“I have been grateful for the Cabinet’s support of the principle of financially backing a Minister of the Government when he is defending himself against defamatory comments in connection with the carrying out his of duties as Minister.
“This is an important principle because if a Minister did not have the means to pay legal costs to defend himself and the government did not support him, then it may become open season on that or any such Minister.
“However, in my case, the government’s financial support is becoming a distraction from the real issues surrounding the case. Let it be known, therefore, that while I will continue to seek legal redress through the courts, I will not be seeking reimbursement of legal costs from the government in my legal action for defamation.
“Any financial damages awarded to me by the courts will be donated to charity.”

Politicians are put into the public eye as targets of scorn like no others. This inevitably leads to accusations, both justified and unjustified. If only those politicians (regardless of party) who came from wealthy backgrounds could fund the fight to protect themselves against defamation, our political system would be stratafied. Only the rich would able to govern the country without fear of their reputations being destroyed by malicious misinformation from their opponents.

It is crucial that we as a society hold those making these serious accusations responsible. If you make an accusation, regardless whether it is true or not, there must be proof. Otherwise, how can you really know your accusation is true yourself? It is no better than a rumour in the schoolyard.

However, I do think there should be a more rigourous, transparent process regarding how the decision is made to use public funds (i.e. a transparent vote by MPs), and a public explanation of their point of view.

Opponents of this action should note that both parties have in the past decade endorsed this kind of funding’s legitimacy.

So you don’t like the mudslinging, but you don’t want a solution. Your article reads more like a list of complaints.

Echoing exactly what I said in the original column that Jeremy put up last week .

A different mindset at work indeed . 2 different Bermudas , but in so many ways that people don’t want to think about .

Regarding litter. I remember clearly a situation in Hamilton many years ago when a child dropped a wrapper on the ground and stopped to pick it up. The Mother grabbed the child and said leave it, we pay people to pick up trash. That was a moment when I realized there is a different mindset at work. The same mindset that throws bottles out of cars. They don’t care and it is not worth saying anything. Abuse is the least of your concerns.