One way to alienate UBP progressive thinkers and liberals, while at the same time making PLP supporters shout “sock it to them”, is to start an article like this, and then confuse them by saying we should work together. That is exactly what John Barritt MP did on June 6 in your paper:

“John Barritt MP is a frustrated former Minister who now sits with his dishevelled party hoping one day to snatch power back from the PLP. Now, sitting in the shadows of their former 30 years of glorious reign, it must be extremely debilitating to be out of the loop and not be able to lead or direct or just simply be in charge. It is not an easy position to adjust to.

“But to his credit he has decided to use his considerable expertise to try and do things differently. It is unfortunate, however, that he has relied on the usual attack and shoot phobia of his party, the UBP, while trying at the same time to offer an “olive branch” for reforming the British Parliamentary system that he so bravely defended while in power.

“It is interesting to note that the exact same things he is accusing the Government of today were practised for thirty years by his party without a single question from him.

I was hoping that in his article of June 6 he would have highlighted three things.”

You can see how the blood boils and dialogue stops because of the attack against John Barritt and the UBP, when really I want to deal with the three things I feel will bind us as a nation and develop national pride. Listed below is where I think the leaders of the country need to start, without the rancour and the finger pointing:

1. What is in the best interest of the country in order for it to progress with all hands on deck?

2. The issues: alienation, housing, employment, lack of school achievement, lack of scholarships and bursaries, seniors etc.

3. Who we are as a hardworking and loveable people who need PRIDE in ourselves, our Bermuda and our place in Bermuda and the world.

Why can’t we meet regardless of political affiliation and develop strategies across party lines? What keeps getting in the way of such a simple solution?

John Barritt would like to see more Joint Select Committees established like they have in the UK parliament. What a wonderful idea. In the UK where members of parliament are full time, they receive travel allowances, constituency offices, secretarial help and perks as full-time politicians. That’s right! They are full time and that is the very first issue that has to be tackled here in Bermuda. Why do we, in this very busy technological and business age, still have a part-time government with part-time Ministers trying to address numerous pressing issues to the point where Ministers like the Hons. Alex Scott, Eugene Cox, Terry Lister, Renee Webb and the Premier, to name but a few, are forced, without much recognition from the public, to be full time. I, for one, could not afford to take more time off from work to attend Joint Select Committee meetings during my work day and many other members would have the same problem and that is why seats are often empty during House of Assembly debates on a Friday because meetings are being held in back rooms trying to resolve issues in one hour that UK parliamentarians take days and weeks to resolve on full pay. So let’s hear his voice for that significant change.

I would agree with his initial paper to have some additional rules changed but I will never agree with restricting the amount of time a member of the House can speak. As it is, the average speaker only talks for 25 minutes and a number, not at all. While there are restrictions in the UK on lengthy speeches, look at the size of the UK parliament. With over 550 parliamentarians, they had no choice. Of course they have to have some time limits but here in Bermuda we do not need to restrict the amount of time people speak or the number of times. Having returned the usual political missiles, because that is what is expected, let me now address the issues I do agree with from a guy whom I have always worked well with and admired. I do share common ground with John Barritt over one big subject, Bermuda.

I would like to see all 40 of us work in the best interest of the country. Surely there cannot be anything contentious about finding solutions for our most pressing problems like youth, the cost of living, speeding, litter and the break down in the family structure for example. While we may differ on a few things I am sure we can come to some concrete solutions in the best interest of Bermuda. I am also sure that having more “action teams” involving the citizens would help and be successful if we get rid of the shelves in offices and have a genuine commitment to get things done.

So what gets in the way? There is so much psychological damage that the UBP did to the then-Opposition that it is difficult for them to forget and move on. While in Opposition, the current Government were constantly told they could not govern, had no business experience, were incapable, incompetent and unable to deliver. Hence the defensive response from Dame Lois Browne Evans which spoiled John Barritt’s hope that we could try to do things differently.

So the first thing that John Barritt and his colleagues should do is to apologise for the constant barrage that came from many of their former members about the competencies of the now Government. While Mr. Barritt is not directly responsible for such comments, made over a 30 year period, the contents of his article indicate that he is cut from the same cloth or has allowed himself to sink to the same depths of the people he succeeded by highlighting what has not been done as compared to what has: Three successive Budgets, the Employment Act, the Segregated Accounts Act, Alternatives to Incarceration etc.

Once that is done, I think we might begin to see a shift from the Government, which itself has to agree that it does not have the sum total of all the knowledge and brains in Bermuda and John Barritt’s ideas and many others from the Opposition need to be seriously considered in the best interest of Bermuda.

Can John Barritt and his colleagues make that shift? Can my colleagues bury the hatchet and place Bermuda first? Should I challenge John to a public debate and put the issue on the table? The people are watching and want to know.

Dale Butler is a Progressive Labour Party MP for Warwick East