Dear Mr Dunleavy,Your 30 September opinion piece is revealing on a number of levels and, given that it is no doubt representative of a specific mindset in Bermuda, it may be helpful to offer a few comments in response.You set out by restating my well known PLP credentials. I proudly serve a party that I believe has the best interests of the people of this country at heart and have no issue with you pointing this out. But I am intrigued. You felt it important to identify my political affiliations in assessing my views yet fail to disclose your own. Perhaps it is relevant, too, that you are a former member of the UBP caucus and the blogger behind www.politics.bm which for a number of years has railed against virtually every policy of the PLP government. Neither of us are disinterested observers.Your comments are meant as a critique but appear more as diatribe than careful reflection on what I actually argued. When you get beyond the emotional language you use to describe my views “political redirect”, “simplistic analysis”, “shockingly uninformed” there is little to buttress the position you seek to advance. I hold to my view that the global recession has had a far greater negative impact on Bermuda’s finances than any decision by government; this has been the case everywhere else and it defies logic to ignore this. It does not suit your political objective Mr Dunleavy and thus appears as an inconvenient truth.You are correct to point to some important shifts in reinsurance companies in Bermuda during the ten year period term limits have been policy. But coincide does not provide explanation. You could similarly have pointed out that during this same period reinsurance companies were increasingly concerned about the cost of doing business in Bermuda, the presence of a “soft” reinsurance market on premiums and the negative consequences for growth and pressure to re-domicile for tax reasons. You know this since you work in the field.You have missed my point completely about term limits. The fundamental question is this: If term limits are abolished what policy should be in place for those who have resided here for, say, a ten year period? Should there be an automatic PRC or status grant? Or should they live in limbo as did many until this government introduced PRC status a number of years ago? It is not a simple matter as there are significant implications; and it is certainly not a problem, as you say, simply “because we choose to have one”.You speak of “envy and a national inferiority complex” as the basis for our immigration problem. No Mr Dunleavy. Take a glance back into the history of your former party and you will know the UBP deliberately manipulated immigration policy for political purposes. What envy do you see and who do you think has an inferiority complex today?You are correct that “immigration and Bermudian prosperity, social stability and economic growth are inextricably linked”. There is no doubt this government accepts this and this is precisely why the revised term limit policy was developed in tandem with extensive consultations with the leadership in your industry and others: the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, Association of Bermuda International companies, Business Bermuda and Bermuda First. Your bosses may have informed you of this; perhaps not.But it is telling that, save for an anonymous business leader, there has been no public opposition to the new term limit policy from the leaders of the “intellectual capital” you speak of. In my frank discussions with two leaders of Class Four insurers and a major local service provider their categorical view is that the current term limit policy represents no impediment to their business. I am prepared to accept their politically neutral assessment.In conclusion, Mr Dunleavy, I find it necessary to point out that governments are required to balance a range of competing interest when determining policy. This is neither Bermuda Inc nor a socialist state; economic needs and business growth must be addressed while job security and quality of life issues for Bermudians and those we grant security of tenure here are equally strengthened. Businesses are not expected to share such disparate interests and that is precisely why they help shape but do not dictate policy.Walton Brown is a social and political commentator and has been selected as a prospective parliamentary candidate for the Progressive Labour Party. Follow his blog on www.respicefinem1.blogspot.com. He can be contacted at walton[AT]researchmix.com