Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch's speech on Independence was "hugely political and divisive" and was not designed to "foster discussion with those who don't share his views".

That is according to United Bermuda Party leader Grant Gibbons, who reacted strongly yesterday to the address which suggested former UBP Governments had demonised the concept of national sovereignty in order to protect their own selfish interests.

"His speech was a poster trial for divisiveness," Dr. Gibbons said.

"And as is customary with these 'us' versus 'them' campaigns it was also rather careless with the facts. Numerous leaders of the UBP have over the years been open to the issue of Independence and have attempted to educate people on the issue. Indeed, the Bermuda Independence Commission recently paid tribute to the enormous amount of work and research conducted by former UBP Governments in the form of Green and White Papers. A number of us appeared in 1995 (the year of the last referendum on the issue) in television ads discussing Independence and at no time have we actively campaigned against it."

Dr. Gibbons also took issue with Colonel Burch's assertion that those who advocate a referendum on Independence are being "duplicitous" because they "all know" a General Election is "the bedrock of democracy".

Pointing to the controversial comments made by the former Senator in a 2000 debate on constitutional reform, when he declared he "did not care" what the UBP and its supporters had to say on the matter, Dr. Gibbons charged that listening to the will of the people "was obviously alien to Colonel Burch's way of thinking".

"To us, a referendum on any single issue is the purest form of democracy," he said.

"Our party is made up of people who support and oppose the issue," he continued, "and we are extremely conscious of the fact that if the debate is not handled properly and constructively, it is capable of tearing the community apart. We have been saying for some time that it is pointless to go through this lengthy period of information gathering unless the people are the ones making the final decision. This is not about what is good for Premier Alex Scott or the Progressive Labour Party, it is about ensuring the will of the people and in the aspirations of Bermudians in general come first."