Former United Bermuda Party MP Mark Pettingill says his old colleagues should keep their noses out of Bermuda's foreign policy — like they told Premier Ewart Brown to do.

Mr. Pettingill, who quit the UBP last month, said it was "constitutionally wrong and candidly not sensible" for Opposition MP Cole Simons to meet the Chinese Ambassador to Britain to discuss the Uighurs situation and report back what was said.

The Warwick West MP pointed out the UBP had spent the summer complaining about Dr. Brown taking foreign policy into his own hands by bringing four former Guantánamo Bay prisoners to the Island without permission from the UK. He urged the official Opposition to leave foreign affairs to Governor Sir Richard Gozney.

Mr. Simons hit back yesterday by dubbing Mr. Pettingill's statement "ridiculous", insisting the UBP was right to flag up the Chinese government's concerns and asking: "Would Mr. Pettingill not warn people in a building about a fire because he is not a fireman?"

Meanwhile Sir Richard said the UK had spoken to the Chinese on diplomatic channels about the Uighurs and he hopes Bermuda's business interests with China do not suffer.

Mr. Simons met Chinese Ambassador Fu Ying at a Conservative Party conference in the UK he was attending along with UBP MP Charlie Swan and party chairman Jeff Sousa earlier this week.

Mr. Pettingill told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "I was surprised to see that the Opposition would allow a delegation to meet with the Chinese Ambassador in London regarding the Uighurs affair.

"The Premier was roundly criticised for his handling of the Uighurs on the basis that it should have been a matter of foreign policy and one for the Governor and British Foreign Office to handle.

"This is unequivocally correct. Likewise, it's not for any member of the Opposition to meet with a Chinese Ambassador to Great Britain and discuss matters of foreign policy, and more particularly to go public with purported comments made at any such meeting. It's constitutionally wrong and candidly not sensible.

"If we make the complaint in principle that such matters are for the Governor to deal with, then this applies to all Members of Parliament. I would anticipate that the Governor will now wish to raise the issue with the official Opposition on the basis that they should not be dabbling with foreign affairs."

According to Mr. Simons, Madame Ying said Bermuda's four Uighurs remain terrorist suspects in the eyes of the Chinese Government.

Madame Ying said the question marks over their status had implications for Bermuda's commercial relations, Mr. Simons claimed in a statement.

The Opposition House Leader said she had answered his questions over the subject from the floor during the conference, and in a private conversation with himself.

Responding to Mr. Pettingill's statement, he said: "Mr. Pettingill's statement is ridiculous. I was attending an open forum in Manchester, England, with about 100 people in attendance, and which concluded with a question-and-answer session with the Chinese Ambassador.

"Why not ask her a question about the Uighurs in Bermuda?

"Does he think Bermudians should keep their mouths zipped shut about foreign affairs because the UK is constitutionally responsible for them? Is Mr. Pettingill saying because the Governor handles foreign affairs no one in Bermuda — including its elected representatives — should ask questions about them? And if they learn something interesting, they should not pass the information on to their fellow Bermudians?

"Well, that's not the way I or my colleagues operate.

"The Chinese Ambassador was very open and forthright and I considered her comments relevant and important enough to communicate to Bermuda.

"Mr. Pettingill would not have that, it seems. And thus Bermuda would not be aware of the Chinese Government's ongoing concerns — publicly expressed — about the Uighurs in Bermuda. They would not be aware, in other words, that this matter of the Uighurs is not yet over, at least as far as the Chinese Government is concerned.

"Would Mr. Pettingill not warn people in a building about a fire because he is not a fireman?"

Sir Richard said: "We have spoken to the Chinese on diplomatic channels about the move of the four Uighurs to Bermuda.

"We do not extradite to countries with the death penalty unless special agreements are in place. We do not have such an agreement with China.

"The move of the four former Guantánamo detainees to Bermuda clearly concerns international relations as well as Bermuda's immigration rules and should have been referred to the British Government from the outset. The invitation from the Bermuda Government was incorrect.

"Naturally I hope that Bermuda's business interests with China do not suffer."