An outpouring of rage greeted Premier Ewart Brown yesterday lunchtime as he faced hundreds of vocal protesters who gathered outside Cabinet to demand his resignation.

Swarms of demonstrators bearing placards many denouncing Dr. Brown as a dictator and criticising his decision to bring four Guantánamo Bay detainees here without the UK's permission booed and jeered as he tried to speak to them from a microphone set up in front of the statue of slave Sally Bassett.

A small group of about 50 supporters tried to drown out the deafening chants of "Brown must go" with their own call of "Brown must stay".

But their voices were no match for the angry crowd estimated by Police to total between 800 and 1,000 people amassed in the blistering midday sun.

When rally co-organiser Janice Battersbee took the microphone and told Dr. Brown: "We demand that you relinquish your role as Premier of Bermuda", hundreds of people responded with thunderous roars of approval.

The extraordinary scenes began at about 12.30 p.m. with a loud rally outside Sessions House, the sound of which reverberated around Hamilton.

Speakers told the crowd that the event had nothing to do with party politics and everything to do with Dr. Brown's autocratic leadership.

"This is not about the PLP or UBP," said rally co-organiser Gilbert Pitcher. "This issue is Dr. Brown and the style of leadership that he has."

The protesters, the majority of whom where white, marched down the hill to Cabinet just before 1 p.m., chanting "down with Brown" and waving signs bearing slogans such as "Keep the Uighurs get rid of Brown" and "Feel the love; hear the lies".

Scores of office workers and stunned-looking tourists frantically capturing the scenes on their cameras lined Parliament Street as the masses poured into the grounds of the Cabinet building and were ushered onto the lawn by Police.

Awaiting them was a small group of Dr. Brown supporters, some wearing green PLP T-shirts and carrying banners declaring him a man of honour.

Dr. Brown emerged from the Cabinet building moments later and made his way to a small stage, behind which stood members of his Cabinet.

He looked pointedly at his watch as he waited to speak and, when the cacophony of noise finally died down, he told those gathered that he had been summoned to a meeting with Governor Sir Richard Gozney, "whom we all respect".

"I have told him that my arrival at Government House will be delayed so that I can welcome you to the Cabinet Office," the Premier said. "As some of you might know, I grew up in the protest era. This is nothing new to me. I have seen them larger and longer."

He added: "If there is someone who would like to speak on behalf of those who come here today, I'm prepared to delay my trip to Government House until I have heard you."

Mrs. Battersbee then took to the stage to vociferous applause. She said: "We have come down to the Cabinet building because we are not afraid of opposition. We were born with a voice and we are exercising the right to use that voice today."

She thanked Dr. Brown for allowing protesters to have a "somewhat face-to-face" conversation with him, at which point the Premier and his wife Wanda walked to the front of the podium to face her.

Mrs. Battersbee told him: "We, the people of Bermuda, have come together today not divided along racial lines, not divided along political lines, but united as a Bermudian people towards a common cause.

"Our democracy is at risk and our voices must be heard and our message must be clear. The leadership of this Country seems to be headed towards a course of dictatorship that the people of Bermuda are no longer willing to tolerate."

She gave a litany of examples she claimed showed Dr. Brown's disrespect for the people from his "we had to deceive you" remark after the ousting of former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith to his recent press gag, the "embarrassment" of the faith-based tourism initiative, the treatment of the Auditor General, the sacking of the New York tourism office staff and "numerous reports of the excessive spending of the public purse".

Mrs. Battersbee, who describes herself as a lifelong PLP supporter, said Dr. Brown's decision to bring four Chinese Muslims from Guantánamo to Bermuda was done without proper protocol.

"Our issue lies squarely with the fact that the taxpaying voters of this Country have been disrespected by the Premier time and time again. This action is the final straw."

She added: "Mr. Premier, we are fed up, disgusted, disrespected and angry."

Mrs. Battersbee told Dr. Brown he was not a law unto himself and was answerable to "God, your Queen, your Country, your citizens and your conscience".

Warning Dr. Brown not to follow the same path as his friend Michael Misick, the ousted Turks and Caicos leader, she concluded by quoting the Premier's comment to the world's media last Friday that "this too shall pass".

"We say: 'This shall not pass'. We remain committed and shall not rest until democracy has been restored to our Island home."

The moment Mrs. Battersbee finished speaking, at about 1.30 p.m., the Premier marched to his waiting GP1 car, flanked by Police officers, and was driven away to Government House. His spokesman later said he had no comment on his meeting with the Governor.

The crowd slowly dispersed but not before several verbal confrontations between those for and against the Country's leader.

A Police spokesman said there were no arrests at the rally. "It just seemed to be a rather vocal crowd at times, but other than that there were no incidents that took place that involved any Police intervention.

"The Police presence was only to monitor, as we normally would when there is a larger number of people."