Premier Ewart Brown believes conscription will "one day" be abolished in Bermuda, in favour of a volunteer army and coast guard.

It's the first time he's made such a public statement, despite years of criticism from campaign group Bermudians Against the Draft (BAD).

That group yesterday revealed plans for a sit-in at the House of Assembly tomorrow and a march on Parliament at a later date in a bid to garner political support.

Asked for a comment on their plans, and his own stance on mandatory military service, Dr. Brown said in a statement last night: "I believe that Bermuda will one day have a volunteer army and coast guard."

He said Government "has already taken a major step towards national service" with plans for a volunteer programme for Bermudians aged 24 to 30 to provide 16 hours of service per week. They would be rewarded with incentives such as low-interest loans and free public transportation.

Government proposes that men conscripted into the Regiment, who serve 12 months or more, could request a transfer to the national service programme instead of completing the full three years and two months of part-time service.

However, the scheme was not presented as a formal method of phasing out conscription one of the recommendations of a UK Foreign Affairs Committee report released in 2008.

Bermudians Against the Draft has been engaged in court action since late 2006 to try to get conscription ruled unlawful. They've lost their case at all levels of the Bermuda court system, while continuing to criticise the Government for not abolishing the policy of its own volition. Their latest defeat was at the Privy Council, Bermuda's highest court of appeal, on May 24.

In additional comments last night, Dr. Brown said: "To those who feel that we should have done something about conscription while the legal battle was in full flight, I say 'you cannot take the Government to the highest court, lose and then say we didn't do right by you'."

Reacting to his remarks, Larry Marshall Sr., leader of Bermudians Against the Draft, said: "That's the first time he's come out publicly and stated that. But you can't say we took it to the highest court, the Privy Council, as if we didn't seek to meet with politicians from the outset. The judicial route was necessary because the politicians wouldn't listen.

"Conscription has been in place for 45 years (in total), and 12 years under a Progressive Labour Party Government, and we are tired of hearing about what 'might' happen. They're always discussing it, and meanwhile young men are getting locked up."

BAD plans to stage a sit-in in the public gallery of the House of Assembly from 3 p.m. tomorrow. Mr. Marshall said: "We want to make our presence felt, and we're also planning a march in future. We want to make a statement publicly that the politicians need to deal with this ASAP."

The incarceration on Tuesday night of BAD member Jamel Hardtman also prompted another member of Government to speak out on the topic of conscription late night.

The Regimental Police visited the Hott 107.5 radio station in search of Mr. Hardtman on Tuesday afternoon, before he turned himself in to Warwick Camp later that day (see separate story.)

The radio station is owned by Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney, who said he was "very concerned" to hear about the incident.

Mr. Blakeney said he realises "the law is the law" and there are consequences for skipping military service, but commented: "The RPs turned up at his job, his place of work, and he has a residence where he goes to sleep at night.

"I thought it would have been a little more respectful to maybe go to his residence rather than his place of work. Even though it's the consequence of what has happened, why do that? Why make someone more antagonistic and adversarial? I think it could have been handled in a more palatable way."

Mr. Blakeney said he had "a very open mind' on military conscription and would like the issue reviewed, although he does not know if the military would be sustainable with only volunteers.

Invited to respond to the concerns about the RPs visiting Hott 107.5, Regiment spokesman George Jones said: "Any warrant for arrest Police, Regiment or other understandably can only effectively served on an individual once his location has be confirmed. Warrants are by design impartial to when or where they are served."

BAD members Lamont Marshall and Shannon Adderley have also been arrested at their workplaces in the past week – the Corporation of Hamilton and the Customs department at the airport.