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IN his final last hours as Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley yesterday blasted the United Kingdom government over its decision to impose visa restrictions on Trinidad and Tobago nationals and called on this country to get to hell out of the Privy Council.

He said these visas were required even when seeking access to this country’s final court of appeal, the Privy Council, which is located in London. He called on the British government to review its “unfair, unjust and disgraceful” decision.

Addressing a spill-over crowd at Woodford Square in Port of Spain where the PNM’s 41 candidates for the upcoming election were presented, Rowley said: “What Britain has done there is not only to damage us and our feelings, but to damage our economy as well. Because London is a gateway to Europe and every time you have to pass through London to go and do business (you need a visa) and, worse, the visa is very expensive. So it goes from being free to a charge on you to go to Britain. But what really rots my gut is that I have to also swallow that the highest court of this land is in London, the Privy Council. And if you want to go to the Privy Council, you have to go there by way of some (visa) arrangements that they make for you. Do you really feel independent where your highest court is in a foreign country and the foreign country’s leaders would put (visa) arrangements by which you could come to that country. Eh? Either your lawyers have to provide proof that you are so and so or they turn down your visa request and that is your highest access to legal support as a nation. Well, if you all didn’t know that, we should get out of the Privy Council and get to the Caribbean Court of Justice. This treatment by the British government should let all of you know how they view us. And if you believe that they have come around to thinking that we are equals, you have another thought coming. Many of them still believe that we are substandard, we are inferior, and they should treat us as they want to treat us. Today. I want to call on our friends in the United Kingdom to review that unjust action against the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.