Warmington targets Lisa Hanna

Long before he got to the point of calling Lisa Hanna a Jezebel, Everald Warmington, the member of parliament for South West St Catherine, was in a trouble-making mood.

Warmington, the cousin of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, first targeted Luther Buchanan, a rambunctious representative from East Westmoreland who had a band-aid pasted on one side of his face.

"Chik-V nyam off yuh face, Buchanan!" Warmington yelled.

"Chik-V bite yuh up," he said in Parliament.

Tuesday's sitting of the House descended to the level of a marketplace with cross-talk and shouts coming from all directions after Dr Fenton Ferguson, the labour minister, announced a $600-per-week increase in the minimum wage and an eight

per cent increase for industrial security guards.

Pearnel Charles, the opposition spokesman on labour, attacked Ferguson for finding "great pleasure" in announcing the minimum wage.

Ferguson said he took pleasure in bringing the resolution to the House for the increase in the minimum wage, but Charles interpreted it to mean that "it pleases him to announce a minimum wage (increase) of $100 a day ... that cannot buy a patty".

While Audley Shaw was seeing the funny side, laughing until his face turned red, Government MPs Mikael Phillips, Richard Parchment, and Buchanan shouted for Charles to stop the nonsense.

Ferguson then accused Charles of "coming to play politics by saying that it was a pleasure for me".

Then the Warmington show began.

The feisty, 'go to hell' MP rose and began reading from Ferguson's prepared speech, which had been distributed.

"'It is indeed a pleasure,'" Warmington said as he quoted Ferguson and argued that Charles was right.

Hanna and other Government MPs began shouting, telling him to read the entire paragraph to understand the context in which the word 'pleasure' had been used. Some MPs told him to "shut up and sit down".

Warmington then targeted Hanna, who was seated in the seat assigned to Simpson Miller.

"Shut yuh mouth, Jezebel!" Warmington shouted.

The House then descended into a carnival of chaos, and acting Speaker Lloyd B. Smith demonstrated impotence in bringing order.

But having landed one blow, Warmington, who had shown disrespect to Smith by standing and speaking, while he, Smith, was speaking, threw another blow at Hanna.

"Oh shut up, Jezebel!" he said again as Hanna attempted to encourage Smith to have Warmington comply with the rules of Parliament.

Buchanan said that Warmington showed a tendency to disrespect women.

Phillips said that Warmington was a "hurry-come-up."

Warmington told both men that "if it weren't for politics, low life like yuh couldn't talk to me".

"Yuh caah walk through my gate," he added.

Parchment retorted saying, "we know what type comes through your gate."