Time Passes, But Does Anything Change?
[Written by Larry Burchall] Long before the time of the PLP and UBP, the government of thirty-six Independents of the 1950’s segregationist era passed some strong legislation showing some archly conservative and reactionary attitudes.
One set of legislation dealt with teenagers and their bikes. Auxiliary cycles – as they were then called – could only be 50cc, could not have gears, had to be capable of being pedaled as though they were ordinary bicycles, had to pass stringent noise tests, and no one over the age of sixteen could be towed (carried as a pillion passenger).
Those heavy rules were rigorously maintained by a special Police Cycle Squad – led by Sgt then Inspector Sean Sheehan – who seemed, to teenagers of the time, to have dedicated his Police life to catching every male teenage ‘biker’ that ever there was.
In the late 1960’s in the wake of some serious riots, amongst other things, that whole set of ‘biker’ laws was repealed. This happened after it was learned that their primary impact had been to increase the overall friction, and decrease the general cooperation, between Police and community.
Fast-forward fifty years to 2010. Today’s government-of-the-day has reintroduced some of those old biker rules and styles of restrictions. New government. New rationale. Same rules. Same values. Probably, in time, the same result.
The values underpinning the November 1977 decision to hang Burrows and Tacklyn were the old fashioned values typical of a right-wing and conservative government. There was a tendency to be draconian on criminals and support for harsh punishments.
However, for the last twenty years of its forty-six year life, the old UBP actually presided over a steadily mellowing prison regime.
The old UBP went from the bad old Casemates prison of the 1970’s and 1980’s, to the new, expensive, and purpose-built Westgate Correctional Facility of the 1990′s. From 1978 to 1998, there was a discernible UBP shift from the staunchly conservative philosophy of “lock-em-up and forget-em” to a more liberal regime of rehabilitation and re-education.
In its desire to deal with the recent rise in crime, especially the rise in crimes of violence, today’s PLP government is now considering and espousing views that were once considered right-wing and reactionary. This PLP government is now actively considering shipping Bermudian prisoners overseas to serve out their time in overseas jurisdictions.
One of the reasons given is that other regimes may have harsher regimes and may therefore provide a greater punishment than, apparently, is currently provided at our own Westgate Correctional Facility.
This now twelve-year old PLP government has clearly transformed into today’s ‘establishment’. Today’s PLP government-of-the-day is now, in some respects, legislating and sounding almost as right wing and reactionary as those segregationist Independents and conservative UBP’ers from fifty and forty and thirty years ago.
Time does pass, but do some things really change?
