Affairs Minister Alex Scott last night.

And Ms Gordon said she would take time before issuing an official response to Mr. Scott's claims that he called her a liar on TV.

The leading PLP MP has threatened to sue the Premier unless she issues a public apology and retracts remarks she made during a ZBM news broadcast.

Ms Gordon's comments were in response to Mr. Scott's remarks that three cabinet ministers were behind the resignation of former Police Commissioner Colin Coxall.

But the Premier told The Royal Gazette : "I'm not going to respond until next week and then I will make a very definite response.

"As soon as I'm ready to say something, I will do.'' Mr. Scott's lawyer, Michael Scott, wrote to Ms Gordon demanding a public apology "for a grave and politically motivated slander'' by December 17.

And Alex Scott said: "I was accused of uttering a blatant lie and there can be no doubt that the person who utters a lie is a liar.

"It wasn't a case of saying I dealt in misinformation, or handled the truth loosely or didn't think before I spoke.

"Any of that would have been acceptable because we know there's cut and thrust in politics.'' The Shadow Home Affairs Minister sparked the controversy when he said he had received information that a cabinet minister met Mr. Coxall at Police headquarters to demand the return of a personal document.

Mr. Scott also said it was soon afterwards that the Police Commissioner's resignation was announced.

He has not revealed the names of the three ministers he blamed for Mr.

Coxall's departure.

And Ms. Gordon said his statement was "irresponsibility'' and Mr. Scott "would have to back it up with facts or he would have to make an apology''.

But the lawyer's letter to the Premier said her words were "calculated to impute Mr. Scott in his political office''.

It added that her statement "went on to defame Mr. Scott personally by your imputation that this Member of Parliament is a liar and that he knowingly made a statement which he knew to be a `blatant lie' for a purely political purpose and in order to fuel what you describe as `political fires'.'' Mr. Scott said he had already accepted an apology from a senior ZBM executive.

But he said he did not hear back from the Premier when he asked her to apologise on the floor of the House of Assembly.

Opposition leader Jennifer Smith recently apologised to top lawyer Saul Froomkin after she said "seemingly money had been made available'' for the QC to mount the private sex case prosecution against MP Trevor Woolridge.

Mr. Froomkin had also threatened to sue unless he received an apology.

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