Charles: No excuse for Rowley to 'snub' UK PM

NAPARIMA MP Rodney Charles in a statement yesterday rejected excuses for an alleged "diplomatic snub" to British Prime Minister Theresa May by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Rowley skipped a meeting between May and Caricom heads over the 'Windrush' deportation row to instead prepare for a meeting with oil firms, BP and Shell, as he attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London.

"It is just not done," Charles said. "Imagine you are a guest in another country, the PM of that country invites you to an important, well publicized meeting where she is about to make an apology to you, and by extension all Caribbean citizens, for an embarrassing historic injustice of global dimensions. And you send your Foreign Minister. That in any language is a diplomatic snub."

Rejecting Acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert’s excuse at Thursday’s post Cabinet briefing of Rowley preparing to meet oil firms, Charles said Imbert had compounded the indiscretion.

“Just think if it were the reverse and the British PM was in our country as a guest and she was invited by Dr Rowley to an important meeting and she chose not to attend?”