Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock has flipped a well‑known metaphor first popularised by Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves, saying the new government is easing the “hook in the gill” even as it confronts gun violence and a strained public purse.
Responding in Parliament to a question from opposition senator Carlos James, the deputy PM acknowledged the resonance of the phrase and recast it in the context of the country’s current economic and security challenges.
“I think this nation is very familiar with the statement when one was speaking aloud to themselves, that we have placed a hook in the gill of the government that was going to come into operation,” Leacock told Parliament.
“A literal interpretation of that statement suggests that you wanted to capture and/or kill the fish. When we speak about hook in the gills here, we speak about fish in [St] Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said.
Leacock then used the image to frame his core argument: that the new government is trying to address crime and violence in a country that had been living “way beyond its means”, forced to borrow or cut back, and therefore cannot behave as if resources are unlimited.
Governing with a ‘hook’ of debt and scarcity
Leacock told lawmakers that SVG had, for some time, reached for borrowing as the default response to policy ambitions.
The “hook in the gill” now, he suggested, is the combination of fiscal stress and social pressure that limits how far any government – including the present one – can go.
“Everything that we want to do in St. Vincent [in] the last few years… the options are that we either borrow… or we try to reconstruct our circumstances so that we mitigate [against] further debt,” he said.
“If you don’t have money, what do you do? Most of us would advocate that we work harder and smarter, and that we strive to cut and contrive and live within our means,” he said.
Later in his contribution, after listing upgrades to vehicles and accommodation for officers, Leacock described his own approach as akin to “pulling the hook” out gradually — moving carefully to correct structural weaknesses without collapsing institutions.
He spoke of “pulling the hook… slowly… one by one”, signalling that the administration sees itself as trying to ease the constraints left by the Unity Labour Party administration, rather than wrenching free in one dramatic movement that could “kill the fish”.
Doing ‘more with less’ in security
Leacock argued that the country must focus on institutional capacity and individual competence, not just bigger budgets.
He outlined several measures underway, including training and capacity‑building, a broad view of national security and balancing police manpower.
Leacock said he had directed that more recruits be posted to specialised units and infrastructure and mobility.
He described some police stations as “ramshackle” and “mould‑infested”, adding that the government had relocated officers from some of the worst facilities and provided additional vehicles in areas such as Calliaqua, Marriaqua and Bequia.
He also said the government was investing in technology, including a police drone team supported by overseas training, and using regional platforms such as the Regional Security System and CARICOM IMPACS to track ships and aircraft and build firearms intelligence.
Balancing toughness with the country’s image
Leacock acknowledged that public concern about homicides and gun attacks is high, but warned against creating a narrative of general “lawlessness” that could damage tourism and investment.
He noted that large events, including Carnival and recent cricket matches, had passed without serious violent incidents, and argued that SVG remained, by regional standards, a safe country.
‘Trust your government’
He argued that the country is “under pressure” not of the new government’s making but insisted that it is now the government’s duty to fix it.
“We are not for a minute proceeding like the proverbial ostrich,” he said. “We know that this country is under pressure, but we didn’t put it so; we met it so, and we are getting it right, and we are fixing it.”
Leacock called on citizens to “trust your government”, saying that while resources are tight, the Godwin Friday administration was committed to building a more professional police force, strengthening border controls and attacking the roots of crime through social and economic policy.
He also signalled that if national security conditions worsened, he would not hesitate to seek direct assistance from the RSS in particularly troubled communities. However, he stressed that current police leadership believes the situation remains manageable.
In recasting Gonsalves’ “hook in the gill” phrase, Leacock sought to portray the government not as the fisherman setting the trap but as the fish trying to survive and recover, even as it works to keep the waters safe for everyone else.