There is a trend of thought that you should not kick a man when he is down. Instead you should give him a hand to get back on his feet.

To say that the One Bermuda Alliance has had a bad week would be somewhat of an understatement. Within the course of the past seven days, it has accomplished the following:

• Proved that it does not have any economic ideas other than to tax the working and middle class even more

• Appear to publicly to turn on each other

• Mismanage communications

In essence, the OBA has knocked itself back to the ground. So no need to kick any further. Instead, this serves as an opportunity to impart some advice to the OBA and its supporters.

They need to embrace who they truly are. Out of nine parliamentarians — six MPs and three senators — five of them are born and bred in the philosophies of the United Bermuda Party. While the social track record of the UBP is somewhat lacking, it is redundant to say that it did not advance the country from an agricultural society into tourism and then into financial services.

Many in the OBA have spent the past decade or so attempting to expunge their own records. In doing so, they have had to deny their past — both the good and bad. It lessens their own credibility when they do that.

The other thing they should stop is the whole “Chicken Little” campaign. The strategy of claiming the sky is falling in every month is backfiring.

The Opposition makes claims that the Government is unfriendly to international business. Yet, history shows that international business has grown under the present administration. It makes claims that this very same government does not care about the working class. Yet, the facts are the working and middle class have had more payroll-tax breaks than ever before. As importantly, progressive policies for areas such as labour protection, child welfare, education reform and affordable housing are up and running.

So the failed attempt to play one side off against the other also damages the OBA’s credibility. It is up to them to either take the advice or not. However, they must recognise that they are on a downward trajectory.

Family moments

I say this against the backdrop that, after spending years sitting in the same Parliament chambers together, parliamentarians become somewhat attached to each other. Yes, we have our differences of opinion — both across party lines and within our own parties. What family dynamic does not?

There will be moments in the chamber that we do verbally spar. This is what the public hears on the radio or reads about in the media.

However, what they do not see is the majority of times that both sides are sitting in the dining area, eating together, talking about common family bonds or reliving past moments. These are the moments that Norman Rockwell would love to capture.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com