Bermuda may avoid hitlist By Raymond Hainey Bermuda is set to escape a hitlist of dodgy offshore jurisdictions, Foreign Office Minister Baroness Patricia Scotland predicted yesterday.

But the prospect of full UK passports and the right to live and work in Britain is still over the horizon.

Baroness Scotland -- responsible for the Overseas Territories -- said she did not know when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development would release the findings of its probe into countries with big offshore industries.

But she said: "From what I hear, I very much doubt if Bermuda will be on that list in any event.'' Baroness Scotland added that -- contrary to fears -- the investigations by the OECD, European Union and the UN into offshore financial centres was likely to boost Bermuda's business, not harm it.

And she said Bermudians had been able to reassure her that the Island had fought its corner well and that the Island was set to escape sanctions.

Baroness Scotland added: "Bermuda has a real opportunity to be an exemplar, not only to the other Overseas Territories, but to create a system which is robust, transparent and well-regulated.'' And she said: "It will be a way of attracting huge amounts of business to Bermuda.

"Contrary to what many people thought -- that the OECD changes may cause a problem -- people have been telling me it's quite advantageous because people have really honed their skills.'' She added that Britain's rewrite of relations with its Overseas Territories was designed to create "a partnership of equals'' -- and that Britain would not resort to bully boy tactics to force its Territories to toe the international line.

She said: "We're not telling them how to run their financial affairs -- Bermuda has had a very creative and good financial centre.

Citizenship bill is being drafted is a partnership of equals.

"You get more out of a relationship if you both contribute equally.'' And she insisted it "was not part of the UK Government's role to tell Bermuda how to regulate its internal affairs.'' Baroness Scotland admitted she could not put a date on when the UK Parliament would be able to amend its nationality laws to give the citizens of Overseas Territories back UK rights.

She said that Britain had "complex'' nationality laws and it was important to get the legislation right -- as well as slot it in to Government's tight programme.

She said: "I can understand why people are worried about that -- in Britain at the moment we have a very busy timetable.

But she added: "We're putting a lot of energy into making sure the legislation is in good, robust order for going through Parliament.'' Baroness Scotland said: "It will be a comprehensive bill which will be easy to implement in all the Overseas Territories.

"I can't give any fixed timetable -- but the current legislative timetable is very, very tight.

"What we're determined to do is get a bill which is ready to go at any moment when we get a chink in the legislative timetable.'' And she added: "It's my baby -- and I'm very keen to get it delivered on time.'' Baroness Scotland -- on a whistlestop first visit to Bermuda -- added that Britain would continue to push the US to fork for the $60 million clean-up of the former US bases.

And she said the firm which assessed an oil pollution problem at Dockyard for the UK Government would be drafted in again to prepare a report on the US bases for the American government.

She said: "Britain has been very robust in our discussions with our American friends and we have left them in no doubt we are wholly supportive of Bermuda's arguments.'' And she added that Britain had spent more than a million dollars to clean-up of tons of oil at the old Royal Naval Dockyard.

She said: "We aren't asking anyone to do something which we haven't done ourselves.''