Glenn Blakeney said the level was debate was getting lower and lower.

?It is an impunity on not just the Government but every single member of this chamber when we convey all of this rhetorical hearsay and alike.?

He was speaking after former UBP leader Grant Gibbons claimed that Bermuda College funds were being used for a St. Lucia resort stay by College President Dr. Charles Green and expressed concern over a sponsor of a fundraising initiative by Premier?s wife Wanda Brown going into partnership with the Bermuda Hospitals Board. House Speaker Stanley Lowe intervened to head off the debate.

Mr. Blakeney called for Parliamentarians to be accountable to themselves in the language they use and views they express. He admitted the Government had not got everything right, but said: ?we need constructive criticism not venomous criticism?.

Shadow Finance Minister said: ?When we bring forward situations that have come to our attention, to the attention of the Government, to the extent that the observations are unpleasant we are always going to be accused of being venomous. When I hear members of this House criticise the messenger as opposed to try to rectify the problem one has to wonder why would you try to defend the indefensible.? She said Government should want to know if someone is doing something wrong.

And she stated the integrity of the Public Accounts Committee was paramount with regard to any suggestion that it was the source of any leaked documents regarding Bermuda College accounts.

In a brief interjection Labour Minister added his support for race relations consultant Rolfe Commissiong.

Backbencher noted that other countries had ?gloried? in their respective leaders being at the OTCC sessions in London with front page news but said this had not been the case in Bermuda, a statement at odds with the fact that the previous day Premier Dr. Brown had been the main front page story as he announced his intention to boycott future OTCC summits over the Governor issue. Mr. Lister then said: ?I?m pleased with the progress the Premier has made in London. Our Premier does not buck or bend. This is a new type of Premier for Britain to deal with.?

UBP called on Government to make its intentions clear on the issue of Independence, and said the people should be allowed to decide so that everything could then move on. And to the PLP MPs who criticised the press for criticising them, he said that criticism quite often had a lot of merit and should be listened to rather than always fighting back or trying to get a discussion ?shut up?.

When Walter Lister said he never complained about the but about the fact that Bermuda only had one daily newspaper and he felt it was a UBP-supporting journal, Mr. Dunkley responded: ?I remember the new Premier was in the newspaper just about every day in the weeks before the Party election. I?ve not heard anyone stand up and say that was favourable coverage.?

He then asked if the Workers? Voice ever wrote favourable things about the UBP, adding: ?If they want to interview me they can call me, my number?s in the book.

?I remember they (PLP) complained that ZBM was a tool of the UBP. The media gives good reporting more often than not. It does not take any leadership skills to criticise the media.?

Next to speak was backbencher who called on young people who don?t go out to work to change their attitude and said it could not be right that some of Bermuda?s young people don?t work full days because they have a ?spliff? for their lunch.

Mr. Lister said that every time a Bermudian decided to sit down and not work a fellow Bermudian loses the opportunity of a home because an employer has to bring in an overseas worker to fill the job and that person then takes up accommodation.

He was not happy with the UBP?s use of the term ?corruption? in relation to Government and countered that he had seen documents many years ago relating to past UBP administrations that raised questions about the awarding of Government contracts.

He added: ?The vast majority on both sides come to this place every week and work their butts off and they do not have a contract, or a ?sweet tooth? or get something pushed to them under the table.

?I have faith in all 36 people in the House?, he added, and asked if Bermuda had a corrupt Government then why has it never made the world-wide corruption list of countries.