A Progressive Labour Party stalwart yesterday called on Dr. Ewart Brown to fall on his sword and resign as Premier.

Reverend Trevor E. Woolridge, a member of the PLP since the age of 12, said the Privy Council ruling on the leaked files into the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal had scarred Dr. Brown's reputation and that of the country.

Rev. Woolridge, 51, said: "I feel Dr. Ewart Brown should resign. I feel his loss of credibility will ultimately damage the Party and will damage the country."

The Premier's attempts to gag the media over information related to his investigation by Police as part of a probe into allegations of corruption at the BHC was quashed on Monday by five Law Lords.

The Privy Council, Bermuda's highest court of appeal, upheld the decisions by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal not to interfere with the freedom of the Press and prevent publication.

It also ruled that Attorney General Senator Philip Perinchief and Police Commissioner George Jackson — who brought the case — should pay the media's costs.

The bill for the Island's taxpayers could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Dr. Brown has also launched his own legal action against this newspaper and others in an attempt to prevent publication of further information from the BHC file. The action will be heard in the Supreme Court at a future date.

According to the leaked Police dossier, Dr. Ewart Brown and former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith were among those investigated by detectives.

When the probe concluded in 2004, then acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Kulandra Ratneser, said many of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics, due to Bermuda's antiquated corruption laws.

Last night, Rev. Woolridge, now a Pastor at the Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said: "As a former MP and a current member of the PLP, I am concerned that the current Premier is moving the PLP away from its core responsibilities and its core support.

"We pledged as a party that if we ever became Government we would ensure that we saw to the welfare of Bermudians and the residents of Bermuda, and I'm not satisfied the current Premier is doing just that.

"I don't have any of the facts with regard to the items the Premier wants to keep silent but there appears to be sufficient damage done to his credibility that I don't think the PLP will be able to win at the next election."

Rev. Woolridge, a Senator from 1989-1993 and MP for Hamilton East from 1993-1997, said: "I am terribly disappointed that the PLP have found themselves here, but I hope the voters of Bermuda will be able to distinguish between the Party and the current Premier.

"The PLP as a party has fought diligently to see that the people of Bermuda have a fair shake at opportunity, and have a stable and fair Government.

"But the Premier has taken Bermuda all the way to the Privy Council to keep things from the country, and who's going to pay for this? The country is going to pay — to pay for information that he was going to keep silent.

"If there wasn't anything to be concerned about with inappropriate behaviour, then what is there to fear?"

Rev. Woolridge said: "I think this has damaged the credibility of the Party leader and I feel the elders, the delegates and the rank and file of the Party should call a delegates conference to review where the Party is and to change its leadership. I personally think Paula Cox (Deputy Premier) should be the person.

"If the PLP intends to remain in Government I don't think they will win the next election under his (Dr. Brown's) leadership."