Independence lobby group Bermudians For Referendum (BFR) will be travelling to London in July to present a petition to the British Government boasting support from more than 30 percent of Bermudian voters.

BFR was formed in January of this year in opposition to Premier Alex Scott?s belief that the question of Independence should be decided by way of a General Election.

A question as fundamentally important as sovereignty should not become bound up in multi-faceted election campaigns, the group argue, but should be decided through a one issue, one vote format ? the ?purest form of democracy? according to BFR representative Michael Marsh.

Mr. Marsh revealed yesterday that petition sheets ? which have been available for people to sign at various retail stores and restaurants throughout the Island for several months ? will be withdrawn on June 15.

They will then embark on the ?rigourous process?, he said, of verifying the legitimacy of all signatures and deleting any names which have been entered multiple times.

However, the final estimated number of 13,000 bona fide signatures is significantly below the 20,000 BFR were touting as a potential target in February. But Mr. Marsh is far from dispirited, pointing out that they already commanded the support of 33 percent of registered Bermudian voters ? well above the constitutional requirement of any other country to force a referendum.

The necessary support to make the use of a referendum obligatory on any issue varies considerably world-wide, from less than three percent of voters in Switzerland where referendums are common-place, to 20 percent in Venezuela, he said.

And according to guidelines laid down by the European Parliament, whose Directives indirectly affect Bermuda as a British colony, a minimum of only five percent needs to be obtained.

?At the end of this process we should have secured over 13,000 signatures out of around 39,000 registered voters,? he said.

?Having looked at the laws in European jurisdictions and elsewhere, we already have hugely in excess of what we need and it would be foolhardy of us to actively pursue more signatures over the next two to three months. People who wish to or have not yet signed have until the 15th to do so.?

Once all the signatures are verified, Mr. Marsh continued, certified copies of all the petition sheets will then be sent to Governor John Vereker, Premier Alex Scott and the Bermuda National Library ? as well as being delivered by hand to Whitehall.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marsh hit back at recent criticism from certain quarters that BFR is nothing more than an anti-independence lobby group cynically masquerading as something entirely different ? sentiments he dismissed as ?unadulterated rubbish?.

?We?ve said from the very beginning we as a body are not here to express a view for or against Independence,? he said.

?Our ambition has always been to make sure that every Bermudian voice is heard when the time comes to decide on the issue of sovereignty and it is our position that a referendum is the best and only way to make that decision. It is the purest form of democracy.?

It was important however, Mr. Marsh added, that a draft constitution be drawn up any vote on the issue of sovereignty.

?While we have been campaigning for a referendum on Independence, we all believe it is important Bermudians are aware of what they are getting themselves in to before any vote is conducted,? he said. ?While the Bermuda Independence Commission has been busy doing its thing, it will not as far as we are aware be drawing up a draft constitution for Bermudians to look at.

?It does not make any sense to hold a referendum without knowing what the new constitution would be. We need to know the context of this new Bermuda before the people have their say.?

Those wishing to sign the petition before June 15 can do so at the Parakeet Restaurant, Speciality Inn, the A1 gas station in Paget, Otto Wurz Gift Shop, Pulp and Circumstance and Great Things.