I suppose the only mild surprise to me was it took the jury 5 hours to reach a unanimous verdict to find ex-premier McKeeva Bush Not Guilty to his 11 charges of misconduct in public office and breach of the public’s trust charges.

The officiating judge Michael Mettyear had rightly instructed the jury that some of them might be surprised that a premier travelling abroad on business would “spend hours and hours on slot machines,” but their personal feelings toward gambling could not justify a conviction. They must deliver a ruling based solely on the evidence. After that any doubts of the outcome vanished completely.

And after the revelations of the emails sent by former Cayman Islands governor, Duncan Taylor, celebrating the demise of Bush, the need to have him charged before the election, his desire to have media coverage of the arrest and charges that would maximise public awareness of the case against him and his criticisms of the Director of Public Prosecutions for dragging her feet, Bush was free.

It is typical and another example of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s total disdain for the people of their Overseas Territories to come up with the following statement in reply to questions put to them by CNS.

“Governors of the British Overseas Territories take their constitutional roles seriously. Where there is evidence that someone in high office is suspected of wrongdoing, it is right that the Governor ensures the allegations are properly and swiftly investigated by the competent authorities. It is right that the allegations against Mr Bush were subject to a full investigation. The decision to prosecute was a matter for the independent Director for Public Prosecutions.

“The former Governor’s comments are not relevant to the outcome of either the investigation or the trial. The verdict is a matter for the courts of the Cayman Islands.”

It is NOT proper for a Governor to try and orchestrate the removal of a Premier, elected by the people from the country he is there to protect. If Taylor had asked for an investigation that is a totally different matter. How an FCO official can claim “the former Governor’s comments are not relevant to the outcome of either the investigation or the trial” is preposterous! Of course they were relevant otherwise they would not have been disclosed!

This is even more so when Bush was forever claiming he was part of a “Witch Hunt”!

A wiser statement from the FCO official would have been “no comment” but with the actions we have seen lately from the FCO who said anyone there was wise?

I have been made to look a fool when I have defended the FCO throughout all this.

Everything Bush now claims about the dark forces operating here pulled by strings from the FCO will now carry some weight.

Even though Bush has never lived under a “police state” and to compare what has happened here with the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Cuba, North Korea, China, to name a few, is totally ridiculous, persons will actually give it some weight.

Thank you Governor Taylor and your predecessor Governor Jack.

Bush’s comment in his after trial statement linking the arrival of the British naval vessel HMS Argyll in Cayman during his trial had to make me re-think my first thought –‘ridiculous”.

After now weighing up what has happened with the FCO’s maneuvering there could be some truth to it.

What would have happened if Bush had been found “Guilty”? Would there have been some form of civil disobedience by Bush’s supporters? Would there have been damage done to public properties? Violence even?

And will Bush survive?

Probably. Even though he shouldn’t.

He LIED to his people when he was their PREMIER. And it wasn’t just once. For all his posturing he obviously believes anything he says MUST be TRUE, when it is not.

Presidents have been forced to resign or removed from office when it has been revealed they have lied. And boy has Bush lied. All to try and conceal his fever of gambling at casino slot machines. Gambling is an addiction and Bush’s trial has revealed he has an addiction to it.

Can a small country like ours want to elect someone with an addiction? Bush had appointed himself the Minister for Finance when he was the premier. A man who used the public purse to gamble with.

There should be an uproar over this.

There isn’t and won’t be.

However, “Compulsive gamblers keep gambling whether they’re up or down, broke or flush, happy or depressed. Even when they know the odds are against them, even when they can’t afford to lose, people with a gambling addiction can’t “stay off the bet.”’ – Source: Psych Central.

Maybe some good has come out of this ‘mess’.

Maybe the people of the Cayman Islands may ‘wise up’ to their ex-premier and never elect him again.

Maybe Bush will realise he has a serious addiction to gambling and seek help because he wants to.

Maybe Bush will realise he mustn’t lie to the people of his country when he is an elected official.

Maybe none of these things.

Maybe.

One thing was right. There was no surprise at the verdict. There was not even a maybe there.