The United Bermuda Party has accused the Progressive Labour Party of having a $160 million "black hole" in its election spending promises.

UBP election candidate Grant Gibbons said Premier Ewart Brown and his party colleagues have refused to tell the electorate how they will pay for their "reckless splurge of spending promises".

Asked for a response to the allegations, the PLP did not provide a breakdown of how it plans to fund its election pledges, although it did accuse Dr. Gibbons of being "way off in his projections".

It also pledged to "continue on the path of fiscal prudence and sound decision-making" if it wins tomorrow's election. Dr. Gibbons said last night of the PLP spending pledges: "These extravagant promises have been plucked out of thin air to win votes and the PLP are fully aware that they cannot deliver on them without a huge rise in tax bills.

"To put this in perspective, in the 2007-08 Budget, the PLP pledged an extra $32.6 million in current account spending. We estimate the pledges they have unveiled in this platform — taken with the costs of cleaning up Morgan's Point — come to almost $160 million of new spending.

"That means the PLP is promising to increase spending by almost 500 percent just to win an election. That doesn't even include multi-million dollar capital projects. It is desperate, it is dishonest and it goes to an issue at the heart of this election: whether you can trust the PLP to do what they say."

Dr. Gibbons, who is standing for election in Paget East, highlighted media reports quoting PLP politicians on their manifesto pledges.

"When former Health Minister Patrice Minors was asked how their day care programme for children would work, she replied: 'I don't know the specific criteria and the details how it will be rolled out.'

"And when Dr. Brown was asked how much the programme would cost, he said: 'We don't have a figure yet, but guess what? Whatever it costs, we'll do it'."

The Premier's press secretary Glenn Jones has suggested the PLP's free bus and ferry plan will be funded in part by "'private investors with an interest in making the roads less congested'," said Dr. Gibbons.

"Do the PLP seriously think Bermudians are gullible enough to believe the private sector will pick up the tab for their spending plans?"

He further alleged that: "Dr. Brown and his colleagues have been evasive when asked how on earth they are going to pay for policy promises such as free medical coverage for all seniors and free day care for all Bermudian children.

"There are two reasons why the PLP won't tell Bermudians how much these programmes cost. The first is that they probably don't know because they appear to have been making it up as they go along.

"The second is that they know they cannot deliver these grandiose promises without an unprecedented rise in tax-bills for Bermudian voters. The Premier of Bermuda, with an army of civil servants at his disposal, doesn't know how much his headline-grabbing platform will cost."

Dr. Gibbons said of his own party: "The United Bermuda Party is a fiscally responsible party that looks after the taxpayers' dollars".

The PLP said in a statement: "When it comes to economic forecasts, 'lights out' Gibbons has a record that shouldn't be trusted. In 1998, he said that a PLP victory would mean 'lights out' for international business in Bermuda.

"Contrary to Dr. Gibbons' fear-mongering, our party has proven to be fiscally prudent for nine straight years."

Finance Minister Paula Cox said: "Stop the wild and irresponsible guessing game. The PLP Government spending plans have been measured, affordable and beneficial to the people of Bermuda.

"That is why we continue to be rated highly by all of the major ratings agencies. We will continue on the path of fiscal prudence and sound decision-making in 2008/09 following the election."

Party Chairman David Burt said: "The Progressive Labour Party will not back down from its pledge to provide complete and affordable Health Care Coverage for our seniors, and we make no apologies for that.

"After a lifetime of hard work, Bermuda's seniors need high quality health care and Grant Gibbons is dead wrong when he says that it's a giveaway."

Dr. Brown said: "FutureCare is an insurance programme that will provide every Bermudian above the age of 65 with guaranteed health care. Our revered elderly citizens should not have to worry about health care, and under a PLP government, they will not worry about health care."

HOW DR. GIBBONS SAYS HE WORKED OUT THE PLP FIGURES:

• FutureCare, $64 million per year: "We have taken the average annual individual health care claim (approximately $10,000) by a person over 65 and multiplied it by the number of people over 65 (more than 6,400 in Census 2000) to get $64 million."

• Free buses and ferries for all, $9 million per year: "The annual revenue from bus and ferry fares is $9 million in 2007/08".

• Free day care for all Bermudian children, $33.5 million per year: "According to Census 2000, there were 3,350 Bermudian kids aged 0-4 who would be eligible. Multiply this by $200 a week and day-care costs per child equals $670,000 a week. Multiple this by 50 weeks a year, gives $33.5 million".

• 500 interest-free loans for first time buyers, $25 million: "A ten percent deposit on a $500,000 home is $50,000 multiplied by 500 equals $25 million".

• Clean-up of Morgan's Point, $25 million. "Consultants JA Jones Environmental Services Company estimated in 1997 that the clean-up costs would be $15 million. Taking into account inflation and contingency planning for unexpected additional problems, we think $25 million is now a reasonable figure".

• Free Bermuda College tuition, $3.35 million per year: "According to the Bermuda College annual report 2005-06, you will see that revenue from tuition fees for the year was $3,359,057".