educating Bermudians, all of the crime and drug prevention so earnestly set out in the Throne Speech will come to nothing if the United Bermuda Party does not sort itself out.

A story in Wednesday's edition of this newspaper made it very clear that the PLP Shadow Minister for Public Safety will go on and on undermining the Police Service and thereby encouraging crime and drugs. There is clearly no understanding in the Opposition that attacks on the Police in fact give permission for crime and drugs. These verbal attacks also suggest that physical attacks on Police officers can be tolerated.

If public safety is as important as most Bermudians believe then the only solution for all of us is the United Bermuda Party support for the reorganised Police Service and support for efforts to combat drugs and crime. Many people believe that our personal safety and the future of our top economy both rest with control of crime and drugs. The revitalised Police Service is having remarkable success. As PLP attacks on the Police continue, many people are beginning to believe the widely circulated reports that, if it came to power, the Progressive Labour Party would immediately send Commissioner Colin Coxall home and replace him with Wayne Perinchief.

The only way the United Bermuda Party can continue its policies is to continue in power and it cannot do that if it goes on destroying itself. Yet the UBP continues to divide both its elected members and its supporters.

The Country was promised unity in the party by the time Parliament opened.

Well, Parliament is open.

The Country was promised a Cabinet shuffle. Well, where is it? The Country was promised that a committee report on franchises would be presented before Parliament sat. Again, where is it? The Country was promised that the McDonald's mess would be behind us. Well, nobody bothered to tell the Finance Minister who created this mess. Once again, in Wednesday's newspaper, he set out to widen the divide by defending Grape Bay Ltd. and McDonald's. He does not understand that the name of the game now is reconciliation so that the chaos he created can be set aside.

The way forward is all Bermuda together. That can never even be considered as long as the ruling party cannot get itself together. All of the excellent policies in the Throne Speech for a better future will come to nothing.

Stop being bull headed and stubborn. Cabinet made a bad mistake. It would not even have been a bad mistake if it had been admitted early on and corrected.

But, no, someone decided to tough it out. Stop making matters worse by threatening to change the UBP's constitution.

The way forward is clear. Ban all fast food franchises and invite at least three of "The Five'' into the Cabinet. "The Five'' hold the high ground and several trump cards. Get together and get on with the promises of the Throne Speech. Political stability is of the essence.

If the United Bermuda Party does not get itself together it will be laughed at by the world as the political party which threw its mandate away over a McDonald's. And, of course, the leaders of today's UBP will never be forgiven by their supporters for being unable to govern themselves.