THERE are those in the House of Assembly who might sometimes be accused of making the odd moronic statement.

On occasions they might be labelled as 'total morons'.

Of course, those making such accusations wouldn't be able to name the honourable MPs to whom they are referring.

That would be libellous, malicious and constitute a defamation of character. And they might find themselves before the court - although the truth is often considered a very good defence.

Yet upon the 'hill', when Parliament convenes at this time of year to supposedly determine how this tiny country should be run, they can say exactly what they want without fear of reprisal.

It's known as parliamentary privilege.

And on Monday night this week, there were several who took full advantage of this exemption - in particular to slander this columnist and condemn the opinions expressed in this same column exactly a week ago. Indeed, Glenn Blakeney described this writer as a 'moron', as is his right.

Oddly enough the word 'coward' was also thrown out liberally by both sides of the House - rather strange in that they were attacking an individual, as they have every right to do, whose opinion they happened to disagree with, knowing full well that whatever they said they couldn't be taken to court.

But hiding under the privilege with which they are afforded, we can make up our own minds who are the real cowards.

The lengthy debate, if one could call it that, was sparked by an explanation in this column last week as to why neither a sports reporter or photographer had been at the airport to welcome home the Under-19 cricket team, who were returning from a rather unexceptional performance at the recent Youth World Cup.

Opposition MP Darius Tucker, applauded by some including Premier Ewart Brown, had said last week he was appalled by the absence of the media.

Tucker proudly declared he was there - although what he didn't say was whether he had made the journey east specifically to meet the team, or someone else who happened to be arriving on the same flight.

And he gave no explanation as to why other members of his party hadn't joined him, in particular Shadow Sports Minister Jon Brunson who has been critical of late (rightly so) as to the way our national sports are run.

As for the Government, if they had planned an official reception for the youngsters, certainly the media were never informed. Indeed, efforts by this newspaper to find out when the team were coming home proved fruitless - although had we been at the airport it wouldn't have been just to greet the cricketers but to question why they had underperformed and why they were beset by so many disciplinary problems.

And isn't that exactly what the MPs should have been discussing on Monday night, questioning why a sport into which they have pumped $11 million of taxpayers' money has failed to progress.

Just for the record, the Under-19s won one match, against Ireland, vice-captain Malachi Jones was stripped of that position and Chris Douglas sent home. It has since been revealed that the tour was dogged by a string of other disciplinary problems.

National coach Gus Logie said on the team's return: "I don't think anybody would say it was an incident-free tour or that everybody behaved like angels." That may have been a huge understatement if what others who were present on the same tour have told this newspaper.

Just for the record, in the International Youth Tournament, the predecessor to the Under-19 World Cup, Bermuda twice got to the final, in the 1970s and 1980s, and twice lifted the trophy.

Isn't the decline of youth cricket in that respect what the likes of Works Minister Derrick Burgess should have been concerned with.

But no, he had this to say on Monday night: "When anyone comes in this country as Adrian Robson has come, and insults the Premier and a member of this Parliament - he needs to go home."

(Just for Burgess' information, Bermuda has been 'home' for more than 32 years).

Burgess continued: "I just hope he doesn't have a PRC or status because if he doesn't then we will certainly try to rouse up my young folks to have him out of this country."

Of course, if the former union boss had made the same comments outside of the House, he might have been visited by the Police who no doubt will have asked whether his intention was to incite violence.

He came dangerously close to making the same comments when interviewed by The Bermuda Sun this week. But he has since explained in a letter to this newspaper that in no way was that his intention.

Regardless, he can be comforted by the knowledge that a lawyer's letter won't be arriving on his doorstep anytime soon.

Burgess, clearly oblivious of the crisis currently facing cricket, also had this to say: "I go watch cricket on Sundays and I went to watch those young men last year and I can tell you they're all dedicated."

One has to wonder whether his colleague Sports Minister El James takes the same view. He knows plenty about cricket - he was once the Bermuda Cricket Board's president and his younger days a very able national team player.

He had this to say in the House: "The editor of The Royal Gazette, its shareholders, everyone, should be concerned at this point. I'm not going to call for an outright firing of this individual, but something drastic needs to be done. If this had taken place in another country it would have been another case."

This might be hypocrisy at its worst.

I can reveal that I spoke with 'Big El' a few weeks' ago on the street (we've known each other for years) when he expressed his concerns about both cricket and football.

As it was purely a private conversation, and as such I won't reveal what he said - but suffice to say that he was of the opinion that "something drastic needs to be done" to improve both sports.

In a recent interview, he voiced the opinion that the hiring of national coaches for both football and cricket should be the responsibilty of his Ministry. So he's clearly concerned that all is not well within either sport.

But maybe what was most disturbing about Monday's tirade was that so few MPs seemed to understand that freedom of speech is the foundation on which democracy is built.

It's sad that many of our leaders can't get to grips with that concept, the most basic of human rights.

- ADRIAN ROBSON

FOOTNOTE: For the attention of our MPs, be advised some of the above comments have been written 'tongue in cheek'. No malice intended.