attempt to gain political advantage some people will engage in the nastiest character assassination. What gain the perpetrators sought to achieve is difficult to understand and it is not very important. The fact is that some people were willing to go to outrageous lengths.

It became very clear that some elements in the United Bermuda Party will stop at nothing and spare no-one. Early in the UBP leadership contest, rumours were spread and vicious things were said inside the UBP about other adherents of the UBP and friends of the UBP which were libelous in the extreme.

It is, of course, a sign of political and personal immaturity that people cannot "fight clean''. Is it any wonder that the UBP has suffered from splits and divisions when there are people willing to destroy their colleagues? Bermuda is too small a place for political name calling. The accusations spread rapidly and they take a long time to go away. They are extremely painful for the victims and for their families. Some people are relatively immune to things said about them but others are badly hurt by outrageous slings and arrows. While the personal libel is nothing short of vicious, there is also a debilitating effect on the whole of the political party. If they do this to their friends, what would they do to their opponents? Some of this bad behaviour springs from adversarial politics but that is not the total answer. Much of it arises from small personal and political jealousies and is based on seeking an advantage. No political advantage can be worth the damage that is done to individuals.

In our view, the officers of the UBP should make it clear to the party that this kind of bad behaviour will not and cannot be tolerated. If it continues, those being attacked are quite justified in asking why they are bothering to take part. Why should they go on serving if they are going to be chopped up by their colleagues? That will leave politics in Bermuda to only those who play dirty.

As the UBP moves to new leadership and prepares to enter the next century with a fresh image there has to be an understanding that it will also leave the dirty tricks behind. It will also have to learn to leave behind those people who play dirty. We know that politics is often a dirty game but if that continues in Bermuda, decent and talented people will more and more refuse to serve.