In May 2015, former Progressive Labour Party Premier Ewart Brown encouraged the Opposition to engage in a “sustained programme of ... disinformation and criticism ...” to remove the One Bermuda Alliance from government.

One of the Opposition’s chief propaganda agents, Christopher Famous, has clearly taken that advice to heart. He toils away day and night spreading disinformation and criticism on social media and in The Royal Gazette.

Last week Mr Famous was at it again, this time criticising the Pathways to Status policy recently announced by the minister responsible for immigration.

Mr Famous insinuated that the Pathways policy was an attempt at gerrymandering — altering constituencies to have an advantage in an election. He wants us to ignore that neither he nor the Government knows how people vote or in what constituencies long-term residents, who could potentially become eligible for status, live. No, Mr Famous sacrifices that inconvenient truth on the altar of PLP spin.

To provide clarity on the number of long-term residents who are eligible to apply for status at present and those who will become eligible for permanent resident’s certificates and status, it is important to understand that there are two groups that are affected by different immigration legislation and policy.

The first group includes PRCs who, under an amendment made to the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act in 2002 by the PLP government, became eligible for status.

This provision in the BIPA went unnoticed for a decade until a case came before the Chief Justice in 2014. He ruled that PRCs were eligible to apply for status under the 2002 amendment. The ruling paved the way for 1,455 PRCs to apply for status. Of those PRCs, 760 have applied and approximately 300 have been granted status.

The second group of long-term residents that will become eligible to become PRCs and, later, for status under the Pathways policy is 683, based on the 2010 Census.

However, the actual number could be lower because since 2010 the number of work permits have been cut in half as a result of the economic downturn and many work permit-holders have since left Bermuda.

In online forums, the Opposition’s attempt to link this new policy to the scrapping of term limits is further evidence of its campaign of misinformation. Term limits were introduced by the PLP government in 2001. The policy dictated that no work permit-holder would have their permits renewed beyond six years. However, there was a provision for the six-year term limit to be waived and another inconvenient truth is that more than 70 per cent of waiver applications were granted.

Those waivers were not just for senior executives in international business; they were granted to individuals in a wide range of industries and at all levels of pay grade.

Some of the long-term residents that will become eligible for PRCs after 15 years of residence, and status after 20 years first came to Bermuda under a PLP government and were subject to term limits. The PLP didn’t enforce its own policy, allowing 70 per cent of these work permit-holders to stay longer than six years and so the sitting government has been forced to address the existing long-term resident situation, which is the direct result of a failed PLP term-limit policy.

Furthermore, in 2006, a legal opinion saying that term limits were uncompetitive, failed to protect Bermudian jobs and should be scrapped was submitted to the minister of the day. Further legal opinions that reached the same conclusion were submitted to the Government in 2007 and 2008, and were approved by the Attorney-General then. Nothing was done and the opinions were filed away and forgotten. Therefore, a politically expedient decision by the PLP government, bordering on negligence, is now being addressed by the present government.

Much has also been made of the timing of the announcement of the Pathways policy, occurring a day after the Devonshire North Central by-election. The Pathways policy was not dreamt up overnight because of a by-election — it has been in the works for several years and was included in the 2013 Throne Speech. This government is, therefore, fulfilling a Throne Speech promise.

This government is not reforming immigration by accident or for political expediency. This government is doing what is right for Bermuda, Bermudians and those long-term residents that have contributed to our way of life. The OBA makes no apologies for doing so.

The OBA is moving forward with this initiative because we care about Bermudians. Contrary to the Opposition’s assertion that this policy will take away jobs from Bermudians, it is far more likely that more jobs will be created. If these long-term residents are able to call Bermuda home, they are more likely to invest in property and businesses. They will spend their money here rather than saving it up and taking it with them when they leave.

Keep twisting facts and peddling fiction to suit your political agenda, Mr Famous. The Bermuda public see through your spin. Your truth deficit is growing every day.

• Sylvan Richards is the Junior Minister of Home Affairs and the Government MP for Hamilton South (Constituency 7)