IF you remain somebody's colony, you should not be surprised that you will be treated like a colony. That was my first thought as I heard the Progressive Labour Party Government's reaction to the loud hint dropped by Governor Sir John Vereker that Bermuda's much vaunted internal self-government might be the subject of some modification in the future.

Nothing occurs in a vaccum ? certainly nothing to do with politics.

So even astatement couched in soothing diplomatic language about the island's future made by Britain's plenipotentiary representative in Bermuda cannot be ignored.

Bermuda's Governor may be a curious anachronism in the eyes of much of the world but he does hold real power in the Bermuda context. The island is still a British Overseas Territory, after all, and the Governor not only retains certain reserve powers pertaining to internal security and external relations but also plays the role of an ambassador of sorts whose duty is to convey his country's policies towards Bermuda to the Government.

So recent comments made by both the Governor and Deputy Governor cannot be dismissed as the isolated ramblings of high officials.

Indeed, the Governor's comments on the subject of Bermuda's internal self-government should leave us in no doubt as to the future direction of Britain's thoughts and actions regarding its few remaining Overseas Territories.

Since the earliest days of its settlement Bermuda has always jealously guarded its status as a self-governing colony. Indeed, the island has never been a Crown Colony ? ruled directly from London ? and boasts one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. Historically, the British have allowed Bermudians to govern themselves while retaining responsibility for foreign relations.

However, in reality the British have never hesitated to override Bermuda's self-governing status when London deemed that it was in its interests to do so.

Consequently, it was the British who determined that Bermuda would serve as an American military base during the Second World War and then as a US outpost during the Cold War.

The original plans, when announced in 1940, sent shock waves through Bermuda's political leadership of the day for they called for a divided Bermuda, with the proposed US military installation taking up much of Southampton and Warwick, with an airstrip extending into the Great Sound.

Hastily convened meetings with the British demanded by Bermuda's political leadership resuilted in a compromise plan, one which saved Bermuda from literally being cut in two. Two US bases were built, one at the East End and a smaller one in the Great Sound.

Bermudians prevailed in that situation. But the odds were very much against them. For instance, the unfortunate people of the Chagos archipelago off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean became victims of British complicity with Washington when the Pentagon decided to turn their homeland into a major military base.

The Chagos people were expelled en masse from their island home, now known as the American military base of Diego Garcia.

Recently, the Chagos people continued to be victims of Cold War politics when a British judge turned down their claim for compensation, citing the length of time that had elapsed between them being expelled and their legal challenge to that event.

reality is that Bermuda got the best deal that it could during World War Two. But there was never any question that Bermuda was in position to say "no" to the building of American military bases here ? its much vaunted self-governing status notwithstanding.

And during the Cold War, when Bermuda served as a trip-wire for the defence of America's east coast against prowling Soviet submarines, did we have a right to ask about defence plans for Bermuda itself in the event of warfare?

Apart from some statements on the part of the then-Opposition Progressive Labour Party about Bermuda being a target ? statements quickly shot down by the then-United Bermuda Party Government with claims of ingratitude towards the Americans who built the airstrip that served as Bermuda's airport ? the question of Bermudian defence during an East/West war was never addressed.

But I wonder if hidden away somewhere in the British archives such plans exist. After all, Soviet submarines armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles surely would have taken action against the American P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft designed to hunt them and based in Bermuda.

After all, it is widely believed that the Pentagon stored nuclear depth charges in Bermuda that the Orions would have dropped on Soviet subs in the event that war was declared.

Perhaps these questions will be answered in the future.

And would it not be a shock to find out that there were no defence plans for Bermuda, that the wartime operational value of the American forces based in Bermuda was calculated in hours and that the 60,000 Bermudian souls were to be considered as so much collateral damage ? their island home a completely expendable nuclear disaster area.

As we suddenly become aware of the value of our self-governing status, we seem to have overlooked the slow seepage of that status.The liberalisation of the law pertaining to homosexuality and the abolishment of corporal and capital punishment ? although the subjects of legislative changes in Bermuda's Parliament ? were nevertheless all but forced on Bermuda.

The island was warned that if it did not take these steps, then Britain would take them for us. I found the comments of Julian Hall on the limits of Bermuda's self-governing status in last week's edition of the to be most interesting. I too have called for Bermuda to find its own voice on the international stage but I am not sure if that will happen given our current colonial status.

The fact the Bank of Bermuda has been acquired by the banking consortium HSBC may be a metaphor for the future of Bermuda overall as far as a deepening British control of our affairs is concerned,

Mr. Hall, however, I am not sure when Bermuda as a British Overseas Territory will be ultimately swallowed by the dictates of the European Union since Britain under Tony Blair remains unsure if it is a part of Europe or the Western Hemisphere.

The UK has yet to adopt the European common currency, the euro, and now Blair is threatening to veto the new European constitution on the grounds that too much power may be stripped from Westminster and delegated to Brussels.