Walker speaks out on ‘brown paper bag’ row

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Barbuda’s MP Trevor Walker (File photo)
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Barbuda MP Trevor Walker has broken his silence over last week’s debacle in Parliament between himself and fellow MP Robin Yearwood.

Walker denied Yearwood’s accusations, made in an open session, that he has been involved in unscrupulous financial dealings. He insists his reason for abruptly leaving parliament on September 24 was due to the attack on his character from the fellow MP.

During the Barbuda secession debate, Yearwood made several claims including that “Walker collect a brown paper bag” from a well-known businessman some years ago.

After a lengthy back and forth, Walker asked the Speaker of the House to request an apology from Sir Robin, or else he would leave – and with that apology seemingly not forthcoming, Walker gathered his belongings and left.

Walker reiterated that he would simply not sit and continue to be disrespected by his colleague.

“I don’t lose my temper very easily. As a matter of fact, you have to push me to the edge for that to happen [but] I got upset because it brought my reputation into disrepute and he lied and I am the type of person, if you know me, I don’t go down that road, I don’t deal with that type of thing,” Walker explained.

“Nobody like Robin and them am going to sit down and allow them to do that kind of stuff to me. Sir Robin never saw me anywhere and I challenge Sir Robin to say that outside of the parliament,” Walker told Observer AM yesterday.

“Those are serious allegations. That is why I did not even want to be in his company and I left the parliament because of that. If Sir Robin Yearwood is factual and serious, let him say it outside of the parliament … and we will see what happens.”

Walker spoke further on the occasionally fractious historical relationship between Barbudans and Antiguans, saying it is one of the main factors behind his passionate defence of the sister isle.

“There are certain things I don’t mess with. I don’t mess with Barbuda when it comes to how we have occupied this place and people want to come and dictate to us and talk down to us,” he explained.

“Listen, I have a complex problem when I was growing up because Antiguans always thought that we were not as intelligent and educated as them and they probably had a right to because we never had the opportunity to go university and so on like they did,” Walker said.

“So, for example, when I was on the debate team from Barbuda and we went over to Antigua, we were always told all kind of things and called all kind of names, so I grew up with that kind of situation. I have passed that because hey, I got an education overseas like many other Barbudans and as far as I am concerned, we can sit at any table and compete with anybody at a certain level.”

He added, “That is the history, so I don’t play with that and I don’t play with my reputation so, when you push me to the edge with those particular two issues, I don’t take lightly to them.”

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