The starkly different accounts of conversations held between Premier Craig Cannonier and Opposition Marc Bean last September amount to a case of “he said, she said”, Mr Cannonier told The Royal Gazette last night.

Asked if he had confided to Mr Bean that his business was in “severe financial difficulty”, as claimed by the Progressive Labour Party leader, Mr Cannonier responded: “No — and why in the world would I be telling this man my personal business? He is not a confidante of mine, nor is he a mentor of mine.

“Today the bold-faced lies he stood up and told make no sense whatsoever.”

Mr Bean maintained that the Premier felt isolated in his Cabinet, and did not enjoy the trust of One Bermuda Alliance members who had joined from the ranks of the United Bermuda Party.

But Mr Cannonier refuted that as well, telling this newspaper: “We would not be where we are today if we didn’t trust each other.”

Asked if he had informed Mr Bean that a developer was willing to pay the Premier and colleagues up front to secure a casino licence, Mr Cannonier said: “Emphatically no. That doesn’t make any sense. We can’t issue a licence. Ministers can’t issue a licence. That’s why we put the regime in place overseeing gaming in Bermuda.”

Asked if he would take further action to refute the Opposition Leader’s statements, Mr Cannonier said: “He knows full well it’s a case of he said, she said. Why attempt to create dirty laundry for the sake of bringing the country down? This man from day one has been saying ‘We’re bringing down the OBA’ and ‘Your time is up’.”

Much of the furore has centred on Government’s claim that the Opposition was determined to thwart a Gaming Referendum — echoing the boycott of 1995’s Independence Referendum. Cabinet called off the referendum in December following a telephone conversation between the two political leaders in which, according to the Premier, Mr Bean had implied that his party would attempt to undermine the ballot process.

Asked if he had ever specifically heard the word “boycott”, Mr Cannonier admitted he didn’t recall hearing that term used.

“I came away with a sense, whether it was a boycott or whatever, that the threat is there. The inference is that they’re going to step in and disrupt the whole process. I don’t recall if he said ‘boycott’, but it’s an inference from his statements — it’s inference, not categorically saying that’s what they were going to do.”

On the matter of a general manager from the Premier’s own business flying alongside Mr Cannonier, Attorney General Mark Pettingill and Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell on the now-infamous ‘Jetgate’ junket to Washington, DC, Mr Cannonier said: “It’s no secret. It was a private jet. The owner of the jet can have whoever he wants on board. People bum rides all the time. We have been through that scenario. I have no more to say about that.”

He added: “I’m just concerned about the fact that we now have an Opposition, through its leader, bent on disrupting our positive forward movement. That should be of concern to everyone in this country. At the end of the day, there is no winner in what he’s attempting.”

Asked if he had generally enjoyed a rapport with Mr Bean, the Premier replied: “Of course we speak. We’re not bosom buddies; we don’t have lunches together. My experience with the Opposition leader has been one of calling us from day one, before he really got to know any of us.”

Again, the Premier denied that he would “sit down and talk my personal business with him”.

“Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story,” Mr Cannonier said.

Speaking at the conclusion of the Motion to Adjourn during last night’s House of Assembly session, the Premier said that the issue had prompted “some interesting dialogue”.

And he rounded on the Opposition leader, who he said had made derogatory comments about the OBA Government “from Day One”.

“So it doesn’t come as any surprise — to impugn Minister Crockwell and Minister Pettingill and the Premier of collaborating to do something is foolish — it makes no sense at all.”

Mr Cannonier denied he called meetings with Deputy Opposition leader Derrick Burgess and Shadow Finance Minister David Burt in an attempt to garner support for ditching a referendum but had heard reports that a committee was proposing the idea.

“I had no reason to call in any of the Opposition for anything, “ he said. “I called those individuals because I was trying to find out what was going on. I am hearing a lot of noise and at the end of the day this is making no sense whatsoever.”