BRITAIN is already a month late in making an announcement on its policy regarding the mechanism Bermuda and other Overseas Territories should use to achieve Independence.

And, according to Government House, the decision that was promised by Christmas by Britain's Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell is unlikely to come "any time soon".

Premier Alex Scott said after his visit last September to the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) meeting in London that Britain had admitted it had no clear policy on whether its territories should hold a referendum on Independence, or whether it could be achieved through a General Election. But Mr. Scott added that Mr. Rammell had promised to determine the policy by Christmas.

Deputy Governor Nick Carter said yesterday that no decision had been made yet and Mr. Rammell's Christmas target had been somewhat ambitious.

"Nothing has happened as yet," Mr. Carter said. "I can assure you that Mr. Rammell certainly has not written to the Premier or any of the other Chief Ministers of the Overseas Territories.

"The Foreign Office is still working on the policy and the indication is that it will not be announced any time soon. We don't know how long this will take but it has reached ministerial level and Ministers are their own masters."

Premier Scott confirmed yesterday that no correspondence had come from London to him, but indicated no great concern about the delay.

"I would get any information from Mr. Rammell through the offices of Government House and, as has been indicated by Government House, there has been nothing forthcoming to date," Mr. Scott said. "We, like Government House, will await Mr. Rammell's comments on the subject."

At the London meeting, Mr. Rammell invited all the territories to submit written opinions on whether a referendum or a General Election should be the mechanism for determining sovereignty.

At the 2003 OTCC meeting, it was reported that the British took the position that a referendum should be used to decide the question of Independence for Bermuda. But that was before Premier Scott told Mr. Rammell he disagreed and backed a General Election on the issue.

Mr. Rammell subsequently backed down from the referendum position to no position.

The governing Progressive Labour Party's position has long been that a winning General Election vote for a party advocating Independence should suffice.

But the Opposition United Bermuda Party's policy is that a referendum should be the only way to gauge whether the public wanted the country to sever Constitutional ties with the UK.

Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons yesterday urged the British to state their policy on an Independence voting mechanism as soon as possible.

"It's interesting that the British Government is not in any real rush, but it would be helpful to get an indication from them on what their policy is," Dr. Gibbons said.

"I would that they would say the referendum is the preferred route, so people can be focused on the one issue rather than the multiplicity of issues that people base their decisions on in a General Election."

He also pointed out that Britain and other European Union members would be staging referenda on the issue of an EU Constitution.

And he cited the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao as an example of a territory that will hold a referendum on its sovereignty this spring. Curacao, which has a population of 150,000, will hold the vote on April 8, when voters will choose between four options.

They can opt for the status quo, with Curacao remaining part of the Dutch Antilles, or choose to be an autonomous country within the kingdom of the Netherlands, so-called status aparte. Another choice is to effectively become a province of the Netherlands. And they could also vote for Independence.

Dr. Gibbons added that Premier Scott had "no mandate to raise the issue of Independence".

"Independence was not part of the PLP platform in the 2003 General Election, nor in 1998, nor in 1993," Dr. Gibbons said. "What is probably apparent to most people is that there is no one pushing for Independence in Bermuda except for Alex Scott.

"All the market research carried out on the subject suggest that the Independence issue takes a back seat behind issues like housing and seniors. It is clear from our perspective that Independence is simply being used by the Premier as a distraction from the incredible lack of performance of his Government on bread and butter issues for Bermudians."

Meanwhile Michael Marsh, one of the organisers of Bermudians for Referendum (BFR), the group campaigning for an Independence referendum, reported yesterday that an overwhelming majority of people the group had approached wanted to sign its petition.

"We don't want to give updates on numbers, but our target is for 20,000-plus signatures and, at the rate we're going, it won't be much longer before we've got that," Mr. Marsh said.

"Of the people we've approached, I would say that only around five per cent don't want to sign the petition, for whatever reason. It really does not appear to matter what walk of life they are from, we are finding that people want to express their will through a referendum."

BFR volunteers were operating 20 signature centres in shops and other public places around the island, Mr. Marsh said. And there was also a "clipboard army" of people seeking more signatories.

"Some people have confused what we're doing with the issue of Independence," Mr. Marsh said. "We are not asking people to vote 'yes' or 'no', just to ask for the right to have a referendum."

He added that when the petition, which allows only registered Bermuda voters to sign, reached its target, it would be delivered, by hand, to UK Government offices in London.

Anyone interested can contact BFR at the e-mail address, BFRnorthrock.bm.