Members of the public could be forgiven for thinking that the General Election had already been called this week as politicians from both major parties got into wars of words over Government civil servants’ dental insurance and the state of the Island’s ferries.And surprisingly, in all of this, one of the most important and worrying issues of recent days — XL Capital chief executive officer Michael McGavick’s pointed criticism of Government’s handling of international business — got ignored.All of this throws some light on what the next few months are going to be like, and, to some degree, how the real business of getting Bermuda out of its current economic mess may get ignored in the process.The One Bermuda Alliance, having learned that civil servants’ dental insurance had been placed on an “inactive” list by insurer BF&M, was right to raise the alarm. And it was also right, having been met with a public denial, to produce documentation proving its claims. Patient security was never placed at risk as a result, despite the claims of the Progressive Labour Party.Nor was the OBA entirely wrong not to have sought clarification. Certainly the media has become accustomed to not receiving answers to questions, and the OBA may have believed any such efforts would have ended in file 13.Where the OBA was wrong was in drawing the absolute conclusion that Government had failed to pay its premium. This may have been a reasonable assumption given the facts, but it could not prove it, and it does appear to have been wrong, given BF&M’s statement that this was in fact a technical error.But Government cannot get off the hook either. It claimed no civil servants were affected, and it has since turned out that at least one was and more could have been. Any civil servant caught in this situation was at the mercy of their dental office’s goodwill.Transport Minister Walter Roban’s statements on the ferries are similar. A number of ferries have been cancelled at short notice for maintenance. Mr Roban swung between admitting the ferries were getting older and therefore needed more maintenance to asserting that everything was fine. The Opposition argues that regular maintenance is not being done and thus the ferries are falling apart. What is certain in all of this is that the public and visitors are getting very frustrated with sudden cancellations and schedule changes.In the next few months, there will be more claims and counter-claims over any number of issues. It is incumbent on all parties to speak based on facts and to resist the temptation to spin and shape the facts to suit their purposes. And, yes, it’s the media’s job to make sure politicians are telling the truth and to separate facts from spin.Both of these stories are connected to the wider issue of whether Government is able to collect enough revenue to meet its obligations. In a declining economy, that is hard, even with borrowing.Only economic growth can turn it around. And the best source of growth comes from international companies. So Mr McGavick’s comments were extremely telling. Mr McGavick feels that international companies were betrayed when Government hiked payroll tax and the cap on taxable salaries in the 2010 Budget without warning. He said that Government had made a commitment to consult and give notice of this and failed to so.That was a breach of trust and the trust has not been repaired. And that’s why many international companies no longer feel committed to keeping their domiciles or jobs in Bermuda. Fixing this problem would go a long way to fixing the economy. But Government has not done it. And that’s a real problem which can’t be fixed with spin.