The rules of Parliament definitely don’t apply when at the Market Steps. And the St Lucia Labour Party used the opportunity last Wednesday at the normal SLP meeting area to say everything they could not say during the Budget debate at the House. There was no Speaker calling for "Order!" as Laborie MP Alva Baptiste let loose on the government and Prime Minister Stephenson King’s budget.

At the end of the budget debate, some time in the early hours of Friday morning, Central Castries MP Richard Frederick, was given leave to introduce a motion that sought duty-free concessions for elected members of parliament who had import motor vehicles. "A foreigner comes here in the guise of an investor," said Frederick. "You give him a fleet of 40 vehicles, income tax break for 20 years, properties tax relief, vendors tax relief and you’re telling me the representatives here cannot get a duty-free vehicle!"