Minister said yesterday as the Throne Speech debate continued.

Renee Webb , Shadow Minister of Health and Social Services, said that she found the Throne Speech "particularly interesting.'' And she heaped scorn on published reports about Premier Gordon's meetings with Ministers in the United Kingdom Government.

She said that all Bermudians would be affected by whatever the UBP decided and therefore they should have consulted a broader constituency.

"The UBP needs to consult with the people,'' she said. "No one has been asked if they wanted the right of abode in England.'' Moreover, she said if published reports were true that the Premier had floated the possibility of a Bermudian Governor, it too should have been put to the people first.

At the very least she said that the Opposition should have been consulted.

Furthermore, she said that if it was true that the possibility of the Police Service coming fully under Government was talked about that struck her as curious.

She said that she would have expected either the Bermudian Governor issue or the idea of making the Police come fully under Government to be mentioned in the Throne Speech if they were to be proper objects of consideration.

And she called on the UBP to prove that it was doing more than just paying lip service to the idea of accountability or shared responsibility.

Ms Webb said that the UBP had not been responsible when it dealt with Police commissioner Coxall and she said that perhaps a referendum should be held on the subject.

The Shadow Health Minister said that the Government had failed in other areas and this could be seen in the large numbers of people who had gone through the education system and fallen through the cracks.

Others had become permanent "wall sitters'' she said while some had become involved in the drug subculture.

Ms Webb said that it was not fair to shift the blame on parents alone because most parents "were doing the best that they can.'' Meanwhile, Ms Webb said that she was pleased to see that the equal pay for equal work legislation that Government had promised had made its way into the Throne Speech.

However, she said that she was disappointed that there was no legislation on race.

Ms Webb said that Bermuda was "shamefully'' founded on racist policies which results in the "means of production is not owned by blacks who just work and consume.'' Furthermore, she said that if Government were serious about getting rid of institutionalised racism it would have brought legislation before the House.

The Shadow Health Minister praised Government for linking financial assistance to job training because she said it would assist Bermudians who were unemployed to get their lives back together.

Former Technology Minister John Barritt , meanwhile, agreed with Ms Webb that Members of Parliament and political parties should be held accountable.

But he added:"That's why we have elections.'' Mr. Barritt assailed the Opposition response to the Throne Speech as lacking in substance because he said it failed to provide policy alternatives.

Mr. Barritt opened yesterday afternoon's session of The House by defending Government's handling of the telecommunication industry.

And he rounded on Opposition claims that Government was not showing signs of leadership when it opened the industry up to competition.

"If there is any meat in that argument I would like to get my teeth into it,'' he said.

"There's no question that the Government is coming under fire but what members of the Opposition have to realise is that when you take bold new steps there's going to be some criticism.

"People are being asked to let others come in and there's no way they are going to greet that with open arms.

"But we have taken what I believe to be the sensible, practical approach and that is that the Government has said that it would never over regulate from the outset. We have tried to deal with the problem with the minimum of bureaucracy but if they do not work out we will intervene.

"This Government's philosophy has always been to allow for the free market and only interfere when necessary.

"I think sometimes the Opposition gets caught out by trying to be all things to all people. It's very difficult to suck and whistle at the same time.'' Shadow Cultural Affairs Minister Paula Cox then got the chance to promote the importance of her portfolio in the Island's future.

Referring to the Throne Speech she said: "The question we are posing is can the Government deliver? It's no good to have a patchwork quilt of ideas, what seems to be lacking is warmth and an infusion of good will.

"In the Throne Speech there was very little reference to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

"But there's a difference between prosperity and human welfare. We need to develop cultural programmes that shouldn't be seen as a social luxury. We need to reorganise our priorities and refocus.

"The Government is still responsible for creating the environment which makes it easier for people to benefit.'' Health Minister Clarence Terceira then attacked the Opposition's response to the Throne Speech.

"The Opposition made the mistake of putting it into print so we were able to read it and find that it was long on style and very short on substance,'' he said.

"They keep saying that they are the Government in waiting but when they can't see simple logic it baffles the public.'' Referring to the Government's plans for care of the elderly Dr. Terceira stated that home care was a far cheaper alternative to extended care or nursing homes.

"That's the best place for these people to be,'' he said.

He also claimed that Government would be focusing on the problem of AIDS and teenage pregnancies through a policy of education in schools.

Shadow Environment Minister Leon (Jimmy) Williams also began by attacking the Throne Speech.

He blasted Government over its record on drugs and also denied that his party was trying to focus on winning the black vote.

"You will never hear me stand up and criticise the white community or the black community,'' he said.

Mr.Williams noted that the Throne Speech did not mention East End bridges.

When there were problems with these, he said, the East End of the Island was cut off from the rest of Bermuda.

He suggested that the Government look into replacing the bridges with tunnels.

And Mr. Williams pointed out that the situation was urgent because if one of the East End bridges broke down then ambulances could not reach east-enders who needed them.

Other possibilities, he continued, included putting a full-time ambulance in St. George's or building a health centre there.

Mr. Williams then turned his attention to the former Club Med site and asked Government why it had done nothing to protect the people working there if it knew that Club Med International planned to pull out.

He called on Government to make the right move with the property now so more people could be employed.

Mr. Williams congratulated the British for cleaning up the oil in the caves at Malabar and demanded to know what was happening with the clean up of the US bases.

And he warned Government that Bermudians were upset about the Vesey Street project because of the way a Minister used his power to overturn a zoning provision. It was a similar situation to the one that saw the house on Harbour Road and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute built, he pointed out.

"It makes Bermudians think there is a hidden agenda,'' he said.

Finance Minister Grant Gibbons said the Opposition reply to the Throne Speech was long on views but short on policies.

Government had taken on the responsibility to create opportunities for Bermudians and one way it did this was by pumping revenue into education and Department of Labour and Training initiatives.

The UBP had created a solid economic foundation for Bermuda to proceed into the future upon. One component of this was the international business sector upon which about one-third of the entire work force was dependent upon or affected by.

International business also pumped a great deal of cash into the economy through salaries and professional fees. It also attracted visitors which was why it was incorrect to suggest that international business was in competition with tourism.

Tourism was down, Dr. Gibbons noted, but was not in the sort of crisis that people were pointing to.

However, he said he felt labour and management needed to work closer together.

Hotel workers had enjoyed some very real wage increases between 1982 and 1994.

Now was the time to look at the way in which value was being provided, said Dr. Gibbons.

In the local sector, he continued, construction was very strong and the retail sector was showing increases in volume.

Bermuda remained prudently managed, he continued, and this was what people were looking for when coming to Bermuda to either set up a company or invest.

The Country also obeyed disciplines imposed by the market place and refused to live past its means. Bermuda had to be aware of these disciplines and understand what was going on around the globe, he warned.

Dr. Gibbons concluded his address by questioning some of the allegations made in the Opposition's reply to the Throne Speech.

He claimed that there was no need to give details of the next budget at the Throne Speech as that would be done at a set time.

"I also wasn't sure what they were getting at about a pension scheme for all,'' he said.

"We have a pension scheme in place for all at the moment -- the Contributory Pension Fund -- which is not only for those who contribute but also for non-contributories.

"But the problem we are facing, and it is one that many countries are facing, is that, with changing demographics and a decrease in the number of people in the workplace these schemes run into difficulty.

"What the Government is saying is that if we don't take steps now and put in place a different type of pension scheme there will be difficulties in the next ten or 15 years.

The Finance Minister also accused the opposition of being misleading by claiming that the number of small businesses had fallen. He produced statistics which, he claimed, showed that more than 2,000 small businesses had been created in the last five years while only 361 had folded.

And he claimed the Government was making good headway in negotiations with the US over the former naval base dispute.

"We are by no means out of the woods yet but we are making progress, he said.

Sandys South MP Walter Roberts then took to the floor, accusing the Government of failing to support the Island's tourism industry.

He warned that, if current trends continue, all hotels in Bermuda could end up in non-Bermudian hands.

He also blasted the Government's track record on drugs, saying that nothing had been done to follow up on the success of Operation Cleansweep some six months ago.

But he said that, unless the Government tackled the causes of crime, the problem of drugs would never go away.

"I have never seen so many stabbings and violence between husband and wife,'' he said. "People are exploding with frustration and that's why so many young people are working in the drug trade. They get offered money.

"In this community of ours we are so divided on many issued, especially racially. But what I don't understand is that people talk about getting together but it only seems to be the black people asking why can't we get along -- let's solve the problem.'' Coverage of Throne Speech debate continues in tomorrow's paper JOHN BARRITT: Opposition response lacked substance.