consensus at the centre of the political spectrum. Basically middle class people look for the things they see as best for their bank account and best for their children.

Those two things require a strong economy and a good system of education.

There are other fringe areas which are important because they can disrupt the two basic areas. A lack of law and order can seriously disrupt tourism, drugs can destroy Bermuda's children and an inept education policy can disrupt the lives of a whole generation of children.

There are areas where the best interests of all Bermudians would be served by a unified approach to problems. The only way Bermuda is going to overcome some problems is to go forward together with policies which receive general support and are not punched to death by politicians.

It seems to us that there is plenty of room in this tiny Country for political cant and political point scoring without doing so at the expense of combating drugs and disrupting law and order. This is not to suggest that politicians should have no say on drugs or the Police but it is to suggest that their say should be voluntarily confined to policy and their comments should be constructive.

No constructive purpose is served by undermining the Police Service and nothing is achieved by implying that the "war on drugs'' is something we must give lip service to but that we are not really serious.

We have to be very careful that self-interest and self-fulfilment do not get in the way of what is best for Bermuda. A good and just society should shun self-interested individuals and honour and encourage achievements which benefit everyone. Too often we devote our rhetoric and our resources to the strange notion that citizens are not to ask what they can do for their Country but rather to demand what the Country can do for them.

We must direct both our financial and intellectual resources where they have the best chance of making life better for all Bermudians. We have to make Bermuda better than it used to be and better than it is today. We can only do that together.