Walton Brown, the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, has urged the Bermuda Government to challenge Britain over its decision to take responsibility for issuing Bermudian passports.

Mr Brown branded the UK’s justification of security concerns for the move as “hogwash” as he lamented the loss of revenue that came with Britain taking control of the process.

“We will lose funds over this,” he said. “I am hoping that the Overseas Territories at least on this issue can demonstrate a greater degree of collective work to challenge the UK. It does not bode well for the future.”

Mr Brown added: “We must exert greater control, the UK does not have our best interests at heart.

“We need to get back control of our passports. I would urge the Government to address this issue with a level of urgency. Don’t be intimidated by the British.”

Mr Brown was speaking during the debate of the expenditure within the Ministry of Home Affairs, presented by Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin told MPs that while the Immigration Working Group was still working on tackling the issue of mixed-status families, the group was still meeting regularly and making progress.

“While we would have liked to have seen more progress. I have no doubt that they are working tirelessly,” she said.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin noted that work permit revenue is expected to increase in the coming year due to the America’s Cup and a series of construction projects such as the airport redevelopment.

And she said the Office of the Registry General would be looking into digitising records, which would improve efficiency, make better use of physical space and make it easier to access records. Responding further to the brief, Mr Brown called on the Consumer Affairs department to tackle what he described as “price gouging” at the banks and in the health insurance sector.

“The banks have licence to levy any fee they see fit on its customers and the pricing mechanisms are increasingly offensive,” he said. “Let’s go after the big boys.”

He also said that the Department of Immigration needed to be more proactive when it comes to investigating work permit violations and that stronger fines need to be introduced for employers found to be in breach.

“You want a revenue source? That’s how we can get some money,” he said. “A $5,000, $10,000 fine is nothing compared to what they get out of their employees.”

Mr Brown also said that government should consider expanding minimum wage rules for domestic workers to other job categories to help protect guest workers from abuse and encourage employers to hire Bermudian workers.

“It’s not just the right thing to do, but it benefits the country and it benefits the people,” he said.

On the subject of the IWG, he said the group were challenged by the lack of a definition for “mixed-status families” in the Pathways to Status proposal.