personal crusade for the "People's Premier''.

She said: "Make no mistake about it, the crime rate is down. But any amount of criminal activity in Bermuda is unacceptable.'' She added there was light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the crime rate and the increasing success of anti-drugs agencies and partnerships against addictions.

But she promised: "Notwithstanding, I will not rest until the scourge of drug abuse, in whatever form, is eliminated from Bermuda.

"Long after my service as Premier has ended, I want to be known for one thing: Pam Gordon finally got a handle on the drug problem -- the effective combination of relentless prosecution and Police work, together with prevention, intervention, education and treatment. You have my solemn pledge on it.'' Ms Gordon was speaking in a broadcast to Bermuda on Thursday night, carried on TV and radio.

She outlined her hopes and plans for her Premiership and the future of Bermuda.

Ms Gordon admitted last night that reception to her first public speech had been mixed.

She said she had spoken to a young black man at the kite-flying event at Horseshoe Bay yesterday.

Ms Gordon said: "He said `I heard the words what you are going to do but not how you are going to do it.' "I guess that the only thing I can say is let them judge me by my deeds, not my words. I take Bermuda far too seriously to reduce it to cliches and buzzwords.'' But she said one of her major concerns was the men, mostly black, who feel "outside the mainstream and who need to be brought in''.

Ms Gordon said: "The current system does not lend itself to embracing many of our males. There will have to be some serious discussions, not only in the boardrooms but in the training boards, to get things up and running.

"People have been very supportive -- but it's very concerning when there are people who are disheartened and feel there is no place for them in Bermuda.'' But she said her background was not that traditionally expected of a UBP MP or Premier -- and added that gave her an empathy across party and economic boundaries and a real commitment to dealing with the problem.

During her TV broadcast, Ms Gordon said that Bermuda had "the talent and technology'' as well the virtues of hard work, family and opportunity.

And she urged Bermudians to sign up in the battle to harness new technology to equip tomorrow's workforce and ensure the future prosperity of the Island.

She said: "Together, we have the assets and experience. One of my most important tasks is to ensure that there is ever-growing opportunity to make it all come together.

"My watchwords will be education and opportunity, training and retraining. My focus will be on children and family. My emphasis will be to create and manage the changes that we will need to make in order to work smarter, learn better, compete harder and live safer and healthier lives.'' But she warned that the challenges of the future would need a fresh approach.

Ms Gordon said: "Change in the classrooms, change in the office, change on Front Street, change in the visitor industry -- we will harness technology, we will apply our imaginations, we will soon be able to stand beside every child in Bermuda and say without fear of contradiction: `Your future is safe, your opportunity is secure and you are ready to take on the world and make it.' "Doing this will require a new way of governing, a new way of doing business, a new way of relating to each other, a new way of communicating.

"It will require the creation of partnerships -- between Government and business, between public investment and private initiative, between schools and community, between young and old, between labour and management, between Bermudians and visitors.

Premier outlines her programme "We will forge true, modern partnerships that will make Bermuda the envy of the world. We will create the human and community partnerships necessary to attack and defeat our common foes -- drugs, violence and ignorance.'' And she invited MPs, Senators, trades unionists and business to get together to guarantee a good future for today's children.

Ms Gordon acknowledged that the approaches and platforms of the Opposition Progressive Labour Party were different from the UBP's.

But she said: "There are times when all of us must put the problems and challenges facing our Country ahead of political ideology. I would like Bermuda's drive toward the 21st Century to be spirited and cooperative.'' Ms Gordon also paid tribute to her father, legendary labour leader and civil rights activist Dr. E.F. Gordon, and her mother Mildred.

She said: "Those who remember my father's time will attest to the enormous strides Bermuda has taken against racism and discrimination -- his fight and his hope was for equality, opportunity fairness and decency. I guarantee that they are mine as well.

"Those who remember my father's time will also recall that he spent much of his time fighting for a place in the foundations of Bermuda's future success -- the glass ceiling which holds back so many Bermudians today is about to meet Dr. Gordon's daughter.

"I will work, as my father before me, to ensure that all Bermudians have the chance to reach their God-given potential.'' Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But Shadow Home Affairs Minister Alex Scott said he welcomed any new offensive in the battle against "the pernicious and evil traffic in drugs''.

He said the PLP had been concerned for years that, while on paper there was commitment to battling drugs, there was little practical action.

Mr. Scott added: "The incidence of drug interdiction and conviction is down.'' And he said that, of drugs cases brought to court, many prosecutions had been unsuccessful.

He added: "We need to take it off the rhetorical plane, just statistics and just promises of a war on crime and actually have one.'' Of Ms Gordon's speech in total, Mr. Scott said he was surprised there had been no mention of the recent dispute over union representation at two drycleaners -- which have since closed their doors because the Bermuda Industrial Union and the owners could not agree on numbers for a union ballot.

Mr. Scott said: "I would like to have heard, since it was a speech intended to sketch the parameters of the new Premier's agenda, specific reference to the most recent injury to labour relations.

"We saw an employer close his shops rather than recognise what is the accepted norm -- the constitutional right for workers to ask for and choose a union to represent them.'' Mr. Scott said the last Premier, David Saul, had pledged laws to guarantee workplace ballots on union certification and decertification.

But Mr. Scott added that Ms Gordon had not mentioned the subject at all, which put a question mark over her commitment to labour.

He said: "Ironically, Ms Gordon started her speech and punctuated it with references to her father, who was one of the founders of labour. We would like to hear her robust commitment to the same degree of rights.'' Mr. Scott added that he had a Constitutional responsibility to review and criticise Labour and Home Affairs legislation -- and said he would continue to do so.

But he said: "We will be as accommodating, as much as we possibly can, to a younger person in the national interest. She knows she can call on us in the Opposition and certainly on me in my Shadow Ministry.''