FIREBRAND Jamaica Labour Party Member of Parliament for St Catherine South West Everald Warmington, in an emotional farewell to his “friend and brother”, former Senate President Professor Oswald Harding, King’s Counsel, gave him full credit on Monday for helping him navigate his toughest political experiences which he said were engineered by the very party he is loyal to.

Warmington, known for his candour, in delivering a tribute to Harding during a thanksgiving service at The University Chapel in Mona, St Andrew, said the former diplomat who held the distinction of being the longest-serving senator in Jamaica’s history and the first president of the Senate to serve two non-consecutive terms, had been his friend for all seasons and the backbone of the party.

“Ossie and I travelled roads through good times and bad times, difficult days and good. Ossie and I became friends after the Jamaica Labour Party lost the 1972 General Election, a time no one would stand for the party, and at that time it wasn’t kosher to say in public that you were a member of the Labour party and working for the party,” Warmington told the sombre gathering.