Renward Wells Attacks The Chief Clerk Of The House
An extraordinary scene unfolded in the midst of the disaster which led to the lost vote on the first reading of the anti-aragonite bill which was moved in the House of Assembly on Wednesday 2nd December 2020. The Bill was passed over the objections of the government and then when the vote was put they forgot to stand up. When they did stand up it was too late. Renward Wells who is in charge of Government business in the House started shouting at the Clerk of the House. You could make out the words “ that should have never happened”. The angry Minister was blaming David Forbes the Clerk of the House for reading the bill. The legal explanation is clear: once the Speaker said that the bill should be read a first time what can the public servant do but follow the orders of the Speaker. This was lost on Mr. Wells who kept gesticulating. Senator Fred Mitchell gave notice of a substantive motion on Thursday 10 December 2020 to condemn the Minister’s actions.