The Democratic Labour Party and Friends of Democracy have backed firm action against violent crime but warned that the Domestic Terrorism Bill must not substitute tougher penalties for investment in prevention, youth intervention and social services.

Responding to the legislation brought to Parliament on Tuesday, DLP spokesperson on legal and home affairs, Corey Greenidge, said that while the party supports holding violent offenders accountable, “accountability and window dressing are not the same thing, and Barbadians deserve to know the difference.”

Greenidge described the legislation as “the latest in a lengthening line of government bills that reach for harsher sentences while leaving the actual drivers of gun crime in Barbados untouched.”