Premier Dr. Ewart Brown has referred to Independence twice while speaking to young people in the last few weeks.

On the first occasion he rightly, albeit surprisingly, conceded that a referendum is the right method to use to decide the issue.

This marks a change in Progressive Labour Party policy, which has traditionally shown a preference for deciding the issue via a general election.

Nonetheless, a referendum is the right method, because it would be dangerous to decide the issue through a general election, in which the major issue is which party is best suited to lead the Country. Mixing that question with Independence would lead to confusion about whether a party had a mandate to take Bermuda to Independence or not.

So it is welcome news that that question has been settled, at least while Dr. Brown is Premier.

Dr. Brown has since resisted calls to have an immediate referendum on the question, and rightly so, although not for the reason he gave.

Dr. Brown, who makes no bones about his support for Independence, says holding a referendum now would result in it being defeated, and that would not serve his interests.

The right reason not to hold a referendum now is that there is no drive right now for sovereignty, and Bermuda has enough problems at the moment without going through the costly and distracting exercise of holding a vote.

In speaking at the Bermuda College last week, Dr. Brown, who seems to have taken Julian Hall's advice and is reaching out to the public much more now, said he is mystified that young Bermudians are generally opposed to Independence.

There is no particular mystery here. Young Bermudians stand to benefit most from the British Government's 2001 grant of British passports to Overseas Territories citizens.

This, and the subsequent decision to charge Overseas Territories citizens the same university fees as British citizens gives young Bermudians a tremendous opportunity to boith get a university education in the UK and to work in the UK and the rest of Europe afterwards. If Bermuda became independent, those opportunities would be lost. So it would be madness for young Bermudians to throw that opportunity away, and they are already voting with their feet by going to UK universities in greater numbers than was the case heretofore.

That benefit is also clear to older Bermudians, who while they may not be inclined to leave Bermuda for any length of time, recognise that a vote for Independence would deny opportunities for their descendants.

On a related note, Dr. Brown has said that he plans to lobby European Union nations for visa free access for Bermuda passport holders. This is a needless campaign, because the solution already exists: Bermudians simply need to get the British passport that is their right. And they don't have to give up their Bermuda passport in order to do so. They can have both.

Aside from the passport question, there is no single compelling reason for Independence at this time. That does not mean there are no arguments for Independence. Being an Overseas Territory does mean that the UK does exercise a modicum of control over Bermuda, and there are times when it will prevent the elected Government of Bermuda from following a course of action.

And for black Bermudians in particular, there are no particular links, emotional or otherwise, to the British Government, and some history that can lead to resentment, specifically the question of whether the British Government could have done more to end (and it did not do nothing) formalised segregation sooner.

However, especially now, at a time when the Island's economic future is less certain than it has been in decades, Independence will be costly and it would appear that the Island has more pressing issues to deal with.

Aside from questions of defence and foreign affairs, the checks and balances provided by the British Government also give some comfort to international companies, some of which are less secure in Bermuda than they used to be.

Now is not the time to upset the apple cart, and Dr. Brown would be wise not to add more uncertainty by raising the question.