United Bermuda Party

The “debate” over whether Bermuda should go independent has always been a waste of time, but now it has descended into farce. If the possible financial ruin of a successful country could ever be said to be funny, what's going on here would be hilarious.

Politicians tend to be held in low regard all over the world. For many, the notion of public service seems to mean nothing more than the chance to get rich. Bermuda, where a tiny talent pool is spread so thin that our political scene is a travesty of governance, is no exception.Having only 60,000 inhabitants would be reason enough to limit the number of politicians, but we apply no limits. On the contrary, some of our political constituencies include as few as 700 voters, and none exceed 1,200. We are among the world's most over-represented people, and yet among the most poorly represented in terms of quality.

Offshore regulators apparently uninterested in scams exposed by OffshoreAlert; NimsTec's 3-D cameras offered for sale as "collector's items" over the Internet; Marc Harris has t-shirt with the slogan: "David Marchant is alive because killing him would be a crime"; As General Election looms, Progressive Labour Party tipped to win power in Bermuda for the first time; Dominion of Melchizedek offers a variety of fraudulent products and services; and Little Switzerland contemplates legal action after proposed purchase of Colombian Emeralds International falls through.

Bermuda was in shock last week following the sudden resignation of David Saul as Premier after just 19 months in office.Saul caught everyone by surprise by giving only a week's notice that he was stepping down as leader and announcing that he was also quitting as an MP a few days after that.His resignation has caused concern among international businessmen, who fear a leadership battle could affect the economy.