Government backbencher Tim Smith was banned from the House of Assembly during yesterday's sitting.

He was suspended for the day by House Speaker Ernest DeCouto when he decided not to publicly apologise for remarks he made to The Royal Gazette .

Shortly after Finance Minister Grant Gibbon's Budget speech, Mr. DeCouto asked the ex-Cabinet Minister if he had anything to say during the period given to MPs for personal explanations.

Mr. Smith declined and Mr. DeCouto then revealed he had met with Mr. Smith during the week concerning the remarks he had made to the daily newspaper last Friday.

He said he felt they were "very harsh...very strong''.

During an interview following the 42-second-passing of a bill allowing foreign ownership of the Bermudiana Hotel site, Mr. Smith said Opposition MP Reginald Burrows -- who introduced the bill in the House -- should have launched a debate.

He said: "The silence was deafening if not duplicitous. I was completely taken aback by what happened and I put the blame squarely on Mr. Burrows.'' Mr. DeCouto said Mr. Smith's comments suggested deceitfulness on the part of Mr. Burrows and implied that he had been derelict in his duty of directing a member of the House.

Mr. DeCouto stressed that Mr. Burrows had introduced the Private Members Bill according to the rules of the House.

For Mr. Smith to have said he allowed the bill to go through inadvertently, suggested he was inattentive and derelict and negligent in the execution of his duty.

This is "very serious'', he continued, so he expected an apology.

While he had been apologised to in his chambers, continued Mr. DeCouto, he expected an apology in public -- where Mr. Smith's comments had been aired.

MPs were accountable to the rules of the House and he would not allow them to bring it into disrepute, he added.

He ordered Mr. Smith to leave the House and suspended him for the rest of the day as he had not apologised.

Last night Mr. Smith confirmed he had attended the Speaker's chamber on Tuesday.

MP banned "The Speaker advised me that he took great offence to my comments as reported in The Royal Gazette . I was invited to explain which I did.

"I then offered him my apology for any offence that was caused. The explanation and the apology were unsatisfactory to the Speaker. He instructed me to make a formal apology in the House otherwise I might be disciplined.'' Mr. Smith said: "If he believes that this was the best remedy then I of course respect the Speaker's decision.'' Mr. Burrows told The Royal Gazette the matter "did not make much difference to me''.

"I never lodged a complaint. It was water under the bridge last week for me.'' BANNED -- Tim Smith