CABINET Minister Everald Warmington has taken a swipe at critics of embattled independent Member of Parliament George Wright, who is accused of beating a woman with a stool as well as his hands, following a viral video which could not clearly identify the man and woman in it.

“A lot of them making noise and dem doing worse a dem yaad, beating dem woman mercilessly. A lot of them have on spike heel shoes and making noise and getting beating a yaad,” Warmington said.

But, he made it clear that he does not support the use of violence. “I don’t encourage such stuff, and I don’t support any such stuff — whether George did that or no. No man should beat a woman; nobody should be involved in domestic abuse. If you can’t live together, you should separate,” Warmington urged.

“As far as I am concerned, the police said there is no evidence so I have to abide by that,” he told the Jamaica Observer while lashing out at some parliamentarians who have opted to shun Wright.

At the same time, Wright’s promise to constituents that he will continue to provide them with effective representation has been bolstered with confirmation from Warmington – minister with responsibility for works – that Westmoreland Central will not be short-changed of funds for road repairs.

“Mr Wright is the elected Member of Parliament and he has as much responsibility as anybody else. Any allocation will be distributed equally with him and the rest of us,” Warmington said in an interview with the Observer.

Earlier this month, an embattled Wright sought to assure constituents that he will continue to effectively lobby on their behalf, despite no longer being a member of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), on whose ticket he was voted into office.

Wright has faced blistering criticism amid speculation that he is the man shown in a video beating a woman with his hands and a stool. He has neither admitted nor denied the allegation. The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), which had launched an investigation into the allegations, said its probe ended partly because of the poor quality of the video. It also noted that though Wright and businesswoman Tannisha Singh reported having a physical confrontation on April 6, they both declined to take the matter further.

Warmington said he has spoken with both Wright and Singh since the controversy erupted, though the images captured on the video were not the subject of the discussions.