The House of Assembly has approved a motion for consultancy contracts over $50,000 to be presented before MPs.But the amended motion was derided by the Opposition as “watered down” and Government was further accused of “gutter politics”, after Finance Minister Bob Richards revealed monies paid out to past and present Progressive Labour Party MPs during their time as consultants.The motion, billed as a token of good governance, was brought before the House by the PLP’s Wayne Furbert.The Hamilton West MP said contracts on or over the $50,000 mark should go before Parliament within 30 days of their signing but Mr Furbert amended his motion to exempt contracts linked with “national security, defence, investigations and proceedings, law enforcement, court records and audit functions”.MPs agreed to leave off “Government policy” from the exemptions listBut an “amendment to the amendment” by Attorney General Mark Pettingill which changed the motion’s wording from “should be laid before Parliament” to “may” was put to a vote, and roundly approved by Government MPs over PLP objections.And a furious exchange followed Mr Richards’ contention that the PLP had been two-faced and hypocritical in introducing the motion.“The Opposition is bringing this message now as Opposition but up until December 17, they also had the face of Government,” the Finance Minister told the House.“We need to look at PLP Government consultant contracts over $50,000. Did they bring it to the House for approval? No. They were in Government 14 years I don’t think they ever did.”He said PLP MP Walton Brown has a no-bid contract for his company Research Investments that took in $700,000 “over several years” prompting an incensed Mr Brown to rise, saying his business never had a single contract totalling that amount.Mr Richards said records in his Ministry showed former MP Renee Webb took a total of $58,300 as a consultant from 2011 to 2012.“To do what, I’m not sure,” he added.Current Pembroke South East MP Rolfe Commissiong received a total of $450,000 from 2006 to 2011 for a no-bid contract, Mr Richards said, while Marc Bean, now the Opposition Leader, received $318,000 from 2007 to 2010.Citing the Bermuda Constitution and the Legislature (Qualification and Disqualification) Act, 1968, Mr Richards charged that the no-bid contracts had been awarded to “political insiders”, “which means nobody else in the public knew it even existed”.Mr Richards added that the current Government had disclosed the recent six-month, $30,000 contract with former MP Louise Jackson advising Health Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin.Mr Brown then warned the Minister that he was “coming very close to being consistently mendacious”.“My contractual relationship with my company began with the Bermuda Government in 1989. Back in 1989, I was not a political insider,” he said.Mr Richards said Mr Brown had sat in the Senate but conceded that Mr Commissiong had not.Telling MPs the motion “smacks of hypocrisy from the top to the bottom”, Mr Richards added: “We will not be lectured to ... when their past actions have disqualified them to speak of this subject.”Mr Furbert said the motion was aimed simply at transparency and accountability.Added Mr Brown: “It’s been watered down. It’s ridiculous. ‘May’ really doesn’t mean anything.”He said Mr Richards had “insinuated and misrepresented”.“This is gutter politics,” Mr Brown said. “I expected better. This is reminiscent of UBP politics.”Mr Bean accused the OBA of “throwing red meat to their base”.Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell replied: “The Minister of Finance never cast aspersions. At no time did I hear anyone say the individuals who had contracts didn’t do their jobs. ”