“Yeah, the ones that you’re calling wild
Are going to be the leaders in a little while
This old world’s wakin’ to a new born day
And I solemnly swear that it’ll be their way
You better help the voice of youth find
“What is truth?”

By Johnny Cash

The great American President, Abraham Lincoln (serving from 1861-1865 when he was assassinated) is famous for saying, “Tell the country the truth and the country will be free.”

So how much are the people told today and how much is kept from them? And even worse, how much of it that we are told is true?

There has been much written and discussed here, and other media houses, about the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR) law that Cayman Islands premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush, signed in London last year (23 Nov, 2011) in order to get support for the budget from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Mr. Bush astounded most people when he announced on 26 Sep. that he had never indicated the ENTIRE FFR he had signed would be enacted in law.

“It was necessary, and important, for the government to consult with the private sector on the FFR prior to the bill going to the House,” he said.

Appearing on Radio Cayman’s ‘Talk Today’ programme last Thursday (4) he said he had been forced to sign the FFR otherwise the FCO would not support his budget. He said he had wanted a clause inserted making the UK government responsible for any financial loss or reputation suffered by the Cayman government as a result of FCO advice or instructions relating to the agreement.

“They said, ‘No, no, no; this is what you have to do’,” Bush told the ‘Talk Today’ Host. “They [the FCO] refused to entertain the idea. If this is a partnership, they must be responsible but they wouldn’t allow the clause. With all that the UK is demanding from us, where is their accountability? They are not infallible; they can make mistakes.”

Where is THEIR accountability? I could hardly believe my ears. The premier actually mentioning ‘accountability.’ When the word has been mentioned at him and HIS accountability he has gone into a tirade.

He even calls the FCO’s civil servants ‘TECHNORATS’. That will probably earn him another hundred votes in West Bay. They adore his rudeness and his idea of statesmanship.

Bush said when he signed the FFR he asked for the signing ceremony to be videotaped with his statement regarding his ‘making the UK government responsible’ clause to be inserted in the FFR to be recorded. He told his radio listeners this had been done so he could show the Cayman public. However, when he had visited the FCO and asked for the recording tape he said he was told, “it did not come out good. What a bunch of hogwash!”

A ‘bunch of hogwash’? Yes I can certainly believe it was a ‘bunch of hogwash’. However, it depends upon what the ‘bunch of hogwash’ is exactly being referred to.

“The FCO has now said the UK will continue to approve the Cayman Island Government’s budget even when the local government becomes compliant with the Public Management and Finance Law borrowing requirements,” he claimed.

The picture the premier paints of the FCO listening to everything we say and watching what we do is not a pretty one.

I’m sure they have better things to do but they won’t be very pleased at his intention to insert the clause they have categorically said “No” to into an agreement he had agreed to without the offending clause.

The Cayman Islands Governor, HE Duncan Taylor, has the final say, however, and he has to sign it into law. He takes his instructions from the British government. With a likely outcome that the governor will NOT sign it, Bush said:

“They must do what they must do!”

I have refrained from adding the word “most” in front of “likely”. If Henry Bellingham was still overseas territories minister I would indeed have inserted it. But he has been removed by UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron. We now have Mark Simmonds. An unknown quantity.

No reason has been given for the sacking of Mr. Bellingham. Was it for actually doing his job rather too vigourously and unwillingness to compromise? Certainly the Turks and Caicos Islands must be pleased at his departing.

Whatever the reason, I am doubtful we will ever know.

“Tell the country the truth and the country will be free.”

But, “What is truth?”