Tag Archives: Stuart Young

When in government, the People’s National Movement (PNM) speaks with the certainty of authority—decisions are made, policies defended, and dissent dismissed as misinformed or politically motivated. The tone is top-down, and messaging emphasises competence, legacy and control. Consultation becomes performance, not practice. But in opposition—or after electoral defeat—a different voice …

Several readers have pressed me to say how I felt on the merits of the Prime Minister’s Pension (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by a special majority and took away from Stuart Young SC MP a very substantial pension. Young would have had this pension even though he held the …

Since her return from Opposition to the office of prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Kamla) has been putting great emphasis on her United National Congress (UNC) Government treating the battered population with empathy. On the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the new Parliament, a little over a week ago, the …

Our changes of government frequently receive a verdict of “no change only exchange”. The current apparent dead end in the search for a gas supply to revive certain of our petrochemical industries is illustrative of the peril of governments having no appetite for fundamental reform. Added to all the unimaginative …

In October last year, almost immediately after a strong intimation in Parliament from then People’s National Movement (PNM) prime minister Dr Keith Rowley that he was having his swansong and would be leaving the Parliament, the PNM tersely announced that: “its 51st Annual Convention, as well as the internal election, …

The People’s National Movement (PNM) has appointed Arima MP Pennelope Beckles as its opposition leader. Beckles, 64, was endorsed by the PNM’s General Council today after producing writing support of six from the opposition’s 13 MPs: Symon de Nobriga, Marvin Gonzales, Colm Imbert, Kareem Marcelle, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, and Keith …

Former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley vowed to resign as political leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM), just two days after the party’s disastrous showing at the polls. The PNM was routed in the 2025 General Elections under the joint leadership of Rowley and Prime Minister Stuart Young, as …

The official and unsurprising collapse of the proposed Dragon gas and related Venezuelan gas supply arrangements, three weeks before the next General Election, should in normal circumstances cost the incumbent Peoples’ National Movement (PNM) the election. However, we have an Opposition, the United National Congress (the UNC), led by Kamla …

I do not believe that the Dragon Field initiative is dead. The rumours of its end are greatly exaggerated. For context, I advance this quotation from the influential US Politico newsletter. It was written about the tariff situation of last week, but it can easily fit our situation. “He likes …

“[…] The now-infamous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), exposed thanks to Afra Raymond’s successful legal challenge, showed a lopsided agreement. The state was to fund and build the resort on public land. “In turn, Sandals would enjoy sweeping concessions—tax holidays, duty-free status, unlimited work permits for foreigners, and no obligations to …

In response to several requests, I comment on the now established maladministration of the Ayers-Caesar situation and I also expand on the provisions of section 57 of the Constitution, to which I referred last week in connection with the introduction into the Cabinet of a new finance minister. Marcia Ayers-Caesar …

We are living in difficult times. We are witnessing the world, as we know it, turn topsy-turvy. But we want to be seduced into believing that there is a magic wand that will restore us to the glory days when oil and gas prices were high. We want to be …