The Opposition benches went on the attack in the House of Assembly last night, criticising Government for a series of controversial, headline-making decisions in the past week.Shadow Attorney General Kim Wilson led the offensive, questioning why Government had apparently “waived” a law that had forbidden members of the SAGE Commission from speaking publicly about its findings before it had completed an investigation into inefficiency within Government.Ms Wilson also questioned comments made by the Premier Craig Cannonier’s press secretary, Charmaine Burgess, who in response to questions raised by radio host Sherri Simmons, said Government had vetted the speech before it was made, and had waived Section 11 of the legislation.According to Ms Wilson, the press secretary would have first had the statement approved by Government ministers, who would have in turn solicited legal advice.However in a later statement by Mr Cannonier, the Premier had “thrown Ms Burgess under the bus”, suggesting the phrasing in the informal statement was a mistake.“We are talking about a matter of law. When most people here a matter of law or an interpretation of law, they say ‘I think I’m going to get a lawyer involved’,” Ms Wilson said. “No doubt the Premier would have wanted to rely on the legal input of those around him.“How is it the press secretary, via the honourable Premier, can make an assessment of the law and say the Government as the right to waive the law without having any legal advice. Where did that legal advice come from?“Nobody is above the law. Who is giving legal advice to the Government and the Premier for him to believe that Section 11 wasn’t breached and that he can waive Section 11?”Shadow Finance Minister David Burt questioned how the Premier could justify hiring former OBA communications director Don Grearson as an advisor after “cutting” Government scholarships.Describing Mr Grearson as “an OBA family member”, Mr Burt said: “Thirteen members of Cabinet sat around the table and said ‘we’re going to cut the amount of funding for scholarships, however, we’re going to give $105,000 to Don Grearson, who has been working for the UBP and OBA for a very long time’. Something is not right.”Mr Burt also ridiculed Government and “a dysfunctional Cabinet office” for its handling of the SAGE affair, saying that it presented “a comedy of errors”.And he questioned why the “photo opp” Premier had accepted an invitation to the Bahamas when the OBA had previously declared that “it didn’t want anything to do with Caricom”.Shadow Public Safety Minister Michael Scott said that Government had undermined the integrity of the SAGE Commission while Shadow Tourism Minister once repeated his concerns that a Bermudian had not been appointed to act as a Director of Gold to promote the Island in the US.The Opposition’s Lawrence Scott described Government’s performance as “shotty”, while Rolfe Commissiong said he was reminded of the Keystone Kops “stumbling from one crisis to another”.But Government members hit back. Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell defended the appointment of foreigner Andrew Brooks as Director of Golf, saying that Bermuda needed to employ “the best” if it was to reverse declining visitor numbers.Finance Minister Bob Richards defended Mr Duperreault’s comments, saying that the chairman had simply repeated a commonly-shared opinion that he had heard frequently at public meetings.He said that the Opposition had opposed the SAGE Commission since its inception and current criticisms were just “nit-picking and political posturing”.“We must not lose sight of the big picture and the big picture here is the $300 million annual deficit that those guys left us with,” Mr Richards said.And Deputy Premier Michael Dunkley ended the debate by pointing out that, privately, members of the Opposition had applauded the decision to hire Mr Brooks — and had even recommended him for the post.Mr Dunkley also defended the Premier and his press secretary, acknowledging that, while “we all make mistakes”, and Mr Cannonier was new to the job, “he will not let Bermuda down”.“We will make Bermuda safe again, we will attract capital to Bermuda, we will create those jobs for Bermudians. We can’t do it in six months but we will do it and people will see progress. Bear with us, hold us to account and we will be better for it, trust us. The Premier and this Government have got your backs.”