Britain's determination to appoint its candidate for the Chief Justice's post could spark a headlong rush for independence agreed both parties yesterday.

United Bermuda Party Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz accused the Premier of whipping up political strife while Progressive Labour Party activist Rolfe Commissiong hoped it would finally convince Bermudians to make a stand.

Premier Alex Scott has been vocal in his support for Norma-Wade Miller who lost out to Briton Richard Ground.

On Wednesday, before the appointment, asked why Mr. Scott was so keen on promoting a "Bermudian" when Mrs. Wade-Miller was Jamaican.

Mrs. Justice Wade Miller came to Bermuda in the mid 1970s and was married former PLP leader Freddie Wade and then got Bermudian status.

Mr. Scott said: "There is no three-quarters Bermudian, they are either Bermudian or they are not."

He said the PLP had been lectured in the past by the United Bermuda Party and others on this point. Now the Premier is seeking cabinet advice which could spark a push for independence.

Mr. Commissiong said Britain's decision could be a blessing in disguise as it could spark the move to independence, even though people would be upset that the local candidate had lost out.

"We must take control of our own destiny. Britain has made it clear it is going to look after its own interests. The British are saying you can no longer have your cake and eat it too."

He said Britain had taken a view on what it needed to do to increase its security and the territories had the option to go along with it or go it alone.

"As they have repeatedly told us if you don't want it you have the full right to achieve independence."

He said having told the other territories they would never achieve Bermuda's high level of autonomy, Britain could not back down to Bermuda over the appointment.

He denied Government's lobbying for Mrs. Wade-Miller had merely been because she had been the wife of a party hero.

"The underlying principal is one most Bermudians adhere to ? Bermudianisation."

For anti-independence MP Trevor Moniz said the Premier had used the judicial appointment for political ends.

He said: "Alex Scott has always been spin doctor, he's accomplished taking the attention away from some of the messes of the PLP such as Bermuda Housing Corporation and Berkeley which of course he was in charge of. These things are a complete distraction.

"In the election they got racial, talking about people with suntans to distract people from those issues by raising the emotions.

"They are doing the same thing with the simple straightforward appointment of a Chief Justice by whipping up political strife."

He agreed the other motive was getting the ball rolling on independence.

He said groundwork had been laid by articles and pronouncements by pro-independence advocates Rolfe Commissiong, Julian Hall and Alvin Williams.

"The more radical members are going out there to whip up a frenzy and trying to bring the issue to the fore. Of course the only appeal is essentially emotional. We are far better off with British citizenship than going independent.

"Independence is an essential plank of the PLP's plan but at the moment it isn't in the public's agenda. There's a clear plan to bring it to the fore.

"They are whipping up strife with the British but it's all engineered. It's quite cynical in my view."

Pro-independence advocate Walton Brown said he did not believe the Chief Justice issue would be the flashpoint which sparked Bermuda going it alone.

But he foresaw a crisis point could come if the UK interfered further with Bermuda's financial industry. He said this had started with 1999's KPMG report while Britain had since stepped up its interference.

He said it was odd that Britain's Labour Government was more colonialist than under Conservative Margaret Thatcher and said it might be Tony Blair's Government was trying to force the remaining colonies into going it alone.

He said all the Chief Ministers had felt the squeeze at a conference he had attended in May and were commenting on it.

"I think Premier Alex Scott is softly spoken but he's very strong and very determined. I can't envisage Bermuda government allowing the British Government to push back the constitutional clock further."

He said under the constitution the Governor clearly had the power to appoint the Chief Justice after consulting the Bermuda Government but in the past it had felt more like a Government choice.

Britain's justification for increasing its grip because the world was becoming more complex was wrong said Mr. Brown. "The world has always been a complicated place."