Watts under fire

MINISTER of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts has drawn criticism for remarks about the appearance and sexual morality of his female parliamentary colleagues during Saturday’s budget debate, as he defended the Government’s handling of youth programmes and accused the Opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) of leaving several initiatives in disarray.

Near the end of his contribution, Watts, the Member of Parliament for La Horquetta/Talparo, praised the women on the Government benches for their appearance and what he described as their “moral values”, before making a remark about their sexual conduct.

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“One of the things I most admire about this side, watch from the front bench, look at the back bench, come down on this side, look at the good-looking women on this side and you know why I feel very comfortable on this side, Mr Speaker, especially with the women, they have a lot of moral values,” he said.