The main reason this newspaper called for Premier Dr. Ewart Brown to resign over the Uighur crisis was not because of the moral correctness or otherwise of the decision to bring the Guantánamo Bay detainees to Bermuda but because of the abuse of process that resulted in the decision.

In that instance, Dr. Brown failed to inform Governor Sir Richard Gozney of a decision that obviously had security and foreign policy implications and he failed to inform his own Cabinet and MPs.

In the Westminster system, this is a serious breach, because Cabinet Ministers are bound by collective responsibility, in which a decision made by one Minister is effectively made by all. The corollary to that is that Ministers reasonably expect to be kept informed of what is happening. In the Uighurs situation, they were not, and that breach, and the semi-apology from the Premier forced one resignation; that of Dale Butler.

After that episode, this newspaper called on Dr. Brown to try to heal his divided party and the Country. But judging from his actions on Friday, he seems bound and determined to do the opposite.

This time the issue was gambling on cruise ships in port. The arguments for and against this are relatively even, and this newspaper opposes the move only insofar as it should be party of a whole review of gambling.

But Dr. Brown faced heavy opposition from his own MPs on the issue and was forced to make it a conscience vote, in which his MPs could vote as they saw fit rather than according to Dr. Brown's will.

By all accounts, no one expected the vote to take place on Friday, but Dr. Brown proceeded, believing many of the bill's opponents, including MPs from his own party, would be absent. He was wrong, and the bill crashed to defeat. But in doing so, Dr. Brown has fatally broken the trust a leader must have with his own MPs. They cannot now believe anything he says.

Cabinet Ministers Elvin James and Terry Lister have recognised this and called on Dr. Brown to step down, not in the privacy of their caucus, but publicly in the House of Assembly. It appears Mr. Lister was fired from his Cabinet post although it is not clear what happened to Mr. James, who has also left Cabinet.

Notwithstanding that, other Ministers who feel as they do, and it is surely obvious that this includes Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox, should step down.

How many times do you have to be betrayed, before you say enough is enough? This is not a betrayal of the Progressive Labour Party's constitution. This is a matter of principle. Dr. Brown's actions will destroy a party that struggled for 35 years to gain power and has governed for ten.

Given that Dr. Brown will obviously not resign, and that opposition is such that this cannot wait for the PLP conference in October, the party must take it upon itself to change its leadership though an emergency conference as soon as possible. Or risk losing everything they have worked for.