Bermuda Independence Commission Chairman Bishop Vernon Lambe has come out in support of his under-fire Government liaison Phillip Perinchief, arguing the civil servant had been scrupulously balanced and fair in all his dealings with BIC.

Mr. Perinchief was criticised on Monday by Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons for apparently pro-Independence comments made at a school meeting last week ? comments deemed ?entirely inappropriate? given his strong affiliation with the apolitical, impartial BIC.

Appearing alongside members of the United Nations Decolonisation Committee last Thursday at the Bermuda Institute, Mr. Perinchief argued it was time Bermuda ?moved on to the next stage? beyond our 1960s crafted constitution and that the ?time had come for us to stand up tall and do for ourselves rather than non-Bermudians 4,000 miles away?.

These and other remarks, Dr. Gibbons said, were not the balanced, factual arguments that Premier Alex Scott promised BIC would deliver.

Bishop Lambe however, said that as far as he was concerned, Mr. Perinchief was not speaking on behalf of BIC at that meeting ? despite the fact that he introduced himself to the student body as BIC?s Government liaison ? and he was therefore not prepared to comment directly on the sentiments expressed.

?What I will say is that you have to remember that I did not appoint Mr. Perinchief,? he said. ?He has already said that he was not speaking on behalf of BIC but as a Bermudian citizen.

?I do not have the authority to speak beyond what comes under my remit. But I will say again that in my dealings with him and in his work with BIC, he has served us very well and has always worked with sincerity and credibility, neither for nor against Independence.?

Meanwhile, Mr. Scott was in Cabinet for most of yesterday and was unavailable for comment for the second day in a row.

Whether or not the Premier approves of Government?s BIC liaison offering his opinions on Independence in a public forum given the sensitive nature of his role is a question which remains unanswered.

As a long-time and outspoken advocate of Independence, Mr. Perinchief?s appointment to the key post in December of last year inevitably raised questions as to the impartiality of the process. At the time Mr. Scott denied there was any conflict of interest by having Mr. Perinchief in the role, arguing that as a lawyer he would be able to argue both sides of the case ? an argument fatally undermined, Dr. Gibbons has suggested, by Mr. Perinchief?s words.

Mr. Perinchief himself has presented a mixed-message on the row.

On the one hand he has said that he was merely passing on information, particularly in relation to the economic implications of Independence, gleaned from overseas authorities since he began working with BIC.

On the other, however, he has admitted that some of his comments were made from a personal perspective as a Bermudian ? precisely the thing the Opposition argue he is not entitled to do as a civil servant working with BIC.