There is something quite suspect, nefarious even, about the recent spate of "news" reports telling us that Premier Brown is or was about to face a challenge to his leadership of the Progressive Labour Party (and therefore the country) at this week's Annual Delegates' Conference.

Bermuda is a curious place in many respects.

I know of few other countries that regularly permit "journalists" to enter their shores, to reside, and to write and publish in their mainstream media highly speculative and mostly unsourced articles which in all probability, if not certainty, will have the effect of completely destabilising the country's social and political body fabric.

All of this, despite the fact that these "journalists" have had absolutely no prior exposure or sensitivity to the country's history and culture. It's a lot of power to give to a "guest", it seems to me.

But don't get me wrong. It would be equally irritating if some of this twaddle, presented as alleged "responsible journalism", were written by Bermudians. Surely we really do need some clear rules, particularly about when it is proper and necessary to name "sources". They can be (and I feel sure sometimes are) simply invented.

Is there any truth at all to the speculative, largely unsourced, pieces published recently in the local daily under Matthew Taylor's byline and in the (no less than) six-page "Special Report" in the Bermuda Sun, inevitably including Stuart Hayward's latest petulant "I hate Ewart Brown" rant?

At this stage, who knows? These things breathe life into themselves.

At least two Cabinet Ministers, the Hons. Randy Horton and Terry Lister, were reportedly working together on this alleged plot having resolved to work out at some other time who will actually vie for the top spot.

If true, it smacks of gross irresponsibility and cynicism and the lowest regard for country. But, I stress, we don't even know if these stories have any foundation in reality whatsoever because if they are true, no one seems to have the guts to come forward to state with clarity the case for change, particularly at this time.

And now both Horton and Lister are categorically denying that any such plan was being hatched, at least not so by them or with their involvement. "Partnership", my grandmother used to say, "is a leaky ship".

Neither of these gentlemen appeared to have shared details of the alleged plot (at least not on the record) with anyone visible within Party ranks, except maybe (and I stress maybe) former Premier Alex Scott and former Attorney General Phil Perinchief.

Both Scott and Perinchief, it must be said, have been sulking for quite some time now; almost as long now as did Sir Edward Heath after Margaret Thatcher rather brutally "saw him off" as Leader of the UK's Conservative Party.

Scott because of what he seems still to regard as his discourteous and premature sacking as Party Leader. And Perinchief, presumably because he was not renewed following the General Election as Bermuda's Attorney General. I have to say that I do wonder sometimes if Phil Perinchief has ever really tried to assess his own performance in that post. Probably not.

I bring up these two names because, in addition to the short-lived and hapless former Minister of Works and Engineering Ashfield DeVent, who still doesn't understand that he may have been cynically used to make it seem that it was he who had been responsible for the Berkeley construction debacle, only Alex Scott and Phil Perinchief have allowed their names to go on the record about the leadership issue.

And Alex Scott has apparently been careful never to actually come out and say that he wants to see the back of Ewart Brown as soon as can conveniently be arranged. One wonders, frankly, why Alex sticks around; he seems more and more these days like the Phantom of the Opera, though without the romantic angle.

Mr Scott seems to be making it clear that whatever Horton and Lister may be planning, it would be preferred if they would both simply do the heavy lifting but be sure to make complete asses of themselves in the process, thereby paving the way for Finance Minister the Hon. Paula Cox to emerge as the only viable consensus leader. This, despite Ms Cox' entirely obvious reluctance to become Premier at this time.

No one else of significance within the Party has actually been named or quoted in any of these murky pieces of alleged journalism.

Frankly, I have been meaning to ask Alex Scott whether his name is actually being taken in vain in some of these Royal Gazette articles. He must be getting lonely if Matthew Taylor is the only person left for him to talk to.

From my clear and certain recollection, few in the PLP know better than Alex Scott that The Royal Gazette in particular at least has had (I do not say "has", I say "has had") historically only one goal so far as Bermudian politics are concerned, namely the total annihilation of the PLP and the Bermuda Labour Movement.

I would hate to think that Mr. Scott, however disgruntled he may be, would want to sleep so closely and so publicly with what he encouraged so many of my generation to believe was "the enemy" and to thereby deeply imperil both the PLP, the Labour Movement and Bermuda simply because of a misguided desire for revenge and an ungrinded axe. I would really hate to think that.

But politics does make strange bedfellows indeed. And it certainly would not be the first time one saw evidence of that mentality which holds that "if things can't go my way, I'll pull it all down". So sad. So very sad.

And what a mess. Small wonder that we are still a colony with absolutely no real imminent prospect of self-determination or (what goes along with it) self-respect in sight. The most that we seem to be able to hope for these is a Governor who, according to the Hon. David Burch, the PLP Government can get along with ("the best relations in our history", he is reported as having said, as opposed to that monstrous anachronism who only recently departed Government House.

Unless everybody I have talked to is lying and doing what has hitherto been absolutely impossible in Bermuda, particularly in the PLP, namely keeping a secret, these speculative pieces of "journalism" are little more than political greenmail. By that I mean that they would have started as largely inventions of their authors and their publishers in the hope of "conditioning" Bermudian minds in general, and PLP supporters in particular to actually believe that this is now a good time for the PLP to commit suicide, albeit of the "assisted" variety.

How many times have I warned the PLP to curb its proclivity for cannibalism? How many times have I warned that they should be careful what they ask for, lest they actually get it?

These stories ultimately take on a life of their own. "Greenmail", you see, is the process whereby you can talk something of no value into great value; rather like some of these "hotel developers" who come here claiming to have all the requisite finance in place for some massive development, thereby gaining Government support, only to demonstrate later that it was that Government support that they needed in the first place to secure financial backing. I rather like the analogy; don't you?

It seems to me that if either or both these allegedly coup-plotting fellows (i.e. Horton and Lister) is actually seriously involved in these shadowy endeavours as reported in this newspaper and the other one, at least one of them would have resigned from the Cabinet by now. Under our system, resignation from the frontbench is properly regarded as the "honourable" thing to do if you are plotting to unseat your team leader and captain. But what is honourable in "the mother country" is sometimes just a nuisance here. It also seems to me that somebody by now would have allowed their reported criticisms of Ewart Brown to graduate from the elementary phase of allegation to the secondary phase of evidence if not the tertiary phase of proof.

This is really death by thousand cuts, nothing more and nothing less.

And some people really should be ashamed of themselves, particularly those who know that they couldn't possibly compare to the man in terms of competence, discipline, efficiency, goal-orientation, confidence and purpose. I understand jealousy; boy do I understand it.

But some of these guys need to be reminded of the aphorism that some are simply destined to be average, and no more. Dr Brown, whether you like to admit it or not, is truly (to use the description given only this week by General Colin Powell of Senator Barack Obama) a "transformational leader".

Call me a toady. Call me obsequious. Say that I am only saying these things to further my own selfish agenda and to meet my own needs. I accept that after years of suffering under a vicious and racist "You won't work in this town ever again" plot, it is Dr. Brown and his Government which has given me my first employment in Bermuda in over a decade. But I really do mean what I am saying. And I am saying what I am saying because I do love this country.

I have already stated my position both publicly and clearly. (See my three-part series earlier this year in the Mid Ocean News, "The Enigmatic Dr Ewart Brown"). I support Dr. Ewart Brown. I also believe that Dr. Brown's job is unfinished, that he really is the best that we in Bermuda have available to us right now by way of true leadership. And let's not fool ourselves, no country produces that many true leaders per capita anyway.

It also seems pretty clear that those planning the forthcoming "coup" – if they exist – have completely failed to consult the Party's Constitution and Bylaws and will, unless they proceed unlawfully and unconstitutionally, inevitably fall flat on their faces; as I say, make complete asses of themselves.

Anyone hoping or planning to put the issue of Party leadership on the Agenda for this Delegates' Conference will have to wade through a minefield of quite difficult, possibly insurmountable, constitutional barriers; not the least of which is the need to give 21 days' notice for placing an issue on the agenda and the fact that the Leadership issue cannot be brought up in any event (barring a decision by two-thirds of the delegates to amend the Party Constitution) until after the Party Leader has held office for four years.

This is all serious business, this running a country. People need to stop going into politics in Bermuda or anywhere else if the principal purpose of doing so is to have the means to maintain their mortgage payments, or because they like driving around in GP cars, or because they like to hobnob with the muck-de-mucks, or because it will give them an opportunity to convert "power" into capital. Leadership must be about service, above all else.

Subject to one last thing, that's my view for now. At the end of the day, those who seek to persuade us that they actually have something concrete to offer this community really do need finally to finally put up or shut up.

That last thing is this: Dr. Brown has his work cut out for him. This "rope-a-dope" (as in Muhammad Ali) technique of taking body blow after body blow may look impressive for a time but it could leave Dr. Brown just as brain-damaged as the rope-a-dope technique has left Muhammad Ali.

Surely it is time to really take this country to a higher level. Dr. Brown has some 'splainin to do, we all accept that. He needs to take his case to the country, parish by parish, PLP branch by PLP branch. His vision needs to be spelled out in greater detail for alas the fleet is only as swift as the slowest ship.

Dr. Brown has made himself vulnerable to unjustified speculation as to his motives, his sincerity and his true purpose, particularly as regards his economic approach and the goal of economic empowerment.

His detractors may be projecting their own shallow personalities in some cases, but in this process of "death by a thousand cuts" they are proceeding on the well-tried basis that perception is reality and the unjustified perception that Brown is only about Brown is in danger of taking root.

Taking his case to the branches, one by one, and to the country – parish by parish – would be a good thing. It would dispel the myth that the Premier is simply arrogant and aloof and it might just result in a more democratic and transparent process in selecting delegates.

The dirty PLP secret, as far as I am concerned, is that the delegate selection process is about as democratic and as transparent as the machinations of the College of Cardinals in the Vatican. So there. Let the games begin!

Editor's Note: Some readers may infer from Mr. Hall's comments that he is saying that The Royal Gazette's non-Bermudian journalists do not understand this community, and that sources quoted in stories are invented. A careful reading of the column will show that he is not. Nonetheless, it would be wrong to assume that publication of his views equates to an endorsement of them. In the case of Matthew Taylor, he has been a reporter in Bermuda for close to a decade and has as deep an understanding of the Island as any journalist working here, regardless of nationality. With regard to sources, invention of a source is grounds for immediate dismsissal.