Former MPs Reginald Burrows and Stuart Hayward last night urged Speaker Stanley Lowe to rethink his threat to bar MPs from questioning Ministers on anything they did in an old Parliament.

And the Opposition United Bermuda Party believe the ruling will have vital significance about the direction Bermuda is heading as a democracy.

The rule change popped up in a press statement last week but Mr. Lowe refused to admit he had authored it and then promised to explain the decision in today's House of Assembly session, after sidestepping the issue in last week's sitting.

Mr. Burrows, who represented the Progressive Labour Party in Southampton East alongside Mr. Lowe for 35 years, said he didn't know what his former colleague was going to do but he suspected a U-turn was in the offing.

He told The Royal Gazette: "Knowing him I feel he might change his position. I think that's probably what he should do, that's the way it's always been. I think it will be better and it may make some people a bit happier.

"I don't see anything that says what he's done is in keeping with the rules, but he is the Speaker and he can make the decision."

And former independent MP Mr. Hayward, who is co-chairman of Voters Rights Association which campaigns for greater political rights, urged the Speaker to assert his independence and protect against the infringements of the rights of any minority ¿ in this case the Opposition.

Mr. Hayward said the Speaker should rule that Parliamentary Questions should be reintroduced in the same way that other Parliamentary business, such as Bills and Motions can be re-introduced if they are left incomplete because of the dissolution of Parliament due to an election.

"They serve a legitimate Parliamentary function and should have equal rights of completion."

Asked why it was an important issue Mr. Hayward said: "There can be no assurance of propriety if accountability is absent.

"If the government, any government, cannot be called to account for its policies and actions, then there is no brake to the possibility of mismanagement of government business, misappropriation of the public purse or misapplication of executive power."

Question period is a time-honoured parliamentary tool through which any MP can bring the sunshine of scrutiny to bear on the people's business, said Mr. Hayward.

In Bermuda the question period is already condensed and cramped and Mr. Hayward said to deny the re-raising of questions not answered would shield Ministers in ways that are contrary to parliamentary democracy, that invite autocratic Ministerial conduct and that open the doors to suspicions of corruption or even corruption itself.

Mr. Lowe had been expected to clarify his position last week but decided to defer for seven days.

In a press statement issued from Cabinet Office last week Mr. Lowe was quoted as saying: "Ministers will not be required or obligated to respond to the questions put on Ministerial travel prior to December 20, 2007."

Last night a United Bermuda Party spokesman said: "Bermuda should be moving to more open, more transparent, more accountable government. The Speaker's ruling will be one way to gauge Bermuda's commitment to that goal.

"We already know the Brown Government wants to take us in the other direction and that Dr. Brown has tried to lock the Speaker into a ruling that would make it more difficult to find out what his Government is up to.

"So this is a serious test for our democracy, not only because Parliament's ability to question the Government of the day may be weakened, but also because the crucial power of the Speaker to administer Parliament independent of the Government of the day may also be infringed.

"An independent Speaker and the ability of the Opposition to ask questions are fundamental components of our democracy. They must be protected."

The UBP believe Dr. Brown does not want his Government to answer questions submitted less than three weeks ago seeking information on ministers' travel for the entire fiscal year from May 2007 through to April 30, 2008.

More than $7.4 million has been set aside in this year's budget for Government travel — $5 million more than the $2.2 million spent in 1998/99.