Premier Alex Scott yesterday strongly rebutted reports that his administration was on a wealth redistribution agenda.

?We are not talking about the redistribution of wealth, we are not talking about income tax, we are not talking about taking wealth from the rich and giving it to the not rich,? Mr. Scott said yesterday. Any suggestions to the contrary was an attempt to mislead the public, he added.

And he repeated a now well worn slogan that Government?s social agenda would ensure that ?haves will continue to have and the have-nots will have more?.

He said the plan will involve recruiting from within corporate Bermuda ?mentors and role models? with skills essential for the Island?s continuing success.

?That?s not talking about wealth redistribution,that?s talking about mobility.?

In its report last week of a speech the Premier gave to Overseas Territories conference on Sustainable Development, the Mid-Ocean News said that Government was now set on redistributing wealth and, in an attempt to address social pressures of growth,appeared to be reverting to its ?more socialistic ideological roots, with a ten-year social engineering plan and a dose of redistributive taxation.?

That interpretation was echoed by Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons but Mr. Scott stressed that that there was no mention of income tax in his speech which was sent to all of Bermuda?s media verbatim.

And he said the Social Agenda will be set out in more detail in the Throne Speech when parliament resumes.

?Then maybe, just maybe, the Mid-Ocean News will get it right,? the Premier said.

?It does a tremendous disservice to what we are trying to do ? to mislead the public that way.?

The speech was well received by the delegates at the OT conference pointed out.

?What we were recognising and suggesting found favour right around the table. These Territories recognise the importance of empowerment and how it contributes to the development of our respective economies.?

Some eyebrows were raised by Mr. Scott?s use of the term ?social engineering? in his speech when he said that an ?Action Plan for social engineering for sustainable development? was in the works.

In some quarters the terms conjures up the dark scenario of George Orwell?s ?1984? but in its least offensive form the term means applying sociological principles to address social problems. The Premier said the Action Plan was simply putting the Social Agenda into the context of sustainable development.

?It fits hand in hand with what we have been saying about the social agenda,? he said. ?When you talk in terms of sustaining the success story that Bermuda has become, especially in terms of the reinsurance and insurance and financial industries we cannot allow much longer a gap, a divide between those who have in Bermuda and those who have not.?

He pointed out that Bermuda had a unique mix of expertise, networks and product that had made it a world leader in those industries. But sustainability meant making sure that other Bermudians become beneficiaries especially in terms of quality of life.

?We must make sure that communities become safer, so that youngsters aren?t succumbing to the evils of drug trafficking, that we have the best educational system ... that the young and not so young have the quality of life so they become stakeholders in the economy.

?The Social Agenda will encompass programs for seniors, young people, and communities ?of a scale that Bermuda has never seen before?.

The term ?social engineering? should not have made anyone nervous, he continued, because it was a sociological term ?accepted in the halls of learning?.

?And the newspapers shouldn?t dumb down the population by trying to mislead and throw red herrings out there.They should raise the level of discussion, they shouldn?t try to sow intrigue where it doesn?t exist.?