Letter: Beware of all the hot air

FRIDAY, DEC. 7: Dear Sir,

You know there’s an election around the corner because the political hot air coming from the airwaves and the rhetoric in the printed media is a lot more voluminous of late. One particular item that seems to be monopolising media coverage concerns the so called Secret Report from the consultant to the UBP written after the Dec 2007 election. When I first heard about this news item my first thought was who cares?   But now that this particular story has been in the news virtually every day the first question of “who cares” is now yielding to the follow up question, “Who Wants to Keep This Story Alive”. Well the answer of course is the PLP and their mouthpieces.   

When one considers all of the rhetoric and ‘noise’ over past years one can easily come to the conclusion that the PLP need the UBP to remain alive.  In some respects the UBP has become the ‘raison d’etre’ for the PLP.   Without the UBP the PLP would have to defend their track record of 3,000 unemployed, business closures, deficit spending, an escalation in crime and a 10 fold increase in the Island’s debt since 1998. The existence of the UBP — in any shape of form —allows the PLP to distract voters from the party’s own failures. How sorry and sad it is to witness such negative tactics by a party that once had the support of so many in the community. 

The OBA has been created by persons determined to move the Island forward and away from the present divisiveness in local politics. Sure it has members from the old UBP but the OBA has also attracted people who were previously members and supporters of the PLP. This amalgamation of Bermudians, both black and white, is the solution the Island needs to move us forward into a period of social and economic equity. What we don’t need is a party that is stuck in the past using bogey man tactics to deceive the voters.

I support Craig Cannonier and his team. I also support Craig’s response to those still intent on raising the issue of a report that is dated and worthless. That report won’t create more jobs, help educate our kids, reduce crime or pay off the island’s debts. What it does do however is provide a smoke screen for the PLP and their cohorts to distract voters from today’s hardships largely caused by the PLP. Too bad the UBP wasn’t the Government over the past five years because then the PLP could blame today’s conditions on that crowd.   But alas, the UBP no longer exists, but for many in the PLP that fact has not yet registered.

Allan D. Marshall

St. George’s