The rules of the political game should be rewritten to allow more open Government, Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon said yesterday.

And Ms Gordon said Ministers should be more accountable to the House of Assembly -- with questions allowed after official statements.

Ms Gordon said: "Parliamentary questions should be allowed after Ministerial statements, the Public Accounts Committee should be open to the public and press and more frequent use should be made of joint select committees to consider changes in Government policy.

"These committees should be open to the public, both to attend and to make submissions.'' The call for the Progressive Labour Party to live up to its commitment to "transparency'' and "accountability'' in Government came as Ms Gordon delivered the United Bermuda Party's second reply to the Throne Speech.

And she put the boot into Government's record over its term in office -- concentrating on social issues like housing, care for the elderly, education and public safety.

Ms Gordon said: "A year is over now. This is the PLP's watch. Their hand is on the tiller.

"The time has arrived for the PLP Government to start taking responsibility for what they have done and for what they have left undone.'' Ms Gordon added: "In the course of the last year, the PLP Government has found time for travel, entertainment and for supporting initiatives that have not benefited the broader community in a tangible way.

"The PLP has not found the time, however, to seriously address some of the most basic problems this Country faces.

"Housing, public safety, tourism, transportation, care for the elderly, the environment and education -- here is where work needs doing and where the Government needs to demonstrate performance.'' Ms Gordon kicked off the UBP's critique of the PLP's year in charge of the Island with crime and policing.

She said there were "substantially fewer'' Police officers on the beat than there were when the PLP took over.

Ms Gordon added: "Bermuda now has at least 72 officers fewer than this Parliament provided for in its Budget last year.

"Our Police need the support of Government. Our citizens have the right to expect protection.'' Ms Gordon said a UBP Government would have signed up Island recruits to the Service -- and brought in extra officers on short term contracts if needed.

And she added that UBP plans for a special drugs court appeared to have been put on the back burner.

Gordon takes aim at Throne Speech Ms Gordon said: "We urge this Government to get down to basics -- no matter how dedicated, our Police Service cannot do its job properly if it does not have the manpower it needs. Nor can Bermuda wage a war on drugs without soldiers to fight the battles.'' Ms Gordon added that plans to axe the death penalty had apparently been drawn up without consulting the public -- the subject of a referendum in the nineties by the UBP which backed its retention.

She said: "If, however, capital punishment is to be abolished, we believe it's incumbent on Government to simultaneously amend the Criminal Code to put in its place the most effective deterrents possible. At the very least, life should mean life.'' Ms Gordon pointed out that UBP had plans for 100 new houses, plus at least another 100 through renovation of derelict buildings.

But she said: "One year later, not only are there no new houses, but the Progressive Labour Party Government has reduced that number to 50.'' Ms Gordon added that 54 houses would have been provided as Southside, plus a ten percent downpayment scheme with the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

And she said: "All told, we have lost precious time and we are moving away from the fundamental principle of home ownership -- `the piece of the rock' that has provided stability and an economic foundation to many families.'' Ms Gordon added that the 100-day tourism rescue plan promised by the PLP before it took power had run out of steam.

She said: "A year has come and gone and the people of Bermuda have seen no plan and no discernible strategy. What they have seen is that air arrivals, by the end of August, are down two percent. Length of stay and visitor spending area also down.'' Ms Gordon slammed PLP overseas road shows as "an expensive whirlwind'' and said the money would be better spent on the Island.

She said: "The UBP believes the Government must turn its focus away from such costly promotional trips and back towards the product we are trying to sell our visitors -- our facilities, our activities, our services.'' And she called for a joint public sector/private Bermuda Tourism Authority, in line with UBP proposals while in power.

Ms Gordon added that massive land tax hikes had hit hotels -- and that the "cruise and fly'' schemes pushed by Government was "vastly overestimated'' and unlikely to produce the claimed 50,000 bed nights a year.

She commended the PLP drive to reduce class sizes -- but gave the PLP record on education poor marks.

Ms Gordon said: "Class size matters little if proper educational programmes are not being delivered or if children are sent home from school because of a teachers' strike.'' And she said slow action on literacy and turning the Berkeley Institute into the second senior school meant depriving youngsters of opportunities.

Ms Gordon said the PLP had also failed to take a lead in relations with the UK, under the spotlight in a White Paper revealed by the British Government in March -- and pointed out the rewrite of relations had not rated a mention in the Throne Speech.

Ms Gordon said: "It's a glaring omission. A Government that is truly committed to openness, transparency and accountability would have at least provided the people of Bermuda with some clues as to the position it was taking.'' She added that the PLP had spent too much time and money on "shamelessly self-promotional purposes''.

But Ms Gordon said: "Our people's money and our Country's reputation should not be squandered in this way. The Progressive Labour Party Government is setting a tone of Government that is dangerous to our future.'' And she added: "We appeal to this Government to put service before self.

There are already serious implications for spending for the reviews, incentives, relocation, training, building plans, etc. incorporated in this Throne Speech that could signal a greater tax burden to the people of Bermuda if their Government does not exercise fiscal restraint.''