The Island’s most vocal opponent of conscription says he will believe the latest Throne Speech promise on the matter “when I see it”.

“The One Bermuda Alliance say the same thing every Throne Speech,” said Larry Marshall Sr of Bermudians Against the Draft, after yesterday’s speech.

Three years on from the Progressive Labour Party’s promise in its final Throne Speech, Mr Marshall said the latest declaration made him look “like a prophet”, referring to a sceptical interview he gave in 2013, in which he said the vow would be made again and again without being acted upon.

That same year, the OBA promised to “introduce amendments to the Defence Act 1965 to eliminate conscription”. One year on, for the 2014 Throne Speech, the Bermuda Government said legislators would be “invited to consider” amendments to the Act that would “provide for the end of conscription”.

“This is the third time to date that they have made this promise, and to date they have done absolutely nothing to facilitate the ending of conscription,” said Mr Marshall, who has vocally opposed the practice since 2006.

He speculated that the OBA might be playing for time, in the hope that ending conscription would win the vote of young men in the 2017 General Election.

“I hope they will and we can end this human rights violation, but I’m not excited at all,” he said. “They are predictable — it’s always ‘this session’.”