to? And to what extent are they entitled to be treated like ordinary people and not to be held to higher standards of behaviour than the rest of the public? These questions arise because of two incidents involving Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb and the Police.

One incident involves her being allegedly caught speeding at 70 kph and the ticket for the offence being torn up. It is still not clear what exactly happened in that case, except that senior Police officials accepted Ms Webb's complaint that the incident had not been handled properly and dropped the charge.

The second involves her complaining to Police at the World Rugby Classic about not being allowed to park her car inside the grounds of National Sports Club.

There is some question again about what happened, but no dispute that Ms Webb felt she had cause for complaint.

She does not deny that she told the Police that she felt she was entitled to VIP parking as she was on Government business, or that she reminded the Police they and the Commissioner were accountable to the Government.

Public officials should not be victimised. But they should be aware that as public figures, news that they have been issued with speeding tickets or that they have got into disputes with the Police is likely to become public knowledge.

MPs and Cabinet Ministers are entitled to special treatment when they are executing Government business, although there will be some question about how much business Ms Webb and her guests got done while they were enjoying TeleBermuda's hospitality tent.

Ms Webb may have felt she was giving a fairly basic civics lesson to the Police when she told them they were accountable to the taxpayer via the Government; to a Policeman on traffic duty, it may have sounded more like "you work for me''. And while the taxpayer pays the Police, the Commissioner reports directly to the Governor, not the Minister of Home Affairs. That's done partly to protect the Police from political interference.

In the end though, it boils down to two points. Respect, regardless of position or rank, is earned. And because MPs swear an oath to uphold the law, they are expected to be above reproach.

MONIZ VICTORY EDT Moniz victory Last Friday, MP Trevor Moniz's six-year campaign for a register of MP's interests cleared a major hurdle when the House of Assembly approved the measure.

This is a welcome development which will go a long way towards avoiding conflicts of interest among public office-holders.

As Government backbencher Dale Butler noted, it will also help the public to see that not all politicians are wealthy. It should also show where conflicts of interest do not occur.

That's an important part of transparency; not only does it identify the "guilty'', it protects the innocent who would otherwise be victims of gossip and innuendo.

To be sure, Mr. Moniz had to make several compromises to assure passage of the register as he encountered opposition not only from the United Bermuda Party, from whom he is currently estranged, but from the "operating in the sunshine of public scrutiny'' Progressive Labour Party as well.

These compromises included dropping a requirement to list the assets of legislators' spouses. In spite of that, this is a good start and one which is long overdue.