.

And former West End Member of Parliament and UBP chairman Kit Astwood says the Progressive Labour Party's reluctance to put the question of Independence to the people in the form of a referendum is likely based on the "cheap and dishonest" premise they can "buy" votes at a General Election fought on the issue by using a "sweetheart" platform built around the Premier's "Social Agenda".

Stressing he is making his submission as a private citizen not on behalf of his former political party, the veteran politician, civic leader and businessman's information paper will be presented to the BIC this month. Convened by Government last year, the 13-member commission's mandate is to "provide the people of this country with the requisite tools to make an informed decision" on the subject of Independence.

Arguing that "to a growing number of the electorate of Bermuda, it would appear that the current Government's position, is one of promoting racial and economic divisions", Mr. Astwood says the PLP's failure to endorse a referendum on Independence suggests it deliberately wants to disguise the specific ramifications of this irreversible constitutional step in a broad-brush General Election campaign.

"An item referred to a referendum causes a focus on that one subject," said Mr. Astwood. "It is important that just one item, for all the people of Bermuda to focus on and learn about, to study, consider and then vote on, would be the better way to decide on the very important issue of Independence (than a General Election).

"By putting Independence to the people, as one of many subjects in a General Election, is this an attempt to buy votes with a 'sweetheart' platform sometimes called a 'Social Agenda'?

"With an amazing budget, and lots and lots of promises, with the subject of Independence buried in their basket of tempting goodies, it is left for you to judge how cheap, and dishonest is it, to try and bribe the electorate on such a vital issue, as the subject of Independence?

"But then, there is a saying, that 'You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time'. The vast majority of the Bermuda electorate is never fooled.

"Our current Cabinet and Government is still drunk on power to the point where reason has fled to be replaced by an 'I am the man now' attitude ? a well-known current Bermuda Government quote.

"The Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC) has no choice but to recommend to the Government of the day, that the subject of Independence be put on a referendum.

"As part of their brief, they should determine what is good about Independence and how it would improve Bermudian family life, in a world that has an overall population of 6.6 billion people.

"As part of their brief, they should determine what is bad about Independence and how Independence could damage family life in the future for their children and grandchildren."

Mr. Astwood says Premier Alex Scott's recent attempts to stage-manage confrontations between the Bermuda Government and Government House and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office were expressly designed to perpetuate the myth that Britain retained a colonial stranglehold on Bermudian political affairs.

"It is very, very important for all of today's Bermudian voters to know that Bermudians wrote our own current Constitution, agreed the contents between us, debated it in our own Parliament and adopted it," he says. "Our Constitution is ours and belongs to us, it was not imposed upon us by anyone.

"Subsequent amendments to our Constitution, over the last 37 years were agreed to here in Bermuda and passed through our Bermuda Parliament, the last of which was resetting the boundaries and the number of constituencies.

"Bermuda has the oldest Parliament outside of Great Britain and we have been running ourselves for the last 385 years.

"It is very worrying indeed that our current leaders of our Progressive Labour Party Government insist on running to our Governor, the Deputy Governor and their man in London (at the FCO), continually promoting the myth that Bermuda is run by these three gentlemen.

"It's a myth the Progressive Labour Party has been promoting for the last 45 years, because it is the only plank left in their party platform that holds some of them together as a party. This was confirmed in the spring of 2004 by a senior PLP official.

"The Progressive Labour Party should explain to the electorate of Bermuda why they have promoted this myth for the last 45 years.

"Is it a deliberate action to keep alive the anti-colonial movements among some of our people? To keep alive strong racial divisions among some Bermudians? Why misinform the electorate for such a long time?

"Let it be clear that the United Kingdom Government has never said it wishes to be rid of Bermuda. But they have been very clear in their instructions to their representative to Bermuda, over the years, to encourage the Bermudian electorate to make their own decision on all subjects, including that of Independence.

"Consequently, the decision to hold a referendum is entirely in the hands of the electorate of Bermuda, the democratic way to proceed.

Mr. Astwood says he fears for an Independent Bermuda under a Progressive Labour Party Government that seems intent on unchecking and unbalancing Bermuda's current Constitutional safeguards, specifically citing the Premier's recent complaint about "not running" a Police Service which is technically answerable to Government House, as well as its ongoing flirtations with totalitarian regimes.

"Under the Westminster system of Government, we have chosen a system with built-in checks and balances (between the various branches of Government)," he says. "The Premier of Bermuda can never be in charge of the police and its various divisions.

"Only dictators wish to have control of the police and the military, so that their party can enforce on the population, whatever parliamentary decisions they take."