Party intends to focus its efforts and how it plans to approach the job of Opposition.

The job of the Opposition, says UBP Leader Pamela Gordon, is not to criticise for criticism's sake, but to monitor Government's words and actions carefully and to point out its mistakes, or failures to act.

The Opposition must also present its own ideas and policies in order to show it is a viable alternative to the Government.

It is clear from Friday's speech that the UBP intends to focus on two key areas: crime and the economy. That is not entirely surprising given that the UBP is a conservative party; these are solid issues for the UBP's core supporters.

But while the PLP has given the UBP opportunities to hammer away on low manpower in the Police, the economy remains solid, if not spectacular, making it difficult for the UBP to score points on one of its strongest issues.

Ms Gordon also picked up on the key omission of the Throne Speech -- the lack of response to the British White Paper and her urging that the public be given more into deliberations on UK citizenship -- the key constitutional issue of the day -- is correct.

Indeed, the UBP has the opportunity to score points on the Government's unfulfilled promises of transparency and openness; so far the PLP has done a poor job of explaining its policies or responding rapidly to criticism.

There is some irony in the UBP's embrace of open Government when it was often slow to open up debate during its tenure. The UBP was satisfied with the Parliamentary rules when it was in power, which limited answers to Parliamentary questions and kept Parliamentary committees closed. Now it wants more time for questions and open deliberations on committee meetings. Things can look very different when you find yourself on the other side of the fence.

But it is hard to argue with either proposal and the Government, having promised transparency, opened this debate. If it fails to fulfil the promise, then it leaves itself open to criticism.

Ms Gordon notes: "At the end of (the PLP's) first year, crime is up, traffic is worse, air visitor numbers continue to fall, the housing situation continues to deteriorate, labour problems have increased and so has inflation.'' While it is questionable whether crime in overall terms is worse, people feel insecure and perception in this case is reality. But Ms Gordon is right on the other points -- Government has been slow to get to grips with the key issues facing the Island.

As a criticism, this speech is a sound one; there is little criticism for the sake of it, as promised, but a careful examination of what the Government could and should be doing and where it is falling short.

Where the speech falls short is in the UBP make a compelling case for itself as the Government in waiting. Ms Gordon states that "there is so much more we could and should be accomplishing''. But she does not say what it is the UBP would be aiming to achieve.