Government backbencher Walter Roban accused the British Government of "inaction and ineptness" when dealing with matters on behalf of Bermuda. He said the UK had failed repeatedly to act in the interests of the Island.
Mr. Roban said that with regard to the Uighurs, "we took a position that was different to the British Government". He added: "Due process is being followed because the British Government does have the final say and they are exerting their full executive authority around this matter."
He said it was his view that the British Government had already abrogated its responsibilities towards Bermuda under the Constitution.
Mr. Roban said the no confidence vote would fail because the majority of MPs had already admitted they had not lost confidence in the Government.
"This resolution has already been decided," he claimed, adding that the Opposition had admitted it had no issue with the Government "but this resolution can only be about the Government". "Perhaps they should withdraw it," he suggested.
Mr. Roban said it went "against convention" and "against all practice that is normal and understood in Westminster" to vote against the Premier. "This resolution is useless and the Opposition has already agreed with that," he said.
Shadow Housing Minister Donte Hunt said the no confidence motion was fully in line with the Constitution but he understood why the wording did not sit well with PLP MPs.
"I fully understand why the Government can't swallow this particular motion," he said. "But this is the only means that we can put forward our particular intent, that is, to remove the Premier."
He added: "The people have to rely on us, if they want a leader to be removed, to put forward this particular motion."
The Opposition MP said the motion was the "best vehicle that we have, hands down" to carry out the will of the people and that the way it was worded was the only available way.
"This motion is really a motion that can only really be brought through the House by the Opposition." He said Government MPs were hardly likely to bring a motion against themselves.
Mr. Hunt said the situation meant there was a "constitutional dilemma" because the motion itself did not really allow for the removal of the Premier. "The Constitution in this case is inept to do that."
He said the Opposition simply didn't have the numbers on its own to push the motion through. "This motion has no chance of ever being passed based on shared numbers." He suggested the Constitution should be amended.
A suggestion by Mr. Hunt that Government MPs trust the Opposition and vote with them, brought laughter from the public gallery.
"Laughs should not come as a result of me saying 'trust'," he said. "Trust us. What we are doing is the express will of the people. I understand the pill is a hard pill to swallow by the Government but it's all that we have."
PLP backbencher Zane DeSilva began and ended his speech with a question. "How dare the UBP try and tell us how to choose our Premier?" he said.
He said the debate in the House was really just a chance for both sides to air their views as there was no chance of the motion being approved.
Mr. DeSilva suggested that the motion was really an attempt to oust Government and questioned why "unsubstantiated" comments about the Premier — particularly ones he said had appeared in The Royal Gazette — were being raised.
He suggested that the reason there was constant criticism of the Department of Tourism's contract with US contractor GlobalHue was "because the owner of GlobalHue doesn't look like me".
At that, Opposition leader Kim Swan leapt to his feet and said the member was "impugning improper motives" of him and that he repeatedly raised the GlobalHue issue because of the wasteful spending of public money. "That has nothing to do with the pigmentation of someone's skin," said Mr. Swan.
Mr. DeSilva defended the Premier and the Government's approach to the media, which he said was only normal when they came in for so much flak.
"What do you expect our Premier and our Government to do when over the last ten years there have been hundreds, literally hundreds, of stories, nefarious, unsubstantiated, horrible stories about our Premier and indeed our Ministers."
He added: "Do you think this Government should send The Royal Gazette a box of chocolates every week?"
He accused the Opposition of hypocrisy for constantly suggesting that greater ties needed forging with the US and then criticising Government when it did just that.
"The decision that was made by our Premier last week, I have to believe that that has really solidified our relationship with our number one neighbour," said Mr. DeSilva.
He said those in charge sometimes had to make difficult decisions because the decisions were important ones. He said that the explanations given about the Uighurs' arrival had satisfied people, including the Cabinet. "I applaud the Premier," he said.
The PLP MP listed a string of achievements since his party came to power and said Bermuda was divided before Dr. Brown came along and probably still would be when he was no longer Premier.
He said the public had given the PLP a vote of confidence in the last three elections and would get the opportunity to have their say again at the next election.
Mr. DeSilva said he was amazed that Opposition MPs had depicted Tuesday's march as "non political, non racial and peaceful".
"If this was a peaceful, non political, non racial demonstration why would we be called murderers? Why would I and my wife be called nigger lovers? Yes, I heard that. If this was a demonstration about protocol not being followed, people not being consulted, Cabinet Ministers not being told, secrecy, why did my wife and I feel like we were about to be lynched?
"The only thing missing from that demonstration was a rope and a tree. I feared not only for my wife but I feared for our Premier and his wife. As they left the ground I thought we were really going to have a situation never before seen in Bermuda. It was scary."
He said he hoped it was a one-off because people were a "little too hyped". "To see something like that in Bermuda was absolutely appalling."
John Barritt, the Opposition's legislative reform spokesman, said his party was not attempting to tell the other side how to elect its leader. "The Opposition has a limited number of tools at its disposal," he said.
"One of the most important motions that an opposition can bring is a vote of no confidence. The key words there are 'the Government led by the Premier'."
He said the Constitution vested power in the Governor to appoint the Premier based on who he believed could command a majority in the House.
Mr. Barritt said he was not aware of any party using the vote of no confidence provision since 1968. "I'm going to maintain that it can be done, in my view," he said. "It's entirely appropriate to bring that motion to the floor of the House."
He acknowledged that his party had only 13 members in the House but needed 18 votes to win the motion. "We live in hope and we die in despair," he said.
"I don't think it's misguided and why don't I think it's misguided? Because you'd have to be deaf, blind and dumb to think that all is well in Bermuda, to think that all is well with the PLP Government."
Mr. Barritt said the PLP members who had spoken had "closed ranks" and diligently read from a list of party accomplishments prepared for them.
He said the party was right to try to stymie the motion but that didn't mean it could pretend nothing was wrong. "All is not well," said Mr. Barritt.
He said wider concern in the community about the direction and leadership of the Government was exemplified by the decision on the Uighurs.
Mr. Barritt asked why the Premier gave wrong information to the House about the Police Commissioner's assessment of the four former prisoners.
And he asked what was the rush, suggesting that the Pacific island of Palau was taking its time to negotiate a hefty financial settlement with the US in return for taking 13 Uighurs from Guantánamo Bay.
Mr. Barritt said even if the US demanded secrecy regarding the deal with Bermuda, the Island did not have to obey. "I have as much difficulty taking orders from them [the US] as you do taking orders from Great Britain," he told Government MPs.
