Today, the media also got to ask the Prime Minster about the controversy over the cap on spending for the Senate Inquiry into Immigration affairs.
The social partners have rejected the PM's announcement that he will give no funding past November.
The Chamber of Commerce sent the PM a strong letter bitterly opposing that decision. Today he said he is willing to consider a compromise:...
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"I have responded to the chamber and I have pointed out to them that the position they took in their letter to me, if pushed to its logical conclusion would mean that government would be obliged to provide a blank check for the Senate inquiry and that that certainly could not be consistent with accountability and with proper budgeting. It is not something that can last forever. And, you will forgive me, if I have gotten the impression that there are certain members of that committee that have reached a point where they are asking questions simply for the sake of asking questions. I closed by saying to them listen, if the committee will concede that it can't be a blank check that it can't be open-ended, that government cannot simply fall in with request after request with extra budgeting because that's what it is- allocation of resources. And if the committee was prepared to offer to the government a clear timeline, if the committee was prepared to say look we expect to conclude by December or January, something that is reasonable and on that basis to submit proposals for expenditure that will cover that remaining period in a reasonably fashion, government would reconsider its position and not then insist on a cut-off after November."
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