Government must continue to be bold in today’s Throne Speech to get Bermuda back on track, according to Sir John Swan.

The former UBP Premier told The Royal Gazette that Bermuda needed to become more of a global economy in the next 12 months, and he said that making the best use of “people and technology” was vital in achieving this end.

Former PLP Premier, Alex Scott, however, was more critical of developments over the last year.

“Government needs to be more forthcoming and transparent in the next 12 months than it has been since the last Throne Speech,” Mr Scott said. “Even for its supporters the last 12 months have been less than satisfactory.

“There is a lot of room for improvement. If they are not in trouble now, they will be if they continue the way they have done.”

And he called for concerns over the future of the civil service and education to be addressed during this morning’s ceremony.

“Government’s handling of what they are going to do with the civil service has caused more apprehension than comprehension so far and this should be addressed in the Throne Speech. It will have to lay bare what the plan going forward will be for the civil service,” Mr Scott said.

“Education is another area that needs to be addressed and whether they will review or remove the need for middle schools.

“It will also be interesting to hear what progress the new Tourism Authority has made and what plans there are for tourism in the future.”

The Speech from the Throne, the third since the OBA came to power in 2012, will be delivered at 11am from the Senate Chambers building.

Unsurprisingly Sir John was slightly more forgiving, and said he wasn’t surprised that some of the promises made in 2013 hadn’t be met. He urged Government to believe in what they were doing, and to be bold in the implementation of their ideas.

“Two years is not a long time in Government; you have to settle down, make commitments and try and fulfil those promises,” Sir John said. “I have not met anyone who can fulfil all their commitments, so it does not surprise me that there may be commitments that have not been met in this last year.

“But Government has to continue to be bold and make the tough decisions for the good of the country. We have some real fiscal structuring problems and I hope that in this Throne Speech we see Government making more use of technology and people.

“I hope that it reflects Bermuda being a more global economy. Government has had some hot topic issues this last year, but they have attempted to bring about changes.

“And when you are in power you have to believe in what you are doing and be bold about how you implement it.”