BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — There is no other leader of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in Barbados other than Prime Minister David Thompson and, in this time of his illness, all should support him, said Minister of Education, Ronald Jones, who was the featured speaker at a DLP branch meeting on Sunday night.

“I want to say that in our own midst, among our own selves we still have a prime minister. Our prime minister is the Honourable David Thompson, and he will remain so until such time he says to me, Ronald, I am weary, I am tired, I cannot go any further, I want you to support somebody else. When you have a general in your party you support your general; I am not going to change that,” said Jones.

The Barbados Advocate reported that Jones stated the response to Thompson’s illness has been both negative and positive, and that he was disappointed about what took place during a recent radio interview with the prime minister.

“I think that there must be a level of decency. Even if he had consented to the interview, then to take your interview beyond the confines of that situation and ask him about a reshuffle in the Cabinet of Barbados, I found that most distasteful,” the education minister said. “This is the time for unity and for Barbadians to put aside those things for the greater good. We don’t need to be divided now”

Thompson has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is now hospitalised in New York.