That was the question we put in a message on Dr. Brown's cell phone yesterday afternoon, but we had no response by press time.

The outing was one of 20 overseas trips taken by Deputy Premier Dr. Brown, often accompanied by a civil servant, which cost close to $120,000 ? more than a quarter of Government Ministers' total travel bill during the 12 months from June last year.

The revelation that the trips' bill came to more than $400,000 was made in the House of Assembly last Friday in response to parliamentary questions put by the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP).

Rev. Sharpton was the guest of honour at Bermuda's Labour Day celebrations last September. He was also a Democratic Party candidate for the United States presidency last year.

The parliamentary answers revealed that Dr. Brown's trip to Rev. Sharpton's banquet cost taxpayers $2,721.75.

Outspoken and often controversial, Rev. Sharpton, a long-time civil rights campaigner, also made unsuccessful runs for the Senate in 1992 and 1994, as well as a run for Mayor of New York City in 1997. Each time he lost, but gleaned more votes than most experts predicted.

UBP Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said Dr. Brown's visit to Rev. Sharpton's banquet begged a question.

"When you look at some of these trips, you have to ask what benefit they had for the Bermuda taxpayers," Dr. Gibbons said. "If Dr. Brown felt he wanted to attend Al Sharpton's banquet, couldn't he have paid for it out of his own pocket?"

Dr. Gibbons said the ministerial figures were just the "tip of the iceberg" and that the Government travel bill was escalating rapidly.

"Government travel spending seems to have got out of control," Dr. Gibbons said. "The figure has climbed to more than $5 million, more than double what it was six years ago."

The total amount earmarked for travel in the Government's last Budget statement ? for the entire Civil Service ? was $5.138 million, an increase of $422,000 or nine per cent, over the year before. The comparable figure for the last UBP administration in the 1998-99 Budget statement was $2.2 million.

"The Ministers' travel spending is just the tip of the iceberg," Dr. Gibbons said. "The real figure for Government spending is around ten times that.

"We are talking about taxpayers' money so we have to question whether all this travel is necessary. What are the benefits for the taxpayers and could this money have been spent on more pressing issues like health care, housing or pensions?"

Dr. Gibbons said Government Ministers had a responsibility to set the tone for the rest of Government, with respect to sensible spending of public money on overseas trips.

"High ministerial travel sets an example to the rest of the Civil Service," Dr. Gibbons said. "There should be a higher standard of ministerial travel so the rest of Government does not feel that travel is something that can be indulged in without good, hard reasons.

"And are the entourages that some Ministers take overseas really necessary? When quite a few members of the Civil Service accompany them, it adds considerably to the cost.

"I think it's important to say that everybody understands there is a need for travel. There are things you can't accomplish over the phone or through correspondence.

"I remember during the mid to late-'90s, the UBP Government needed to travel quite a lot to Washington to deal with bases issues. But even though that was a busy period of travel, it pales in comparison to what we are seeing now."