Premier Alex Scott fired a warning shot back at Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons last night after Dr. Gibbons suggested his seeming inability to discipline his Cabinet colleagues - in particular Deputy Premier Ewart Brown - had reduced the Premier to “a political eunuch”.

“I refer to the Opposition Leader with one name, and that's Dr. Gibbons,” Mr. Scott told The Royal Gazette last night. “He should cease and desist this name-calling ... I require him to refer to the office of the Premier in a respectable way. This is certainly unacceptable.”

Dr. Brown also hit back at Dr. Gibbons last night, calling on UBP Parliamentarians to demand the resignation of their Leader and commenting - albeit briefly - for the first time on the allegations that the now-infamous Washington luncheon was unethical and an example of pay-to-play, terming them “groundless”.

The luncheon, arranged by Government pension funds consultant Tina Poitevien in 2002, allegedly involved current and potential money managers and stockbrokers of the Bermuda pension funds, the majority of whom were said to be close friends with Dr. Brown and his wife.

The guests made a $2,500 donation towards Dr. Brown's personal 2003 General Election campaign on the basis of their friendship with the then-Transport Minister and his then-fiancee, not because of their links to any US companies, according to a spokeswoman for Ms Poitevien. Last night Mr. Scott noted that no Cabinet Ministers sit on the Public Funds Investment Committee (PFIC), chaired by Calvin White, which has charge of the Bermuda public pension funds.

However Dr. Gibbons called the luncheon “a shocking example of pay-to-play”, and stated Mr. Scott's lack of action following the allegations against Dr. Brown over the past week “suggests that he has become a political eunuch in Cabinet, unable or unwilling to discipline his colleagues”.

“He is the Premier now,” Dr. Gibbons added. “Bermuda expects him to lead.”

However, believing in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” is not synonymous with a failure in leadership, Mr. Scott declared last night. “Nor is it a failure of leadership to collect the facts before making public comment on speculation about the integrity of one of my Ministers or about the integrity of the process of selecting our investment fund managers.”

Speaking to The Royal Gazette last night, the Premier said: “It goes without saying that I was thoroughly disappointed that Dr. Gibbons had allowed himself to be brought down to name-calling”.

Bermudians expect their Parliamentarians to conduct business in “a respectable way”, he said, and if Dr. Gibbons does so “he will engender a respectable response from our community”.

As for the pay-to-play allegations themselves, “I have done a cursory check and the PLP has not benefited in any way,” he said.

However, he added, “Gibbons Company are selling cars that Government has bought, clothes that Government has utilised”. Government has “probably” even utilised insurance services offered by the Gibbons family group of companies, he said. “Am I to believe that they at no time, as is their right, made a donation to the UBP?”

The Premier also addressed the allegations against Dr. Brown for the first time last night. A Department of Communication and Information (DCI) Press statement said Mr. Scott was confident in the process used to select investment fund managers for Bermuda's pension funds, but is naturally concerned when others - “even the Opposition” - feel the integrity of that process has been threatened.

“These are, after all, public funds,” the Press release quoted him as saying. “However, my very able Minister of Finance has already indicated that she will be seeking clarification into the whole matter, and it goes without saying that we should wait until the necessary determination has been made.

“I share concerns about transparency and, the last time I checked, the process of selecting our money managers is transparent and undergoes routine scrutiny to see if any improvements need to be made. I also take seriously any allegations of impropriety regarding public funds.

“It should be noted that no Cabinet Ministers sit on the Public Funds Investment Committee.”

The Finance Ministry said via e-mail on Friday that until an independent review into the matter is completed, no further comment can be made regarding the suggestion made by former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyer Edward Siedle that those attending the 2002 luncheon breached the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The governance review “will commence on a priority basis”, Assistant Financial Secretary Anthony Manders said. When asked who the independent consultant will be, he said that information will be made available once the engagement is complete.

Dr. Brown said last night that Dr. Gibbons has “taken Bermuda politics to a new and shameful low”.

The Deputy Premier also touched lightly for the first time on the pay-to-play allegations last night. “Regardless of his beliefs about the Premier's positions on the issues of the day (including groundless allegations against me), the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has revealed a most unseemly and ungentlemanly side of his character,” he said.

“A ‘eunuch', according to any definition, is a castrated male whose traditional role was a keeper of a harem.

“Surely that is not a correct description of Alex Scott and there are those of us who will not stand by and allow Grant Gibbons to attack him in such a reckless manner.

“We know that we do not have the benefit of a Government-friendly press, but we have something even stronger on our side - decency. Dr. Gibbons has discarded any sense of decency in his latest vitriolic blast against our Government.

“Those UBP members, particularly Parliamentarians, who have always claimed that their party is of high standards and gentlemanly conduct, must be holding their heads in shame.

“They should express their shame by calling for the resignation of their leader.”