Former United Bermuda Party MP Darius Tucker yesterday ruled out joining the Progressive Labour Party.

Mr. Tucker — who is understood to have been taking advice from the PLP and is a golfing friend of Premier Ewart Brown — yesterday spoke to The Royal Gazette for the first time since quitting the UBP ten days ago.

He refused to answer virtually all questions but, when asked whether he'd be going to the PLP, replied emphatically: "No."

Mr. Tucker was also unsure whether he stood by his accusation, made on ZBM, that UBP Leader Kim Swan planned to seize power with a motion of no confidence in Premier Dr. Brown's Government last month. Mr. Swan strongly denies the allegation, claiming his aim was solely to remove Dr. Brown.

The former Shadow Sports Minister has repeatedly declined to talk to this newspaper following his resignation shortly before he was due for a UBP disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, June 24.

Mr. Tucker has pledged to give a full interview explaining his reasoning on a number of occasions during the past two weeks, but has consistently failed to answer his phone or return messages.

Yesterday, he said: "I'm not going to comment more on this situation. I was prepared to sit down and speak to you. I have taken some advice. They said this is how I should do it."

He would not reveal who has been advising him, although a number of sources have said it is the PLP.

Dr. Brown recently ordered his own press officers not to communicate with this newspaper while Works Minister Derrick Burgess — another said to be close to Mr. Tucker — is a frequent critic of The Royal Gazette.

The UBP says Mr. Tucker's comments in the Bermuda Sun and ZBM have been so inconsistent and confused he doesn't seem to know himself exactly why he quit the party.

In an interview with ZBM, Hamilton South MP Mr. Tucker claimed that, if the UBP's no-confidence motion had passed, Mr. Swan was planning to knock on Governor Sir Richard Gozney's door and tell him: "I have the power."

Asked whether he stood by that remark yesterday, Mr. Tucker replied: "Yes. No. I have given you my answer. I'm not commenting any more."

Mr. Swan insists the plan was to remove Dr. Brown alone for his 'one-man' style of rule — and the Government was only named in the motion because no-confidence votes cannot be made against individuals.

He said yesterday: "I said it on the floor of the House. I take my oath very seriously. I said we brought this motion against the Premier of the country based on his actions. That's what I said and that's what I maintained. I don't accept what Mr. Tucker has said. It's not true.

"If I give an undertaking in the House under my sworn oath ... I'm not a dishonest guy."

Mr. Tucker said he is planning to write to his constituents to explain his decision to step down, after putting all their names in a database. He would not reveal what he's going to write in his letter.

He said he did not know when he would send the letter because: "I'm not the one who works on the computer."

Mr. Tucker said it was going to take a month to complete and someone had volunteered their time to help him.

Mr. Swan said he had one meeting with Mr. Tucker after he failed to vote in the motion of no confidence, which led to the UBP taking disciplinary action against him.

He said: "I expressed my disappointment. He attempted to justify what he had done. He was not apologetic. I was disappointed that he didn't appear before the disciplinary committee. I don't understand his reasoning."

He called for Mr. Tucker and fellow former UBP MP Wayne Furbert to resign and force by-elections, because they ran as UBP candidates in the 2007 General Election and now sit as Independents.

Mr. Tucker said in a statement last week he resigned because he was disillusioned with the UBP's reluctance to change.

Government backbencher Zane DeSilva in the House of Assembly last night quoted the Independent MP as saying: "This is a very serious matter and very serious lie."

He said Mr. Tucker described to the media how Mr. Swan calculated that he could win enough support to form a government.

"I was hoping that maybe the leader himself or someone on that side could tell the people of Bermuda the real story," said Mr. DeSilva. "Were they trying to remove a government which was democratically elected in?"

Mr. Swan rose to his feet at that point to say that Mr. DeSilva was "impugning improper motives on myself".

The Opposition leader told this newspaper afterwards: "I have made it clear on the floor of the House what the intentions were with regard to bringing that motion. I'm sick and tired of the insinuations which are to try to tarnish my reputation."

Mr. DeSilva said to MPs during the motion to adjourn that there were conflicting accounts from the Opposition about how the no confidence motion came about.

He said Mr. Swan had suggested publicly himself several times that the motion "had been provided by a member of the PLP". At that point, Mr. Swan rose to his feet and said: "I presented the motion and I don't think I'm a member of the PLP now and I don't intend to be."