Assembly late on Friday night as Government and Opposition MPs debated just how bad Bermuda's crime is and what should be done about it.

Much of the debate turned, predictably, into a blame game, and there were accusations that the issue was being unduly politicised.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb, acting for Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox, sounded like Ministers of the previous Government when it was in power, first insisting that the problem was not that serious and other tourism destinations had far worse crime rates, then saying that crime should be non-political, then calling on United Bermuda Party MPs David Dodwell and Michael Dunkley to be constructive.

"The types of people I want to listen to aren't those who are just whining and complaining but those with constructive ideas and solutions,'' she said.

Mr. Dunkley and Mr. Dodwell did make some suggestions. They may not have been the right ones, but they were ideas. Mr. Dunkley has long called for more Policemen to be put on streets. Mr. Dodwell called for stiffer penalties for crime against tourism and also suggested that known offenders be forced to wear electronic bracelets, thus allowing Police to pin them down when they rob from their favourite haunts.

Ms Webb was right when she said other destinations have crime problems as well, but the inference that Bermuda was therefore OK was wrong. Bermuda sells itself as a safe destination; it is not stretching the point too far to say that one crime against a visitor is one too many.

It would be nice if dealing with crime was apolitical. The same goes for education and a host of other issues.

The reality is that people of different political views will bring different approaches to the problem and in the Westminster system, it will be adversarial. Would the UBP like to score political points on crime? Sure it would. Would the PLP like to score political points if it can show a declining crime rate? Sure it would. Would the PLP have liked to have seen some of its constructive suggestions on education put in place while it was in Opposition? Of course. But the party did not complain when it was able to beat the UBP with that particular stick. That's politics.

Nonetheless, there is room for a meeting of the minds on crime and a host of other issues. That did occur later in Friday's debate. Backbenchers Wayne Perinchief and Dale Butler acknowledged that there was room for a cooperative approach to crime and to give the Police the support it needed. Delaey Robinson made some cogent arguments on why a "war on drugs'' which focused purely on interdiction was doomed to failure.

The fact is that the Government, not the Opposition, has the power to spend money on fighting crime.

If drugs are at the heart of much of Bermuda's crime, Government can decide to spend money on cutting supply -- although, as Mr. Robinson said, that may be a losing battle -- or to cut demand by providing more rehabilitation to addicts and prisoners.

The bottom line is that the whole community can come up with ideas and the private sector can implement some of them. But the Government, via the Police and/or the National Drugs Commission, is the only body that can set a national agenda and put it to work.