Premier Jennifer Smith yesterday moved to clear up confusion surrounding comments she made in a letter regarding the January 4 holiday.

Ms Smith told Chamber of Commerce president Michael Smith that the holiday was guided by the people's will and that anyone who did not join the people would do so at their own peril.

Mr. Smith had written to the Premier outlining the concerns of the business community over the holiday. Her reply prompted a backlash from businesses who said her statement could be construed as a threat.

"This Government is not about making threats,'' she stressed yesterday.

Ms Smith said she was warning employers that they were in peril of alienating their employees, who might think they were either being disrespectful to the new Government or less understanding of people's feelings if they chose to ignore the holiday.

But she said she recognised that some people, who were expecting the worse from the Progressive Labour Party Government, might have read more into the innocuous statement than was there.

The Government was trying to encourage partnerships with the business community during its first term of office, not alienate them, she pointed out.

Ms Smith said January 4 should not be thought of as a day off. Instead it was a day for the people to recognise and celebrate a significant moment in Bermuda's history.

And she noted that any day the holiday was called on would have proved difficult to a group of people in some sector of the workforce.

She said she expected Bermudians to work if their job required them to and noted that all businesses carried provisions for employees working on holidays.

Those people who were working would still be able to recognise and celebrate the day for what it was.

The Government's primary consideration in calling the holiday, she continued, was to ensure that it did not drag on into Bermuda's hospitality season and that students would be able to participate in the celebration after being excluded from the electoral process.

The controversy over the holiday also surfaced yesterday in the Upper House.

And Opposition Senators found an unusual ally in the shape of Government Senator Michael Scott, who conceded that there had been only "narrow consultation'' on behalf of the Government before a decision had been made.

But he then dismissed the whole affair as being "nothing but a storm in a tea cup''.

"I heard that Bermuda was going to be the laughing stock overseas, but I think that's the kind of approach by someone bringing this up for political use,'' he said.

"This is a people's decision and I think it deserves to be treated with respect and not as a politicised discussion.

See also Pages 5 and 6 for Senate coverage Holiday debate heats up in the Senate "In the matter of the holiday, there was only narrow discussion, but in my respectful view I don't believe that this issue is anything more than a storm in a tea cup.'' Senator David Burch joined the debate by defending Premier Jennifer Smith's controversial comments to Chamber of Commerce president Michael Smith. The Premier warned that "we as the Government of Bermuda are guided by the greater will of the people, who spoke so loudly on 9 November 1998, that any segment of the community not joining them does so at its own peril''.

Sen. Burch said: "We are going to have this holiday on January 4 and it is a result of the wishes of the people of this country and that's the best testimony as to why we are the government,'' he said.

"It seems there has been some suggestion that the Premier was threatening someone -- quite the contrary. I think it was a warning, and it was a warning that we took prior to the General Election, and that is that. If we don't do what we promised to do, we do it at the peril of the people who elected us.

"If we don't do what we said we would do they will boot us out of office.

"The peril to employers is that, if they do go to work they are going to have unhappy employees. It's not a threat to anyone, it's a warning that the people of this country have spoken and we have listened.

"I think all of us should look at it as something that's going to happen and we can all reap untold benefits from it.

"Those who have to work will go to work happily because they recognise that this country has to function and those who are able to celebrate will celebrate.