BERMUDA's Shadow Minister of Legislative Reform and Justice has called the UK Secretary of State's recommendations for Bermuda in this year's Foreign Affairs Committee report "tame and insipid".

The UK Government's annual report on its Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, has just been published, complete with recommendations for the island from the Secretary of State, David Miliband.

Opposition MP John Barritt said this week that he was "disappointed" in the lacklustre recommendations of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), obtained exclusively by the Mid-Ocean News.

Mr. Barritt added that the FCO's focus was unsurprisingly diverted to fellow colony Turks and Caicos, where widespread corruption has forced the UK to act.

"While I was disappointed, I was not surprised," said Mr. Barritt.

"To me it seems consistent with the low-key approach the UK Government appears to prefer to take with Overseas Territories in general, and Bermuda in particular.

"On the other hand, the attention of the UK Government and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has been diverted to events in the Turks and Caicos, where they've taken a strong, active stance against corruption. My disappointment is that the report seems superficial – a gloss over what may be needed."

Mr. Barritt assured the public that he is not looking for the UK Government to interfere beyond their jurisdiction, but simply to act as an auditor, offering oversight to Bermuda's public sector.

"I'm not looking for the UK Government to interfere on matters of internal government," he said.

"But a report like this, done by people who are experienced diplomats, can be very useful as an audit of what's here and what's required to bring Bermuda up to modern standards of good governance. It is the United Bermuda Party's belief that the UK Government should signal what Bermuda should have: a general exhortation for accountability."

Mr. Barritt sees the report as "coming close" to advocating a fully-fledged Freedom of Information law in Bermuda, offering help should the local Government need it. In fact, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office notes that the UK Government "will consider favourably requests for technical assistance from any Territory that decided to adopt such legislation".

Former Premier Alex Scott promised a public access to information (PATI) law in 2003, and has been pushing for transparency ever since.

In November, Attorney General Kim Wilson (pictured) revealed that Government lawyers had started drafting a freedom of information law for Bermuda as a "priority".

Mr. Barritt believes a Freedom of Information Act for Bermuda is long overdue, and should be enacted now, using the support of the UK Government if needs be.

What is missing from the report, according to Mr. Barritt, is an "administrative framework" to protect Bermuda against corruption – including the alleged Bermuda Housing Corporation fraud, mentioned in the FCO report. The UK Government notes that one BHC employee was convicted, but that "no new material has emerged" since 2007.

While the FCO advocates the improvement of "public accounting and auditing capability" to avoid such incidents as the BHC scandal, Mr. Barritt believes further steps must be taken by the UK Government, like establishing whether the Auditor General's resources are adequate.

"The Auditor General was called in to do an investigation into the Bermuda Housing Corporation and he said he needed police help," Mr. Barritt said.

"While they did not charge anybody, there are lessons to be learned here. Is the Auditor General's staff adequate for a $1-billion budget, which is what the Government has? What is needed in that respect? Does not the Auditor General have a responsibility to report back to the people of Bermuda as to what was and was not found? It was maybe not unlawful, but was it unethical?

"The acting Director of Public Prosecutions suggested Bermuda's laws may need updating in terms of corruption. I think this is where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office should have focused, and not just glossed over it. Let's move on from the BHC, but let's examine what lessons can be learned."

A long-time advocate of legislative reform, Mr. Barritt believes Bemuda's legal framework is incomplete without what he calls "whistleblower legislation", protecting those who allege misconduct. He sees the local press as the first port of call for whistleblowers, adding that there should be a democratic recourse for those wishing to report corruption.

"Bermuda needs a modern legislative framework," he said.

"With all due respect to newspapers, they shouldn't be the first and only recourse for dealing with these issues. There should be an administrative network."

The report also encourages the Bermuda Government to "consider" the Parliamentary Registrar's recent proposal for an Electoral Commission to investigate any allegations of voter fraud.

Mr. Barritt agrees that, in a community with such small constituencies and narrow victories, a bipartisan body is the only way forward.

"Our concern in the UBP from the last election is that people were still registered and voting in districts where they no longer lived," he said.

"Trying to get these people to register in the right district was not easy. It has been suggested that motivation for some people in a marginal constituency was not there. This needs to be addressed in a community as small as Bermuda, where every vote counts. The way to deal with this is to establish a bipartisan or non-partisan Electoral Commission."

Mr. Barritt believes the UK Government must act to ensure the Auditor General and Bermuda Police Service in particular have the resources they need to protect the island. He fears an absence of oversight could lead to corruption like that threatening to ruin our fellow island territory, Turks and Caicos.

"With matters like the Police and the Auditor General, the UK Government is responsible," he said.

"I expected them to be stronger and more forceful. If they wait until corruption is at the same level as it is in Turks and Caicos, it's too late. At that point, the horse is out of the stable. I am not calling on the UK Government to interfere. These are matters for self-government and we must find the political will here in Bermuda. The insight that they bring to bear would constitute a sort of audit."

However, he added: "It is the FCO; we don't know what they may be advancing behind the scenes."