Further amendments to the Criminal Code are to be brought forward by Government in the House of Assembly today, which will seek to toughen sanctions on theft and weapons offences.

Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton will be hoping to persuade the House to incorporate the United Kingdom Theft Act into Bermuda law, which according to Government, will drastically modernise the Island?s theft laws and define more explicitly the sanctions for offences such as dishonesty, fraud, deception and blackmail.

And, as announced on Wednesday by Attorney General Larry Mussenden, Government will be seeking to instigate mandatory prison sentences for all those caught with prohibited bladed weapons in public places.

Two further bills, one to further stiffen sentences for drug offences and the other to make the use of a video link between Westgate and the courts mandatory for all preliminary hearings, will also be tabled.

The real political fireworks are expected in the evening, however, as the Opposition?s controversial censure motion against Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent is expected to be debated.

The motion asks the House to ?deplore? the failure of Mr. DeVent to honour his promise to consult with the residents of the Alexandra/Mary Victoria Road before resubmitting plans for a controversial housing development in the area this April.

As was widely reported, the original attempt to table the motion on May 20 met with uproar on the Government benches and culminated in a furious exchange between Opposition House Leader John Barritt and Speaker Stanley Lowe.

The UBP ultimately abandoned the Chamber, accusing Government of mounting a direct attack on freedom of speech by attempting to quash the motion ? although Mr. Barritt was given an extended dressing down the week after for his ?disrespectful? approach to the Speaker.