PRIME MINISTER David Thompson's budgetary proposals have nothing for the small man.

In fact, said deputy leader of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party Dale Marshall yesterday, it was "a thing full of sound and fury signifying nothing".

The parliamentary representative for St Joseph told the House of Assembly that Thompson had thrown in "a few gimmicks" and sown "seeds of distress" among Barbadians.

He questioned "the content" of the consultations Thompson held with various interest groups ahead of his presentation on Monday evening.

"I see nothing in it for the police, a group that was courted by the opposition at the time. The only thing that I see in it in relation to those interest groups that they promised help for would have been the nurses.

"What concerns me is that the Honourable Prime Minister was at pains to mention a few of those professions where the registration fee would be increased. ... I want to make the point that increasing the fees for registration of a professional at a point in time when he is now starting off his career is hardly the decent thing to do," Marshall said.

He added that at the end of the Budget debate an admission would have to be made that there was "very little for anybody". (DS)