Sir Alden warns MPs to be brief in budget debate

| 11/12/2023 | 17 Comments
House Speaker Sir Alden McLaughlin

(CNS): As the new speaker of the House, Sir Alden McLaughlin, got the budget debate proceedings underway in parliament on Monday, he made it clear that he would be running a tight ship over the coming weeks in order to ensure that the debate and then Finance Committee proceedings would be completed before Christmas morning. He warned MPs that the House would start and resume on time, regardless of who was in or out of the chamber, that breaks would be limited, and that MPs should not “wax on for hours” but say what they needed to say quickly.

McLaughlin, who had dispensed with the usual speaker’s costume of a wig and gown in favour of a regular business suit, said the House was under the gun to get the budget work done, as he encouraged members to be efficient. He warned that in a world with limited attention spans, people would “tune them out” if they waxed on about things irrelevant to their lives.

“No matter how great the support people have for you… their brains can only absorb as much as their posteriors can suffer sitting and listening to you,” the speaker said as he urged MPs to get through the debate as quickly as possible.

MPs were set to respond to the governor’s Throne Speech as well as the premier’s Policy Statement and the Budget Address. As is traditional, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart began the debate with his response before sending his best wishes to former premier Wayne Panton, who is still absent from the chamber as he remains at home nursing several broken ribs as a result of bad accidental fall last week.


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Category: Politics

Comments (17)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Asking politicians to be brief is like asking Juliana to be fiscally conservative. It ain’t gonna happen. LOL

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Thank you Sir Alden. I am always interested in hearing what goes on in the LA but cannot stomach the ramblings on and on for hours. All the pontificating long winded irreverent stuff is tiring and unnecessary.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Is this sarcasm? He literally reads poems during his tirades. Besides Jon Jon and KeeKee, there are no bigger time-wasters in there.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Unbiased?

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I suppose asking them to be brief in their debate is better than asking them to debate in their brief.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Being brief is not a concept that this egotistical bunch could possibly understand.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Wow, this is the pot calling the kettle black! How can he stop Full Moon Seymour, Get the numbers strait Saunders or blow bag Bush from rattling on about themselves?

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Shame on you Sir, you failed to mention the importance of being vague too!

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  8. Anonymous says:

    See how arrogant he is, looking down on his own people with such disdain and disrespect. Better to say we can only absorb so much of the bare shit that comes out both ends with our politicians.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Direct rule now please. Get some civil servants in from Whitehall on rotations every 4 years instead of these idiots.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    hmmm…pot kettle etc…

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  11. Anonymous says:

    of course if you push it through fast no one has time to really scrutinize it. here’s the smash and grab part.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    bit rich coming from the ex-leader of do-nothing-ppm

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