Hashtag: #BobRichards
OBA’s Richards: ‘Job Losses Can Be Stopped’
[Updated] “Bermuda’s continuing job losses can be stopped, but it will take a government committed to real reform and change to stop the bleeding and grow the economy once again,” Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards said. This year there have, or will be, redundancies or job losses at entities including Elbow Beach Hotel, JP Morgan,... Read more of this article
OBA Delivers Reply To The Budget
[Updated] We are facing the greatest economic disaster in Bermuda’s history, Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said this morning [Mar.2] as he delivered the One Bermuda Alliance’s reply to the 2012/13 Budget in the House of Assembly. “We have major concerns about the Government’s Budget for the coming fiscal year. If you had asked... Read more of this article
Cayman Newspaper Chides Premier Cox
Premier Paula Cox’s criticisms of claims by Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards that rival Caribbean jurisdiction Cayman may be stealing a march on Bermuda in the reinsurance field entirely miss the point, says the leading newspaper in that British territory. In an editorial today [Feb.27], the “Caymanian Compass” says the Bermudian... Read more of this article
Richards Expecting ‘Election Budget’
In advance of tomorrow’s budget, Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards questioned whether the budget “will address key factors, or will it be an election budget.” “My guess is that it is going to be an election budget,” said Mr Richards. “Because if there is anything we have learned about this PLP Government, is that... Read more of this article
PLP & OBA On ’53 New Companies’
Once you subtract the number of Bermuda-based companies that liquidated during 2011, it was the worst year in 11 years, Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said. Mr Richards continued on to say that job creation is the most important issue in Bermuda today, but “mere incorporation statistics do not tell us whether there will be more jobs. The... Read more of this article
‘Government Spin Misleading Bermuda’
[Updated] Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards has accused Government of “misleading Bermuda once again to think that the economy is better than it is.” The One Bermuda Alliance Member of Parliament said Progressive Labour Party efforts to trumpet 53 new insurance registrations in 2011 ignore the fact most of these firms have no actual... Read more of this article
Bob Richards: “Mountain Of Debt”
[Written by Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards] There is a stark difference in approach and philosophy to national debt between the PLP government and the One Bermuda Alliance. The government wants Bermudians to think “We’re alright Jack.” We disagree. In their so-called Pre-Budget Paper released in December, the government went to great lengths... Read more of this article
Richards & Burt: Auditor’s Work Delay
The inability of the Audit Committee to do its job is damaging Bermuda’s reputation as a principled, sophisticated place to do business, Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards said. “To businessmen, the audit process is so fundamental to what they do that a failure of any kind in the process is remarkable.” “Unless the failure can... Read more of this article
OBA’s Richards On Pre-Budget Report
[Updated with videos] “We are living with the consequences of a government that has lost control of the public purse and put the Island on a path to financial ruin,” said Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards. Speaking at a press conference this afternoon [Dec.14], Mr Richards said, “The Government’s Pre-Budget Report released... Read more of this article
Richards On ‘Political Obstruction’
Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards [pictured] said the Auditor General’s complaint that a Government audit committee is preventing her from reporting to the public should be a concern for any Bermudian, and the Committee’s lack of action “amounts to political obstruction.” On Friday [Dec.9] Speaker of the House Stanley Lowe read a... Read more of this article
OBA’s Bob Richards: ‘The Big Myth’
[Written by Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards] There is a myth that all Bermuda’s economic troubles are the result of problems with the global economy. It is illustrated in the saying “when the US sneezes, Bermuda gets a cold.” This myth is reinforced by the Government. In the recent Throne Speech, the Premier said the “simple truth is that... Read more of this article
OBA: Government’s ‘Lack of Accountability’
One Bermuda Alliance MPs Bob Richards and Trevor Moniz have spoken about what they say is a lack of accountability in Government, with breaches of these rules appeared to not have have any consequences. Mr. Richards said, “There are rules set up that goverrn the civil servants and their actions. The problem here is that breaches of these rules... Read more of this article
‘We Consider 35% Duty To Be Punitive’
Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said that the OBA welcomes temporary payroll tax relief for Bermuda’s retailers, however said “we consider 35% duty to be punitive and coercive and oppose it. We do not want to penalize everyday people for trying to find better value with their hard-earned dollars.” Mr Richards also questioned whether... Read more of this article
Bob Richards On Job Losses
Reacting to the news yesterday of 150 job losses, Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards said, “The latest news of job losses in Bermuda forms yet another data point in the declining trend in employment and opportunity available on our island.” “The Citi Hedge Fund Services’ announcement is evidence that our problems are Bermuda-specific... Read more of this article
‘While Cayman Acts, Bermuda Dithers’
With the Cayman Islands looking to suspend their work permit term limits, Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said the “Bermuda Government’s partial retreat from the policy earlier this summer through a programme of limited work permit exemptions for key worker was de facto acknowledgment that its policy was hurting the people of Bermuda and... Read more of this article
Full Text: Bob Richards’ Election Speech
This past weekend, Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards narrowly lost the OBA Leadership race, losing by a mere 14 votes to Senator Craig Cannonier. There were 680 votes cast in the leadership race; 6 spoiled [0.88%], Senator Cannonier received 344 votes [50.44%], while Bob Richards got 330 votes [48.52%]. Mr Richards is pictured below on the right... Read more of this article
