issue of income tax into public discussion yesterday.

And she said they may be trying to make income taxes look attractive by increasing the burden of the current tax system on the people.

Ms Gordon was responding to comments made by Senator Calvin Smith in the Senate on Monday that spending in this year's budget was necessary because the UBP had convinced Bermudians that income tax was "evil''.

"The socialist perspective of the PLP is creeping back in,'' she said.

Mr. Smith's suggestions that past Governments had somehow tricked the population into an anti-income tax attitude were "insulting'', she added.

"People want to know, when they work hard for their money, that the majority of the money they work so hard for, they will keep for their own disposal,'' she said.

"What he is suggesting is that Bermudians don't have the common sense, God borne them with. Bermuda is a traditionally capitalist society. It has never been a socialist society. He's suggesting Bermudians don't have the understanding, on their own, to decide what sort of social system they will support. It speaks to what Government thinks of Bermudians.'' Ms Gordon argued that one of the key problems with income tax is that it requires an enormous over structure simply to collect it.

And she questioned whether the PLP was trying to get the issue of income tax on the agenda -- by broaching the topic in the Senate and loading on flat taxes that hurt the little man.

"Is this their method of bringing up income tax -- by gouging all of the smaller tax payers by creating taxes across the board that could have been eliminated? When you start to look at all the taxes Government has put through across the board, is this the new method Government will use to make people believe income tax is the lesser of two evils?'' Ms Gordon said that the voters accepted the PLP in 1998 "because they promised the people two things -- no income tax and no independence''.

But, Ms Gordon said that both those items had been part of the PLP's philosophical position for 30 years. She said she would have expected them to raise one or both of these issues early on in their tenure.

"But to use a Senator to try and float a lead balloon -- is this the direction Government wants -- income tax?'' she asked. "And the easiest way is to make the tax system so unpalatable for the average Bermudian that they start to look at income tax as more favourable.'' She took issue with Mr. Smith's arguments that Government needs to spend to institute programmes made necessary by years of UBP neglect of social issues.

"What is evident to us, if you look at any of the PLP's budgets, is that you'd be hard pressed to find any significant new programmes.'' Rather, she said the PLP are merely continuing variations of programmes initiated by the UBP and spending too much of taxpayer's money on themselves.

"I challenge the Senator to identify programmes put in place under this Government that will significantly benefit the community,'' she said.

"If they were more frugal and made sure money spent was for policies and programmes that would benefit the general community, they'd find the money would stretch further,'' Ms. Gordon argued.

Ms. Gordon said both the travel budget and the entertainment budget have doubled since the PLP had been in power.

She said the $150,000 "being spent to help the Premier fix her image'' and the $495,000 being spent on 24-hour security for the Premier, "which no Premier before has ever required'' -- are all being paid for by the taxpayer.

And she said many social needs continue to be unaddressed by Government.

"I can highlight very specific programmes that should have been looked at.

For example, increasing pensions on a yearly basis.'' Ms Gordon said that MPs salaries are raised on a yearly basis based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). "Why can't pensions for senior citizens be raised yearly and tied to the CPI?'' she asked.

And she objected to Mr. Smith's comment that the majority of people who seem to be unemployed, "are either already in a pretty good drug business or incapable''.

The comment was "cavalier'', she said. "I found it a shocking statement and an indictment against the Government, if they're prepared to dismiss something as significant as that (the illicit drug economy)''.

She said the money Government is spending on themselves, could also go to programmes to help those in the drug trade get out and find a different way of life.