The United Bermuda Party's decision not to re-admit Trevor Moniz to the whip demonstrates the difficulties of balancing stands on matters of principle with the need for party discipline.

Mr. Moniz had the whip withdrawn after a series of contentious votes and, the party said, because of his poor attendance at caucus and in the House of Assembly.

Then, too, Mr. Moniz' differences with his own party seemed to be more vocal than his differences with the Government, giving the impression at least that they were more deeply felt.

That, of course, does not mean that Mr. Moniz would be more comfortable in the PLP. The difficulty is that he seems to be out of step with both parties. But his differences with the UBP have been more public.

Nonetheless, Mr. Moniz sought to be readmitted to the UBP caucus in August, which would presumably require a demonstration to the UBP that he had "mended his ways".

That could well have been difficult for Mr. Moniz, given that he has never felt he did anything wrong; and therein lies the rub.

Mr. Moniz has strongly held views on certain issues, including Independence and McDonald's and the register of interests for MPs.

Very often, especially on issues like Independence, he has been on the side of the angels, at least from the viewpoint of the UBP's grassroots. And compared to some other past and present MPs who carefully sat on the fence on contentious issues, there has rarely been any question of where he stood.

The UBP has traditionally been quite tolerant of wide ranging views within its caucus and membership. And Mr. Moniz, at least up until the last Election, was hardly alone, since MPs like C.V. (Jim) Woolridge, Ann Cartwright DeCouto, Dr. David Dyer and Dr. Clarence Terceira shared much the same views.

But in almost all of those cases, and certainly in the case of Mr. Woolridge, serious disagreements with the majority view in the UBP rarely led to outright rebellion, and when the UBP needed help, Mr. Woolridge, most notably, answered the call.

All MPs disagree find themselves in the minority within their own party from time to time. There are continuous reports from with in the PLP that some backbenchers are at serious odds with their party leadership.

But most MPs seem to find it easier than Mr. Moniz to decide when to bow to the popular will and when to take a stand on principle.

The concern within the UBP caucus appears to have stemmed from the notion that they would spend more time arguing with Mr. Moniz than with presenting a united front on the issues of the day.

Thus they have decided not to let him back in to the caucus on the basis that sooner or later, they would again find themselves at odds with him.

This is not, however, a resolution to the problem. Mr. Moniz continues to have support from grassroots UBP supporters and come the next General Election, even if it is under a new electoral system, the UBP faces the possibility of running a party candidate against an "Independent UBP" candidate in the guise of Mr. Moniz with all the problems of vote splitting that that presents.

That is not an appealing prospect, and cannot be one that either the UBP or Mr. Moniz himself can savour.