should pay payroll tax, there were lengthy arguments before the bill was passed on Friday night.

Payroll tax stopped being deducted from MPs' salaries this September. The move was ordered by the Accountant General on advice from the Attorney General that members of the House could not be considered Government employees and therefore were exempt from the tax.

MPs engaged in a drawn-out argument over the history of the tax, why acknowledgement that it should be paid was not mentioned sooner, how and when its predecessor was discovered unlawful, and who gave who advice in each of the areas.

Shadow Finance Minister, Dr. Grant Gibbons called the process that brought the bill to law "a strange succession of events'' and charged that the Finance Minister Eugene Cox only decided to inform the public about the change after an inquiry from the press.

"One would expect if you had a change of direction like that you would have informed the public about it right away and that the matter would not have had to have been drawn out of the Minister.'' Dr. Gibbons contended.

His sentiment was echoed by UBP MP John Barritt , who said he would have expected the Mr. Cox to acknowledge the problem but point out to the public the need for the matter to be corrected.

"But that was never said and they were reluctant brides on this matter.'' he charged.

But Mr. Cox admitted that he only learned that the Accountant General had ordered the move, after an inquiry from the press.

"The action was put in place before I was told.'' he revealed.

"I know people often say civil servants don't do any work but these were civil servants who were working and they acted quickly.'' he added.

PLP MP Renee Webb sought to put the whole issue in perspective and pointed out that the issue came to light as an investigation on getting health insurance benefits for MPs was undertaken.

According to Ms Webb legal advice on the issue came from former Attorney General, Elliott Mottley who was in the post at the time.

"I take exception that there was something sinister in this.'' she insisted, "but on principle once you are told that what you are doing is unlawful you simply stop doing it.'' Rising above concerns of public perception raised by the UBP, Ms Webb noted "We are not here to worry about how the press interpret it. We are here to do the right thing.'' "We should be praised and hailed for trying to right a wrong.'' she contended.

But Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon was insistent that the minister's actions were not in keeping with Government's policy of "openness, transparency and accountability.'' Attorney General, Dame Lois Browne Evans threw a new twist on the whole issue when she alleged that the UBP had known about the issue "long before November 9''.

Infuriated, Ms. Gordon challenged Dame Lois that if she had such information she should `bring it and table it before this house.'' But Dame Lois refused to stand down and told MPs that she had learned from her office, that the UBP had taken advice on it before she started as Attorney General.

Offering another long explanation of the events leading up to the Act, Dame Lois charged the UBP with "taking money illegally from all previous members.''