A senior British politician has hit back at claims by Ewart Brown, the former premier, that he “talked to him like a little boy” when he was Overseas Territories minister in the British Government.

Sir Chris Bryant, who was undersecretary of state for foreign affairs in the Labour administration under Gordon Brown, and who is now a committee chairman in the House of Commons, dismissed the allegations.

His comments came after Dr Brown referred to a 2009 meeting with Mr Bryant while giving testimony in a court case.

The meeting centred on Dr Brown's controversial decision to bring four Uighurs to Bermuda from the Guantánamo Bay camp at the request of President Barack Obama.

Referring to Sir Chris in court, Dr Brown said: “We went into a meeting room and he began wagging his finger at me as if I was less than a man.

“I turned my back to him. He was talking to me like I was a little boy."

Dr Brown went to on to describe Mr Bryant’s behaviour as “disgraceful and disdainful”.

Asked about the encounter, Sir Chris, a former Anglican priest, told The Royal Gazette: “It’s 14 years ago, so my memory of the meeting is rather hazy.

“Anyone who knows me knows I don’t talk down to people in the way suggested and I never wag my finger.

“The two governments obviously disagreed about the issue in hand and I recall Dr Brown giving me a long lecture, but otherwise it was all perfectly amicable.”

Dr Brown made his courtroom remarks as he claimed that he was persecuted by a White Establishment because he “tries to stand with a straight spine” and “espouses counter-racist views”.

The former premier made the allegations during a hearing in Civil Court where Dr Brown has launched an action against the offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Attorney-General, and a former deputy governor, claiming that an inquiry into allegations against him was unconstitutional.

Dr Brown’s legal team has argued that the creation of the Strategic Oversight Group — set up in February 2014 to oversee the inquiry — breached laws around the abuse of power through the inclusion as members of Ginny Ferson and Rory Field, the Deputy Governor and the Director of Public Prosecutions, respectively, at the time.

Dr Brown, who was the head of government between 2006 and 2010, told the court: “Any leader of the Progressive Labour Party who stood up for the principles of the PLP was despised.

“They identified me early on in my political career as someone who would be outspoken on issues of race. It was clear that I was going to be targeted from Day 1.

“I felt that I was going to be targeted until the day I die because of my views, especially my views on race.

“I believe it, and I know it and I feel it. The reason I am being targeted is because I am a Black man who tries to stand with a straight spine. I speak out when I see injustice, and that is not allowed in Bermuda.”

Dr Brown said he believed that moves to launch an investigation began after his 2009 decision on bringing the four Uighurs to Bermuda from Guantánamo Bay.

He alleged that he was targeted by the British Foreign Office “for political reasons”.

The investigation into Dr Brown was initiated in 2011 after allegations surfaced during a trial.

The hearing, which is being held before Acting Puisne Judge Martin Forde, continues.