United Bermuda Party MP Cole Simons suggested parliamentarians follow a code of conduct in the House of Assembly on Friday.

But Deputy Premier Paula Cox said mechanisms were already in place to monitor the behaviour of politicians and suggested Mr. Simons come back with a draft code if he believes a new one should be created.

Early Saturday morning MPs were still in the House of Assembly debating legislation. One of the last orders of the day, which did not end until after one a.m., was Mr. Simons' motion for a code of conduct.

He told the House he believed the bar must be raised on how politicians behave in and out of the House.

And he listed a variety of reasons he believed the code was necessary.

"We have had a Premier acting beyond his constitutional authority, and in isolation, without Cabinet approval, and making unconstitutional decisions to bring four Gitmo detainees to Bermuda under the cloak of darkness in a leased private jet," he said.

"We have the attempted forced retirement of a Cabinet Secretary, Kenneth Dill.

"We have 'What is in it for me?' rumour for all of the hotel property development initiatives.

"We have the 'We had to deceive you' comments in the lead up to the 2007 General Election.

"We have the auditor's report on the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal, and the cloud of suspicion which surrounded a number of Bermuda's Cabinet Ministers.

"We had the special auditor's report which showcased a number of unanswered questions, in regards to the ownership and spin-off for the companies contracted to complete the development of the Dame Lois Browne Evans Court Building and Police Station.

"We have the retroactive planning approval for Heritage Pier in Dockyard.

"We have the realignment of the road located near Bailey's Bay Cricket Club without abiding by the appropriate planning laws.

"We have comments made on national TV, made by one of our senior statesman who said that his behaviour was not illegal, but may have been unethical.

"We have the Playboy club fiasco and the inherent disrespect for every woman in Bermuda.

"We have the inherent conflict of interest and accompanying alleged improprieties. We have the Emissions building, located on Government property at the Transport Control Department. A business which is a private venture, run and owned by Government Members of Parliament and known associates and intimate friends of the Premier.

"We have a shredded letter, marked return to sender from a PLP Cabinet Minister.

"Very few Bermudians believe that parliamentarians are of high standards of honest and ethics. Trust in our parliamentarians are at an all-time low."

But Deputy Premier Paula Cox said there were already measures in place.

"One has to also be careful not to take a very narrow view of regulation and be mindful that what one is really saying is that you favour a move towards hard regulation with just adding increased documentation," she said. "That in itself does not guarantee that it is effective regulation. Traditionally rules on MPs' behaviour has taken the form of etiquette rather than edict. The better view is to note the importance of what we already have as opposed to just layering on additional regulation.

"Given the focus of this motion on politicians in the Legislature, their party and in their constituency, there are existing checks. The people who elect us have the ultimate authority and sanction by the power of their vote in elections. The House has the Standing Orders, the Register of Members' Interests and Ministers are subject to a Ministerial code and within the party you have a Whip and party discipline.

"So, it is a flawed hypothesis to assert a position as if there is no regulation, clearly wrong. There may be a view as to how to make it more robust where you feel it needs to be and just layering another form of documentation is not the answer in my view. However if that is the thinking by the Opposition then the better view is to have tabled a draft code for scrutiny, consideration and discussion."

Opposition MP Trevor Moniz recommended that his party colleague Mr. Simons "rise and report progress" on a draft Code of Conduct for review by the Legislature.