MPs Debate Until 5am This Morning
One might assume that some of the island’s politicians may be feeling rather fatigued today, as the Throne Speech debate continued for 19 hours, finishing up just after 5:00am this morning [Nov.19].
After the Opposition Parties delivered their replies to the Throne Speech [OBA][UBP], the debate got underway in earnest, with some heated exchanges through the night. The MPs covered a wide range of issues including education, health care, seniors, government spending, crime, drug policies, policing, good governance, racism and much more.
As is customary, Premier Paula Cox was the last MP to speak. Having ended the Throne Speech debate just after 5am, Premier Cox said that it would be “inhumane” to continue, and that the Government would carry over the remainder of the planned business of the House.
She then moved that the House should adjourn. At 5:09am, the House agreed.
The next sitting of the House of Assembly will be Friday 25th November. At this sitting the carried over Customs Tariff Amendment Act and the Bermuda Airport (Duty Free Sales) Amendment Act will be debated. The Customs Tariff Ammendment Act legalizes the Customs Duty increase that has been in place since 1st November 2011.
There’s no doubt that both parties care about this island, the public just need more information on their differences in policy in order to make an informed vote. We can also benefit from an audio/written recording of each session in the House.
Cheers
Debate all you want about Customs Tariff and Airport Duties next week – since finding out about the recent changes, I have decided to ONLY shop local for groceries and I will no longer bring ANYTHING with me through the airport. I am buying EVERYTHING on-line and will have US Express bring it in for me. US Express has MUCH lower duty on everything! Sure I have to pay shipping, but it is STILL WAY CHEAPER to order on-line and ship in.
I send a sincere THANK YOU to this gover(n)ment for pointing out how much I had been overpaying by carrying my own purchases through the airport. I used to think the 25% was “reasonable” UNTIL the gover(n)ment raised the duty to 35% – even people with disposable income have a breaking point. Smarten up people – this is our hard-earned money – we will spend it AS WE LIKE!!! Thank you PLP!!
Well, the PLP aren’t strong on good ideas. Ferries not making money? Put the fares up. Not enough people recycling? Reduce the frequency of recycling pick ups.
Pricks.
Does this mean that it’s currently NOT legal for the gover(n)ment to be collecting duty at the airport of 35%?
So, in a switch from the usual position, this might be a case of ethical but illegal.
This is what I want to know. I believe people have been getting charged 35% since Nov 4th, but it hasn’t actually ‘officially’ gone into effect yet. Can anyone confirm what’s going on here? Bernews?
What is retail? The government still don’t know!
Well done Craig, ‘a breath of fresh air’, ( no punn intended )! Excellent. A very positive vibe!
So….. it took the UBP 40+ years to self destruct, fizzle and become extinct and not to be outdone, now it appears the PLP are in hot pursuit, mimicking a similar performance of scandals, hickups and alienating themselves from the people, tourists and big busines, on a much grander scale.
Possibly, the two party system needs to be shelved in the annals of history with the dinosaurs.
A golden opportunity exists for the OBA to amalgamate with the ‘near to be extinct’ PLP, as they did such a great job amalgamating and re-branding with the dormant UBP.
‘One party’, of intelligent, gifted, enlightened men and women, young and seasoned, black and white, for the collective benefit of ‘one island’, in spite of our differences and opinions. A ‘win-win’ scenario, no more ‘divide and conquer’, after all, ‘united we stand and divided we fall’.
The new name could be, One United Progressive National Liberal Alliance of Bermuda, or, One United Progressive Democratic Alliance of Bermuda, or, One United Progressive Bermudian Alliance.
If we can get men on the moon, we can do this too…. it’s so crazy and preposterous it just might work, seriously folks…. consider Bill Gates and his crazy idea, look where it took him !
We do have the collective intelligence, talent and potential required to accomplish such an awesome feat !
Time will tell…… time to vote…..