of Assembly A top Progressive Labour Party MP and local doctor has questioned whether or not The Royal Gazette has become Bermuda's third political "force''.

Shadow Human Affairs Minister Ewart Brown was speaking towards the end of the Parliamentary debate on the Throne Speech on Monday night.

After touching on the issue of the stop list, which prevents ex-inmates from entering the United States, Dr. Brown then turned his attention to the "current conflict'' between Labour Minister Quinton Edness and The Royal Gazette Editor David L. White.

He said he thought it was "inconsistent'' of Mr. Edness to attack Mr. White in the House of the Assembly when the Editor was not there.

Some months ago, he continued, he was speaking about certain doctors at the hospital, whom he named, and Mr. Edness leapt to their defence saying he should not speak about them as they were not present.

Dr. Brown said he believed the tension existing between Mr. Edness and Mr.

White was more than just a "battle'' between them.

He added that he never thought he would have seen the day when a Government Minister and the Editor of The Royal Gazette would have been in such "terrible and open conflict''.

He asked if it meant that the power of the Press had been blown up to the point where Bermuda now had three political forces in the Country.

It seemed as if The Royal Gazette had risen to a level where it not only attacked one Government Minister but it also showed "utter disdain'' for other Ministers, he continued.

The word choices used in the daily newspaper regarding the leadership of the Country illustrated a lack of respect, he said.

When The Royal Gazette did not have respect for the Government then the time had come for Bermudians to ask whether their respect was due to such an organisation, said Dr. Brown.

He added that it was "unfortunate'' that there was not another daily newspaper in place which could balance opinion.

Earlier Dr. Brown said Government had an obligation to tell every person on the stop list why he or she was there. "This is an issue of human rights,'' he stressed.

Government Whip Rick Spurling said Government's vision evolved around growing the economic pie and ensuring that all Bermudians shared in it. This was a very difficult and challenging time to do that with heightened global competition and the approach of the 21st century meant Bermuda needed a team in place with management skills and experience.

The UBP provided this, he said, as their past track record indicated.

And the Government would do this in the future using four strategies: creating jobs and opportunities; preparing and informing Bermudians to take advantage of these jobs and opportunities; guaranteeing fairness; and insisting that people take individual responsibility for their futures. Jobs had been increased in the successful international business sector and new strategies for tourism would hopefully increase jobs in that area also.

Meanwhile, continued Mr. Spurling, training programmes were in place to teach, and re-teach, Bermudians skills so they could fill job positions.

There were also proactive education programmes in place and means such as scholarships which opened education up to more people.

However Mr. Spurling admitted that Government had not been as persistent in the area of guaranteeing fairness in the workplace as it had been in the other three strategies.

He said he believed the "glass ceiling'' was in place in some organisations but added that the rule was not to exclude people as much as it was the rule to keep the "right people'' in.

But Government had not been inactive, he noted.

Through the establishment of the Committee for Unity and Racial Equality and the development of the Code of Racial Conduct it was increasing Bermudians awareness about cultural diversity.

As far as upward mobility went, he added, it had to be recognised that employees had to meet top international standards.

And Government had to insist that individuals were responsible as it could not "spoon feed everybody''.

Mr. Spurling then turned his attention to two of his constituents' concerns starting with the Bermuda Land Development Company and Southside.

He warned that he would fight using the newly acquired land as a "dumping ground''.

And he said he hoped Government would choose a proposal for the abandoned Club Med International site that would see the present physical site razed to the ground and a modern, state-of-the-art facility built in its place.