Thompson’s Irrelevance

No one should be surprised about the queer happenings within the DLP under David Thompson. The most recent has been Thompson’s decision to reply to the Economic and Financial Policies (The Budget) delivered by Prime Minister Arthur on March 14^th 2007.

The decision by Thompson to deliver the reply was indeed a serious slap in the face to Dr. Estwick and from his body language disappointment and dissatisfaction was most apparent. Thompson’s unilateral decision to steal the spot light from Estwick has sown even more seeds of disarray in the DLP camp.

Barbadians would recall that Dr. Estwick was Thompson’s appointee as Shadow Minister of Finance and it was his right to deliver the response to the budget. But Thompson, being his usual self allowed Estwick to do all the donkey work and then he just rides in and hugs the spot light. But this kind of behaviour is widely accepted as part of Thompson’s nature because he likes to indulge in the art of political deviousness. He enjoys showing off the dominance of his social class and enjoys it even more when he is humiliating persons the likes of Mascoll, Estwick, Stuart and others. However, no sympathy can be offered to Dr. Estwick for he was just in the wrong pew and no wonder he is now contemplating whether he is in the wrong church as well.

Dr. Estwick must be reminded that Clyde Mascoll found himself in the wrong pew and also in the wrong church and made the decision to uproot himself from Thompson’s surly Dems. Mascoll has shown that strength of character and resolve. For fear of being accuse of “follow pattern” Dr. Estwick has opted to accept the humiliation with the view that if by chance the DLP were to win the election he would make his move to replace Thompson. There is now a yawing cleft within the Dems which cannot be bridged.

But why did Thompson decide to reply to the Budget? In marketing terms Thompson wanted to improve his visibility Index or to put it another way, he wanted to extend his politically decaying shelf-life.

The recent poll has already demonstrated that Thompson has not gained any respect as a leader and hence has attempted at damage control so as to recoup his continuing lost ground.

In giving the reply, Thompson has gained nothing and his party has suffered even further. His proposals which were intended to back raise Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s presentation are so reckless that Barbadians are now even more resolve than before that the DLP is not ready to lead this country.

Thompson’s action is a manifestation of his dealings in earlier events when he and others attempted to rid Errol Barrow of the Presidency of the DLP. They charged then that Barrow was irrelevant for the times. Errol Barrow is now a National Hero and it could only have been out of sheer political expediency that Thompson would lead that March to the reopening of Independence Square. So Dr. Estwick, if Thompson can find you irrelevant, you are in good company with the Rt. Excellent.

Barbadians have now seen Thompson for what he truly is and has always been. He has considered the Rt. Excellent Errol Barrow as irrelevant and has now extended that thought to Dr. Eswtick and he will do it to many more of the Dems. His back-raising of the Prime Minister’s proposals with all the recklessness inherent in them is not for Barbados but the enhancement of himself. So let him be.

Indians Still Coming

From the Nation

 

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, the Bharat Army (from India) is still coming, but they’re not happy about it at all.

Despite their team not making it past the first round of the Cricket World Cup 2007, at least 6 000 Indian fans are still expected in the Caribbean, albeit “reluctantly”.

This is according to Suranjan Cooray, manager of Travel and Tours Anywhere and business manager for the Barmy Army (England) and Bharat Army. He said while the failure of the Indian team had basically eliminated the last-minute bookings they had been expecting, those who had already booked would be coming.

“People are upset because they [the team] have failed. We have about 6 000 people, but they are coming reluctantly. They are going to be slightly deflated. Generally the Indian market books very late. We would have had a lot of bookings from America and Britain this week, but that didn’t happen.

“The people who have booked already, they are the ones who are coming,” Cooray said in an interview with the MIDWEEK NATION.

Meanwhile, on the Bharat Army online forums, Indian cricket fans have been debating how best to get rid of the Super 8 tickets they have already bought. Many have decided to give them to charities in the Caribbean, so they can pass them on to underprivileged people.

Well contrary to the feeling that the Indians are not coming and this feeling the the CWC will be a failure. It would appear that the Indians are still coming and we will look forward to having them.  Eventhough your team may not be in the final the respect and love for the game remains irrespective of who is playing.

Take Heed Thompson

Youth Development in Barbados continues to be a baffling concept to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Barbadians are convinced that the DLP has no vision for the youth of this country. In a desperate attempt to appear interested in our country’s youth, they have been accusing the government of failing the youth. This is indeed ironic on a number of levels. We have witness for the first time in our young men and women who would have otherwise been excluded from the mainstream of our society, under a DLP administration, being brought into meaningful engagement in youth programmes under Project Oasis. However, the Dems have rejected the value of this project to the country’s youth.

 

Opposition spokespersons continue to bash the project even though a significantly high number of their youth constituents are beneficiaries. One only needs to cast one’s minds back to the 1989- 1993 period of economic hardship under the DLP, where young men and women were forced to use illegal means to survive. Lest we forget that gang violence among districts was rampant and self esteem among youth was at an all time low. It took the return of a BLP administration in 1994 to introduce bold and progressive initiatives to raise youth development in Barbados to a higher level. The creation of the Division of Youth Affairs; which now spearheads the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) Programme, Youth Development Programme (YDP) and the revolutionary “Project Oasis”, were introduced by this Government to offer our young people the opportunities to establish themselves in non-traditional areas of employment.

 

Every civic minded citizen is without doubt that under this Owen Arthur led Government, Barbados continues to be the beacon for our counterparts in the region regarding youth development. It is commendable that for the last three to six years our Youth Development Programme has been used as the model of best practise in the Caribbean. This speaks to the vision of our party and the high respect it holds for our country’s young productive citizens.

 

We now see the DLP feeding the minds of our young people with nothing but empty promises and clouded vision. The fear of our youth under a DLP Government lead by David Thompson that their highest level of aspiration is “bus fare and lunch money” is justified. Never once has Thompson offered any tangible proposals to advance the social and economic potential of our youth – a void for which we are not surprised. We only need to reflect on the overwhelming reception of the League of Young Socialists of the BLP at a recent Service of Worship at the St John Parish Church in the constituency of St. John. The warm welcome with which the parishioners gave to the Youth arm speaks volumes. But the lengthy discussion which was pursued following the service convinced us that the overarching concerns of the constituents should not be ignored or left for the architect of the elusive St. John Development Plan.

 

The youth of St John are fed up with the level of representation from their representative. They have stated emphatically that they want greater leadership for the constituency and a clearer vision for their lives. They have stated without apologies that they are tired of a style of representation that consisted only of a representative that is seen at every local fete and carnival. Thompson you should take heed. The youth of St. John have spoken.

 

The Ten Point Plan for Transformation

The second generation of reform and transformation must now be set in train.

We respectfully suggest that the following constitute the essential matters on

which our efforts to continue to transform Barbados for the better must be

concentrated.

 

1. We must expand the effort to build a genuine export culture in Barbados.

2. We must institute new measures to take all of our productive sectors to a new higher level of       performance    and competitiveness.

3. We must significantly raise the level of savings, both as the means to protect the balance of payments, and to raise the resources to finance investment in an expanding economy.

4. We must institutionalize and secure the gains which wage earners and enterprises have realized from tax reform and put in place a dynamic programme of tax reform to meet the needs of the working poor.

5. True to the provisions of our National Strategic Plan we must institute measures to make Barbados truly a model of a Green, Environmentally sound Economy.

6. We must aggressively implement measures to significantly reduce the rate of inflation and the general level of prices.

7. We must aggressively and positively address problems relating to affordable housing, access to land and land prices.

8. We must expand the scope of our programme to eradicate poverty.

9. We must open new areas of special development that can enhance our capacity to generate jobs, foreign exchange and income.

10. Finally we must boldly liberalize our financial sector and change our approach to the use of exchange controls to enable Barbados to realize its potential to be the leading financial centre in the region, and an important location for  the performance of international business of all sorts.

Answering the Critics

The article published by Barbados Free Press

 UPDATED: DLP Approved The Security Legislation

“If a party wants to officially register their objection they will call for a divide before a bill is passed this means that the bill will ring and all members are summoned in to the chamber the clerk calls your name in turn and you say yay or nay.

This is usually done when a party wants to register an objection. This was not done.

If there is no intent to register an objection then the bill is passed without division.”

… Dr. William Duguid, MP for Christ Church West & General Secretary of the governing Barbados Labour Party – commenting on whether or not Opposition DLP Leader David Thompson and his MPs objected to the legislation that gave powers to foreign soldiers and police on Barbados soil for Cricket World Cup.

Original Question As Posed…  

Our original information indicated that Opposition Leader David Thompson and the DLP elected representatives voted FOR the Cricket World Cup legislation that came to a vote around February 27, 2007 or so.

“This legislation gave powers to foreign soldiers and police on Barbados soil for Cricket World Cup.”

We are now informed by one anonymous commenter that Thompson and his party members voted AGAINST the CWC legislation.

If the Opposition all voted against the legislation, then we are in error in criticizing Mr. Thompson and his DLP members. (Note: We are NOT in error. See comments from Dr. Duguid above)
End of BFP Post 

  

Contrary to what the DLP and Velzo would have you  believe and they further chastized the BFP for carrying this story we will now post the evidence that Dr. Duguid was infact CORRECT and did not  fly any kite or try to deceive anyone or spin the issue..

The truth will always win and when backed by sound evidence it is the most powerful weapon in any arsenal.

The people of Barbados can now see Velzo and the DLP for the liars and spin doctors that they really are.

 

As you can clearly see the matter relating to Police Forces visiting Barbados for CWC is order number 14.

It was agreed to without division as stated by Dr. Duguid.

The matter where division occured is order number 13 which was not the bill referred to by Barbados Free Press and refers to a Treaty on Security Assitance among Caricom Members  states only. It does not refer to police or CWC and this is where the divide came.

Velzo We have very clearly shown that you are the great deceiver in all of this. 

GOTCHA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The People’s Budget

 

 

From the Nation

 It was a display of sheer brilliance and political superiority that best describes Prime Minister Arthur’s presentation of the Economic and Financial Statement (known as the Budget) to the House of Assembly last Wednesday evening. It was the people’s Budget presented by the people’s Prime Minister in a style that befits the humility of the man.

This Economic and Financial Statement, hereafter refer to as the Budget, has beyond the shadow of a doubt confirmed why the popularity of our beloved Prime Minister continues to grow by leaps and bounds as shown in the last opinion poll and why this BLP Government will be given the mandate in the next general elections to continue to manage our affairs.

This column has repeatedly made the point that Prime Minister Arthur and his government is a “third term government in a first term mode”. What other way can you explain the wave of ideas that continues to flow from this administration? And again in this Budget the unveiling of a host of fresh and creative initiatives will require a full assessment of the real impact they would have on our society. When one carries out an accumulative assessment of the Budgets over the last thirteen years, one sees a clear pattern of consistency of governance and clarity of vision. This country is in capable hands.

This Budget will prove to be a serious challenge for Thompson and his fragmented opposition party. Firstly, they will be challenged at the level of ideas. Their continuing failure to offer one realistic idea to the Barbadian electorate has resulted in the Dems not being ready to handle the very serious task of governing the country. The nonsense of not offering any ideas to the public for fear that they may be stolen by the government must now go out of the door. Thompson, Estwick, Kellman or whoever is making the reply to this Budget has a very tall order and must come good if they are to impress the Barbadian electorate.

Secondly, at the level of credibility the other five members of the Opposition can claim innocence to the political disaster of 1991, not so with Thompson. He was the Minister of Finance. His political reputation now precedes him and his economic ability engulfs him. Additionally, the Dems will be challenged at the level of vision, clarity of thought and consistency of purpose. Who will present the reply to the Budget? This is critical in determining the likely person to be the Minister of Finance in a future DLP government. The fact that there is a web of uncertainty as to who this person is, twenty-four hours before they reply, demonstrates the level of confusion that abounds in that party.

But this Budget is not about the Opposition – the jury (public) has already delivered its verdict. This Budget is about preparing every Barbadian to assume their role within a “First World Barbados”. In the words of the Prime Minister it is about “expanding wealth and creating a new level of prosperity”. It is in this context that we applaud the Prime Minister’s vision for those involved in the “Welfare to Work Programme, the Youth on the Block Programme, his tax reform policies and his business development programme. The help coming for prospective home owners, the solution recommended to address concerns in our health care sector and the issues relating to the land are all evident not only of a Government that is listening to the people but that is prepared to act on their behalf.

DUMB FOUNDED DEMS

The poll commissioned by the Nation Newspaper has conclusively shown that the people of Barbados continue to repose trust and confidence in the Owen Arthur lead administration. Further the Barbados Labour Party retains and enjoys a strong, deep and resilient connection with the electorate and is in tune with their dreams, desires and aspirations.

This is in stark contrast to the irrefutable fact scientifically proven by all of the polls in this series over the last 18 months. “DEMS NOT READY.” And they have failed miserably in their poor attempt at being a viable alternativeThat is the clear message that the electorate of Barbados is sending through this poll. Thompson is running a distant second in the preferred leader category and their combined leadership is less than a third of that of the Barbados Labour Party. The DLP or its leader has not convinced the electorate that they can chart a true and steady course for Barbados in the same professional and diligent manner that the BLP has been able to achieve often in hard and extremely difficult times for the last 13 years.

The second lesson to be learned is that there is an increasing desire for change but this change may be achieved by changing the way Government does business or changes in the policies and programs Government is pursuing. This would be a passive change as it is clear that the people are uncomfortable with the DLP and Thompson pales in comparison as a leader to the Rt Hon Owen Arthur.Even deep in the BLP administration’s third term there is still a freshness in the approach of the Government. Recently a 20 year Strategic Plan for the Government was unveiled this was followed by a National Energy Policy demonstrating to all that the Government is still pursuing new, innovative and creative solutions to the problems the country and its people face on a daily basis. It is obvious that some of those who desire change will still not support the DLP. The burning question that follows from this then must be

Change to What ?

Even with their heightened activity Thompson’s Leadership numbers have in fact declined echoing the sentiment that his bunch are not thought by the electorate to be able, capable or prepared to take over and rightly so.

The present DLP squad is nothing more than mirrors and smoke screens with a great deal of style and miniscule substance with no policy whatsoever especially on the vital issues facing this country as it relates to the economy.

Dr. Debt prances and parades lots of problems and no solutions and he has only managed to impress 3 people out of 893 that he could even be considered in the leadership column.

Seventy one percent (71%) of those polled clearly showed a preference for leadership by the Barbados Labour party in contrast to twenty eight (28 %) for the DLP.

This is portrayed graphically in fig 1. Preferred Leader by party.

 

PREFERRED PRIME MINISTER

BLP RED

DLP GREEN

The dumb founded DEMS are now facing the stark reality that six months later even less people feel that they are likely to win the next election as can be seen in fig 2. Further three times the number of people feel the BLP will be victorious at the next election while the opposition numbers continue to decline.

 

PARTY LIKELY TO WIN

BLP  RED

DLP GREEN

 The Prime Ministers popularity continues to increase and well over half of those polled identified him as the preferred leader. With him still being the preferred leader even among DLP supporters would clearly put many of them still in the category of “Owen Dems” as there is still a significant number of DLP supporters who approve of and can identify with the strong social and economic policies and programs of the Owen Arthur administration.

The pollster also predicts a small 1.5% swing away from the BLP this clearly is not enough to cause a change in administration and will be contained and reversed in some measure by targeting those constituencies that may be deleteriously affected.

The Opposition leader with no horns and very few teeth is clearly no match for the formidable Prime Minister. This is clearly a body blow to the opposition which has dissipated their enthusiasm as the DLP’s loser leader who has now become accustomed to losing and is so doing continues to cause immense grief to his party and in spite of their heightened activity have still registered a decline in their poll numbers.

He has never and it now seems likely that he will never lead them into an election victory after having lead them into defeat on two occasions and now heading for a third as he has conclusively displayed his inability to win an election with a long negative track record.

The smart, articulate and astute people of Barbados are not prepared or willing to put their affairs in the hands of a neophyte with an even less qualified team behind him.

The results of this poll have been significantly damaging to Thompson’s credibility as a leader and it will not be long now ,with this poor showing, before members of the DLP will be calling for his hasty departure. Indeed it may have started already. This will put them in meltdown mode again. A place to which they are very familiar we saw it in 1994 when they lost the Government after the no confidence motion, again in 1999 when they suffered a crushing defeat of 26 to 2, then again to 2006 after a bruising leadership battle and eventual departure of none other than the then opposition leader.

Further in 2005 when Mr.Clyde Mascoll was the Leader of the Opposition Thompson’s preferred Prime Minister rating was 25% and now that Mr. Clyde Mascoll has left the DLP his rating is hovering around the same figure as Thompson has not been able to capitalise on Mr. Mascoll’s departure. This is in contrast to the Prime Minister’s rating which has surged ahead from 33% in 2005 to 52% in 2007.

With the results of this scientific poll it would appear that another defeat is imminent for the DLP with or without David Thompson.

The Barbados Labour Party will continue to pursue sensible well thought out programs and policies as we move closer to achieving the vision of becoming a fully developed society that is prosperous, socially just and globally competitive by the end of 2025.

Rumblings in George Street

 

  Thompson’s showing in the recent poll has had a profound if not devastating effect on the Dems and in particular a few of his most ardent supporters. As far as the St. John Constituency is concernded, severe rumblings have been heard and this does not augur well for Thompson,

The youth in the St. John constituency have been able to observe the failure of Thompson as their parliamentary representative and no doubt the young people have been riled by the consistent froth which emits from Thompson’s mouth. His development plan for St. John has always been non-existent and the youth now see him for what he always has been. These young people, yearning to make a worthwhile contribution to society and of course themselves and their families, have been publicly expressing their embarrassment at Thompson’s only way of helping them through his inept policy of “lunch money and bus fare”.

Thompson’s poor showing in the poll has now caused one of his staunches supporter – the negrocrat, to openly canvass his demise. This negrocrat is grossly embarrassed after all the marketing effort that was invested, but he must take the bitter with the sweet for not adhering to the proverbial saying “don’t ship all your sugar in one vessel”. Barbadians know only too well that this negrocrat is so vociferous against a BLP Government that he will do anything to get rid of us. But that is his lot and he must bear his own cross.

Critical to Thompson’s failing to impress upon the Barbadian electorate is his continuous relationship with the main financier – the insured land lark. The public’s perception of this financier’s expectation that, with the killing of the fatted calf, he would receive the major portion liver, legs, shoulders and t-bone, has not gone down well with the electorate. What will be left for the rest of Barbadians would only be the tripe. It is therefore quite easy to understand why the electorate has determined that the killing of the fatted calf will be a fleeting elusion.

This land lark with all his pomposity may which to continue to throw his considerable financial barrel behind Thompson hoping that the impossible happens. His generosity to Thompson would hardly invoke the wrath of his principals from over and away. He would have realized that humming birds are very fragile creatures.

But what can the rest of the DLP do to rectify the sad situation in which they have found themselves. It seems like all they can do is put a spin on the situation in a desperate hope to save face. But at the end of the day how will they confront the other sitting members of the opposition who see Thompson as ineffective. No doubt opposition members are very troubled with the situation and it is quite likely that some further political blood letting would come to George Street.

Those former DLP candidates must now feel since of vindication and must be saying we told you so. Barbadians can only await the warfare in George Street as members of the Dems further divide themselves and draw their verbal swords.

The people of St. John are now finally beginning to feel what the rest Barbados has felt about Thompson for some time. They are now growing weary of him and are willing to publicly show it. With the Prime Minister Arthur’s South/East Development Plan clearly in sight, we welcome the participation of the people of St. John.

Dismal David

We don’t understand what all the secrecy is about with respect to the poll conducted by Wickham for the Democratic Labour Party about two weekends ago. This is a country that prides itself on freedom of speech and the right to information particularly when that information impacts upon them.

A reliable source has revealed that the results of the poll have been given to one of Thompson’s staunches supporters at the Nation who, according to the source, has expressed disappointment to the poor response to the leadership of David Thompson in the sample survey. This supporter was overheard saying that he does not know what next to do to boost Thompson’s political image.

That the results have not been published the public should ask why. We are convinced that the decision not to publish the results is a clear indication that the results are not to the liking of the Dems and the persons who bank-rolled the effort. Clearly the expected hype from recent activities of Thompson and others did not materialized and all the efforts put in must now be accepted as nothing more than a complete waste of time and money.

The directive given to Thompson and some of the candidates to go into their respective constituencies and talk up a storm – create some activity, has had no effect whatsoever. As a result, we are told that the DLP has been asked to write-off constituencies such as the City, St. Michael West, St. Michael South Central and some of the other seats considered marginal by the Dems and currently held by the BLP.

Thompson’s failure to make even the slightest improvement in his leadership drive has little to do with his political skills but more to do with the public’s inability to trust him. It is absolutely clear that the electorate does not hold Thompson in any regard. It must be accepted that if this view is carried forward into the next election, we have no doubt that Thompson will not only be a third term loser but his political demise will be most certain. St. Lucia will therefore be the recipient of this politically naked immigrant.

There is already immense disquiet amongst the senior party stalwarts with respect to Thompson’s ineffective leadership style. The members of the party including the Parliamentarians are now secretly searching around George Street in a desperate hope to find someone who can save the Dems from extinction after the next election.

But where does all this leave Wickham, Greaves, Sleepy Smith, McClean and the other henchmen who were heard on the call-in programmes daily trying to convince Barbadians that Thompson was the savior of the Dems. After all of that charade, the evidence reveals that Thompson is in fact the albatross around their necks.

What the results of this poll have indicated is that political leaders are not bought and marketed like products on a supermarket shelve. No better example of this can be found than during the election of 1994 when the Rt. Hon Owen Arthur, during the final meeting of the campaign at Bay Street held up a document which he said was to be returned to the sender. Such is the integrity of the man then leading the opposition. Today the Opposition leader is made of diluted stuff.

Whether the results of the poll are publish or not, the BLP will remain focussed on offering Barbadians enlightened policies and programmes that will continue to transform their lives for the better. That is the only way we know how to win an election.