Premier Ewart Brown’s “lavish” lifestyle last night came under fire after he and his entourage spent more than $280,000 of taxpayers’ money on overseas trips in a ten-month period.

Dr. Brown racked up a $23,000 hotel bill during a one-week stay in London — an average of nearly $4,000 a night — sparking accusations from the Opposition that he is “living the life of an Indian princeling at the height of the British Raj”.

The Premier, who is also Tourism Minister, splashed out nearly $8,000 on one return flight to the UK, and $19,000 on gifts during a tour of American colleges, according to figures released in Parliament on Friday.

Dr. Brown’s companions on his 16 trips from last July to the end of last month — including security staff, former Press Secretary Scott Simmons, Chief of Staff Wayne Caines and Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque — cost a total of $130,000, while the Premier himself spent $155,000.

The total amount spent by Ministers during the period was more than $560,000, although this does not include those for Acting Health Minister Philip Perinchief and Public Safety and Housing Minister David Burch, who do not sit in the House of Assembly. The figure spent by all Ministers for the 12 months leading up to July 2006 was $630,000.

Dr. Brown’s most expensive outing was a seven-day Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) in London, which cost $36,000 for himself and $21,000 for his companions Mr. Simmons, Mr. Caines and Civil Service head Kenneth Dill.

The Premier’s OTCC bill included $6,400 on airfares, $23,000 on his hotel and $5,700 on transport. His most costly airfare during the ten months was a $7,900 return ticket to London for a series of tourism meetings last August, while the bulk of $25,500 spent on gifts went on college tours in Huntsville and Alabama in March. On average, each of Dr. Brown’s 79 days away cost the public nearly $2,000.

Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin last night described the statistics as “hair-raising”.

“The information given shows that Dr. Brown, particularly, lives a life of luxurious travel that would put an Indian princeling at the height of the British Raj to shame,” she said.

“Imagine what kind of hotel room in London would cost nearly $4,000 a night, or how comfortable a seat on an airplane would have to be to cost you $7,900, or what kind of gift you would give on a three-day trip to meet some college students that could cost Bermuda taxpayers $19,000. This is travel of the most lavish kind of scale. The Premier travels more in a year, it’s obvious, than most people in Bermuda do in a lifetime. The amount he spend on his trips can never be more than a dream for the rest of us.

“I understand how reluctant (Finance Minister Paula Cox) must feel to point out to him that it could all be done much more cheaply.”

Attacking the number of companions on the Premier’s trips, Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin added: “He took five people with him to watch the cricket in Trinidad and five people to meet college kids in Alabama and Georgia. What they were supposed to be doing, apart from being impressed, the Lord alone knows.”

Opposition leader Michael Dunkley said: “We are concerned about the blatant disregard for the public purse. How you spend your money privately is one thing, but when it’s taxpayers’ money you have to be accountable.”

The statistics were released following a series of Parliamentary questions by Shadow Ministers.

Ms Cox won praise from the Opposition for keeping her own expenses to a minimum by often travelling alone to meetings in the UK or the US.

Other findings included:

* Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield spent more than $35,000 attending agricultural shows in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with a number of Ministry officials and assistants in August and February.

* During the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean in March, Dr. Brown totted up $10,000, with a further $20,000 going on two security officers as well as Mr. Simmons, Mr. Caines and Mr. Telemaque. Sports and Education Minister Randy Horton clocked up $13,000 attending the cricket and a number of education meetings in Trinidad.

* Mr. Caines spent $9,700 on a gift while attending the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility in Washington, DC, in February.

* Mr. Horton spent $7,200 on a five-day trip to the Carifta Games in Turks and Caicos last month.

The Premier could not be reached for comment over the weekend.