UK will not patronise Bermuda on Independence issue

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Britain will not urge Bermuda to go Independent because that would be patronising, according to outgoing Governor Sir Richard Gozney.

And in one of his final interviews before ending his diplomatic career, the Governor warned Bermuda not to get complacent about the economy.

The wide ranging discussion had its lighter moments. Sir Richard admitted, almost, that he wasn’t exactly fond of wearing the ceremonial garb of a colonial Governor.

“You feel you’re going to take off in a strong wind,” he said when asked what it was like wearing a feathered hat.

His predecessor, Sir John Vereker, had discussed with then Premier Ewart Brown, the possibility of ditching the uniform as he ended his tenure.

But Dr Brown had gone to his Cabinet and insisted it should be worn.

“I’m a servant of Bermuda. Bermuda’s paying not only my salary and for this house and I’ll go along,” Sir Richard said.

Asked if he liked wearing the uniform, he said: “‘Like’s’ quite a strong word, isn’t it? I’m content wearing that uniform if Bermuda wants me to wear it.”

Sir John took his plumed hat and ceremonial uniform with him when he left. Sir Richard was issued a new one.

He agreed that being a Governor of one of the world’s last remaining colonies felt a bit odd.

“It’s bound to. In the 21st Century. No one’s holding onto bits of Overseas Territories because they want to. At least I hope they aren’t in this day and age,” he said.

“But we, unlike one or two other European countries, are not going to shed them if they don’t want to leave the fold.

“The Portuguese shoved theirs off when the dictator Salazar died in the mid-seventies and poor Mozambique, poor Angola and poor East Timor went into civil war — each of them as a result.

“So we will say, those territories are small and for reasons of small size and for whatever other reasons, if and for as long as they want to retain the British link then we will do our bit to maintain it. It costs next to nothing. And it’s a legacy of history. It’s a responsibility of history and we accept it. We’ll do it wholeheartedly. We won’t be curmudgeonly or graceless about it.”

He repeated Whitehall’s long held policy to support the wishes of Bermudians should a majority signal clearly that they want to became a sovereign nation.

“But we’re not going to force that issue either way. Because we don’t think that’s a grown up way of dealing with a very grown up situation,” he said.

“Bermuda is a fully grown up country which can decide for itself how it wants that future to be. And so, in the meantime — of course, it’s an unusual position to have an overseas territory or colony. But we accept that we will do our small part in making those small territories run for as long as people want the status quo to continue.”

He said self determination “can include a determination to keep yourself in the fold of a bigger country — or linked to a bigger country.”

Asked why Britain does not simply tell Bermuda that it is old enough to take the sovereignty option, he said: “Because that would be patronising.

“We won’t patronise Bermuda. We’ll say ‘Bermuda, you’re grown up. You take that decision’. All we’ll ask is if you decide to go independent, we’ll need an unambiguous signal that that is the case.”

The arrival of the four Uighurs — the former Guantánamo detainees who were brought to Bermuda by former Premier Ewart Brown without consulting Britain or his Cabinet — was the most challenging aspect of his tenure as Governor, he said.

“It made me scratch my head more than other things,” he said. “Because of that double effect of breaching the Constitution and landing four men here who can’t be given travel documents to go elsewhere.”

Britain and the US are still in talks over the fate of the Uighurs, he said.

Turning to his most enjoyable experience he said: “It’s hard to beat non-mariners. It is quite a magic afternoon.”

On his final message to Bermuda, he said: “I wish Bermuda every success in finding the next pot of gold. Whether it’s going to be fish farming — the Chinese in those fancy restaurants in Shanghai and Hong Kong would pay ridiculous sums of money for what they regard as really special fish — I’m sure those fish would grow in netted tanks out on the reefs somewhere. Or whether it’s the mineralisation of the sea bed around here. There’s no oil but people have been down and found some quite interesting mineralisation.”

He continued: “Financial services are not growing but they’re not shrinking much. And tourism is strongly cyclical but may be coming back a bit.

“So, I’m not saying that people need to find the next crock of gold within the next year or two years. But the fragility and vulnerability of small countries is essentially based on just a couple of industries and that’s the case in Bermuda. So one’s always on the look out for the next serious piece of diversification.”

Asked if he agreed with those who feel that the economy may be on a permanent decline, he said he did not think that was likely “as long as people are not complacent.”

Economies have tired because of complacency, he said.

“That (complacency) didn’t hack it in the 19th century, the 20th century and it certainly won’t work in the 21st century. Because someone’s going to come up and snap your ankles and take whatever business away from you. Because there are a lot of countries which are far more worldly than they used to be and most of the markets — whether they are for tourism or financial services, almost everything else other than oil and gas in the ground — are mobile.

“So as long as people here, as in other such well-to-do small countries, don’t rest on their laurels I see no reason why Bermuda shouldn’t thrive.”

Richard Gozney leaves for his homeland on Sunday. The new Governor, George Fergusson, is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

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