BBC Caribbean News in brief

Race relations concerns

British Labour MP Dianne Abbott says cuts being made by the Coalition administration of Prime Minister David Cameron could put back race relations by a generation.

The first black woman to be elected to the British House of Commons, Abbott, whose parents are Jamaican, is running for the leadership of the Labour Party. She is the first black woman to stand for the leadership of a British political party, although her campaign is being seen as a largely symbolic one. Abbott insists however that she can make a difference, and has sharply criticised spending cuts proposed by the current government.

Wanted: legal framework

St Lucian Prime Minister Stephenson King says he supports a call for a legal framework to implement decisions taken by Caribbean Community (Caricom) heads of government. Former Prime Minister Vaughan Lewis told BBC Caribbean last week that there is need for a consensus on changing the instrument for decision making in the regional grouping.

King says putting in place a legal framework would provide legal strength for effective implementation.

“We have been talking about integration from the ‘60s, we cannot continue to behave that  way (as if) it’s a loose arrangement. Otherwise I’m wasting my time attending Caricom meetings,” King said.

PM calls for apology

St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas has called on Peoples Action Movement leader Lindsay Grant and leader of the parliamentary opposition Mark Brantley to apologise to the country’s former attorney general Dennis Merchant. The call came after the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court overturned a contempt of court ruling against Merchant.A high court judge last year censured Merchant during a fiercely fought case about proposed changes to election boundaries.