Any questions on why it took so long for the joint communiqu? on the meeting between Premier Alex Scott and UK Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell were answered when it was finally released on Monday.

Joint statements are easy to write when the two sides are in agreement. They are a good deal harder when there are differences of opinion.

Reading between the lines of Monday's statement, it is clear that Britain regards Mr. Scott's belief that it should pay for the removal of asbestos left at the former US Baselands is a non-starter.

But in diplomatic circles, saving face is important, so Mr. Rammell has promised to look into alternative sources of funding. The odds are that those sources either won't be found or will be located in Bermuda's own Budget.

Mr. Scott also received assurances that Britain was not seeking "new powers" over its colonies, according to the release.

This is a reference to Mr. Scott's vague statement before his departure for London that Britain appeared to be tightening its grip on Bermuda based on "various correspondence".

Now, based on the communiqu?, it would appear that nothing of the sort is going on. But Britain does have contingent liabilities that it must account for and it also has responsibilities to international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that it must meet.

This is nothing new and Bermuda has had a reasonably free hand to make its case on these kinds of issues in the past.

Indeed, it is strange that Bermuda is prepared to wait for the UK to conduct its own study on asbestos disposal when it could as well get on with resolving the issue on its own. That is what self-government is all about.

Instead, the Government seems to suffer from schizophrenia when dealing with Britain.

The former United Bermuda Party government was ready and prepared to negotiate the transfer on its own, and its leaders have argued that they could have achieved a better deal than the one that the British ultimately negotiated.

The current Government instead handed negotiating power to Britain, accepted the deal that was made, and now wants to hold Britain responsible for tying up loose ends such as disposal of asbestos and the other environmental problems that the US left behind.

But when Britain offers assistance in other circumstances, as in the aftermath of Fabian, the Island turns the offer down, saying it can handle it itself.

The current Government has made much of its good relations with the Labour Government in the UK, and has certainly spent enough money at Labour Party conferences to have earned Labour's undying friendship.

But Bermuda has not seen much as a result of its investment and the time has come to ask whether all the trips and glad-handing have been worth it.