Government's continuing confrontations with the unions could cost it the election, fears political pundit and supporter Walton Brown.

He said the The Progressive Labour Party was drifting away from its core supporters who were likely to stay at home when an election was called, which could help the United Bermuda Party back into power.

He said: "I think we have seen in the last couple of years a whole series of labour unrest under a PLP government. It's mind-boggling, such a plethora of disquiet and unrest.

"If a lot of issues are not addressed between now and the election it could cause a reduction in voter turn out which will benefit the UBP."

Of this week's confrontation with teachers, Mr. Brown said: "The spectre of a labour government telling police to arrest teachers would be very, very damaging for a labour government to be doing. "It would have a tremendous impact on public sentiment towards the Government."

He said the PLP was suffering because there were still draconian labour laws on the books put in by the UBP.

"The PLP are trying to implement those laws. But with this particular bit of legislation it would be foolhardy. It would cause more disruption and damage than its worth. Those laws were created by a Government not friendly to labour."

He continued: "There is little if any ideological difference between the PLP and the UBP but there is still the ethos that the PLP is a labour party connected to the labour movement."

Mr. Brown said there were 10,000 fewer voters for the snap 1985 election than in the 1983 election allowing the UBP a landslide majority as disaffected PLP supporters stayed at home because of splits in their camp.

"It's never a good idea for a labour government which gets its support from the working man and woman to be at odds with that group."

He said workers had rising expectations under a labour government.

"If you are in a position to make and change and you see a strike looming then you would make a concerted effort to make sure it doesn't happen because of the disruption.

"I would like to see more initiative demonstrated in dealing with labour/management issues, especially from a labour government.

"You should not wait until a crisis has erupted before you take action. I believe much more could have been done before."

PLP backbencher Arthur Hodgson said of the teachers' strike: "I think it is tragic we have reached this impasse.

"Thirty or forty years ago when I started in the PLP one issue I thought we would bring solutions to was education.

"If there was one single reason for me to be involved in politics it was because as a teacher I saw the need for education."

Mr. Hodgson said the PLP had merely followed the UPB's policies on education. He called for localised schools and said money was not the root cause of the teachers' frustration.

"Although pay can't be ignored, it is not the basic motivational factor." He said workers needed to feel part of the process.