Bermuda last night edged closer towards a constitutional crisis after Public Safety Minister David Burch called on the Governor to relinquish control of the Police.

Senator Burch — speaking less than a week after Premier Ewart Brown threatened to “suspend further business” with Sir John Vereker — said the Governor should hand over his constitutional responsibility for the Police “in the interests of what is best for Bermuda”.

His prepared speech to the Senate marked a clear escalation in what is thought to be an unprecedented row between the elected leaders of the country and Government House.

The rift was sparked last Friday by a Mid-Ocean News story which claimed that a leaked Police dossier revealed that the Premier and a handful of former Ministers were investigated by detectives probing allegations of corruption at Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC).

Pro-Independence Dr. Brown claimed in a television and radio address that evening that Sir John had not done enough to secure the Police file and warned him to get to the bottom of the leak or face a revolt by Cabinet.

Last night, former Premier Alex Scott warned that the situation could spiral into “a local version of what happened in ... southern Rhodesia; a Unilateral Declaration of Independence”.

Former Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness claimed that giving the Government total control of the Police would create “a tremendous conflict and lead us more and more towards a dictatorship”.

The Opposition last night called for a Royal Commission to investigate the handling of the BHC probe. Dr. Brown yesterday refused to answer questions about his stand-off with the Governor.

The Premier also declined to go into detail about when and why he asked Sir John to secure the Police file.

One legal expert said the timing of his request to the Governor was key. “We do not know when the offending papers were removed or copied from the Police files,” he said. “If that removal or copying took place prior to the Premier’s request of the Governor to secure those papers, then this fiasco has all the hallmarks of a contrived constitutional crisis.”

Sen. Burch yesterday claimed Sir John was “solely responsible” for the Police. The Constitution does afford the Governor special responsibility for the Police but the Police Act 1974 states that the service is under the command of the Police Commissioner.

Last night, Government House sought to clarify the position. It said in a statement that though the Governor was ultimately in charge of all business relating to the Police, many responsibilities had been delegated to the relevant Minister for the last three decades. “That arrangement and the resulting close collaboration on law and order issues between elected Ministers and the Governor has stood Bermuda in good stead for some thirty years,” said the statement.

Mr. Edness said giving the Minister sole control of the Police would create “serious problems” for the country. “The Police are supposed to be independent,” he said. The former United Bermuda Party Minister added that when he held the Home Affairs portfolio he had delegated powers for much of the day-to-day running of the service, with the Commissioner being responsible for handling investigations. The Governor took more of a distant overview of the service, he added.

In all of the 14 British Overseas Territories, operational responsibility for the Police rests with the Governor. One former senior Police officer said yesterday: “The last thing you want is a Minister controlling operations and making decisions because the next step will be Ministers...controlling investigations. The Constitution and Police Act have been written the way they are for good reason.”

Mr. Scott told The Royal Gazette he was surprised by the Premier’s warning salvo to the Governor and by Sen. Burch’s remarks yesterday. “You can press the case in many different ways before you suspend relations,” he said.

“I don’t know what might have transpired to cause the Premier to take that step but from my experience when we had difficulties with the Governor we elected to take our view and position to Whitehall (i.e. the British Government).

“Maybe the Premier went that route and did not get the satisfaction. Knowing the constitutional order, I was surprised that the Premier chose that but he may have good reason.”

Asked what could happen next, Mr. Scott, who is also pro-Independence, said: “As close as I can come is that we would have a local version of what happened in, I think, southern Rhodesia; a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.”

The African country declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1965 in a move condemned as illegal by the British government, the Commonwealth and the United Nations.

Mr. Edness said Dr. Brown’s threat to the Governor suggested he could be using the row to divert attention from the BHC probe or using the BHC issue as an opportunity to put the Island on “a course to Independence”.

“I don’t think that that’s going to be acceptable to the people of Bermuda,” he said. “I don’t think people wish to be coerced into Independence that way. I think it will very much backfire because Bermudians aren’t stupid.”

The Mid-Ocean News story claimed that Dr. Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith and former Ministers Nelson Bascome, Renée Webb and Arthur Hodgson were all investigated by fraud squad officers. None have ever been charged with any offence connected to BHC. Former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said many of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics and that some escaped prosecution due to Bermuda’s antiquated corruption laws.

The BHC investigation is believed to have cost the taxpayer $8m and led to one person being jailed. Terrence Smith, a junior BHC officer, was found guilty and jailed last year on 41 counts of fraud. A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London said: “We are confident that business will continue to be conducted as usual.”