England and the European Union, British MP Mr. Rupert Allason said yesterday.

And free medical care in Britain would be among the benefits of a special deal with Britain which an early decision in favour of Independence could preclude, Mr. Allason told The Royal Gazette .

Mr. Allason, who was criticised when he first entered the Independence debate last month, added fuel to the fire when he said an Independent Bermuda could be placed on a new European Union visa schedule.

Barbados would be on the list of visa countries and Jamaica likely would, he said. And "there is a very good chance that an Independent Bermuda would be part of the visa regime''.

On January 1, 1996, the UK would lose its veto in the European Union and its ability to protect Bermuda from such a requirement, he said.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan is to announce a Commission of Inquiry and referendum on Independence today. House of Assembly Preview -- Page 5 It is understood a vote on whether Bermuda should seek Independence could be held by Christmas.

Mr. Allason, a Conservative MP for Torbay in the southwest of England and chairman of the Anglo-Bermudian Parliamentary Group at Westminster, predicted Bermudians would soon see new benefits if it remained a dependent territory.

Once Hong Kong was returned to the Chinese in 1997, "the whole issue of British Dependent Territory passports would be reviewed,'' he said. "It's likely Bermudian holders of those would have the right...to live, work, and draw benefits anywhere in the European Union.'' That would include the right to send patients to the UK for free treatment on the National Health Service, as the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar have enjoyed, he said.

And the Island would still retain its own Immigration controls. No such relationship would be offered to an independent Bermuda, he said.

The return of Hong Kong and its six million people to the Chinese would leave Bermuda as the most populous dependent territory.

Sir John raised the subject of a special relationship during a recent speech in London and said he knew of no UK Government policy to offer such an arrangement after 1997.

A diplomatic source said the UK's arrangement with the Falkland Islands could provide a model for its relations with remaining territories.

The 2,000 inhabitants of the Falklands have the right of abode in the UK, yet the Island maintains its own immigration controls, a Home Office spokesman in London said.

Most Falkland Islanders acquired right of abode through a parental or grandparental link with the UK, the spokesman said. They acquired full British citizenship on January 1, 1983, when the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force.

The smaller number of Falkland Islanders who were British Dependent Territory citizens got right of abode through the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983.

The special legislation was seen as a reaction to the Falklands War, the spokesman said.

Mr. Allason was asked why Bermuda would have to wait until 1997 for a special relationship with the UK, since the Falklands were able to get one in 1983.

"When the British Nationality Act was passed, the appropriate representations were not made,'' Mr. Allason said. "For six years, I have campaigned about the position of British Dependent Territory passport holders. The reply on every occasion is that this is something we can only discuss after we have dealt with Hong Kong.'' Mr. Allason, who is married to a Bermudian and has kept a residence on the Island for more than ten years, said the question of Independence was up to Bermudians and he was not telling anyone what to do.

"I think it is in the interests of all Bermudians, irrespective of their point of view on the Independence issue, that they are fully informed of the implications,'' he said, adding that at no time had he contacted the news media.