matter which Bermudians must decide among themselves. There is no way the people will ever be content with a decision if anyone else meddles in Bermuda's debate.

Therefore it is difficult to believe that an opposition party which is so vocal in advocating Bermuda for Bermudians is happy to run off to London and ask non-Bermudians to muddy Bermuda's political waters. The leader of the Progressive Labour Party, Mr. Frederick Wade, has been in London asking people to comment on and clarify the Independence issue and to intervene in the appointment of two senior British Police officers. It will not have escaped anyone's attention, in Bermuda or in London, that Mr. Wade did not run off and ask London to intervene in the appointment of a Barbadian Attorney General for Bermuda.

Surely the PLP knows that Britain's Tory Government Parliamentary Undersecretary of State who has responsibility for Bermuda, Mr. Tony Baldry, is unlikely to do anything to contradict the UK Government's man in Bermuda, Governor Lord Waddington. That is especially true since the Governor has ultimate responsibility for the Bermuda Police Force and agreed to the two outside appointments. It is doubly true since the Governor has held posts in the UK Tory Government which far outrank Mr. Baldry's position.

But no, the PLP went to London regardless and appears to have talked about very little. Where Independence is concerned, the United Kingdom Government would be unlikely to be so stupid as to say anything of importance to the PLP that was different from what it had already said to the Government. Indeed, the United Kingdom's public stand on Independence for Bermuda has not changed in 30 years. The private stand on what will happen after Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule may well be quite different but can never be stated publicly as long as Hong Kong is still around.

Nonetheless, the PLP has "stirred the pot'' in London at a time when Bermudians need to make an Independence decision on their own. It is not helpful to encourage London or any other Government to think that there is confusion in Bermuda.

The United Kingdom Government must by now be confused about two things which cause us great concern.

The first is the racial implications of the PLP's complaints about the two Policemen but their failure to complain about the Barbadian Attorney General.

The second arises from the PLP's longstanding support for Independence. Why does the PLP now appear to be dragging its feet over the referendum process? Is there an agenda here that is not clear or is not being stated? Or is this just another example of the PLP making trouble for the sake of trouble because it is not sure what else to do? In London the PLP also involved Labour Party politicians in the debate over the two top Policemen. However the Bermudian public should be aware that those Labour Party politicians the PLP has consulted are generally of the more radical and left wing variety and some are without much credibility in Britain.

We have to question what the PLP hoped to achieve in London. They must have known that there would be no mind changing and that no-one would contradict a major position. Therefore they have to have decided simply to attract a little attention and make solutions a bit more difficult to achieve.