caused by a Government immigration advisor who called for an expatriate's work permit to be revoked.

Ms Cox refused to discuss the matter in detail, but said: "There's no comment other than to say that it is not for me to play politics with people's work permits.'' In December Laverne Furbert, who sits on the Immigration Advisory Council, said she would ask Ms Cox to revoke Royal Gazette senior reporter Raymond Hainey's work permit after the Scots journalist reported on a Canadian website that called for a boycott on Bermuda in the wake of the Rebecca Middleton trial.

Ms Furbert said that Mr. Hainey's reporting showed that he had "no respect for Bermuda or Bermudians'' and "a disdain for the Progressive Labour Party''.

Last night Ms Cox, who was abroad when the furore broke, would not comment on whether or not she had met with Ms Furbert to discuss her comments.