Leader of the opposition party, People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), Hon. Alden McLaughlin has come back fighting in reply to Premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush’s presentation of a government motion for an emergency spending plan instead of a budget last week.

McLaughlin said he had never been more worried about the state of affairs in the Cayman Islands.

“I have never seen such recklessness,” he said. “Such inattention to duty and such glibness about what is a major national crisis. Here we are, on the eve of the close of the month of June, in this House, debating a motion for the government to have authority to spend two months’ worth of the budget, with no budget to look at, no opportunity to question or challenge what the government policies are, what the programmes are, no Throne Speech – not at the start of this government’s term but on the occasion of what should be its final budget for this term. It is his responsibility to deliver a budget.”

The PPM leader pointed out that his party had never failed to deliver a budget on time. He hammered Bush’s “miraculous turnaround” in the public finances, which had enabled him to give the cost of living allowance back to civil servants. If this was the case how could the premier continue to blame others, and the opposition in particular for his failure? He called the United Democratic Party (UDP) government “visionless and clueless” and said they were incompetent.

“I do not believe Mr. Bush’s assurances about a $1 million deficit, anymore than I believe that we had a $25 million surplus in August of last year.” He said he had a problem in believing anything the premier said anymore.

And pointing to “rhetoric” over all the government projects planned, he said, “Virtually nothing in government’s plan has actually happened. The place has been on auto-pilot while the premier has partied in London, Honduras and Panama.”

McLaughlin then went to town on what he called government’s excessive spending and mentioned the Cohen and Co. failed loan deal and its subsequent costs and the GLF cruise facility breach of agreement settlement of $2.1 million.

“The National Building Fund and [similar projects] are nothing more than vote buying schemes,” he said.

McLaughlin said he had been the whipping boy for the state of the government’s finances even after 3 ½ years of UDP rule and he (Bush) was also blaming the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the civil service when the blame lies with the premier.

“The point the premier misses in the budget problem is not the FCO but spending more than we are earning,” he said. “If we haven’t understood that by now, then God help us. The premier is not only the author of his own misfortune but unfortunately that of the country as well.”

During the debate North Side independent MLA, Ezzard Miller called for Mr. Bush to resign as the minister of finance. He said the one job he has every year is to produce a budget and he hasn’t done it. He urged the premier to hand the responsibilities of the ministry of finance over to another minister in his government.

“The failure two years ago to produce the budget on time which necessitated an amendment to the law, the failure a year ago to present a budget within the new time frame, bringing it at the last minute so it was rushed and the discussion curtailed with no detailed answers from anybody,” he said. “And the most miserable failure of all is to not be able to produce a budget at all this year. When people so consistently fail at their most important job they should be relieved of their responsibilities.”

Lamenting this year’s opening of the LA’s lack of pomp and ceremony and no throne speech delivered by the Governor with no live media coverage, Mr. Miller said, “For me, it is embarrassing and I am ashamed to be a member of this honourable House that is establishing this kind of history in this country.”