Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert has criticised the Premier for making remarks about slavery during a radio interview on independence.

Mr. Furbert claimed the Premier made the comments on Friday on VSB Radio in response to a press conference he had held the day before during which he called for an immediate referendum on whether Bermuda should sever ties with the UK.

Mr. Furbert had said that recent polls indicated a lack of support for the Island going it alone and a desire for a referendum to be held on the subject.

He told last night that the Premier appeared to be saying that if a poll had been taken of slave masters as to whether slavery should end, they would have rejected the idea, and that polls should not always be taken into account.

Mr. Furbert said he was surprised by how often the Premier referred to slavery during the interview.

?It was unnecessary and suggests to me that his thinking on the issue, and maybe others, is really shut down,? said Mr. Furbert. ?It seems to me that whenever the PLP use slavery to make their arguments about an issue that they really don?t have anything constructive or positive to say about a way forward.?

He added: ?My call for a referendum soon was about moving the country forward so we can bring better focus to other issues that really matter to people.

?What we got instead from the Premier was something vague with references to the worst aspect of our history.?

The Premier told that the Government did not intend to rush the public to a decision because Mr. Furbert wanted to politicise the issue of independence.

Mr. Furbert said: ?He?s got it wrong. This is not about the UBP or the PLP; it?s about the people and their clear wish to have a referendum.?