Two allegations of conflict of interest have arisen in the last couple of weeks. Both concern what could be seen as grey areas, but in the end, it is clear that conflicts exist in both cases.

The first concerns the Opposition United Bermuda Party's desire to put Gina Spence-Farmer in the Senate.

Mrs. Spence-Farmer, a candidate for the UBP for the next General Election, works as a counsellor at the Bermuda College. The College says it has had a policy since 2003 barring employees from holding political offices.

The UBP argues that while that policy is fair for lecturers, it should not apply to paid administrative staff, which Mrs. Spence Farmer arguably is.

More broadly, the UBP argues that a person who wants to give public service to the community should not be barred from doing so.

The College is a quango, and as such it is not officially a part of the public service, whose employees are rightly barred from political office because it would be invidious for a politician to decide policy and legislation with one hand and then to implement the policy with the other. It would also be wrong for a civil servant to decide his or her own pay.

Quangos fall into a grey area. They have a degree of autonomy outside of Government and they can also raise their own funds. Ideally, they are supposed to be self-supporting or even a net contributor to Government. The Bermuda College is neither of those things. It cannot support itself and is dependent on Government to provide a large part of its finances. That is the major reason why the College is able to charged extraordinarily low fees for tertiary education.

It has been suggested that the policy would not have come into being if a Government Senator — Sen. Raymond Tannock — was not the chairman of the board of governors, or if Mrs. Spence-Farmer had been proposed by the PLP instead of the UBP for the upper house.

In spite of those points, the principle that the College has established is right. The College and its employees, to all intents and purposes, are employees of Government, and the delivery of tertiary education through the Bermuda College is a Government responsibility. As such, it would be wrong for an employee of the College to hold political office. If Mrs. Spence-Farmer wishes to sit in the Senate, she should resign her post.

The other conflict concerns Lt. Col. David Burch, who rejoined the Cabinet last week and will enter the Senate on Friday. Lt. Col. Burch has already resigned as "quango czar", and rightly so.

But he seems determined to continue with his Sunday evening radio show, which covers a wide range of topics, including politics — and what isn't political in Bermuda?

The PLP has argued that Lt. Col. Burch is doing the broadcasts in his own time, which he has a right to spend as he wishes. It has also argued that he is doing a vital job of listening to the concerns of the public. And it is also suggested that since other politicians call radio shows, why shouldn't Lt. Col. Burch host one?

The problem is that Lt. Col. Burch is now bound by collective responsibility, and whenever he speaks, he speaks for the Government. That does not end at 5 p.m. on Friday and resume at 9 p.m. on Monday.

The Broadcasting Regulations give the Opposition party the right of reply to political broadcasts, which these are almost certain to become.

And Lt. Col. Burch is not a caller on the show, or even a guest. He is the host. He decides what questions to ask (and answer) and what format and direction the show will take. If he wants to listen to the concerns of the public, he need only tune in to the plethora of other talk radio shows that populate the airwaves.

Lt. Col. Burch needs to give up the show, or Hott 107.5 needs to offer a second slot to an Opposition politician.