This was, I believe, the first time the Throne Speech was given by the Deputy Governor of the Cayman Islands.  With H.E. Governor Duncan Taylor off Island the 2012 Budget Throne Speech, the most controversial one in the history of these Islands was presented by Hon. Franz Manderson.

Hon. Premier McKeeva Bush praised Mr. Manderson and said he felt confident that we had a Deputy Governor we could trust given the confines of him being a Civil Servant.

However, even though the Throne Speech was delivered, the Acting Governor made this statement:

“In his statement on 26 July, the Governor said that discussions between the Cayman Islands Government and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to agree the Cayman Islands budget were ongoing. The Governor explained that the Minister for the Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham, had asked the Cayman Islands Government to ensure that its budget proposals were credible, sustainable, and consistent with the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility signed by the Premier in November 2011.”

“The Honourable Premier intends to present the 2012/13 Budget to the Legislative Assembly today.  If so, he will be doing so in the knowledge that the Minister for the Overseas Territories has not given, and may not give, his approval to these budgetary plans. In any event the FCO will wish to continue to work closely with the Cayman Islands Government to develop budgetary plans which are in the best interests of the Cayman Islands for the future.”

The Premier did indeed give his budget, not without an interruption by one of the opposition members who was ruled to sit down three times by the Speaker of the House, Hon. Mary Lawrence. He did so, even though he was trying to make a “point of order”.

Once again we had an attack on the previous PPM administration for getting us into the position of having his budget looked at and approved by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and he made reference to him coming close to “giving up” more than once. But he is not a person to give in.

He was upset at the many attacks on him and his government by not only the opposition but also the media and some of the community. He praised the Dart Group for all they have done and will be doing. He took a swipe at the Leader of the Opposition for failing to come up with any alternative budgetary proposals for three years and told him to “come up or shut up.”

A number of times he left his prepared speech and even made a joke about one aspect of it when he assured the House that it was actually written in his address.

It was long and in places very passionate. He made the point that he has good relationships with every jurisdiction throughout the world and said he had spent a long time getting the financial services out of the OECD “grey list” only to find he is still being criticised for achieving it.

I have to admire the premier for being able to talk for so long (almost 3 and a half hours). What he actually said of substance could have been said in less than 30 minutes but that is not Mr. Bush’s style. He repeated himself often including a lot of what he had said in previous recent addresses.

He praised the UK prime minister, David Cameron, many times for a speech he made recently on the Euro crises and even quoted from it. He also praised the civil servants who had worked tirelessly and getting little sleep in producing a budget he said was “the best ever presented.”

I will be speaking again on this some more.