Long-time Progressive Labour Party member Raymond Russell has resigned from the party, saying he could not look his grandchildren in the eye if he remained.

?Bermuda is more corrupt now than it?s even been under the UBP (United Bermuda Party),? he said last night. ?I?ve had enough.?

The lack of enforcement action from the Finance Ministry regarding an illegal loan from the Bermuda Industrial Union?s (BIU) Credit Union to Union Assets Holding, a BIU-owned subsidiary, proved to be the last straw for Mr. Russell, who sent his letter of resignation to PLP spokesperson Scott Simmons yesterday.

Last night he criticised the ?blind loyalty? of many Bermudians to both the PLP and the BIU, despite repeated examples of corruption and untrustworthiness.

Likening it to brainwashing, Mr. Russell said a culture of loyalty and control has been built up, and that he has had enough.

Mr. Russell was loyal to former Premier Jennifer Smith, and he said when she was forced to resign he knew it was only a matter of time before he, too, resigned.

The ?Rebel 11? who divided the party and brought Ms Smith down have not changed since the 2003 Election, he said. ?People that could do that could do anything. History will tell you that ... We?re talking about a country. I don?t think it can heal itself under this system of administration.?

However not all PLP politicians are so untrustworthy, he said. Mr. Russell was the campaign manager for Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield and Works and Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent.

Last night he said that had Mr. DeVent not been elected when Ms Smith was ousted, ?I would?ve done it in then?.

?He?s a fine young man,? Mr. Russell added.

Finance Minister Paula Cox and backbencher/BIU president Derrick Burgess came in for some harsh words, however.

While volunteering that Ms Cox has done some ?wonderful? things, Mr. Russell said her lack of action as Labour Minister over the redundancy of Sonesta hotel workers in 2003, after the hotel was taken over by Wyndham Resorts, ?didn?t look so good?.

He likened Mr. Burgess to ?a control freak? who not only opposed Jennifer Smith, but has been a fundamental instrument in building up the culture of loyalty to the BIU and the PLP. ?And it?s working?, he said.

Mr. Russell, a former hotel worker, has a history of battles with leaders of the BIU, particularly regarding the rights of hotel workers.

His disillusionment with the PLP will not drive him to join forces with the Opposition, however. Instead, he has joined forces with Hope Homes in an attempt to bring the residence for the mentally-handicapped back to its feet.

Mr. Russell, who characterised himself as ?a community activist since the age of five?, also said he wants to speak out against the blind partisanship that divides issues down political or racial lines.

?Everybody knows the type of effort that I put in for the party,? he said. ?But now that I?m free ... It?s time to treat people as people,? regardless of their political affiliations or the colour of their skin. The UBP, he added, should be thinking along the same lines ? and begin working from ?the labour end? ? the people end ? instead of the political one.

?People have a right to disagree,? he said. ?But this ? I have never felt so bad. I couldn?t in all honestly remain a member of the PLP.?