As the Bermuda Independence Commission started work in January more Bermudians appear to have made up their minds about Independence ? and they don't want it.

Support for Independence slipped in all but one of the social categories in the opinion poll.

Meanwhile, support for a referendum over a General Election to decide the issue has leapt up by some ten percent. In January's Research Innovations random telephone poll of 401 voters, 65.2 percent of those polled, or 259 people, said they were opposed to Independence for Bermuda, up from 61.4 percent in November, 2004.

The percentage of those supporting Independence has slipped from 21.4 percent in November to 18.9 percent in January, while those who were unsure have dwindled from 17.2 percent to 15.9 percent.

In the January poll, Independence found its largest support base among seniors ? 20.7 percent ? and the least support among Bermuda's young people, 16.7 percent. Men were significantly more supportive of the idea than women (27.2 percent to 12.7 percent).

Down racial lines, 26.2 percent of black Bermudians supported Independence and 57.8 percent opposed it.

Of white Bermudians, 7.7 percent were in support and 80.3 percent opposing. Lower-income households showed the least inclination towards Independence, with 15.6 percent in support and 72.2 percent opposing. Middle-income families gave the idea the most support at 24.7 percent ? the only social bracket to show an increase in support for sovereignty (up from 21.8 percent in November).

Of high-income families, 20.2 percent supported breaking away from Britain.

The question of whether the issue should be decided by referendum or General Election appeared to be more volatile than the question of Independence itself, with many social brackets notably varying their support/opposition to each option in comparison with November.

Overall, support for a referendum grew from 59.5 percent to 69.4 percent. The percentage of black Bermudians supporting a referendum leapt from 45.1 percent in November to 54.9 percent in January. White Bermudian support followed suit, rocketing from 75.7 percent for a referendum in November to 93.7 percent in January. However, support for a General Election increased significantly in several areas, particularly in lower-income households (35.6 percent in January as opposed to 25.5 percent in November); and among men (29.5 percent in January compared to 19.3 percent in November).

Prior to seeing the poll numbers regarding Independence, Premier Alex Scott said yesterday that Government's focus remains on housing, seniors, and education, with the Social Agenda outlining the plan forward. "However," he added, "the Government must look to the future, and and its readers will be acutely aware of the BIC and its mandate to provide Bermudians with an opportunity to learn about all of the important aspects of continuing as a dependent territory or taking a decision to move to sovereignty."

The combination of a short-term and a long-term plan for the country left Mr. Scott sure that, once the Social Agenda begins to bear fruit, "the understanding and appreciation of the public will become more evident."

The margin of error for the poll is 4.9 percent and the data was collected between January 17-20.