PLP: Opposition would open ‘immigration floodgates’
The Opposition’s “secret plan” on immigration has been queried by Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier, in the wake of the One Bermuda Alliance announcing its manifesto at the party’s annual conference on Monday night.
Mr Roban repeatedly raised the Pathways to Status immigration plans rolled out by the OBA in 2016, when the party was in government, as setting a dangerous precedent.
Those reforms, which would have offered long-term residents increased rights to apply for permanent residency and Bermudian status, were withdrawn by the OBA after mass protests, including demonstrators blocking access to the House of Assembly.
Speaking at the PLP’s headquarters in Alaska Hall yesterday, Mr Roban repeated his earlier criticism of the eight-page document as being scant on detail.
He said: “They clearly do not have many well-thought-out ideas, and they are not prepared to commit to anything substantial.”
The Premier and the Deputy Premier have shown that “they sit at the top of a political party that is out of touch, out of ideas and out of time”, Ben Smith, the deputy leader, said in response to an attack on the Opposition manifesto from the Progressive Labour Party.
He added: “They have neglected the people of Bermuda while their arrogance has grown.
“Now, they return to their old attack plans from 2011, 2017 and 2020. Instead, they should explain to Bermuda, what part of their recovery plan is mass migration?
“Every resident needs to ask themselves if you are better off since the PLP has run the country.”
Mr Smith said the OBA “knows the answer because we have been listening to Bermuda from one end of the island to the other”, and thanked the PLP for “the free advertising of our platform”.
“The OBA plan to fix all the things that the PLP has broken and destroyed. But we must start with ousting the PLP so the damage can stop.”
He said the party was “here to serve our community, bring integrity to politics, and drive social fairness through responsible spending”.
“We are focused on securing Bermuda’s future. Anyone can visit our website to download a copy of the platform to judge for themselves.
“We will continue to build on the diversity of our community and not be distracted by the PLP tactics to divide our island for their hunger of power.”
Mr Roban quoted its statement on healthcare that “costs can be reduced by spreading them over a larger population base”, and its reference to “revitalising the local market through immigration reform”.
“Mr and Mrs Bermuda have to ask themselves — what is the Opposition really trying to say to us here?” Mr Roban said.
“What are they saying between those lines?”
He suggested the OBA intended to “open the immigration floodgates”.
He added: “It’s important to note that there is no section in this pamphlet that addresses immigration — not seriously.
“So what might be the OBA’s secret plan when it comes to immigration? You remember what happened the last time they were in office — Pathways to Status.”
Mr Roban said that Michael Fahy, the former minister responsible for immigration, was “nowhere to be found” during the 2012 General Election campaign.
“After they won, he appeared out of a bottle like a genie to take the lead in advancing a dangerous policy that would have fundamentally changed what it means to be Bermudian.”
When Mr Roban was asked about the PLP’s own commitment to significantly grow the island’s working population, he said the party had “laid out a very deliberate plan with rationale and reasoning as to the need to increase the working population”.
He added: “Increasing the working population benefits the economy and benefits the welfare of Bermudians. But that’s the working population. It does not mean people will be here for ever.”
Mr Roban was joined by government MP Jamahl Simmons, who said: “During their campaign in 2012, they never mentioned Pathways to Status.”
Mr Simmons said the OBA had also failed to announce its intention to drop term limits on work permits ahead of its 2012 election victory.
He added: “The fact that they have not mentioned Pathways to Status is concerning because that is something they have never repudiated. They’ve never walked it back.”
Mr Roban said that in the Sandys North by-election on Friday, the voters of Constituency 36 would “have the first say” on whether they supported a party that “published a pamphlet as a plan for Bermuda”.
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