either economically too small to survive as independent nations or have chosen to remain under the protection of the British Crown. Their citizens are therefore entitled to expect the same levels of defence support as if they lived in the Shetlands or the Scilly Isles.

The decision to withdraw regular warship patrols to this region to save money clearly means this is far from the reality.

As 68 Britons were rescued by HMS Cumberland from the Libyan port of Benghazi, the ship's Captain Steve Dainton, said: 'here were some fairly harrowing tales during the last couple of days and certainly there is great deal of relief to see the safety of a Royal Navy warship.”

Unfortunately if you are a UK citizen living in the Caribbean it would appear this guarantee of safety can no longer be honoured.