Collaboration and cordiality were the orders of the day as a new group of senators gathered for their first debate on the Throne Speech yesterday.

But that did not stop some of the old accusations from flying between the rival parties during the Motion to Adjourn.

Senate president Joan Dillas-Wright had said she was “very pleased” to hear the focus on collaboration and commended all senators on their maiden speeches before the floor was opened for them to speak to the Motion to Adjourn.

One Bermuda Alliance senator Andrew Simons rose first to respond to a comment made by Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Government’s Senate Leader, questioning the lasting impact of the OBA’s policies, which he described as “slightly jarring”.

Mr Simons went on to highlight two areas; specifically extending the coverage of Futurecare to include home care and enforcing legislation against employees who deducted healthcare premiums but did not provide coverage, that he said were implemented under the OBA and did have a lasting impact.

Fellow Opposition senator Nick Kempe then spoke of the need for the Bermuda Government to manage the public purse with prudence.

“Unfortunately the lasting impact of previous overspending was on our inability to look after the most vulnerable,” Mr Kempe said.

“We were getting a raise each year and we were still spending more than we were earning.”

Progressive Labour Party senator Jason Hayward continued the “lasting impact” theme saying: “What will have a lasting effect is the election result of July 18, 2017.”

He added: “We can continue to harp on about things done in the past and allude to financial incompetence, but we have a mandate to ensure that we work for the interests of the people of Bermuda.

“We need no lectures on how to ensure we have a balanced budget. We have learnt from the mistakes of the past and we have had to absorb four-and-a-half years of being the Opposition in a very unstable climate created by a Government that tried to force policies down the throat of its citizens.”

Mr Hayward said the PLP would take a consultative, collaborative and systematic approach to governance.

He referred to the December 2 protests and also the airport deal, which he said was done with “no consultation and no collaboration”, before concluding: “If we really want to look at lasting effects of bad stuff, there are enough examples in the OBA playbook.”