‘Ronnie in di corner’ as rest of Opposition skips Thursday’s budget sitting

Only one Opposition member appeared to be present in the House of Assembly as the 2026 budget debate continued on Thursday, prompting Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer to question the Opposition’s absence after delivering their contributions.

Rymer told the House of Assembly and the public that, aside from At-Large member Ronnie Skelton, Opposition benches were largely empty. His comments seemed to have been directed at The Alliance, which comprises Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn, At-Large Representative Stacy Mather, and Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull.

“After those members debated, I ain’t see their shadow. I don’t know if they pan the cameras still or what, but I must applaud Honourable Skelton. He sat here, endured and listened, and he’s here,” Rymer said. “Can’t say [of] the rest because I haven’t seen him. Hon. Mather said he wasn’t feeling well today. I haven’t seen anybody else. But we sat, and we listened.”

The minister also criticised the substance of recent Opposition contributions to the debate, suggesting they focused on familiar community complaints rather than the national budget.

“But you know, we sat in this House, and for me, the past couple days when members of the Opposition spoke, it was basically just a ‘pothole debate,’” Rymer said. “These are things I was hearing even before my time and I’m not downplaying it. I know the Opposition’s role is to seemingly just oppose and highlight everything that is not happening. But they have a role to play, and it’s vital for democracy.”

Rymer added that the contributions of the Opposition lacked substance, despite the delayed start of the debates, because House members requested more time to prepare. He added that once the debate began, he heard little direct engagement with the budget itself.

“At no point did we see them refer to the budget, all we heard about is potholes and water in different communities. Now that is important but we are here debating,” Rymer said.

The remarks come amid tense scenes in the House earlier this week, when Opposition Leader Walwyn faced persistent heckling from government members during his contribution, forcing the Speaker to suspend proceedings several times. Walwyn has repeatedly described the conduct as bullying, pointing to ongoing friction between the government and the Opposition as debate on the 2026 budget continues.