Acting Opposition Leader John Barritt claimed last night that a television interview with the Premier breached broadcasting rules ? and allowed Alex Scott to take "shots" at his leadership opponent.

The half-hour interview with veteran journalist Bryan Darby went out on VSB on Tuesday evening but was arranged before former Deputy Premier Ewart Brown resigned from his post and announced he would contest the Progressive Labour Party leadership.

Mr. Barritt said there was an announcement at the end of the piece to say it was a government broadcast.

The Political Broadcasting Amendment Directions 2003 state that a government broadcast is not of a political nature and is paid for out of the public purse.

Mr. Barritt claimed the broadcast was political. "It was to counter the publicity that his challenger, Dr. Brown, has enjoyed," alleged the United Bermuda Party's House Leader and Whip.

"In the Premier's masterful style of spin, I think he was able to make his shots at Dr. Brown. A government broadcast is meant to be to explain government policy or programmes. I was incredulous."

Under the Directions the Opposition is entitled to a right of reply for half the time of the original broadcast. "I will strongly recommend that we don't waste the taxpayers' funds," added Mr. Barritt.

He said the UBP would not complain to the Broadcasting Commission, the media watchdog which monitors the airwaves, as "it would be a waste of time".

VSB owner Kenneth DeFontes would not reveal who paid for the feature or confirm that it was a government broadcast.

"I would say it was a broadcast about the Premier," he said, adding that it was arranged before Dr. Brown's announcement.

"I don't think that we stepped over any line. If the Government thinks we stepped over the line they can take our licence away. I haven't had any complaints."

Mr. Darby told he was approached by Beverle Lottimore, the Government's director of communication and information, to do the interview in the run-up to the PLP delegates' conference, which began last night.

"We agreed on the condition that it was done in a straightforward manner," said Mr. Darby. "His advisors wanted to portray an honest image of the Premier. At that point he knew nothing about Dr. Brown.

"I was given complete freedom to ask any question I wanted. I tried to turn the interview into a political interview but it didn't work. I wasn't quite sure under what rules we were working. Having checked everything with Ms Lottimore, she said it was above board. We sent a copy of it to the Broadcasting Commission and never heard back."

Ms Lottimore said yesterday: "We bought the time on VSB. It was conducted the same way we conduct the national address. It was something that was planned long before Ewart Brown did anything."

When pressed as to whether it was paid for by Government, she replied: "I've already answered that." When asked again, she repeated the phrase several times before hanging up the telephone.

Ms Lottimore called this newspaper back moments later to apologise for hanging up, adding: "I really don't feel like engaging in it. I have answered the questions and I'm not answering anything else. I'm not talking any more."

In an email received later, she wrote: "Every three months or so the Premier has delivered an address to the nation that is an expenditure of the Government.

"This time around the decision was to give exclusives to the media one at a time. This is what the broadcast on Tuesday was. I spoke directly with the medium in this case and assured them that the interview that they would conduct would be in the vein of the Premier as a man, a politician and the Premier of the country and the work on behalf of the people embodied in this. Nothing else was discussed or expected."

She did not respond to questions about whether the interview breached broadcasting guidelines or whether the other "exclusives" would be paid for by taxpayers too.

PLP backbencher Ashfield DeVent, a member of the Broadcasting Commission, said he wasn't aware of any complaints about the interview. "The board doesn't act on anything that it hasn't received a complaint on," he added.