prison service amounted to politics, pure and simple. We thought that was true when the Progressive Labour Party was notably quiet and did not join in the concern over the Luscious Lollipops on Fathers' Day. We were convinced that it was true when the Minister of Health and Government senators began publicly to defend the prison service, despite events at Casemates. Now we have an even more extraordinary situation where the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Frederick Wade, says, in effect, that if Government tries to clean up the prison service, Bermudians should "take a stand'' because it will be un-Bermudian.

Both political parties in Bermuda should remember that when the Democrats in the United States nominated Michael Dukakis for the presidency in 1988 he looked like a popular winner. He wound up a big loser only after George Bush, unfairly as it turns out, managed to brand him as being soft on prisoners. A US election was decided on that. Bermuda's public is not so different.

Mr. Wade has also suggested that the Health and Social Services Minister should stop "looking for the head'' of the Commissioner of Prisons. This newspaper has not noticed that Mr. Quinton Edness is looking for Mr. Milton Pringle's head, which is a pity because we think he should be. We have, of course, already asked if this Government has given up the Westminster system's doctrine of ministerial responsibility. We have not had an answer of any kind.

We asked that question because we felt Mr. Edness should be doing exactly what Mr. Wade says would be un-Bermudian, clean-up the prison service.

Prison problems festered because there was no public inquiry into the escape of Bermuda's most notorious prisoner, Troy Dean Shorter. This should be a lesson to Government and to senior civil servants. All too often, attempts to keep things private only result in a much worse public situation.

It appears that prison officers must have complained to Government that their image was being tarnished by escapes, Luscious Lollipops and sex in a Health Department closet, and they were hard done by. Government either swallowed that or played politics and hoped to part prison officers from their traditional ally, the Progressive Labour Party. Doubtless, prison officers also pointed out the truth that they are working under very difficult conditions at Casemates Prison and asked for a break. We can only think that Government then decided to give them a break by having the Minister of Health support the very prison service which has endangered his ministry, and by using appointed senators to support the prison service on the floor of the Senate. Thus Government played politics. Now the PLP is playing back by saying that Government would be un-Bermudian to clean-up a service which the Minister and senators have supported publicly. All we can think is that someone considers the votes of prison officers very valuable, perhaps it's the marginal area of Sandys North that someone thinks is at stake.

If anyone ever wanted an example of a political football, the prison service is it. The public wants guarantees. The last thing Bermuda needs is for the prisons to become the political battleground. To prevent that and to reassure the public, prison problems need to be solved and solved now.