Thorne: We Gatherin’ a charade

OPPOSITION LEADER Ralph Thorne has questioned the effectiveness of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has also described the We Gatherin’ 2025

programme as “a charade” being held to attract Barbadians from the diaspora home for celebrations and investment opportunities.

He also said “the Prime Minister seems now to be the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs and we want to remind the Prime Minister of this country that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not an office to conduct a personal political crusade across the globe”.

Thorne, speaking during the debate of the Appropriation Bill, 2025 in Parliament on Tuesday said Barbados was in a perilous state and the Foreign Affairs Ministry was doing nothing to further the domestic interest of the country.

“Six hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars of the taxpayers’ money have been dedicated to this ministry to deal with We Gatherin’. There was a launch . . . in the London High Commission and the flyer . . . carried the logo of the Barbados Labour Party and that is evidence of what we have said about We Gatherin’ conceptually . . . It is a partisan event, a Barbados Labour Party event masquerading as a national event,” Thorne said.

Thorne said that if Foreign Affairs is to survive it must come back to CARICOM.

“This country is suffering from a food crisis and we are bringing food from all over the globe and . . . a lot of pretty talk from all over the globe,” he said.

(JS)