Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert's call last week for a referendum to be held as soon as possible is correct.

It is very difficult now, after more than a year of discussion and debate, to expect any significant change in people's thinking about the issue, barring some entirely new element entering the debate.

Absent of that, there is now an abundance of information on Independence, there have been numerous forums along with hundreds of newspaper pages and hours of talk shows devoted to the subject. Anyone who has not come to a reasoned conclusion on the question probably never will.

It would seem that Premier Alex Scott and the Independence enthusiasts in the Government are waiting for "something to turn up", but that's no reason to have the Country go over the same old ground ad nauseam.

Mr. Scott is now in something of a box, having agreed to the principle of a referendum in talks with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

To be sure, he has proposed that it be held at the same time as a general election or shortly thereafter. But the fact that he has now accepted the idea of a referendum makes it much harder for him or the Government to determine when it should be held. If there is a good deal of public support for not extending the debate, and for holding a vote sooner rather than later, Mr. Scott will look increasingly as if he is trying to buy more time to change people's minds.

In doing so, he is already giving the impression of desperation, not least with the comments he reportedly made this past weekend on VSB Radio. Comparing opponents of Independence to "slave masters" is seemingly the last throw of the dice for Mr. Scott, and it is disappointing too, because while he seems unable or unwilling to stop his Ministers from playing the race card, he has not done so himself, with the infamous Tony Brannon e-mail being the sole exception.

For whatever it is worth, this newspaper is not opposed to the idea of Independence, in the sense that it believes Bermuda would probably be successful as an Independent nation.

That is not to say that the move does not contain risks, and it would certainly be costly. The problem is that no one has been able to present any compelling arguments for why Bermudians would be better off under Independence than they are under the status quo, which provides some advantages and very limited and extraordinarily benign governance from the UK.

Indeed, if anything has reduced support for Independence on this occasion, it is the decision to give Bermudians UK passports. That seems to be a compelling reason for young people to support Bermuda remaining an Overseas Territory, and as Mr. Furbert rightly noted, parents are also loath to take this opportunity away from their children by voting for Independence.

This has not been a wasted exercise, but with no compelling reason to change, and good reasons (not the least of which is the passport) to remain as we are, there is little point in continuing this debate when the Government and the people of Bermuda have much more pressing problems to deal with. Let's have the vote now and settle it, at least for the foreseeable future.