Continued from Saturday

However, John Barritt, Shadow Minister of Legislative and Public Administration Reform, said: "The silence from the other side of this House has become deafening. I would have thought the front bench would have been speaking on this."

Saying he was "bewildered" by recent events, Mr. Barritt said: "My impression is Bermuda has been stitched up by what appears to be a secret done deal."

Alluding to Dr. Brown's comments after the overthrow of former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith as "We had to deceive you", Mr. Barritt said: "This is the same kind of principle when tangled webs are weaved, when things are done behind closed doors."

The Premier told the House that since 2002, more than 540 detainees have been sent from Guantánamo Bay to more than 20 countries, including the UK.

He said any application for citizenship or naturalisation by the four men would have to come from "the Brits".

"We understand who is boss," he said.

But Mr. Barritt said: "You knew there was going to be a negative reaction here and not to have done due diligence first and dot the i's and cross the t's is unacceptable.

"The only person who can be blamed Mr. Premier and is accountable for this is yourself."

He said: "What we have today suggests this is all the work of one man who went out on his own way with this.

"There is only one way to put a stop to this, and this is to call into account whether the members of this House still have confidence in our leader (Dr. Brown).

"I suggest we get on with this motion asap."

The Speaker said: "I am sure we can't have that today. Move on, move on."

Derrick Burgess, Minister of Works and Engineering, said: "I support what the Premier has done in the name of humanity. I have no reservations about that."

During Friday's four and a half-hour long motion to adjourn, opposition and Government MP's attacked the Premier for making the decision to allow the Uighurs into Bermuda without permission.

Backbencher Ashfield DeVent said: "I am not in favour of this decision and how it was done. I am very concerned with us moving towards not actually following rules. Somehow we have to get back to following rules.

"The Premier needs to speak and address some of these concerns."

Grant Gibbons said: "We are a small place. We simply do not have the ability to assess the other side of the picture. "I don't know these four men. We don't have the capability to arses whether that information is complete. There are issues there that I think need to be addresses. What did these other countries know about Guantánamo Bay detainees that we don't know?"

He continued: "Words like renegade come to mind. Irresponsible and outrageous.

"The only point I am trying to make here is clearly there is a price here and I don't know what that price is. But I suspect that most people would not put a price on the reputation or their authority to have a say.

"We don't feel there is a price for Bermuda's reputation."

Paula Cox said she felt "politically neutered".

"There are very significant ramifications if this goes awry. What we have got to do now is figure out how to salvage it and make lemonade out of lemons."

Mark Pettingill said: "Have we thought clearly about who we are going to tick off and who's shoes we are standing on. I bet you al Qaeda didn't know who I was on Tuesday. I bet you they know now. They watch CNN."

He continued: "We need to be aware of what all the big boys are doing especially the banks.

"All the people of Bermuda did not send out invitations to the Uighurs that they never heard about until this week. "Why is Bermuda being asked to do what the Canadians didn't do? Why is tiny Bermuda being asked to do that?"

"If this is an immigration matter then the immigration minister has been acting with ultra vires. The Governor up there should have been informed first. The British foreign office should been informed first."

Cole Simons echoed the sentiment in the House.

"The premier has demonstrated a lack of respect for the Bermuda people, the House of Assembly and Bermuda's Cabinet. Is this the type of leadership Bermuda deserves?

"Ms Cox said she felt politically neutered. Imagine how the man on the street feels."

Mr. Simons continued: "I truly feel that we are being used. We are being used because we are not used to playing in that arena. As much as we try to be a global player, the reality is we are not in there.

"I would have thought that if Bermuda's leader was a sound negotiator, we would have reached an agreement for Morgan's Point as starry eyed as he is."

Donte Hunt questioned China's position in the situation.

"How does China feel? No other country would take them. I can tell you that Bermuda is something to the Chinese Government now.

"What does this mean for our second pillar of our economy? If we wanted to intentionally destroy tourism this was the perfect plan. Tourism will be affected by this."

Backbencher Randy Horton said: "I don't agree with how it was done. In an effort to get things done quickly, he's over stepped his boundaries.

"He's a 400-metre man not a marathon man. We need to have a good relationship with Britain whether we like it or not.

"There was a comment about there were only four people but my view is that one person is too many."

Former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith said: "I think everyone knows my position on the end not justifying the means. My constituents have expressed their concern.

"My branch members merely expressed an interest in understanding. I was not able to help them much either because I know as much as they do."

She said: "I have gotten a little concerned about the possible impact of this action on Bermuda, on our status, on our reputation, on our signing of treaties going forward and the pacing of those signings."

She added: "I'm concerned what might be the possible repercussions coming from Whitehall, particularly in light of the current climate at Whitehall and the FCO.

"Perhaps there may be a silver lining after all. The silver lining might be that things get to a position where those who do not favour Independence might find that it is in fact looking better and better.

"I, like everyone else, trust that what appears right now to be a misstep will turn out in the long run not to have been so and will turn out to be something that's finally beneficial to Bermuda."

Deputy Opposition Leader Trevor Moniz called on the Premier to apologise to the people of Bermuda, Government House, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Americans.

"The situation here is, clearly the proper procedures were not followed," he said. "This issue has stirred up a hornets' nest. It's an unfortunate situation.

"It's a very difficult situation. There's an element of human rights in it. Nonetheless, this requires study, in depth."

The UBP MP said that since the US "swept them up" and detained them for seven years, the four Chinese Uighurs should go there.

He said the Premier's decision was the "straw that broke the camel's back". "Hopefully, we can somehow get ourselves out of this."

Telecommunications Minister Terry Lister said Bermuda had far more to worry about than four innocent men who should never have been held at Guantanamo Bay, including crime and youth violence. "These are the issues that really matter," he said.