Premier Alex Scott is intentionally ignoring the will of the people to further his own agenda on Independence, the leader of the lobby group Bermudians for Referendum claimed yesterday.

Michael Marsh told that his organisation had secured "well over" 10,000 signatures on a petition to be submitted to the British government "in due course", and that it was well on the way to their goal of 20,000 ? more than half of registered Bermudian voters.

However, he accused Mr. Scott of acting in an undemocratic fashion by skewing the spirit of the United Kingdom's recent recommendations on the issue.

The British government said earlier this week that a referendum would be their preferred method of decision, although a final determination on the methodology would have to be taken on "a case by case basis".

Mr. Scott, a determined advocate of the General Election route, said yesterday the Cabinet was "gratified" the British Government had not slammed the door on other options ? a comment Mr. Marsh believes is indicative of a concerted effort on the Premier's behalf to pursue his agenda come what may.

A General Election, Mr. Marsh argued, would only be appropriate in a country where the majority of people were in favour of Independence, where the sole question to ask would be which political party is better equipped to lead the charge to sovereignty.

In a country as bitterly divided on the issue as Bermuda, he suggested, to gauge public opinion on Independence through a General Election would "defy common sense".

"In a referendum, you decide for yourself," he said. "It's your 'yes' or 'no' to one simple question. That's called direct democracy.

"In a General Election, you have to vote for someone else to make all the decisions on many different issues. Those elected persons are called politicians. They make promises and decide for you, and they may not decide exactly as you want."

Mr. Marsh was at pains to stress once again, however, that BFR did not have an official stance on Independence itself, but was fighting for the right to have "every opinion on the issue clearly heard".

And when the figure of 20,000 is reached, he said, the petition will then be taken to London and presented to the British Government ? who have the final say on the nature of the decision making process.

"I do need to make clear that this petition is simply a request that every Bermudian has the right to have their say on the issue," he said.

"A lot of people seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that this petition relates to whether you are for or against Independence. This is not, I repeat, not the case. We have said all along that we are not lobbying on Independence itself. We believe a referendum on the issue is the only sensible way of making sure the voice of the people is clearly heard and the Premier's continued decision to ignore the overwhelming majority of Bermudian voters is alarming."

Mr. Marsh said a BFR website would soon be up and running, while he urged anybody with questions or concerns to e-mail the organisation at bfrnorthrock.bm.