The United Bermuda Party must acknowledge and address vestiges of racism within its ranks, 25-year veteran Maxwell Burgess urged in an impassioned retirement speech last night.

The House of Assembly was in its last session of the summer, with widespread expectation that a General Election will be called before it returns.

Mr. Burgess, who has announced he will quit politics at the next election, took the opportunity to tell some of his party colleagues they are in denial about what he called “potential racism in the United Bermuda Party.”

He said while he believed them when they claimed not to see this: “Don’t you ever believe that because you haven’t seen Jesus he doesn’t exist.”

Mr. Burgess referred to a report in Friday’s edition of The Royal Gazette in which Opposition Whip John Barritt said there were few black faces present at a Thursday night UBP town hall meeting because Bermuda was polarised under the PLP.

Having previously criticised his own party over its record on healing racial divisions, Mr. Burgess said last night: “I’m not going to stand here and give (Premier) Dr. Brown credit for the United Bermuda Party’s inability to get blacks to its meetings. I’m sure he’s running around taking full credit for that.”

He told Dr. Brown it was not he who was responsible for blacks not attending UBP meetings - black people were, he said, “making their decisions based on who they think they can trust.” It was for the UBP, he said, to work on what he called “the trust issue”.

Continuing a speech met by stony faces from his party colleagues, Mr. Burgess said he believed the last vestiges of racism had to be broken down. While he was not going to name individuals as racist, he said, he wished to tell the House about a man he once dealt with at Public Works who, upon being challenged about racist behaviour, told him: “I’m only doing what I’ve always done”.

Mr. Burgess continued: “It’s not good enough to tell me ‘I’m merely doing what was done before me...I have spent 25 years of my life hoping we would have a Bermuda a little closer to home than what we have today”.

He listed racial harmony and public education as two areas he believed were failures during his time as a politician— and urged his party not to ignore this.

“I challenge those who come behind me to at least openly and honestly acknowledge what exists..it may take you some time to bend your arms around it,” he said.

His remarks came after the high-profile departures from the United Bermuda Party of MP Jamahl Simmons and party chairwoman Gwyneth Rawlins amid race allegations earlier this year. These led Mr. Burgess to call upon the then party leader Wayne Furbert to quit.

Mr. Burgess also praised the PLP on tourism — condemning those on his side of the House that he said could not accept tourism was heading in the right direction.

Finally, he called on politicians to “abandon the politics of the hour and engage in the politics of the future” for the sake of their children and grandchildren.

His speech led one PLP heckler to invite him to sign up to that party.

The fiery Motion to Adjourn saw most MPs deliver what were clearly pre-election campaign speeches.

Minister of Labour and Immigration Derrick Burgess attacked the Mid-Ocean News newspaper, which he said: “Seems to want to cast a shadow of suspicion on particularly black males, particularly black leaders.”

Mr. Burgess alluded to allegations about the Premier in an article printed by that newspaper based on leaked documents from a Police investigation into the Bermuda Housing Corporation affair. He was stopped from going further by Speaker Stanley Lowe, since the allegations are subject to current court proceedings in relation to an injunction against the media and a libel writ issued by the Premier.

Mr. Burgess went on to make further allegations about Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley. Dr. Brown earlier this month claimed that re-opening a Police probe into illegal drugs involving Dunkley’s Dairy staff could prove embarrassing for the Opposition leader.

In an apparent reference to the same topic, Mr. Burgess made further claims last night about the Commissioner of Police asking for an original file on Mr. Dunkley and about a “known drug dealer” walking into his office during a Police interview about the drugs probe.

Mr. Dunkley heckled: “That’s fabrication my brother, bring it on now.” He asked Mr. Burgess to retract his comments, which he said impugned his motives.

Mr. Burgess initially refused to do, but eventually did - while pledging to return to the topic later.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson lambasted Government over recent controversial moves such including choosing Kurron Shares to serve as management consultants to Bermuda Hospitals Board instead of world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medicine International’s bid.

Dr. Brown has faced accusations of cronyism following the awarding of the $13.5 million five-year contract to the lesser known firm, which is allegedly run by one of his friends.

Mrs. Jackson questioned what the money was being spent on — with Health Minister Michael Scott responding by saying that Kurron Shares was hired to provide support to the hospital team to improve services.

“Public confidence in healthcare needs to be improved” said Mr. Scott.

Shadow Minister of Tourism David Dodwell criticised a statement on improved first quarter tourism figures delivered by Dr. Brown this week as “self-praising.” He said that although the figures were “decent”, the statement was incorrect in saying all the Island’s hotels are full for the summer.