PM says no apology

Prime Minister Gaston Browne is not backing down in the face of opposition member of parliament, Wilmoth Daniels, threat to sue him for defamation. Daniel’s attorney sent a letter to the prime minister on Wednesday demanding an apology for claims that the PM made in Parliament on January 2.
PM Browne confirmed that he did say in Parliament, to another parliamentarian, that he had “reliable information” that a police report was made alleging, “that particular parliamentarian paid [a] person a certain sum of money to burn a building in St John’s.”
Browne said that he had indeed confirmed that a report was made to the police on the matter and he will make “no apologies” about his statement in Parliament, nor will he be intimidated. “What I said was not a frivolous statement.
It is a matter of fact. And, in any event, I believe the truth is still a defence,” the prime minister said. Daniel also took issue with comments Browne made on his radio station, Point FM, on January 6, where he alleged that an opposition parliamentarian had burned down three buildings to get insurance money.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)