A heartfelt address to Parliament by One Bermuda Alliance backbencher Leah Scott prompted comment this evening from the Progressive Labour Party.

An occasionally emotional Ms Scott pleaded for collaboration and for Members of Parliament to “listen to what the people are saying” during Friday’s sitting of the House.

She gave her support for PLP MP Walton Brown’s call for a joint select committee to debate the vexed issue of immigration policy, also telling the House that people were “tired of hearing, ‘Oh, it’s the PLP’s fault’.”

Ms Scott, the who is the Junior Minister of Education, also abstained from voting as OBA MPs successfully voted down an Opposition amendment to the legislation.

The OBA subsequently issued a statement of support for Ms Scott, but the Opposition said the junior minister’s remarks indicated the governing party’s disconnect with voters.

In a PLP statement issued today, the Opposition accused the OBA of hesitating to engage in joint reform of immigration, adding that the business community would feel more secure with a policy set by both parties, so that policy would not change in the event of a change of government.

“If only more backbenchers had the fortitude of Ms Scott to speak their minds then perhaps the OBA would focus their attention on the needs of the majority of Bermudians rather than the few,” the statement read.

“Hopefully Ms Scott will continue to speak out when disappointed in her Government.”