Manning used his unlimited time in the Budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday, to wade into his former Housing and Trade and Industry Minister. He went so far as to declare his concern over $10 million being unaccounted for in the Cleaver Heights Estate housing project, at a time when Rowley was Housing Minister. Rowley has stoutly denied knowledge of any missing money and publicly dared Manning to not only bring the evidence but to also repeat the claim, outside the precincts of Parliament.

Caution has been issued against infighting among members of the ruling People's National Movement (PNM) from the party's vice-chairman, John Donaldson. Donaldson has warned that this was what he referred to as "not the time for war" in the PNM following what appeared to be a widening rift between the party's political leader, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, and its Member of Parliament for Diego Martin West, Dr Keith Rowley. Donaldson said: "Inside of the PNM, just out of winning an election, (it) is not a time for war. "Some people put fire on fire; I throw water on fire."

The Budget debate in the House of Representatives this week saw the widening of the gulf between the two men, and what the party faithful want to see is not a widening, but a narrowing of that gap. Asked whether he would be prepared to meet with Manning, Rowley said yesterday: "I am inconsequential. My concern is what legacy my children will inherit from my adventure into politics. If they (he) want to address that, we could talk."