Despite Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis’ strong pitch for house members – particularly members of his parliamentary caucus – to vote yes to the 4.5 per cent planned increase in value added tax – four FNM MPs stuck to their guns and voted no to the hike.

One of them , the youngest, Bain and Grants Town  MP  Travis Robinson says, “moral courage is a rarer commodity.”

The other  rebellious three  were Centreville MP, Reece Chipman; Golden Isles MP, Vaughn Miller and  Pineridge MP, Frederick McAlpine.

Their vote upped the opposition to the tax, to seven MPs, considering the three Progressive Liberal Party house members – Leader, Philip Davis; Deputy, I. Chester Cooper and Englerston MP, Glenys Hanna-Martin – who from the beginning said they did not support the move.

A  letter addressed to Mr. Robinson by  the Prime Minister advised that his appointment was being revoked.

The letter  expressed  the Prime Minister’s thanks and appreciation for the contributions Mr. Robinson has made towards the development of the country over the past year.

Mr. Robinson has since posted on his Facebook page the words of Robert F. Kennedy that reads, “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

The quote continues, “few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their peers, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society.

“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.”

Meanwhile on the heels of Mr. Robinson’s firing came another.

Stripped of his duties as Parliamentary Secretary in The Ministry of Social Services was Golden Isles MP, Mr. Miller, who thanked the Prime Minister for the opportunity to serve.

Mr. McAlpine’s termination as Chairman of the Hotel Corporation followed.

Yesterday, Press Secretary, Anthony Newbold, said the Prime Minister can appoint and disappoint those who serve under him.

“Let me say this, letter or no letter, to Mr. Robinson, Rev. McAlpine and Mr. Miller, all of us, Anthony Newbold, all 19 cabinet ministers, and lots of people in the government of the Bahamas, serve at the will and pleasure of Prime Minister Minnis, and as he appoints us, he can disappoint all of us.”

When asked if the firings will lead to a cabinet shuffle, Mr. Newbold said, “certainly no cabinet ministers were involved, but one wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with the other.

“If the Prime Minister decides he wishes to shuffle, that would be a totally independent decision.”