Those who continue to push for a constitutional conference on changes to Bermuda's constitution "are disrespectful in the extreme", Government Sen. David Burch said yesterday.

Sen. Burch spoke out during the motion to adjourn in the Senate about the actions of the lobby group the Association for Due Process and the Constitution.

Despite losing a British High Court decision in their attempt to halt the Order in Council allowing the Government to convene a Boundaries Commission to redraw the boundaries of Bermuda's constituencies, the group has vowed to continue fighting.

And Sen. Burch charged the group misrepresented itself when it claimed it is not opposed to Government's proposed changes to Bermuda's electoral system.

"The difficulty for that bunch of people and the Opposition is they claim they don't have a problem with the changes, they have a problem with the process," said Sen. Burch.

. They are not in favour of one man, one vote. But they've got to come out with something to try and sell to the people of this country, so they say it's about the process."

Sen. Burch said the group's position is "rubbish".

"They don't have the courage to stand up and say we're not in favour (of the changes)," he said.

And Sen. Burch supported his statements with reports from the 1966 Constitutional Conference which was held with the British government.

He said the claim of the Due Process group that the British made a promise to hold a conference or referendum on Constitutional change was not accurate and quoted sections of the report.

He said the PLP government had met the terms laid out at that conference that the Government inform both houses of proposed changes in advance and that the possibility of another conference was only if changes were considered of a major nature.

Since a British High Court Judge - Justice Scott Baker - has determined that the changes proposed by the Government are not major, that the Due Process group continued to protest "defies common sense", said Sen. Burch.

He said the group is trying to define "major" for the British high court.

"How dumb are they?" asked Sen. Burch.

The Premier's Chief of Staff said the group is actually three-fifths "card carrying members of the UBP" and their claim that 72 percent of Bermudians are in favour of a conference is "absolute rubbish".

The British government continues to act in the same manner toward Bermuda that it always has, Sen. Burch added, and the people fighting Britain on recent decisions are the same people who previously thought everything Britain did was right.

Sen. Burch's comments were supported by fellow Government Sen. Michael Scott.

Sen. Scott said he too was baffled by the group's commitment to continue fighting for a conference despite the "clear and concise" decision by Justice Scott Baker.

He said the group had been allowed to speak their piece and "this should never be denied", but a decision had been made.

But Opposition Sen. Kim Swan suggested Sen. Burch's position was another example of the attitude expressed when Sen. Burch said Government did not care what 46 percent of the electorate thought.

"We're all in this country together," said Sen. Swan.

again called on Government to conduct a sociological study on Bermuda's population.