Premier Ewart Brown has claimed Opposition supporters are circulating "filth" to help the United Bermuda Party win the election.

He did not give details but told a public meeting in Warwick on Wednesday evening: "We are not going to join them in the gutter."

He branded the UBP the "Filthy McNasty" party and said: "I don't think we want a filthy McNasty campaign."

The previous evening, at a meeting in Smith's, Dr. Brown's Chief of Staff Wayne Caines blasted an e-mail being sent around the Island containing doctored images of the Premier and other public figures — but said he did not know who was behind it.

Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley challenged the Premier to give him details of who he believed was to blame for the "filth".

"I find it laughable that the Premier takes this type of approach when he kicked off his campaign with language that I think was totally unacceptable," he said.

"If he is sure it is UBP supporters, bring it to my attention and I myself will contact them. I will not tolerate this type of behaviour.

"I want to be clear that we do not accept or condone this kind of behaviour and ask all individuals involved to join us on the high road."

He said he was aware that there were "derogatory cartoons floating around about politicians from both sides" but that did not justify the Premier's decision to "hurl invective" at his opponents. "This is the type of rot that occasionally comes out during election periods," he said.

The email — which was forwarded to staff members at The Royal Gazette — contains a series of pictures lampooning Ewart Brown and other Ministers. Mr. Caines, a Senator in the last Government, said some of the pictures went too far.

He told Tuesday's meeting that he received the message, adding: "It was the most nasty campaign about the leaders of this country."

He later told this newspaper: "I was disturbed by it. It's an e-mail that's been sent en masse with caricatures of PLP politicians and doctored photographs of them in compromising positions."

He said it was unclear who had created the pictures or sent the initial e-mail. "I'm not saying that any political party did that," he said. "But when I saw it I was saddened. I thought that the campaign was being fought on the doorstep."

Mr. Caines added: "This is an election that is very important to Bermuda and it's a critical time in our history. This election should be decided on the issues not by hate mail being sent around using the Internet."

One of the images compares the Premier to notorious dictators including Adolf Hitler, while another shows him with two schoolchildren discussing him in unflattering terms.

An image titled Absolut Corruption shows the Premier, former Governor Sir John Vereker and Police Commissioner George Jackson squashed into an Absolut vodka bottle alongside several Government Ministers.

Father-of-one Mr. Caines, PLP candidate for Hamilton South, said: "Equating the Premier with Idi Amin and Hitler is wrong." He added that using a picture of Bermudian schoolchildren meeting the Premier was also deeply offensive and unfair to the youngsters.

Dr. Brown told the meeting at Purvis Primary School on Wednesday: "If you could see some of the filth that was released by UBP supporters, I wouldn't even want to share it with you. Suffice it to say that it would have a hard time getting on the porno station. It's horrible."

Mr. Dunkley said yesterday he was concerned that white PLP candidate Jane Correia had encountered racist comments in the homes of white UBP supporters while canvassing.

Mr. Dunkley said: "As leader of the United Bermuda Party, I ask all Bermudians, regardless of which side of the political fence you're on, to show respect and tolerance for people with different points of view and different beliefs.

"It is totally unacceptable that we as Bermudians cannot respect one another. I along with my colleagues will work tirelessly to change this situation, which is fanned by small numbers of people on both sides."

At a press conference held later, he threw down the gauntlet to Dr. Brown, saying: "I challenge him to find one reference in anything the United Bermuda Party has said or produced that resembles a smear. As leader of the United Bermuda Party, I am committed to bringing Bermudians together. Our party is about respect and tolerance. It is about hope not hate. Smears and name-calling have no place in the Bermuda we want to build.

"Finally, I think it is important to draw attention to the Premier's own behaviour, and his effort to portray himself as a victim when the record shows he is the chief perpetrator of the name-calling and invective that he condemns."