The Opposition United Bermuda Party will not be given the benefit of the doubt by the electorate, says ruling party spokesman Glenn Blakeney.

In the party's first broad brush response to UBP Leader Grant Gibbons' speech on Wednesday outlining the vision of the 'New UBP', Mr. Blakeney said that the Opposition Party was giving the impression that it had converted to principles held by the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) for years.

And he accused Dr. Gibbons of attacking the Premier personally.

He added that he would be surprised if Premier Jennifer Smith made a response to what he called "pontification and verbiage". The UBP, he said, had had many years to deliver but failed.

"The overall response is that it appears that the UBP has found reason to atone and hope that they will be given the benefit of the doubt and forgiven by the electorate for shortsightedness when they were charged with leading the country in the way it would go with a view to resolving many of society's challenges," Mr. Blakeney said.

"They have a short memory. In 1998 there was a landslide consensus that you have lost your way. I don't think they should be given the benefit of the doubt. And I don't think they will." Bermuda had fared very well in the aftermath of the attacks on the United States in September last year because of the Government's management of the economy, he asserted.

"And the most impressive thing is that above and beyond all expectations, the PLP has stick to its guns relative to identifying issues and prioritising the agenda to the benefit of the entire country."

He acknowledged that much work was still to be done but said that the community at large needed to do its part. "The Government can't do it alone. It has to have the commitment of the general population, whether it be education, housing, transport... We have to take personal responsibility in helping in the process of executing solutions.

"We found the solution to the long term residents, we found the solution to address the concerns of those that want to have a second chance without going to prison to be stigmatised. Even with education the PLP ensured that class sizes would be reduced and last but not least is one of the most fundamental legislative items on the agenda - which is in progress as we speak - electoral reform."

He said Grant Gibbons proposal to establish an Office of Economic Empowerment sounded like PLP-speak. "That's straight from our platform."

He reminded the Royal Gazette that the PLP had long talked about the absentee ballot, another proposal of the 'New UBP'. "We have always looked at the options that will make it (voting) a more inclusive process. There's nothing new."

And the proposal to enact a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was ironic since laws to restrict political speech at times of elections were put in place by the UBP, he continued.

"Why all of a sudden has the light gone on after 30 years? I don't think they were that naive as not to realize that information was necessary to formulate consensus and policy that they needed to have going forward. So it had to be purposely done, based upon and driven by certain motives."

He said Dr. Gibbons had resorted to American style rhetoric in his speech by referring to the PLP Government as the "Smith Government".

"The thing that is very disappointing is it seems already that the UBP wants to take the gloves off and attack the Premier personally. It's very personal in referring to the PLP Government as the Smith Government, and to me it smacks of American style politics - to attack individuals as opposed to tackling issues and attacking our record."