trip to the US west coast last night because he thought he would have to attend a debate in the House of Assembly today.

It seems confusion between Government and Opposition whips led Mr. Allen to believe he would need to miss the last day of a five-day road show to answer a United Bermuda Party motion on tourism.

But Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said last night he had no intention of pushing ahead with the motion today.

Mr. Dodwell said he knew last week Mr. Allen would be off the Island and did not want him to be called away from the final day of the five-day, five-city promotion in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Dodwell said he called Tourism Director Gary Philips yesterday and asked him to contact Mr. Allen in the US to assure him he would not need to fly back to the Island because the debate would not be taking place.

He said he understood Mr. Philips had spoken to the Minister in time to stop him flying back to Bermuda.

Earlier, Mr. Allen launched an angry attack on Mr. Dodwell, asking why he was being pulled away from such an important show designed to drum up tourist numbers for the Island.

According to Mr. Dodwell, UBP Whip Cole Simons said to Government Whip Ottiwell Simmons on January 31 that a debate on tourism was one motion the UBP was considering putting on the agenda for today's House meeting.

The UBP decided at its caucus yesterday that it would not be debating tourism because Mr. Allen was still in the US.

Allen nearly breaks off trip Mr. Dodwell said: "Today was the first time I discovered our whip had talked to their whip about this. In my view, the PLP whip has jumped the gun and said he would have to get the minister back when it hadn't been confirmed.

"I had known for over a week that the final day of the road show was on the Friday and the Minister would not be coming back.

"All it would have taken would be some communication to say `can you delay this,' or `do you know the Minister is attending a function' and I would have said absolutely, I wouldn't dream of it.

"My integrity is at stake here and I don't want to appear to be the bad guy.

It had been my intention all along to debate it when he was here and indeed I committed to David Allen last year that I would let him know when I was dealing with it because it wouldn't be fair to do so if he wasn't here.'' Earlier yesterday, Mr. Allen said: "It is disappointing. David Dodwell knows that when an invitation goes out from the Minister, more people turn out, it doesn't matter who is Minister.

"I take my responsibilities seriously, the Acting Minister (Alex Scott) is perfectly capable of doing it but I really should be there.'' And he said he would also have to miss scheduled newspaper and TV interviews -- which he added had "caused some angst.'' But he added it would be unfair to ask Mr. Scott to stand in for the debate.

Also on the House agenda could be a statement from Premier Jennifer Smith on the recent trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

And Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson will table a massive Green Paper report on the future of fishing and the marine environment.

Also going forward is another motion put by the Opposition -- a debate on the state of sport in Bermuda, led by Shadow Youth and Sport Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin.

MPs will also discuss two Government bills -- the first to extend the right of status to children born out of wedlock to Bermuda fathers, as well as to mothers, to be introduced by Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox.

And Minister of Health and Social Services Nelson Bascome will start a debate on a new bill aimed at registering and regulating para-medical professions.

The Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act transfers the power of registration from the Minister to a special council.

Among the specialists covered by the bill are physiotherapists, dietitians, and chiropodists.

New professions introduced include medical resonance imaging (MRI) technicians -- Government and the Hospitals Board are still looking at acquiring a machine, which produces X ray-like images without a major dose of radiation.

Some doctors are in favour of providing an MRI machine -- but the majority appear to back the view that it is too expensive and the treatment, if needed, can be bought at overseas hospitals cheaper than running an on-Island unit.

The bill also allows for re-registration of medicine-related professionals every two years, to ensure skills are kept up to date.