Departing Governor Sir John Vereker says he understands the case for Independence - even if some Bermudians still can't see it's the natural option.

Bermuda's constitution had been drafted in anticipation that it would split with Britain but instead it had clung on while other small states had opted out, said Sir John.

Asked why Bermuda had not moved on, he told The Royal Gazette: "I do think that part of it is people don't fully understand the argument, you may be surprised to hear the Governor, of all people, saying this.

"I have always thought that I understand the case for Independence rather well, to me Independence is the default option.

"You have got to explain why an island 3,000 miles away from the UK is being governed by a Westminster parliament and a Governor appointed from London.

"If there is a good reason for that then fine. But if there isn't then surely it would change the nature of the relationship between the individual and the land upon which he walks for that individual to feel that it is: 'My land, I am responsible for it'. That I understand."

He said all the documents and studies into the Independence issue have all got bogged down in "dreadfully boring detail which isn't going to appeal to the man on Front Street who is going to say: 'How does this change the way I feel about my island'."

Sir John said the other reason why Bermuda had stuck with the present arrangement is that it had done very well.

Bermuda has only put the issue of Independence to the vote once, in 1995, when Sir John Swan lost a referendum.

Although historically committed to the concept the Progressive Labour Party had gone quiet on pushing for autonomy after it got elected in 1998.

Finally, former Premier Alex Scott set up the Bermuda Independence Commission to examine the issue in 2005 but his successor Ewart Brown has taken the issue off the table for the time being. In his farewell speech Sir John described the constitutional relationship between the Premier and the Governor as "inherently awkward" but said the pair of them had made that relationship work well.

"The reason it's awkward is because when the constitution was drafted in 1966 it was a liberal, far-reaching forward looking document at the time.

"But it was assumed there would be independence in a few years.

"The framers of the Constitution knew they were setting up not necessarily a tension, but a relationship which would be full of awkwardness because there would be internal self-government on the one hand and a requirement to ensure certain standards on the other. It was never going to be an easy thing.

"But they said, fair enough, it's a step on the way to Independence which in 1966 was expected within a few years. That's when, from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, a lot of these small jurisdictions went independent.

"Bermuda for all sorts of reasons didn't do that - the awkwardness arises as we are still working this same Constitution, this same relationship.

"I genuinely think it's much to the credit of all of us, including the politicians, that awkward though it is, we have made it work pretty well.

"And where there are differences they have never spilled out into personal rancour. It is possible for one side to say 'I am going to do it like that' and the other to say 'oh no you are not'."

Some might feel any Governor has a conflict of interest as he represents Britain but helps regulate Bermuda which is in competition with Britain for financial services. Recently Britain has lost some of its Lloyd's insurance business to Bermuda.

But Sir John said a strong international business sector in Bermuda was of benefit to Britain rather than a cost.

"The UK hugely benefits from being surrounded by a stable and prosperous world in which acts of terrorism and floods are insured against. I don't think there is any real cost to the UK."

He agreed that capital was held in Bermuda but that didn't affect jobs in Britain. "Very few jobs are created here, the labour market is very small, profits can be made everywhere.

"It hasn't made a huge difference. And there is plenty of Bermudian investment in London now, it works both ways."

As well as expressing some surprising views about Independence Sir John also questioned whether Bermuda's was best suited to the Westminster-style two-party system.

He said that set-up was still relatively immature in Bermuda.

"I think in small environments like this, and I think it is universal among small islands, party allegiance is often more about history, about personal allegiance than it is about philosophy."

While there was a philosophical difference between the two parties, if you looked closely, it wasn't as marked as in France or Britain, said Sir John.

"There is a large part of me that feels that Westminster-style democracy does no favours to small jurisdictions because it's about two parties.

"A two-party system tends to exaggerate differences. It also tends to presume systems of accountability that are not necessarily going to be in place in small jurisdictions."

He said in the UK the main channel of accountability for an elected Government is the House of Commons which was pretty good at exposing the strengths and weaknesses of Government.

"The House of Assembly, admirable though it is, has to work much harder to hold a Government to account here."

He said Bermuda's system was a winner-takes-all system gave the executive full power where other systems such as America held them in check.

"In a winner-takes-all system you tend to get the exaggerated differences between the parties which we have seen here."

But Sir John said Government here was held to account by other organisations within society including a free media, the Auditor General, the Ombudsman and the court system.

Following the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal new anti-corruption legislation was promised by then Premier Alex Scott, but never materialised.

Asked if it was needed Sir John said: "We have urged a number of legislative changes, including changes which would bring Bermuda's legislation in line with OECD anti-corruption and anti-bribery convention."

He said urgings had been made over a number of months.