UK: We Have “Full Confidence” In The Governor
UK Minister for Overseas Territories Mark Simmonds has rejected a call from the Opposition that Governor George Fergusson be recalled, saying, “I have full confidence in the Governor and do not intend to recall him.”
Background
On July 4th the House of Assembly passed a Motion which proposed the Governor appoint a Commission of Inquiry into certain historic land transactions
Opposition MP Walton Brown brought the Motion which read, “That this Honourable House take note of the historic losses in Bermuda of citizens’ property through theft of property, dis-possession of property and adverse possession claims; and be it resolved that this Honourable House calls on His Excellency the Governor to establish a Commission of Inquiry into all such known claims and to determine, where possible, the viability of any such claims and make recommendations for any victims of wrongful action to receive compensation and justice.”
However, Governor George Fergusson issued a statement saying the debate “raised serious concerns” but “they are not clear enough or urgent enough to justify a Commission of the type proposed.”
Following that, the PLP said the Governor “made a mockery of Parliament and disrespected the Bermudian people” and said they will march on Government House and call for the “immediate recall of the Governor.”
The Opposition call for Governor to be recalled on July 11th:
The march took place on July 15th, attracting a large crowd who descended on Government House to protest the Governor’s decision.
The PLP also stated they will boycott Parliament until a solution is found, and no PLP MPs attended the last two sessions of Parliament, which has now recessed for the summer break.
Statement from UK Minister
Mark Simmonds MP, UK Minister for the Overseas Territories, said: “I have replied to the leader of the Opposition explaining that I have full confidence in the Governor and do not intend to recall him.
“Neither do I agree that the Bermuda House of Assembly should be dissolved. There is much work for the House and Bermuda’s elected politicians to take forward.”
Mr Simmonds also said that the Governor had “already responded directly to the House on the issue of historic property transactions and had left the issue of a Commission of Inquiry open for further consideration.”
This statement from the Minister for the Overseas Territories is reasonable.
Agreed. The only unreasonable here are the PLP. Again.
Back to the drawing board….oh dear ;-(
I hope this news doesn’t dampen them mood for the cupmatch holiday!
Puh-lease…I didn’t realise this was even still an issue.
Good! Now get back to work PLP. You are not in charge. And we don’t want any more upheaval.
That right PLP,know your place in this colonial country !!! How dare you questioned the” mother country” !!!!
The mother country has only recalled one Governor…Posnet.
Don’t be such a drama queen Robert. Really. The petulant selish divisive rant from Brown and Bean is aimed at polarising folks and going independent. WE DONT’WANT INDEPENDENCE So they are not working for the people.
Brown Out, Bean Out.
But Robert, that is the state of play. Bermuda voted for this, live with it. It’s called democracy.
And good luck with your visa every time you visit the USA if you vote for independence, amongst a thousand other bad things that will change if the PLP get their way.
I agree 100% indeed a lot of things will change if Bermuda was to ever get independence. Sad yes…but true
I’ve said / wrote more than once, “the English / British were here first”. Sorry to all who may feel any different.
I’ve weighed the pros and cons….independence will be our ruin. We’re a dysfunctional bunch of spoilt children that will eventually self destruct. I hate to even say it but Ray is right ….RULE BRITANIA
We voted to stay with the ‘mother country’ remember? So PLP do what the majority of Bermudians want you to do…. work for us!
According to the transcript from the Overseas Territories Governance debate yesterday [Dec 11] in Westminster, two Conservative UK MPs said they were “disappointed” about the OBA government’s decision not to have UK election observers.
The OBA Government responded, saying reports that they refused requests from the Governor and/or the UK Government to allow Election Observers to be present are inaccurate, as no such requests have been directed to the Government of Bermuda.
They also noted that they laid out their position in the 2011 response to the OT White Paper consultation, which said: “Bermuda has a strong, vibrant democracy supported by good governance and accountability.
“In these circumstances, the OBA Government would wish Her Majesty’s Government to acknowledge this fact and not involve itself in any attempts to institute election monitoring in Bermuda.”
Speaking yesterday in the UK, Conservative MP Mark Simmonds said: “I have to say that we are slightly disappointed that Bermuda has not recognised the need for election observers.
“The Governor of Bermuda has suggested to the Premier that as a sign of a mature, advanced and open democracy the country might invite an external independent team — perhaps a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association group — to observe its elections, but unfortunately the Oba Government have decided not to do so.
Maddog – not sure how you can change the content of the news report from Dec 2012 to put OBA in front of Government – The PLP were the Government of the day in Dec 2012.
Complete misrepresentation of facts and completely unrelated to this issue. Bloggers need to be more honest and stop trying to manipulate things to suit their idealogy.
http://bernews.com/2012/12/uk-mps-disappointed-about-election-observers/
Were not having an election.
Next.
Maddog change the name of the party. Lies and deceit… Shame on you PLP member
blatant plagarism.
Alaska Hall must be really running out of ideas. You’re looking desperate, maddog.
Inaccurate and untrue. But lets not let the facts get in the way of deception and falsehoods- the PLP/BIU/Peoples Campaign mode of operation.!
I guess there will just have to be more marches, but hope Brits dont send all the Bermudians back “cuz PLP made sure there’s no jobs here for dem”.
PLP economic recovery plan – keep marching until marchers have to buy new shoes. Mr. Boyle must be wringing his hands….
“Keep marching until marchers have to buy new shoes” Thanks for the laugh
So I guess, as promised, the plp won’t be returning to the house.
And when they do , ’cause they will , I hope all their marching/protesting/demonstrating supporters give them hell for breaking another promise.
And nothing of value will be lost
That’s not true. Democracy will lose.
A government consists of all elected officials and those in the minority party do have a function.
While it may be true that some of the rhetoric in the house lately does no good for anyone, neither does the lack of ANY debate when passing laws.
A governing party without an active opposition has too much power and excessive power is not a good thing.
Partisan comments from either side’s supporters/ bloggers disrepecting the opposing party do nothing to help this country.
There are good people on both side of the fence. The focus should be on removing that “fence” and working to fix the problems that Bermuda faces.
While I was just being silly and I’m sure Sandy too, I wholly agree with you. The opposition must be present for democracy to work. Democracy sucks, but it’s better than a dictatorship.
I was responding more to Sandgrowman’s comment than the original (which I know was tongue in cheek).
It gets so tiring to read both side’s supporters just dissing each other/each other’s party. It’s not constructive and negates the value of what that person may otherwise say.
If last weekend did nothing else, I believe it highlighted the need for moderation and respect for others, even those whom you have issues with or whose politics you don’t believe in. Hopefully it galvanises people on both sides to eliminate the negativity and remember that often one is talking about friends, neighbours, colleagues, team-mates and sometimes family !
Having the PLP around is like having outspoken redneck cousins crash an otherwise perfect wedding or business dinner with important colleagues and clients. The “requests” to recall the Governor and dissolve Parliament were childish, cowardly and intended purely to offend.
If this beautiful island does not come together in Unity then many more sad days are ahead..
So kick out your PLP extremists, and we may all stand a chance.
I will try to put this in the most polite way I can!!! We have an idiotic opposition (plp) that does not even show up and take their seats in Parliament, who writes to the UK and demands we ” de solve parliament ” anyone else see how immature and stupid they are???? Does the plp really think they are now ready to govern Bermuda??? If they or any of their supporters really think that, then they are simply living in LA LA land!!!! The plp are a terrible nightmare from yesteryear and they really need to stay there!!!!!!!
Should of added, I bet those that received that nonsense letter from beany are still rolling on their backs rubbing their bellies in LAUGHTER!!!!!!
Man I loved all the comments above.
Heppy Kup Metch hall.
It was never going to happen,did anyone from the plp really think they could sway the British to recall the Governor with a few hundred people claiming to represent the entire Bermudian people.
What’s tragic about this decision is that they all see it one way .
Independence is not wanted. Look at Zimbabwe …dire situation over there…. Reduced to Bartering for goods in some areas. Other areas people lost their homes and are living in tents.
Yes, the people voted against independence a while back, and it’s fine to assume the overall opinion remains similar to this day. But you can’t use the “we’ll become Zimbabwe” argument, the same way people wouldn’t use a “we’ll become New Zealand” argument in the other direction.
It was referenced by a PLP supporter in a prior thread re: independence.
That’s right Coffee – ALL, except for a small minority that would still want to see Bermuda’s recovery in peril with the BIU/PLP again.
Notice to PLP: You lost the election and you are NOT in charge any more.
In addition: WE DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!
Now you know how it feels huh.
I think that is unrealistic. Its isn’t that way at all. Much time and thought is given to the peoples thoughts and what the opposition has said. You refer to the ways of the PLP, who say ME MYSELF AND MY WAY.
Who is the leader today, Tweed, Brown, Furbert, Curb Or Bean?
One day when the PLP do return to governing look in the mirror and repeat these words three times.
Those words are why the PLP got voted out in the first place. The issue was it did not just come from a blogging supporter it came from the PLP leadership. See the difference?
LOL
I hope they show up to work after the summer break. seriously, people voted for representation, no matter how substandard it may be ;-(
Preferably with a responsible, new leader as well, Swing Voter!
Maybe Bean could invite the Queen over for some ganja tea. She may overrule the decision then.
LMFAO!!
In other words the PLP has been told to pick up its toys & go back outside & play. Recess is not over yet. The teachers are still at work.
Well said Minister
Of course they do, he is there to do their bidding.
They actually thought that the UK would care about one of their colony’s opposition parties wanting to recall the representative of the queen?
That’s stupid on another level. It was just done to try to divide people further before the next election and it’s pathetic.
why—self governance would be a disaster for this country.
With respect to all–we are not yet ready to assume this respoisility for Bermuda.
Just the way we handle human rights issues alone speaks volumes to this.
Lets focus on building strong, mature and rule abiding leaders to run this country–anything else before this happens is putting the cart WAY before the horse!!!
Ire…
I am so happy to have dual citizenship. With leaders like Bean and Fubert, Bermuda is doomed.
So Mark Bean and the rest of you PLP clowns – pay attention to what has been stated by London!!
You virtually have-your-cake and can eat it as well!! It does NOT get any better than this!! Try living in a 3rd world country with a *Tin-Pot* dictator in charge… You would soon come running back to the Island!!!
I knew that removing a Governor will never ever work.- you don’t think that the UK wants to looks stupid or weak do you.
Just imagine a Colony of the UK removing a Governor that that put there.– not going to happen’.
I believe that this could have been a Political Stunt’ to test and to see how far they can go. The opposition believe that they had there hand in removing ex Premier CC they think they can do anything.—- political ego’s.
Marc Bean and company…if you want independence then may I suggest that you all either move to an independent Caribbean island or move to Africa (preferably Zimbabwe) so that you can actually live and fully experience the so called joys of being INDEPENDENT. BTW can we STOP calling Bermuda a COUNTRY. At the end of the day we are a 21 square mile speck in the Atlantic ocean. I would also suggest that you ask the inhabitants of the above mentioned places just how happy they are. How’s that flag flying business working for the people in those countries/islands?