Government heads from five of Britain's remaining colonies will hold a summit meeting in Bermuda next week to thrash out a united front for a major conference of the UK Dependent Territories in London next month.

And the pan-Caribbean and Bermuda conference -- the brainchild of Premier Pamela Gordon -- will stake a claim for the Island to take the moral lead amid a major rewrite of the UK's relations with its satellite states.

Ms Gordon said yesterday: "We felt it would be helpful for us to be a leader and take the initiative....and determine what issues we have in common so we can give each other support.'' She added that it was now clear that UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook would not be making a major policy announcement when he addresses the London conference.

But she said: "It will be helpful if we have already come together as a group so we can have some strength in our unity.'' And she added Chief Ministers from Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos will attend, plus their entourages, making around a dozen delegates.

Ms Gordon said the Chief Minister of the Caymans will be unable to attend because of negotiations over air links at home.

But she added: "He does intend to send some kind of representation thought a document so we can continue to be a unified group before we go to London.'' The news came as it was confirmed by the Premier that she and Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness, backed by Cabinet Secretary Leo Mills and Labour and Home Affairs Permanent Secretary John Drinkwater will travel to London for the Dependent Territories Association conference.

Bermuda is the most populous Dependent Territory since the handover to Hong Kong last year and makes up more than a quarter of the total 200,000 residents in the dozen or so colonies, five of them in the Caribbean.

Ms Gordon added it made sense for the Caribbean Territories and Bermuda to stick together. She said: "We have very similar industry -- we are very tourism-related and most of the islands are as well. Some have adopted international business too.'' On the agenda for the mini-conference next Thursday and Friday will be the three issues Britain asked for the Dependent Territories views on -- citizenship, constitutional status and a possible name change to something less patronising than Dependent Territories.

But Ms Gordon said the two-day discussion will only use the UK parameters as a starting point.

She added she expected other topics -- like international business and the international problem of white-collar crime and money-laundering -- to come up.

Ms Gordon declined to say how much hosting the Hamilton Princess event will cost -- but insisted it was "very little.'' It is understood that the Princess group and airlines have all offered special deals for the overseas governments.

But Ms Gordon said that the Island -- because of the volcano-ravaged economy of Montserrat -- had offered financial assistance to that island's government if needed.

She added: "For what we hope to get out of it, we don't believe the cost of the conference is going to be prohibitive at all.'' The move has the backing of Governor Thorold Masefield, who will throw a reception for the delegates out of his Government House budget.

Ms Gordon said: "The Governor has been apprised of this from the very start -- he is supportive and will be in attendance for the opening of the conference. We feel there is great support for what we are doing.'' Ms Gordon added that only governments -- not opposition parties -- had been invited to attend the Bermuda summit.

She said that governments traditionally represent the views of the people abroad.

And Ms Gordon added: "The Opposition have already outlined that they have chosen to do their own thing.''