A Limey In Bermuda

The Last Post

When I restarted this blog in November, I said that I didn't know how long I'd be back for. After giving it some thought over Christmas and New Year, I've decided that I'm done. I expected the electorate to send...

Disbanding the UBP won't change anything

Anyone who believes the the re-branding, re-structuring or breakup of the UBP will have any impact on local politics is dreaming. If the UBP continues to exist in any form, with any name, the PLP will still be able to...

A troubling reappointment

Nelson Bascome should be considered innocent until proven guilty of the charges of theft that are still outstanding against him. Nevertheless, in February this year they (along with allegations of corruption that were subsequently dismissed) were considered sufficient grounds for...

A victory for ignorance

"Do you want a Government that will refuse to submit to public scrutiny?" Bermudians were asked yesterday. "Yes!" was the resounding answer. "Do you want a Government that will pass poorly thought-out, discriminatory legislation?" "Yes!" "Do you want a Government...

Why I hope the UBP will win

I can't vote in tomorrow's election. I won't be able to vote in the one after that, either. The earliest I'll be able to do so is 2013, once I have been married to my Bermudian wife for 10 years....

The protest vote

There has been a great deal of speculation about what the turnout will be in tomorrow's election. If you are apathetic about the choices offered by both political parties, by all means stay at home and don't vote. It's a...

Broken promises: Coda

I was surprised to read Education Minister Randy Horton's comment on the PLP's ability to keep its promises in today's Royal Gazette: "Not all promises that we make are able to be realised; if that was the case we would...

Broken promises #5: Air arrivals

In a speech in January 2005, Tourism Minister Ewart Brown promised to “increase air arrivals to 400,000 over the next 3 years”. In 2004, air arrivals stood at 271,600. In 2005, they fell slightly to 269,600. In 2006 they increased...

PLP's FutureCare to be paid for by tax increase

The PLP have revealed how they're going to pay for their proposal to improve health care for seniors: "During the working lives of Bermudians (20 to 64), employers and individuals will make contributions to the fund. The fund will be...

Wrong

In their latest post, the PLP blog is (surprise, surprise) attacking Michael Dunkley again. Unfortunately, one of their accusations is flat wrong: "Dunkley Never Condemned Vile, Racist Cartoons. UBP supporters compared the Premier to Hitler, Mussolini and Idi Amin. Michael...

The meaning of "attrition"

For the benefit of the PLP and some of their supporters, allow me to explain how the UBP can trim the civil service without firing a single civil servant. The UBP's manifesto pledge was to "reduce the size of the...

Clear as mud

The PLP have responded to my post pointing out their inconsistency on the issue of who will be eligible for free day care. In a statement on their website (which continues their impolite policy of refusing to link to any...

Jamahl Simmons' selective memory

In a new PLP YouTube video, PLP MP Jamahl Simmons asserts that the UBP are only interested in exploiting blacks: "When you have meetings where they're asking us, "How can we attract the black vote?" but is not willing to...

Inconsistent

The PLP can't get their story straight on who will qualify for the free child care promised in their election platform. "The PLP will provide free DayCare for all Bermudians. That's a big difference between us and the UBP. The...

The bullet

I was horrified to hear about the bullet and threatening letter sent to the Premier. It was an utterly despicable act and I hope that the police quickly find and prosecute the culprit. The UBP unequivocally condemned the threat, however...

The wrong tone

I'm glad to hear that Thaao Dill has admitted that he and Hott 107.5 are breaking broadcasting laws. I'm disappointed, however, that he seems to regard it as a legitimate act of civil disobedience. "We're in breach of a dumb...

Fiscally irresponsible

I find it amazing that not only has the PLP failed to say how they're going to pay for the freebies promised in their election manifesto, in some cases they're even breezily admitting to having no idea how much they'll...

The great PLP giveaway

Free buses! Free ferries! Free day care for Bermudian families! Free Bermuda College education for all Bermudians! 500 interest-free down payments for first-time Bermudian home owners! Tax concessions for businesses employing Bermudians! I sure hope the PLP's manifesto also explains...

Broken promises #4: Club Med

“In 2007, construction will begin on the new hotel in St. George’s,” said Premier Ewart Brown in May this year. There are still three weeks until the end of the year, but the comments made by Works and Engineering Minister...

Animal Farm

Several months ago, apropos of nothing, I decided to re-read George Orwell's Animal Farm. It was written as a satire on Soviet Communism, but an uninformed reader could be forgiven for thinking that it was actually intended as a satire...

About time

It seems that both the UBP and the PLP will be releasing their platforms on Monday 10 December, just one day before advance polling and one week before the main voting day. Better late than never, I suppose.

A response to Calvin Smith

Writing in today's Royal Gazette, Calvin Smith says: "...very few whites are prepared openly to support the Progressive Labour Party. However, a far greater number of black Bermudians are prepared to support the United Bermuda Party." Perhaps that's because the...

A response to Guilden Gilbert

In a letter to the Editor published in today's Bermuda Sun, Guilden Gilbert, Jr. criticises the UBP for waiting until the calling of an election to announce their Code of Conduct. In fact, the UBP have publicly mentioned their desire...

Topsy-turvy

Alex Scott's suggestion that disillusioned PLP supporters should still vote for the party because changes could be made after the election is topsy-turvy. "After the election, events are difficult to predict," said Mr. Scott. "I say to people: 'Don't abandon...

Dealing with criticism

So, it seems the PLP's blog will link to me, after all, as long as I'm saying something they want to hear. Three weeks ago, I contacted PLP chairman David Burt to ask if he would include this blog in...

Harold who?

Many voters still do not know who leaked the BHC dossier, despite former PLP supporter Harold Darrell's admission that it was him. A recent survey by Research.bm found that 47% of registered voters who were certain, likely or possibly going...

Now that's funny

In the wake of the UBP's embarrassingly bad fish cartoon, Denis Pitcher offers a hilarious script for the ad that they should have produced instead. It's funny, on-target, and cool. Well done, Denis.

Weird fishes

What the hell is this? It's not funny, or clever. It's mindless. And it's only episode 1? God help us. If this is the UBP's idea of humour we should all be grateful that the "outrageously funny" video satire of...

Incompetence, and worse

The PLP's claims to be competent managers of Bermuda's economy are looking mighty thin in the wake of the Bermuda Cement Company (BCC) fiasco. It's hard to imagine a better example of ineptitude than the Government's need to resort to...

Hubris

Nothing typifies the arrogance of the Premier like this picture of his car parked in a handicapped spot outside the Harbourfront restaurant. This isn't the first time that Dr. Brown's car has been caught parked illegally. A couple of years...

Whither the manifestos?

We're now over half way through the election campaign, with just two weeks until advance polling starts. Yet so far neither party has produced a manifesto. The UBP has produced their "Agenda for Change", which does outline some of the...

Government TV

Writing on Progressive Minds, 30strong argues that cost of CITV, the Government's new TV station, is justified because its programming is cultural, not partisan. His comments echo those of Premier Ewart Brown at the channel's launch, who said, "On this...

"The departure has already started"

While you're trying to decide whether former Premier Sir John Swan's recent warnings about international business are genuine or just scaremongering, keep in mind these comments made by a senior Bermudian reinsurance executive earlier this year: "The threat of departure...

Broken promises #3: Public access to information

In November 2003, then-Premier Alex Scott pledged that the PLP government would introduce freedom of information legislation. In July 2004, Mr. Scott said that Public Access To Information legislation would likely be tabled early in the next Parliament. That didn't...

Bias, fairness and objectivity

A recurrent theme of the PLP’s campaign is that the media has a pro-UBP bias. Is there any truth to this claim? Or is the PLP misrepresenting opinion as bias (whether deliberately or accidentally)? A thought-provoking discussion of the difference...

Keeping it clean

It’s difficult to believe that anyone could object to the UBP's plea to keep the election clean and focused on the issues. But object is precisely what the PLP and some of its supporters are doing. The argument seems to...

Credit where it’s due

The PLP is trying to take credit for bringing the allegations of racism at the hospital to light: “The PLP government established the Office of the Ombudsman which investigated the allegations at King Edward and brought them to light. Under...

If the shoe fits…

The PLP blog is complaining about the Royal Gazette again, this time for describing the Premier’s speech on Friday evening as an “insult-strewn tirade”. The Gazette ought to be more careful about editorialising in its news stories, particularly given its...

Why the Premier should address the BHC allegations

In his speech at the PLP banquet on Friday evening, Premier Ewart Brown spoke candidly about his refusal to answer any of the allegations in the leaked BHC dossier. He said that to do so would have set a “dangerous...

Back in the saddle again

They say that a week is a long time in politics, so perhaps it's unsurprising that the nine months that I’ve been on hiatus feel like an eternity. In that time, the Government has pushed forward a number of controversial...

Wayne Furbert’s leadership: Poll results

With Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert due to give a televised address on Thursday evening about the UBP’s recent travails, a significant majority of readers of this site feel that it’s time for him to step down. According to an unscientific...

Where are you, Mr. Furbert?

Does anyone know why Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert has been off the Island since the weekend, and won't return until the end of this week? With all the allegations still swirling around his party, and the questions being raised about...

How much control?

Just when the UBP probably thought things couldn’t get any worse, another senior member of the party resigns citing racism. However, as with Jamahl Simmons, some of the claims made by Gwyneth Rawlins seem self-contradictory. "Blacks who make it to...

Jamahl Simmons and the UBP

It’s difficult to know what to make of Jamahl Simmons’ tempestuous split from the UBP yesterday. All that’s clear is that Mr. Simmons and his supporters were the targets of a protracted campaign by a small group within the Pembroke...

Blogging for the PLP

While the popularity of blogging continues to grow, I remain baffled by the one-sided nature of Bermuda’s political blogosphere. None of the blogs that regularly discuss local politics could be described as being friendly to the PLP. That’s a problem....

Terror alert

Police have uncovered an al-Qaeda cell that was actively planning terrorist attacks in Bermuda, Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess said last nighti Mr. Burgess said that the conspirators were planning to crack jokes of dubious taste at several locations around the...

Most expensive and least effective

"Government has to consider all its citizens. Just about every house in Bermuda has a television." So says a Government spokesperson in today's Bermuda Sun, justifying the Government's decision to forge ahead with its plans for its own TV station....

An odd sort of role model

Julian Hall was on the radio news this morning, holding Premier Ewart Brown up as an example to Bermuda’s youth. Was it because Dr. Brown has shown that the colour of his skin is no barrier to wealth or high...

CURB comments on Brown-Gibbons dust-up

I asked Lynne Winfield, president of Citizens Uprooting Racism In Bermuda (CURB), whether she had any comment on the recent confrontation between the Premier and Grant Gibbons in the House of Assembly. I also asked whether she felt that such...

The leopard

Premier Ewart Brown's attack on UBP backbencher Grant Gibbons in the House of Assembly on Friday evening provided a timely reminder that despite his ability to dazzle, the Premier is a deeply flawed man whose tenure as Premier is likely...