Speaker of the House of Assembly Stanley Lowe yesterday said he wished to bring to a close a three-week wrangle that led to an Opposition MP being suspended.

The speaker finally broke his silence on the issue, which has seen MP CV (Jim) Woolridge absent from the House since February 23.

The Shadow Works and Engineering Minister was banned from the chamber after he refused to apologise to Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb following a verbal spat during a debate.

Leader of the Opposition Pamela Gordon was speaking three weeks ago when Ms Webb and Mr. Woolridge began to argue across the floor.

Ms Webb is alleged to have made an "offensive'' remark about money he made on a private project he worked on many years ago, which led him to retaliate by calling her "garbage''.

However, Mr. Lowe only heard the remark made by Mr. Woolridge, and demanded an apology or a ban. As a result, he walked out of the House.

The Opposition MP was said to be frustrated at the situation because Ms Webb had not received the same treatment, and the UBP believed the matter had not been properly addressed. But yesterday, Speaker Mr. Lowe said the issue was now closed.

He said: "I have given considerable thought to the incident regarding CV Woolridge. I have met with him.

"I am of the opinion that no further useful purpose will be served by his continued absence from the House.

"I'm now aware that he became uncontrollably provoked... which led to him making the remarks for which he was ordered to apologise or withdraw from the House.

"There is nothing wrong with a good robust debate, with all the cut and thrust that comes with it.

"However, I implore members to show respect to each other.

"I now consider that matter to be closed.'' Mr. Woolridge was not available for comment last night, but he is expected back in the House of Assembly next Friday.

But the Speaker also made mention of comments reported in The Royal Gazette by former UBP minister Quinton Edness.

He claimed last week that Mr. Lowe was a puppet of Premier Jennifer Smith and allowed Parliament to fall into disrepute because he was afraid to stand up to her.

Mr. Edness claimed the public was losing faith in Parliament because Mr. Lowe had allowed debates to degenerate into personal mud-slinging attacks, such as the one between Mr. Woolridge and Ms Webb.

But yesterday, Mr. Lowe said he was disappointed by the claims and said there was a protocol that MPs and Ministers should adhere to -- even after they had left politics -- and Mr. Edness had chosen to ignore it.

But the Speaker said he did not wish to formerly respond to the claims.

The Speaker said as Mr. Edness was a former Minister, he would have expected him to go to him personally to express what he thought, rather than through the press.

He said in order to avoid any further mud-slinging he did not believe it was right for "the Speaker of this House to dignify any comments that have been expressed in the media.''