Vexed Bermoothes

As noted here previously, the Government of the Cayman Islands is in the midst of a massive public consultation regarding modernisation of their Constitution.  The proposed draft was to have been put before Caymanians this summer, before taking it for a constitutional negotiation with the UK.
That plan is now changed, revealing some of the FCO’s […]

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More from the UK FCO on referenda last month:

As the 1999 White Paper pointed out, the United Kingdom’s policy towards the Overseas Territories rests on the basis that it is the people of each Territory who determine whether they wish to stay linked to the United Kingdom or not. The United Kingdom has no […]

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The Governor made his usual mystifying clarification this week on the means to adjudge public support for independence in an overseas territory:
While he offered a referendum as one option of gauging if Bermudians want to cut ties with the UK, he said that it was not the only one, though he did not […]

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The combined union turnout around Parliament this morning was truly impressive.  The unions’ obeisance to the PLP has worked to the disadvantage of their workers, and a correction is occurring.
The PLP was re-elected on the myth that its elite are the embodiment of the people.  Take the emotion out of the equation, and it is […]

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The Department of Tourism has announced that the tourism statistics will now only be released quarterly as part of the Minister’s luncheon.  For the past eight months (wrapped around an election and amidst claims that the tourism numbers were being artificially boosted with business arrivals), they had been handed out monthly.  The schedule and content […]

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I am pleased to see the following Motion in the Senate this afternoon:
(4) Motion to be moved by Senator M.H. Dunkley, notice of which was given on 12th March, 2008: “That the Senate recommends that a Joint Select Committee be established to oversee the introduction and implementation of Public Access to Information legislation in Bermuda.”
Notwithstanding […]

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I am told that the UBP has begun posting the agendas for the Bermuda House of Assembly and for the Senate, as well as some draft legislation, at their website.  Good job from them; this is a solid start.
The more information they post, the more insight people can gain into the machinations of our Government.
But […]

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The clubby isolation of Bermuda’s legislature drives me crazy.   We hear lots of references about “the people’s business” but the institution does not operate in a way that allows the people to understand what’s going on, or to participate in it.
And let’s face it, the current PLP is not in a mood to drive […]

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If you have to deny it, you are one!  The chauffeured BMW, private jet rides, and celebrity junkets say it all.

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The UK’s The Guardian (whose paper edition attracts over 1.2 million readers per issue) covers the Bermuda Government’s “politically motivated” ad ban on the Royal Gazette in its website section on media freedom.
The Guardian joins a growing list that includes Association of Caribbean Media Workers, the Index on Censorship, the UK Press Gazette, Reporters […]

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