Brown: let's not sell off Bermuda to the highest bidder

FRIDAY, JAN. 20: Bermuda should not be put up for sale to the highest bidders in order to kickstart the economy, says political analyst Walton Brown.

Mr Brown said the blueprint for recovery drawn up by Sir John Swan and Bermuda Sun columnist Larry Burchall (Pdf download) focused too much on property and business.

He added: “There’s a heavy emphasis on property matters. As a country, we should be willing to have open and honest dialogue with any party or any individual who has concrete ideas for the betterment of Bermuda and this should be focused on improving people’s lives.

“It’s very important that we don’t adopt policies that effectively mean Bermuda is open to the highest bidder and those who are most well-off.

“We should have a fundamental approach which is rooted in equality of opportunity – that’s what a progressive government embraces. I’m not one who would be overly enamoured by the wealthy getting more and better opportunities than the less wealthy.”

Mr Brown added: “What we need is a collective vision for the future, which includes issues of business, economics and opportunity which will create a civil society and deals with the needs and challenges of people who are marginalized and who need more opportunity.

“We need to look at crime, economic challenges and the importance of strengthening the family. “

Mr Brown, a former PLP Senator and the party’s candidate in Pembroke Central, was speaking after former UBP Premier Sir John and Mr Burchall continued to push their proposals for an economic turnaround.

Sir John and Mr Burchall yesterday held a town hall-style meeting at Hamilton’s City Hall to discuss some of their proposals to improve the struggling economy.

Proposals include making Bermuda more attractive to foreign investors by easing off restrictions on residency grants and home ownership and resuming grants of Bermuda status to suitable candidates.

The two argue that company incorporations should include in principle immigration approval for key employees to reassure investors that the right people will be in place and the end of term limits on work permits.

In addition, the blueprint calls for payroll tax holidays for firms, international and local, employing full-time Bermudian workers and for the self-employed earning less than $50,000 a year.

Mr Brown said: “It certainly makes sense to look at different levels of assistance provided for local companies which are struggling, but if you’re talking about new companies coming to the country, they are heavily capitalised and I don’t think they will be making their decisions about coming to the island based on relief from payroll tax.”

He added: “Anything which focuses on economic issues alone is insufficient and anything which focuses on social issues is insufficient.

“We need a comprehensive vision – we can’t do it in a haphazard manner.”

Mr Brown added that he also opposed any plans which relied on the so-called “trickle down effect” to improve the economy.

He said: “The trickle down concept has been proven by history not to be workable and is not valid. It stems from a long line of outdated economic thinking and to apply it to social policy makes no sense.”

Sir John and Mr Burchall also said that a blanket policy giving seniors free car licensing and exemption from land tax should be changed to target only those who were in real financial need.

Mr Brown agreed: “We want to provide relief for those most in need and [this idea] is a move in the right direction. It’s about providing benefits for those in need, not providing benefits for those who are really well-off.”

But he added: “I’d say that these two gentleman clearly have an interest in ensuring, like the rest of us, that Bermuda gets out of these difficult economic challenges.

“We may differ about the kinds of policy required, but we should certainly be prepared to discuss and critique to find a way that benefits the most people in Bermuda instead of a narrowly defined sector of interests.”