Young Bermudians are getting confused signals from Members of Parliament because too much time is devoted to partisan bickering, Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said on Friday night.

His comments came during the final stage of the House of Assembly's Motion to Adjourn.

Sir John, who did not level his criticism solely at Opposition members, said it was important for MPs to be considerate in what they said and did.

The Premier did answer his critics regarding the issue of his party's alleged lack of leadership.

"Leadership is not a straight line,'' he said. "It is recognising and embracing others in the process of finding solutions.

"Guns are destroying countries to the south of us and larger countries to the north of us.'' He swept aside PLP calls for a Royal Commission that would look into the causes of crime.

"We are full of reports,'' he said. Citing the Pitt, Tumin and recent Police study, he said: "There have been lots of recommendations and there is no magic formula.'' Earlier, Mr. Leon (Jimmy) Williams (PLP) questioned why the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs had expressed interest in building a cultural centre when it had ignored any celebrations to mark the 1834 Emancipation of Bermudian slaves.

Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess called on Bermudians to return to a good work ethic and to adopt personal responsibility for their own lives.

Meanwhile, Shadow Human Affairs Minister Ms Renee Webb said the idea of personal responsibility would be a fair request if Bermuda was a country that was free of discrimination.

Given the Island's history of privileging certain of its members because of their racial, familial and political leanings, Ms Webb said the dream of success by an individual's own effort alone did not hold much promise.

She then chastised the Government for its "anaemic, lethargic and comatose'', poise during the recent debate on the Throne Speech.

Her colleague Mr. Dennis Lister (PLP) slammed the misleading and inaccurate electronic media reports of previous Parliament proceedings.

Of particular interest were ZBM's Friday reports which stated that some Transport matters which had been discussed were passed.

Mr. Lister said he called the station and spoke to the reporter who did not even know what happened.

"That's inexcusable and a shame,'' Mr. Lister said. "Those who have the responsibility to report the proceedings of this House must do the right thing.

Mr. Lister added that he attended a meeting where some people chided him about Parliament's alleged inability to maintain a quorum which was a consequence of an inaccurate ZBM report which stated that there was a lack of a quorum.

"They misled the Country by their incorrect reporting.'' Speaker of the House the Hon. Ernest DeCouto chastised the disrespectful behaviour displayed by many members on both sides of the House.

He interrupted the speech from Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill and said: "This is the highest court in the land. This is not a barrack room, or workman's club. I'm almost embarrassed about the behaviour.

"We represent 33,000 people...speak upright, be accountable and responsible. Get your acts together.'' Mr. Dill meanwhile said that Bermudians had to take the responsibility upon themselves to chart the Country's destiny.

"All of us are called upon to lead,'' he said. "We can lead by example and not by spreading despondency, hopelessness and despair.'' Dr. Ewart Brown (PLP) said it was interesting how Government had ruled Bermuda for the past 30 years yet were unwilling to accept the responsibility for the climate that exists here.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Dr. Grant Gibbons sought to clarify his Ministry's position on disclosure of information to the PLP and the rest of the Country.

He said it wasn't prudent for Government to release all details that came available because there also needed to be time to study the information and decide a position to advance during the negotiations.

But PLP leader Mr. Frederick Wade rebuked this argument pointing out that out of more than 60 people directly involved in the various facets of the base transfer, there were only two PLP members on just two of the three main committees.

THE PREMIER -- Important for MPs to be considerate in what they said and did.