Premier Alex Scott has made a good start to his tenure over the last ten days or so since taking office.

He appears to be determined to avoid the errors of his predecessor by being more open and accessible, and it's fair to say that the media as a whole welcomes the change in tenor of the Cabinet Office.

He also seems to genuinely want to bring the community together and to reduce the divisiveness and adversarial nature of politics in this small island.

That's right too, and if he succeeds in accomplishing that, then that's all too the good.

In one area, he is in danger of slipping up, and that is over the continued use of "The Laurels" by former Premier Jennifer Smith.

Traditionally, Premiers have had the use of Camden in the Botanical Gardens as their official residence for entertainment and official functions. Camden is not suitable as a live-in residence and most of Bermuda's Premiers continued to live in their own homes while they held Bermuda's top office.

That changed when Pamela Gordon became Premier. Her own home on Victoria Street was not judged to be suitable for security reasons and was, arguably, unsuitable for the kind of private entertaining that a Premier might have to do while in office.

Thus Ms Gordon moved to a rented home in Warwick which in turn had additional security facilities added. Government paid the rent. When the United Bermuda Party was defeated in 1998, she remained in the house, but paid the rent herself.

There was a dispute over how much Ms Gordon would have to pay towards the cost of the renovations to the home which was eventually settled.

When Ms Smith became Premier, the same problem arose.

Fortuitously, "The Laurels", the traditional residence of the Attorney General, became vacant as the new Government made the post a political one instead of a Civil Service post.

Ms Smith then occupied the home, which also received some renovations and was furnished by the Government.

Now Ms Smith is out of office, but remains in residence at "The Laurels" for an indeterminate time and at an as yet undetermined rent.

Mr. Scott, who has no desire to move there, has asked for a security review both of his own home and of the former Premier. The security review for Ms Smith is prompted in part by a bomb threat against her that was recently prosecuted and in part by the bad feelings caused by the recent PLP split.

Mr. Scott has shown a good deal of compassion towards Ms Smith since the rebellion. He offered her a Cabinet post which she turned down, and retained a good many of her supporters in the Cabinet.

And it is just possible that is a security risk for Ms Smith in returning to her St. George's home. But it seems pretty slim. Ms Smith is not the first politician to receive threats while in office and she probably won't be the last. That does not condone the acts, but it is reality.

But Mr. Scott does run the risk of setting a bad precedent should Ms Smith remain in the home.

Ms Smith is an ex-Premier, but she is also a backbencher and there is no provision for special perks for ex-Premier. Nor should there be. One of the strengths of the Westminster system is its ability to bring people back to earth in a hurry.

Lose the Government and you're out the back door the next morning as the new Government is coming in the front. When mighty Cabinet Ministers are sacked, they become "ordinary people" again and quickly.

The same is true of ex-Premiers, not matter how cruelly they are disposed of. Mr. Scott and Ms Smith need to continue that tradition.