One wouldn't expect that an island with a long and proud sailing tradition such as ours would be drifting rudderless into the doldrums. Yet that's exactly what's happening in the New Bermuda.

The PLP Government, devoid of ideas and internally divided, has rendered itself politically impotent by demonstrating proficiency at producing solely scandals and high-profile failures.

Our motto may be "Whither the Fates Lead Us", but our future is too important and fragile to be left to fate. In fact, it isn't fate that we should be concerned with, it's the Government. We can't, as the Premier would hope, wave the white flag of surrender ? or at least one that looks and sounds like a white flag, in the Shakespearean sense of course. The Government is waging a war of attrition, one that must be arrested.

Even the most optimistic PLP supporters seem depressed and uninspired, unable to comprehend how after finally ending thirty years of electoral futility it all went so horribly wrong so fast. After seven years at the helm Cabinet continues to flounder; desperately resurrecting an outdated and unappealing issue that an ever dwindling number of Bermudians find even remotely appealing.

This Government has never articulated a vision or chartered a clear course, and as Sir John Swan recently pointed out, they have been unable to complete even the most rudimentary day to day tasks of governance. That's a shockingly harsh indictment of a party which had over thirty years to prepare.

Under Alex Scott's tenure the PLP Government has transitioned from what some might have termed benign neglect into malicious abuse. Bermudian voters, business leaders and international bodies are treated as objects of derision and ridicule, mere obstacles in a game of political chicken.

The current approach to governing involves little more than relentless damage control via highly staged press events and sterile press releases. These diversionary tactics are unleashed to obscure the chronic social and economic neglect and abuse that is the hallmark of the PLP Government's tenure.

It seems that more and more Bermudians start the day in a crouched position, wondering just what today's revelation will be; which shoe will drop next. And who can blame them? The past seven years have seen enough scandals, failures and public relations disasters to establish a Governmental Hall of Shame to compliment the Sports Hall of Fame.

It's not all bad though. Bermuda's NASCAR fans will have another source of entertainment; it's not the left hand turns that keep them glued to the TV, it's the high speed wrecks. The New Bermuda has an abundance of those.

Whether it's the disgraceful and discredited BIC report; BIC's calculated manipulation of the good faith of the business community; the de facto nationalisation of a private business by WEDCO; the racially tinged e-mail from the Premier, compounded by his ensuing intelligence-insulting half-hearted mea culpa; the public insulting of 14,000 democratically inclined referendum signing Bermudians; the collapse of the Southside housing project after months of denials and a meaningless housing lottery; a myriad of incomplete and overbudget capital projects; escalating violent crime; a deteriorating quality of life for our seniors; or a failing education system, little has been accomplished.

If you despair about the current stewardship of Bermuda you're not alone. There is clearly a rising chorus of discontent, but it's doubtful that we've been shaken from our complacency. Bermuda is on the brink of being sucked into a dangerous downward spiral, one that will be difficult to emerge from.

The potential decline of Bermuda as one of the world's pre-eminent financial services jurisdictions is real, and our competitors are watching with glee. The list of potential suitors for Bermuda's multi-million dollar world leading companies ? and the associated jobs ? is long.

This external threat however is secondary. The real danger will more likely be self-inflicted, driven by the instability and uncertainty spawned by a Government determined to impose their self-serving drive to Independence ? with no clear timetable ? on an uninterested public and distressed business community.

Notwithstanding Government's efforts to convince us otherwise, our international business sector ? the sole economic pillar ? isn't invincible. And we, more than anyone, should be painfully aware that once seemingly indestructible industries begin to crumble, there's little that we can do to stop it. Does the word 'Tourism' sound familiar?

Our former glory years as the world's pre-eminent tourist destination should serve as a grim forewarning of what occurs when we take success for granted. Tourism's decline didn't happen overnight; it was gradual and continues to this day. Our complacency and arrogance led to a belief success was guaranteed.

That a six-month general strike coincided with the peak of our now defunct tourism industry is not a coincidence. We lost sight of what was important and undermined our own product. We became less than friendly to the industry and our visitors, wrongly assuming that tourists would always flock to our shores.

The PLP Government's arrogance, negligence and complacency threatens to repeat this scenario in the international business sector, an industry who would not hesitate to look elsewhere for more friendly shores.

To borrow a phrase from a former PLP Premier, we ignore the concerns of the international business leaders and betray their good faith "at our peril". Real trepidation has been raised over the impact the unpopular and back door push for Independence will have on attractiveness as a business centre. We have no fallback position. International business is our sole economic engine.

Past and current success is no guarantee of future success. That's a mistake we've made before. Need we be reminded? Let's not go back to the future.