commerce "the third pillar'' of the economy could damage the Island's standing amid a crackdown on shady tax havens.

Shadow Finance Minister Eugene Cox said that the PLP had "long acknowledged the need for Bermuda's economy to be more diversified.'' He added: "However, we must be mindful of the uses that e-commerce can be put to.

"And we must ensure that any new e-commerce initiatives are not seen to work in opposition to efforts to get Bermuda considered a non-harmful tax jurisdiction -- especially at a time when our country is already under serious scrutiny by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for allegedly engaging in `harmful tax competition'.'' Mr. Cox said the UBP had embraced e-commerce only weeks after a Bermuda-based company launched a bid to take a share of the worldwide Internet sales business.

He added that the firm had said they wanted to "lure'' people from all over the world by "allowing them to avoid corporate taxes back home''.

Mr. Cox said the "fledgeling Internet sales scheme'' had only one client last month and "was boasting of Government support''.

He added the timing of the UBP's backing for e-commerce "further stretched the outgoing administration's credibility''.

And he said: "The UBP should be made to accurately state the relationship between the e-commerce company and the Government and/or the UBP.'' Mr Cox -- who broke weeks of silence on the scrutiny of offshore finance by several multinational bodies -- also claimed the UBP's "insidious touting'' of e-commerce was a sign of political desperation.

Editorial: Page 4 E-commerce could hurt Island -- Cox And he accused Premier Pamela Gordon and Finance Minister Grant Gibbons of failing to come up with "anything remotely resembling a coherent strategy'' to cope with the OECD probe or the current threat of global economic chaos.

St. George's North General Election candidate Delaey Robinson, a former top Civil Servant in the Finance Ministry, accused the UBP of throwing money into schemes in the run-up to the Election in a bid to buy votes.

He said: "We have seen a blossoming of UBP projects which can only be described as Election ploys.

"Examples abound, but just a few of them are the knocking down of crack houses with the Premier and her Ministers present for photo opportunities.'' And he accused the UBP of "stealing'' two PLP proposals, the halfway house for reintroducing criminals back into society, and the rehabilitation of 54 houses on the former Base lands.

Mr. Robinson also cited lower mortgage rates, attendance grants for Bermuda College students and an up-to $23 million pledge to build 100 new homes as other examples of "electioneering''.

He added: "And the bill isn't completely in yet -- I suspect that Somerset Bridge, which started at $600,000, is now at $800,000 or $900,000.'' Mr. Robinson hit out at Finance Minister Grant Gibbons' claims that the new UBP blueprint's proposals could be funded from the existing Budget.

He said: "If that's the case, necessarily he has to cut back on spending already decided.'' And he challenged Government to say what would have to be chopped to pay for Election run-up projects.

Mr. Robinson predicted the Budget Supplementary Estimates for 1998-99 will be "how much they will go over-Budget to fund this Government's campaign -- that's something we all need to know''.

And he added a PLP Government, if elected, could end up having to foot the bill for UBP "electioneering''.

Mr. Robinson said Government could also siphon off cash from already approved projects into pet pre-Election projects -- and challenged Ms Gordon to reconvene Parliament to seek approval for Government's spending.