The Royal Gazette’s <$>latest poll on Independence, which was published in Monday’s newspaper, confirms what seemingly everyone outside Government already knows: the driver for Independence is stalled, if not in reverse.

The poll, taken from November 5 to November 10, showed that just 16 percent of those polled supported Independence, against 66 percent who said they were opposed. Seventeen percent said they did not know.

That is the lowest level of support for Independence in months, while those who are opposed to sovereignty has remained consistent at around 65 percent.

Given that the poll was taken after the Bermuda Independence Commission Report was published, that suggests that the roughly two thirds of the population who are opposed to Independence are not going to change their minds, while the variations in support for Independence tend to come from undecideds who swing back and forth.

It is worth noting too how the vote breaks down by gender, age and race. Independence is wildly unpopular among women, with almost three quarters opposed and just under ten percent in favour. Among men, support rises to 22 percent, and opposition to 59 percent.

There is a widely held perception in Bermuda politics that women tend to vote with their pocket books, and the perceived financial risks of Independence tends to support this.

Support for Independence is consistent across age groups at around 16 percent. But opposition among the young (under-35) and the old (55 or older) is around 70 percent, while 36- to 54-year-olds oppose it by 55 percent.

It’s not that surprising that older people are opposed to Independence, but the consistent opposition of younger people, who are perceived as being more radical and open to change is more difficult to understand.

Independence supporters tend to think the young are brainwashed by the myths of Independence, but the more likely reason is that the young are aware of the opportunities that having a British passport presents, and don’t want to throw it away.

It is no great surprise that whites are generally opposed to Independence, with 80 percent saying no, and just four percent saying yes.

But 56 percent of blacks oppose Independence and just 24 percent support it.

BIC member Rolfe Commissiong claimed last week that a cabal of fervent, and white, opponents to Independence, including the Editor of this newspaper, have conspired to hold the rest of the community hostage and uneducated on Independence.

As a result, “the more reasonable members of the white community” and “the broader black community” who oppose Independence have apparently been deprived of their ability to educate themselves on the issue.

This is nonsense. Anyone in the community is free to read the report, while pages of the Island’s newspapers have been devoted to its contents, including the much reported-on errors and omissions. Leaving those aside, much of the report lays out the pros and cons of the issue pretty well, although there is little that is new or surprising in its findings.

What is distressing and wrong is for Mr. Commissiong to somehow believe that the vast majority of Bermudian voters (who after all, have elected his party to power twice in succession) are wallowing in a sea of ignorance on this question and are victims of a shadowy conspiracy.

It was perhaps predictable that the Independence debate would eventually come down to a question of race, but there is no need to insult the intelligence and good sense of Bermudian voters as well.