This is Anglican Bishop of Bermuda the Rt. Rev. Ewen Ratteray's New Year Message.

As we look forward to the year that lies before us, we hope and pray that it will be one in which our beloved Bermuda may deal effectively with the many issues that remain unresolved from 2007. Such matters as race, the public educational system, the need for housing and violent crime cry out for resolution.

I now return to a subject I touched on in the latter part of last year.

I received a great deal of support for the sentiments I expressed then, though one person berated me over the telephone for so doing! As I have expressed elsewhere the recent election campaign was terribly unfortunate in terms of the level of hostile rhetoric that was bandied about, purely for political advantage. The term "cheap shot" comes to mind.

Those who have aspired to political office can and ought to do better than that in the future. Apart from anything else, such unseemly behaviour which we witnessed over an extended period set a rather poor example for the young people of these islands. Adults cannot complain about how they behave when we recall what took place during the 2007 election campaign.

It was a far cry from the way we have traditionally behaved. It will not be easy withdrawing from that kind of mindset to a more conciliatory and reasonable way of dealing with one another, though the leaders of both parties seem to be moving in that direction, thank God. But that has to happen if we are to actually achieve anything worthwhile in this tiny place in which we are privileged to dwell. Is it too much to ask of our political leaders that they pledge to speak and act at all times towards others in private and publicly in ways that they would expect for themselves?

Common decency demands this and the needs of Bermuda are such as to require it. For it seems to me that all who occupy seats in the House of Assembly and the Senate, of whatever party, have an important contribution to make in dealing with the things that need to be done for all who live in Bermuda. They are, lest they forget, servants of the people.

I am firmly of the view that a collaborative approach is needed, now more than ever, despite the clear majority that the Government has. This is necessary, partly to bring about healing in our community, and also because I believe that no one party has a monopoly on wisdom. It matters not at all where the good ideas come from; use them all for the well being and benefit of the people of our island. All too often solutions to problems have not been taken seriously, even when they are obviously "right", just because they come from the "wrong source".

Even the Church has been guilty of that from time to time. We have to learn from our mistakes in that area and learn how to judge ideas on their merit alone rather than from whence they come. In the past that has happened too many times and to the detriment of the people of our country. We can do better and we really have to discover how to do exactly that! A truly "New Day" will dawn when that becomes a part of the regular occurrences in the Bermuda we all love.

I long to see the day when both political parties join hands and work together for the common good. It can be done, if the will to do so exists! This New Year gives us all an opportunity to begin afresh; to make a new start, so let us all begin 2008 with a clean sheet, and ensure that Bermuda is the beneficiary of all our efforts. Politicians in particular please take note!

A very Happy New Year to all.