Dear Sir,

I would venture to state that the social waves of malcontent that the Progressive Labour Party rode to victory in last year’s General Election may not be subsiding as the party returns — again and again — to London to plead its case to a very weak Tory government.

And although Theresa May continues to give the PLP concessions, albeit now very distasteful concessions, it places Bermuda in the firing line with a very weak prime minister shielding one of the most unacceptable policies to the British via the Royal Assent for the Domestic Partnership Act.

I applaud British MPs from all parties who are now calling for clarity on the discussions between May, Boris Johnson and Walton Brown on the issue of same-sex marriage. Precisely what was discussed, and how did Johnson and May come to their conclusion as it charts a very different course on human rights for the LGBT community in Bermuda?

Note, clarity in the House of Commons is demanded and must be given by both May and Johnson; yet that would never happen in the House of Parliament in Bermuda.

Think of how the PLP made no attempt to convene a parliamentary committee on the Paradise Papers.

But yet the PLP’s sly and desperate plea not to have Bermuda placed on the European Union’s blacklist was hidden inside the successful hurricane relief agenda. So, for any Bermudian who doubts why, again the Paradise Papers holds some very bitter answers — notably British pensions.

British taxpayers’ pensions have been scurried away into complex tax structures in Bermuda, and while Revenue & Customs attempts to understand, articulate and report back to the houses of Commons and Lords on what the exposure is to the British taxpayers, May will play very gingerly with the PLP government and hold it close ... very close. Make no mistake, PLP, you are not loved for your policies or practices, but rather the British Government is concerned for the exposure to the British taxpayers.

And have no illusions, my fellow Bermudians: May needs Johnson and cannot afford to fire him from Cabinet, as he is/was one of the chief proponents and blundering architects of the Brexit vote, which is now demonstrating a lack of clear direction as it punches above its weight against Michael Barnier, the chief EU Brexit negotiator, and the EU. The best the British can hope for right now is not to wreck its economy — a very thorny and perilous task.

And for any Bermudian who thinks that the Territories did not have a say in the decision of Brexit, well, any British national from the Territories living in the UK during the referendum got to vote on Brexit — I did.

That fact above gives more credibility and integrity to the British than to the PLP, which would not even entertain votes for expatriates, yet scurries to Britain pleading what is now its third case for help.

In Bermuda, the social ground may have shifted beyond the PLP’s ability to repair, as it did its utmost best to firmly lay the seeds of unrest. But let’s see just how many more times it will come to London pleading cases to the UK.

After all, such policies as the Uighurs, Bermudian passports and, once again, the Paradise Papers, remain unresolved.

Who knows when the British Labour party will finally draw its red line — and I am not suggesting Communist red — against the PLP as other British MPs and Lords join in to express their open disquiet and displeasure with Bermuda’s policies and practices.

VALIRIE MARCIA

AKINSTALL

London, England