Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney kicked off the Throne Speech debate yesterday by defending Government against aspersions over its moral leadership.

Mr. Blakeney described United Bermuda Party Leader Kim Swan's attacks on Premier Ewart Brown and his team as unprecedented, claiming no such slurs had been made against UBP Premiers such as Sir John Swan, Sir David Gibbons and Sir Henry Tucker.

"They had other business interests, but there was nothing mentioned of those kind of aspersions," the Minister told the House of Assembly.

He said the innuendo from Mr. Swan's comments played into the hands of the Bermudian psyche of "a sense of impropriety".

If anyone has hard evidence, they should bring it forward and take the matter to the courts, he said. The Minister also described the UBP's Reply to the Throne Speech as one of the most disjointed he has heard since becoming an MP, claiming it reflected the state of the fragmented Opposition.

Regarding his own Ministry, Mr. Blakeney said people need to take more care to curb increasing numbers of animals such as chickens and cats, many of which he says have been released into the wild by the public.

Next to speak was Independent MP Wayne Furbert who claimed the Island's jails must be tougher and serve as a deterrent to young men involved with criminal activity. Today youth consider jail a "right or passage into manhood" he said. "It seems like it is a badge of honour to be walking from the courthouse to the jail house as they are captured on camera."

According to Mr. Furbert, prisoners should be denied privileges such as visitation initially, and should be forced to clean the Island's roads as part of their service to society.

There also needs to be a higher Police presence in neighbourhoods, he said.

Mr. Furbert said education was something both the UBP and PLP had struggled with for many years, but he said he was supportive of efforts in Government's Throne Speech for improvements.

He said: "The Party which I was once involved with came up with the current system.

"And after both UBP and PLP Governments have spent well over half a billion dollars in capital and labour cost, we are still questioning if we are better off than we were. The concern was then and still is now that we are failing our young black man."

Mr. Furbert said he agreed with Government's plan to tackle serious education problems and to adopt the Cambridge International Curriculum.

He said Government should work with the unions to give parents at least eight hours off a year to attend school functions, so they can work with the school and sit in classrooms during working hours.

The former UBP Leader also gave his own opinion on a number of controversial issues affecting the Island.

He recommended Government set up a committee to see how conscription can be "done away with"; but said he could not see himself giving any support to relaxing the Island's gaming laws or adding sexual orientation to the Human Rights Act.

"The majority of my constituents in Hamilton West do not support these issues with or without any amendments," he said.

Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards claimed not enough attention was paid to the economy in the Throne Speech.

He said: "In the 400th anniversary year we should all be in celebratory mood, but I think we find ourselves worrying about the recession and its effect on our people."

Mr. Richards said the high crime rate and the troubled financial market were an "interconnected phenomena".

And said Government's mention of the economy as "resilient" drew a thin line between encouragement and deception.

"Encouragement turns into deception when truth is the casualty," he said.

According to Mr. Richards the "truth" was that St. George's had become a ghost town and the Hamilton retail sector had experienced 16 straight months of declines in sales. He also claimed that hotels were closing down and that there were no clear signs of new ones opening.

While the surge in crime started before the recession, he said if crime was not combated international companies will be deterred from continuing business on the Island.

Deputy Premier Paula Cox also noted the poor state of the economy and asserted this was not the time to choose villains but to find solutions.

"People are feeling a sense of concern or unease, many want to return to the good old days. And while we cannot return to the good old days we can have a prosperous future ahead," she said.

According to the Finance Minister, figures of $100 million cited in UBP's Reply to the Throne Speech, were an "exaggeration".

Though the opposition claim this figure represents money spent solely on overseas consultants, it actually refers to $100 million allocated for all professional services, including all Government contracts for cleaning, security, legal aid, Works and Engineering maintenance, HIP portability claims and war pension awards.

Of this 100 million, just one quarter was budgeted for the overseas consultancy, and only $16 million has been spent to date.

Donte Hunt of the United Bermuda Party said "kudos" should be given to plans to modernise parliament and for the concept of FutureCare.

However, he said the latter was been "poorly planned and poorly executed."

He also criticised the lack of any mention in the Throne Speech of plans to help the homeless and address gangs and violence through promoting the national drug control plan.

He also said it would be "tremendous" if Government would provide a "state of the art youth centre" where young people could meet and be mentored.

Education Minister El James refuted claims by the Opposition that stakeholders have been left out of discussions on the way forward for the Island's schools.

"I've been in touch with every one," he said. "We meet once a month and not once have I heard anything negative — except in the newspaper."

He heralded reforms including the fact that the school leaving age will be raised from 16 to 18 from next September and the fact that all teachers will be certified next year and must be re-licensed every five years.

Referring to ongoing educational reforms, he said teachers are being given professional development opportunities "all the time."

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz referred to recent high-profile cases — such as the Kellon Hill murder case and Roger Bowen death by dangerous driving case — that have been thrown out by the judge.

He said he hoped the Government would support a bill tabled by his colleague John Barritt to give prosecutors the right to challenge such decisions in the Court of Appeal.

However, he said the challenges within Bermuda's justice system are wide ranging: "The Police force has problems. The prosecution service and the prisons have problems. We have problems all the way through the system."

He also bemoaned worrying crime statistics in areas such as burglaries and assaults — and he said he feared crime would increase due to the ongoing problems with the economy.

He also rued the problem of victims of crime refusing to assist the Police.

But he commended proposals to widen the jury pool available for when prosecutions are brought — and to bring in electronic tagging for persons released on bail. Mr. Moniz then turned to the issue of what he regarded as "large public capital projects awarded without a tender where there doesn't seem to be any oversight."

He cited particular concerns over recent reports in The Royal Gazette on the Dockyard cruise ship terminal project — which prompted former Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness to call for a Police inquiry.

See Monday's edition for more from the House of Assembly