United Bermuda Party Leader Wayne Furbert has predicted Bermuda is in for one of the dirtiest elections ever seen as he blasted Premier Ewart Brown's for his vitriolic attack on Grant Gibbons.

Dr. Brown had used the phrase "racist dog" in a heated exchange with Dr. Gibbons on Friday in the House of Assembly and had spoken of "crossing the aisle" to continue the row.

It had started over the fundraising efforts of the PLP and Dr. Brown's wife Wanda Brown via the Tourism Helps Everybody Foundation.

Dr. Gibbons had claimed donations to the Foundation had come from three entities with no other connection to Bermuda other than through Government contracts, including a $25,000 donation from Mr. and Mrs. Don Coleman.

Mr. Coleman is chairman and CEO of GlobalHue, a US advertising agency that holds the Bermuda tourism contract.

Dr. Gibbons also claimed Kurron Shares of America — hired three years ago as a consultant to the hospital and recently referred to by Health Minister Bascome as a 'partner' of KEMH — donated at least $10,000 while the FIS Group, which advises the Ministry of Finance on pension fund managers, contributed a similar amount.

Responding to the concerns raised in the House, Dr. Brown had accused Dr. Gibbons of being the "uninformed representative of Bermuda's racist legacy".

Mr. Furbert, who believes Dr. Brown will go to the polls within the next six months, said last night: "I think this election will be one of the dirtiest elections ever seen.

"I have real concerns this is going to polarise the community and rationality will go out the door and emotion become more involved. We as a community cannot afford this."

He also said it would make companies nervous.

"Hopefully the PLP will work with us to maintain less of an agitated election."

He said the PLP had used the race card successfully in virtually every election, including the comments made in 2003 about people who voted UBP risking voting themselves back to the plantation.

That style meant the issues such as education policy or housing got swept aside, said Mr. Furbert.

"This attack on Grant on Friday night was something I have never seen in my whole life," added Mr. Furbert.

The Opposition leader repeated calls for Government to adopt a code of conduct for MPs, outlawing racial slurs. "If we set the tone right then people will follow our example."

And he said the UBP would continue to raise questions about Government behaviour "where we believe there are reasons to question".

Mr. Furbert, who was not in the chamber during the heated exchange, said the Speaker should have intervened when Dr. Brown talked about crossing the aisle to continue the matter.

And he said the Speaker should have quietened down a noisy public gallery during the row.

Mr. Furbert denied he was running from the issue of race and said that was why his party was talking about economic empowerment legislation to widen opportunity in the handing out of government contracts.

The legislation would help Bermuda's majority population while not excluding whites said Mr. Furbert who added: "Not all whites are rich."

PLP supporter Julian Hall called The Royal Gazette to voice support for the Premier.

He said when he was the deputy chairman of the UBP that party raised a lot of cash from big companies.

"In the old UBP days we were living in the wild west."

He said it was open for political parties to approach any source — foreign or domestic — and no one questioned the connection between company finances and the UBP leadership and policies.

"The PLP never questioned it. There were vague references to the 'Forty Thieves'."

He said the PLP had suffered for years from having to compete with the flow of corporate dollars to the UBP incumbent while it tried to make do with bake sales.

The Bank of Bermuda had made substantial donations to the UBP when its head Henry Tucker was Premier and subsequently while the two largest law firms had weighed in with thousands of dollars in donations, said Mr. Hall.

He added: "I am certainly in favour of regulating company finances and certainly think its preferable for some kind of bipartisan approach to look at the issue, maybe through a selection committee or commission.

"Certainly something needs to be done."

Mr. Hall said Premier Brown was resolute in his opposition to white supremacist thinking which could lead to some painful discussions which would ultimately improve Bermuda.

He said people were implying just because a financial link had been made between certain parties there must be a sweetheart deal, but no such link had been established. "When you bring into the equation his wife you get really personal. The Premier is a human being like everyone else. He's going to react as any human being would.

"There is underlying racism in making this attack without evidence or substance.

"When you go around impugning motives without any evidence whatsoever, it smacks of racism."

Asked if whites could ever criticise blacks without being accused of racism, Mr. Hall said it was about trying to infer corruption without evidence.

Asked if former Premier Alex Scott was a racist for also raising warning flags about possible sweetheart deals from taking foreign cash, Mr. Hall said Mr. Scott was not a racist but lacked the confidence that Ewart Brown has. He said Dr. Brown had been committed over years to dismantling white racist supremacy in the minds of both blacks and whites.

And Mr. Hall quoted The Royal Gazette's editor Bill Zuill who in yesterday's paper had spoken of the lasting psychological effects of slavery which Bermuda was still dealing with today.

Dr. Brown's controversial comments also drew responses from senior UBP figures.

United Bermuda Party Shadow Finance Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin said Friday's exchange was "certainly the lowest point in the history of the House of Assembly that I can remember".

She added: "One of my colleagues, Dr. Gibbons, was subjected to a barrage of attacks from what could only be described as a deranged Premier.

"The Premier apparently believes that he has license to spend the public money or to engage in whatever unethical behaviour he so chooses, and to mask his deeds with threats of physical violence in order to silence his critics."

She said the attitude shown by the Premier "might have had more relevance in the 1960s (from whence he pulled out the whole forest, not just a chip to place on his shoulder)".

She added: "But as our society has developed, Premier Brown unfortunately remained in the sixties, waiting for the opportunity to pounce on society with his stale, outmoded and outdated rantings that were the basis of his idiotic rambling on Friday night. "Bermuda should be truly embarrassed. We have a Premier who might possess charisma, but not one ounce of class."

And Senator Bob Richards said the racial name-calling was Dr. Brown's calculated bid to change the subject when the criticism of fundraising hit home.

"One thing is clear, under this new PLP administration, any white person who has the temerity to criticise them will be branded a racist dog.

"This bare racial intimidation by the head of government in our country is completely unacceptable and should be condemned by all right thinking Bermudians of all races and political persuasions."

Last night the Premier's spokesman Scott Simmons said Dr. Brown had no comment on Senator Richards' and Mrs. Gordon Pamplin's claims.