An Opposition motion to censure Tourism Minister David Allen for comments made during a House Debate last month failed when it came to the vote in the House of Assembly last night.

The motion, brought by the United Bermuda Party (UBP), was heard three weeks after Mr. Allen revealed details of a private telephone conversation he had had with Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell.

During last month's heated debate Mr Allen claimed that Mr. Dodwell indicated that his hotel, The Reefs, would “go bust” without financial assistance from the Hotel Concessions Act. Mr. Allen's claims were formally denied by Mr. Dodwell in a subsequent address to the House.

While the UBP insisted that their motion was to protect the honour of the House, ruling party members charged that Mr. Dodwell had lobbied the Minister and made repeated attempts to contact him.

Last night the UBP moved the motion that “this House deplores the conduct of the honourable member Mr. David Allen, who in disclosing the contents of a private telephone conversation, recklessly endangered the reputation of the honourable member Mr. Dodwell and that of his business with remarks which were inaccurate and misleading, and also undermined the ability of the Ministry of Tourism to continue to operate in an atmosphere of trust as well as his own credibility to function in the position responsible for tourism in Bermuda.”

Opposition members, led by Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons, argued that Mr. Allen should not have revealed contents of a private conversation and that it was done maliciously and for political gain.

The comments, said Dr. Gibbons, “maliciously maligned and impugned the financial reputation and integrity of another member”.

The comments were “terribly wrong”, he said because they touched on Government's credibility. And the incident was made worse by the Premier's public defence of the Minister.

“No one in Cabinet has disassociated themselves from the remarks,” said Dr. Gibbons.

The Opposition Party argued that all MPs play a public and private role and Mr. Dodwell's telephone conversation with the Minister was made in his private capacity as the CEO of The Reefs and that an apology from the Minister was overdue. A dangerous precedent was set by the incident, they said, because businesses are constantly consulting ministers.

They repeated Mr. Dodwell's previous explanation that he had called merely to get a status report of the The Reefs Concessions Act, that The Reefs was not going bust and was not financially dependent on the relief.

The Hotel Concessions Act gives tax relief for hotel redevelopment under certain conditions. Hotels must apply for the concessions, which are then packaged for approval in the House of Assembly.

“Not only did he disclose the conversation publicly but he also seriously misconstrued it to obtain political advantage,” Dr. Gibbons said.

“Quite simply it is wrong and unless the Minister is willing to say it is wrong the question is when will it happen again and who will it happen to? How can anyone feel confident that their private business will not be disclosed in public?”

The only concession the Opposition got from the ruling party was that the comments were “discourteous”.

But that - from Attorney General Dame Lois Browne Evans who led the charge against the motion - was preceded by a denial that the comments were malicious or that they maligned Mr. Dodwell's reputation.

“When you use words like this you ought to be able to prove them.” And she said that throughout history the House chamber had heard much worse.

“If these walls could talk,” she said. “If they could only tell of the abuse and the name calling and the vicious racist remarks.”

Dame Lois and other PLP MPs said that Mr. Dodwell had been lobbying the Minister.

“You should not be lobbying a public officer,” she said.

While the UBP insisted that an apology from the Minister would be the honourable thing, Dame Lois said that the Opposition had turned the matter into a “political football”.

“You could regret it. You could deplore it,” she said. But “you have stretched it and the stretching of it doesn't make it more convincing.”

Said former UBP leader Pamela Gordon : “I cannot believe that the Minister of Tourism is too small to acknowledge that he erred. He took out his frustrations on the Shadow Minister of Tourism and breached a relationship with the president of a private entity.”

During the debate the Opposition appeared confident that some PLP members agreed with the motion.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb, who left the chamber during Dame Lois' speech, had made approving comments when Mr. Dodwell gave his explanation to the House at the November 30 sitting.

But in the end no apology was made and when it came to the vote, yesterday's motion was defeated 16-12 - with Mr. Allen allowed to vote, under protest from Maxwell Burgess, by House Speaker Stanley Lowe.