BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

The main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has challenged the David Thompson administration to produce evidence that the former government stashed millions of dollars in overseas bank accounts, even as it announced its intention to seek legal advice on the matter.

Opposition Leader Mia Mottley, incensed at a report in a daily newspaper, in which the prime minister suggested the previous government had stolen taxpayers' money, said she had referred the matter to a team of lawyers.

She described Thompson's claims as "scandalous" and accused the Barbadian leader of trying to find excuses to hide his government's lack of performance. Mottley also challenged him to bring proof of his claims.

"I want to say now and for always that if the prime minister has evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of any person who is a member of the Barbados Labour Party, then he must put that evidence there for it to be acted on by the law enforcement, the police of this country, and nothing short of that action would suffice," Mottley told a news conference.

Deal with it

"If it is that they have evidence of wrong behaviour, misconduct or criminal activity, then by all means deal with it. But stop making these allegations as a blanket against a whole class of people in the belief that it will divert people's attentions from their lack of performance as a government," she added.

Thompson is reported to have made the allegations while addressing the Canadian branch of his Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in Canada on the weekend.

He said that the Cabinet was unearthing "horror stories of how millions and millions of dollars were spent in the most bizarre of circumstances.