The House of Assembly has barely reopened for the new season — and already Government is accused of trying to catch the United Bermuda Party off guard by breaking common practice and rushing through important legislation.

Government intends to launch debates on health insurance and the Draft Bermuda Plan today, at the end of a potentially lengthy discussion on the Throne Speech, according to UBP Whip Cole Simons.

Mr. Simons claims it is unprecedented for bills to be debated on the day of the Reply to the Throne Speech, given that the Opposition has spent the whole week focusing on its Throne Speech response.

He says normal practice is to delay debates until at least two weeks after bills have been tabled, giving interested parties and stakeholders the chance to raise issues which can be followed up in the House. The amendments being debated tomorrow were tabled just seven days ago.

Some in the UBP suspect Government wants to carry out the health debate in the absence of FutureCare critic Louise Jackson, the Shadow Health Minister, who is off the Island until next week.

Health Minister Walter Roban is said to have explained to Mr. Simons that Government wants to get the legislation in place as quickly as possible. Mr. Simons argues it wouldn't matter anyway because the bill will still have to wait until the end of the month for approval from the Senate.

"I got notice of this on Wednesday morning from the Government Whip (Lovitta Foggo) who said: 'We are doing it on Friday,'" Mr. Simons told The Royal Gazette last night.

"You can't do this nonsense. We want to do a proper job. We wanted to speak to stakeholders and find out what they think about it.

"It's never done on the first day of seating, when you are focusing on the Throne Speech. We want to be cooperative; the Premier tells us about working together for the better of the Country.

"I told the Minister that if he wanted to rush this thing through, then why couldn't you have submitted it to us two weeks ago? Then we may have been in a position to be able to talk about it by now."

Mr. Simons said he is going to ask Speaker Stanley Lowe to hold the matter over until next week. "We will strenuously object, because of the importance of health care. We want to do a proper job of representing the seniors who will be affected," he said.

The Health Insurance Amendment Act aims to close a gap which has left some seniors unable to claim health insurance following the phased introduction of FutureCare.

It will mean seniors who are currently ineligible for FutureCare and are unable to pay between $5,000 and $18,000 for private policies can take advantage of HIP on a temporary basis. The Development and Planning (Draft Bermuda Plan 2008 Extension) Act deals with an administrative aspect of the Draft Bermuda Plan.

Regardless of whether those debates go ahead, the UBP is promising to "express serious concerns" through Leader Kim Swan's Reply to the Throne Speech.

A spokesman said Mr. Swan's speech will focus on the need to anchor Government's actions to serve and protect the public interest.

The spokesman said: "There have been too many instances where we have seen the public interest come second, whether it be in the Government's careless regard for the public purse or the lack of accountability for their performance in any number of areas where the measure of our national life continues to slide year after year, whether in tourism, public safety or economic performance.

"So the speech has been fashioned to help the Government reset the dials in how they serve the public interest; to help them regain the confidence of the people by improving their approach to the issues. We are looking to help improve the governance of Bermuda and so decided to take the opportunity of the Reply to the Throne Speech to do that.

"We will also express serious concerns about the state of law enforcement and deficiencies in the criminal justice system, the failure to reform public education and the Throne Speech's inexplicable failure to provide the Country with a message on the economy at a time of economic dislocation.

"But the main thrust of the speech is to help this Government reset the way it governs. Our aim is to use the speech to help Bermuda."