Opposition Senator Maxwell Burgess has called for both major parties to come together in a conference to hammer out whether Bermuda should push for independence.

He said both the Progressive Labour Party and his own party, the United Bermuda Party, should come clean on whether they wanted to split from Britain rather than leaving it as a last-minute election ploy.

And Bermuda's entire constitutional structure should be thrashed out at a conference of both parties said Mr. Burgess, rather than have piecemeal changes such as the seat reduction now being pushed through by Government.

He said: "We should have full-scale constitutional reform before the next election. When we walk this minefield we are along the way to studying independence.

"That's obviously a part of it.

"You can't be every ten minutes adjusting your constitution then expect people not to think you are a banana republic. They want it logically worked out.'' "It would be wrong to come up to the eve of the election and stick independence in the manifesto without having given the people fair warning.

"Both parties should say whether independence is going to be an issue or not.

"If it's not going to be an issue declare it so we needn't worry about it.

But if it's going to be an issue, let's start the debate.

"We need a referendum on independence.

"You have to put it to the people -- no one person should be in a position to dictate to Bermuda whether or not we go independent.

"I do believe we are as capable as anybody else of going independent. I am known to be pro-independence.

"I think both parties should form a position and hit the hustings on their positions.'' Premier Jennifer Smith did not reply to faxed questions on where the Progressive Labour Party Government now stood on independence.

Opposition United Bermuda Party Leader Pamela Gordon said soundings taken from the party members and supporters had indicated independence was not a front burner issue.

She said: "They are telling us issues of more concern are old people, housing, safety and education.'' And she said the UBP maintained their position that if supporters were pushing for it the party would hold a referendum on autonomy for Bermuda.

She said: "Whether it was in the manifesto or the platform won't matter if you are making it a single focus issue.'' Miss Gordon said the PLP had been wedded to independence in opposition but had done nothing to educate the public about the issue in the three years it had been in power.

She said: "If the Government is going to put it on the agenda for the next election it will be almost by stealth.'' Mr. Burgess said a constitutional conference should thrash out how many seats would be in the House of Assembly, how many cabinet members and senators there should be and whether cabinet members should be full-time.

"My party and the ruling party ought to be coming forward and saying `here's what we see as a reasonable sized House of Assembly and Cabinet'. They should say whether cabinet members should be full-time.

"We should know before the Boundaries Commission is instructed to get on with divvying up the island into new seats.'' Mr. Burgess said the size of the cabinet, which currently numbers 12, would have to be reduced in a smaller parliament otherwise Government would dominate the backbench.

He said a party might win a 30-seat parliament with 17 seats -- but if there were 14 cabinet members as well as a speaker and deputy speaker the ordinary grass roots MPs, who are needed to keep a check on the Government, would be reduced to almost nothing.

Independence challenge He went on: "I believe the Home Affairs Minister, the Tourism Minister and the Finance Minister should be full-time.'' And he said combining of ministries in a down-sized parliament could mean other cabinet members needed to be full-time. Currently some ministers opt to work full-time while others also combine their cabinet roles with outside interests. He also said Bermuda's unelected upper chamber would have to be reduced if the House of Assembly was smaller.