MP Mr. Maxwell Burgess said last night.

Speaking in the House of Assembly during the Throne Speech debate, Mr. Burgess said he was disappointed there was not a single paragraph in the speech devoted to black males.

Paraphrasing the words that have become Premier David Saul's motto, the Hamilton West MP said: "I reckon Bermuda will have little peace, certainly almost no prosperity, and all of our welfare will be at risk if we don't recognise that no longer can we afford to have the black male falling by the board, constituting an underclass in our society.'' The issue would "make or break'' Bermudian society, said the former Transport Minister, who was dropped from Premier David Saul's first Cabinet following the August 16 Independence referendum.

The prison was full of black males, who had an unemployment rate twice that of the rest of the Country, Mr. Burgess said.

"When we built Westgate, we thought that it would serve us well into the 21st Century. I'm advised that we'll be lucky if it isn't full or running over within the next 21 days.'' Later in his speech, Mr. Burgess said much time was spent discussing women's issues, but "as long as you're talking about women's issues, we're going to be here until the cows come home''.

"It's not women's issues, it's men's problems,'' he said. "Who is at the head of these companies that will not give women a fair shake?'' Who did not pay child support, and who was responsible for the vast majority of domestic violence? But, "we don't want to call it a men's problem,'' he said. "We want to call it a women's issue.

"If you recognise that men have these problems, and solve the men's problems, you'll be surprised at how quickly the women's issues go away.''