A war of words erupted last night following last week's political drama.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith attacked Government over the Cabinet reshuffle and Grace Bell's defection from the UBP to the PLP benches.

But Deputy Premier Jerome Dill countered, labelling Ms Smith's remarks as a "cheap novel''.

Ms Smith said Premier Pamela Gordon was in the middle of "a serious political crisis'', adding: "Many people saw the Cabinet shake-up as one of the last acts of a political dinosaur that has outlived its time, that was never sensitive to the aspirations of the broad spectrum of this country's people.

"Last week's Cabinet shuffle -- and I use the Premier's word "shuffle'' -- could well turn out to have been the final political throes of the UBP Government as it now faces the inevitable and manifestly imminent end to its long, self-serving rule over this country. Such shifting and shuffling this late in the life of the outgoing Government may well be likened to shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic -- and many may well conclude that all that was missing were the lifeboats or life belts for the two senior Cabinet members who had been made to walk the political plank.'' Ms Smith went on to criticise the Premier over the Government's housing policy, claiming that properties were still unavailable to many low-income families.

And she again ridiculed the appointment of Maxwell Burgess to the Cabinet.

"It is a situation that gets curiouser and curiouser,'' she said.

"The question Bermudians must face is whether or not we can afford to keep in office a Government torn by internal strife and bent on nothing more resolute than holding on to power. This country needs a government which is inclusive in a genuinely participatory democracy. The UBP has ruled Bermuda for more than three decades and the time has come for it to return the government to the people by facing the Bermudian people at the polls.'' But Mr. Dill hit back: "It's time for the PLP to put up or shut up. All I see is hackneyed phrases being banded about. The people of this country don't want to see who can most viciously attack the leader of a political party -- they want to know the policies and programmes that are going to positively affect their lives.

"I would suggest that the PLP actually says what it will be doing for the people of this country -- if it does it will be doing so for the first time.

"The people's business is a serious business and we are not going to engage in a slanging match with the Opposition.'' Mr. Dill went on to say that the retirement of veterans Quinton Edness and Irving Pearman from the Cabinet was a positive thing because it allowed young blood to step in.

And he dismissed Ms Smith's argument that the time had come for the Government to return government to the people.

"Not once in its history has the PLP gained more support than the UBP,'' he said. "The people have had confidence in us and can see through the rhetoric of the Opposition.''