of debate and standards of behaviour in the House of Assembly are in decline -- and have been for centuries.

Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans was right when she spoke on this issue in the House of Assembly on Friday. She was also right when she stated that Parliament is not Sunday School. It is a rough and tumble place where the talk can get personal because the Members are debating real people and real issues.

That does not mean that there are not better ways of doing business and practising democracy. Nor do politicians have any right to hide behind the excuse that this is all part of the "cut and thrust'' of debate, which portrays a more delicate image than the slash and burn approach which is typical of Bermuda's House of Assembly.

And that is where the expulsion of C.V. (Jim) Woolridge comes in. Mr.

Woolridge deserved to be admonished for his personal attack on Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb, but the real crime was his lack of imagination when he called her a "piece of trash''.

It simply does not compare to some of his more inspired insults, as when he called the follicly challenged former Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson "Kojak''.

Indeed, Dame Lois was also right when she said other Parliaments are far rowdier and worse behaved than Bermuda's; the problem is they are often more original and inspired as well.

Much of the emotion and invective in the House of Assembly is play-acting. The Government with its 25 seats and the Opposition with its 14 seats have roles to play , but when it comes down to a vote, the Government will win, and the Opposition will lose, again.

That does not mean that the House of Assembly has no function. Government policies and legislation must be tested, and Government members must be tested as well on their coherence and logic of their views. At the same time, the Opposition has the responsibility to test and probe the Government and to put forward alternative policies to the community.

Occasionally, a Government will be forced to abandon or revise a policy as a result of parliamentary debate and even more infrequently the Opposition will win a debate or a motion.

But the real test of both parties' performances comes at the next General Election. The performances of the Government and the Opposition both inside and outside the House are judged at the polls, as is the behaviour of MPs.

If the electorate does not approve of the actions of parties or individuals in the House, then they will be turfed out.