Members of the ruling Progressive Labour Party accused the Opposition of "irresponsible scaremongering" during Friday's debate on the Statistics Act.

"Instead of stopping and thinking logically, they tend to say 'how do I phrase it... so that I can frighten the Bermudians'," said Deputy Premier Eugene Cox.

The law, which was passed by a 17 to ten vote after a day long debate, is the governing act for the Statistics Department and gives the Chief Statistician authority to conduct compulsory surveys in a broad range of areas.

Government defended the bill saying it would lead to better information and improved decision making.

Opposition concerns centred primarily around privacy rights - without privacy protection legislation, they argued, the law had the potential of violating fundamental rights to privacy. And in response to an argument that voluntary surveys had a very low response rate, members of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) said it boiled down to a lack of trust in the present Government.

Mr. Cox rose to speak immediately after Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons' presentation which led the charge against the bill.

"This member tries to get up and talk at all times in a manner which tries to frighten the public," Mr. Cox said. "I don't think the public will buy it."

Dr. Gibbons had also said that Government had Dr. Gibbons had also said that Government had not adequately consulted stakeholders before the bill was drafted and even some in the Finance Ministry had not been consulted.

"I dare him to say that anyone in the Finance Department gave him information or said to him they were not consulted," was Mr. Cox's response.

In dismissing Opposition concerns as scaremongering, Mr. Cox pointed to public meetings being held by the Boundaries Commission, saying a climate of fear existed among some at the electoral reform meetings as a result of scare tactics of the UBP.

He said: "I think you should debate the bill you have before you and bring some intelligent response to it. You do not have a right as a member of parliament to get up here and create scaremongering.

"I think it is ridiculous. I think you should use your time more efficiently and more effectively... Come to the meetings and see how your people react," he said. "They are frightened to death because of how you behave - what you say on the floor of this House and what you say to the press."

He added: "You come here to this House and impute your ideas and your behaviour patterns on us and that's why you frighten your people... and it's transported outside to your supporters."

Mr. Cox argued that confidentiality of individual information is maintained by Statistics Department procedures which included careful screening of Statistics Department employees, using numbers instead of names on surveys, destroying data no longer required, and restricting access to the data.

Other records are archived and sealed for a hundred years, he said.

"We are doing all in our power that is possible and practical to do and is cost effective," Mr. Cox said. He said reliance on moral persuasion for people and businesses to respond to surveys had not worked.

Some businesses were sending information required for the Archer Report to a third party instead of directly to Government, he added.

"It's not that they don't trust us - they don't want to be honest," said Mr. Cox. "It's not a question of trust. Although you're trying to make that case by scaremongering them - that's why they behave that way."

The Deputy Premier drew howls of protest from the Opposition benches when he said: "Don't talk to us about trust and integrity because I don't think you have the integrity we have on this side."

In her introduction to the bill, the Premier had said that the response rate from the business community is as low as 25 percent. The Premier later pointed out that the Chamber of Commerce had indicated during a feedback meeting that the international business community were the most responsive to surveys.