Bell's message. Yet the foreigners she complains of appear to be under the control of Bermudians and Bermudian companies and perhaps she should identify the Bermudian culprits.

We have to wonder why anyone would suggest that all non-Bermudians should carry identity cards simply because there are some non-Bermudians who break the rules. Understandably, those non-Bermudians who have reacted to Mrs.

Bell's suggestion have compared her ideas to the horrors which came out of Nazi Germany.

It seems to us that as a Government MP Mrs. Bell should have the clout to get the Immigration Department to do its job properly. Surely if there are illegal workers then the Immigration Minister has a problem he should correct. Too often Bermudian reaction to non-Bermudians is strange and it is a prejudice which runs throughout Bermudian society. Some of the political demagogues have built a career on the prejudices elicited by non-Bermudian bashing. As examples of the prejudice, many white Bermudians are not too happy with the English and are prone to calling them unflattering names, in private at least.

Large numbers of black Bermudians are unhappy with West Indians and call them names as a matter of course.

This prejudice is a strange beast in a sophisticated country with a high standard of education. It is doubly strange when we recognise how much of that education has been obtained in other people's countries, often in the country of the very people being bashed. The prejudice is made even more strange when we stop to consider how many Bermudians have a non-Bermudian spouse and how many of them have dual-nationality children. That is even true of a number of the demagogues.

Not for the first time Bermuda is carelessly bashing non-Bermudians. It is a bad habit which does Bermuda no favour and serves only to encourage prejudice.

Bermudians who have thought about it at all recognise the huge contribution made to Bermuda by non-Bermudians. In the years after the Second World War non-Bermudians were encouraged to come here to provide the expertise Bermudians simply did not have to build an economy of this magnitude. Without their contribution, Bermuda would not enjoy anything close to the success it enjoys today.

We often hear Bermudians say, quite correctly, that Bermuda was built on the backs of Bermudian labour. That, of course, is true of any country. But the next time a Bermudian is tempted to ex-pat bash it would be well to remember that much of modern Bermuda was also built with non-Bermudian expertise. We think Bermudians should also remember the huge contribution made to Bermuda by non-Bermudians in terms of charity volunteering and in terms of charity contributions. Non-Bermudians who work here are seldom drones, contrary to what is sometimes suggested.