Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

'He was not being rude' – Skelton-Cline defends Speaker's banter before CoI

'He was not being rude' – Skelton-Cline defends Speaker's banter before CoI

Host of the Honestly Speaking Radio Programme on 780 AM ZBVI Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has defended the Speaker of the House of Assembly (HoA), Honourable Julian Willock, who appeared before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) last Friday, June 18, 2021.

While many took to social media to criticise the Honourable Speaker's tone to the CoI, Skelton-Cline said, on the contrary, he was not being rude.

"When we see the Honourable Speaker go into the chambers of the Commission, and he asserts his own privilege, he asserts his own rights, including the rights that he wishes to be referred to, he sets what he believes to be the ground rules on how he wants to be engaged in a situation where he stated by his opening statement that he did not wish to be present," Skelton-Cline said on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.

The commentator and activist said the banter that ensued between the Speaker, Commission's attorney Mr Bilal Rawat and Commissioner Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom, "Now the black people, some of them who are watching this, they say they are watching in dismay and disarray that the Speaker of the House is behaving obnoxiously, he is being rude, and all kind of other derogatory adjectives that has been ascribed to him."

He continued: "And that's because they are not accustomed to seeing, well one, it's against the norm of how all of us have been indoctrinated. I'm speaking about us as a unit of people who had a common experience as persons who are a part of the African diaspora."

According to Claude O. Skelton-Cline, the banter that ensued between the Speaker, Commission's attorney Mr Bilal Rawat, left, and Commissioner Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom, right, was the Speaker simply establishing his rights and his personal dignity in an environment that he felt was a hostile environment.

Speaker of the House of Assembly (HoA), Honourable Julian Willock, appeared before the Commission of Inquiry for the first time during the Friday, June 18, 2021, Day 24 hearing of the CoI in the Virgin Islands.


Not rude!


"The Honourable Speaker was not being rude, he was not being obnoxious," Skelton-Cline remarked.

"He was simply establishing his rights and his personal dignity in an environment that he felt was a hostile environment. But you know what we do? We turn around and call him the hostile one."

The Honourable Speaker chided the CoI for missing documents from his attorney's bundle, which was revealed while he was answering questions before the Commission.

Silk Legal Attorney, Richard G. Rowe, representing the Speaker at the hearing and in a direct query to the Commissioner, said, "The bundle we received… did not include these documents."

Attorney Rowe then inquired on whether documents referenced to by CoI Counsel Bilal Rawat would have supplementary documents or whether it was an omission.

The Speaker then suggested that it could be that the CoI might have made an error as 'people make mistakes, all the time, people are late with documents all the time' as seen in the CoI.

However, Commissioner Hickenbottom, in response, then indicated to the Speaker, "But some errors are more important than others, this error isn't important at all…" which promoted a response by the Speaker.

The Speaker, in a striking rebuke, then brought into question how the CoI can have missing documents and make mistakes; however, witnesses cannot.

"I can't believe you sit there and say that is not important… my lawyer is given a bundle with documents missing, and you don't see that as important?," Hon Willock asked the Commissioner.

He continued, "It speaks volumes about this process Commissioner, and you're going to have to convince this country that you have a transparent process [and] it's not a fishing exercise."

According to Hon Willock, for the CoI Commissioner to not see it as important that his Inquiry is provided bundles with missing documents, it "speaks volumes to transparency, and ethics and integrity."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
×