to Bermuda of some British Labour Party Parliamentarians seems to be paying some early dividends.

Lord Ashley, a one-time British Government Minister and a leading member of the House of Lords for the British Government, has made it clear to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office that he will be paying attention to issues of concern to Bermuda in the next few months.

In a letter to Baroness Symons, the Foreign Office Minister responsible for dependent territories, Lord Ashley states that he believes Britain should be doing more to press for "a fair and just settlement'' of the continuing dispute over who will pay for the environmental damage done to the former US Base lands.

Lord Ashley's statement on the Base lands is worth repeating in full: "The USA's position is that it will only pay for clean-ups where there is an imminent threat to health and safety. This is a preposterous and unfair attitude which cannot be sustained. As the USA was responsible for the mess, they should logically accept that responsibility and pay.

"It would seem to me as a layman that there is a legal responsibility but even if that is not so, there is a clear moral responsibility. I hope that the British Government will re-open discussions with the USA Government and press for a just and fair settlement.'' This is perhaps the strongest recent public statement on the issue. While Lord Ashley is not a member of the Cabinet, it has to be assumed that he and the Labour Party MPs who visited the Island with him have a degree of influence and will be able to push Britain to represent Bermuda's interests with the US further than it has up to now.

The fact that the Progressive Labour Party has other close ties with the Labour Party should also help matters. The former United Bermuda Party Government probably had more friends among the (also) former Conservative Party government and this means that the Island now has friends and supporters on both sides of the House. That must surely benefit the Island.

Lord Ashley has also made it clear that Bermuda has a case to make with regard to its tax structure and to getting more air access from Britain and Europe.

All of these issues will be raised with Baroness Symons in the future and should help the Island.

Bermuda also needs to play its part. Plans to resurrect the British-Bermudian Parliamentary group should help here, but the visiting MPs made it clear that Bermuda's profile was far below Gibraltar's and certain other dependent territories. If Bermuda is to have a true voice at Westminster, then it needs to ensure that it has a high profile.