forges closer links with Europe, a Cabinet Minister predicted yesterday.

Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess claimed he has already paid "the ultimate price'' for conflicts between Bermuda and the UK. He blamed the flap over Bermuda's pull-out from the 1986 Commonwealth Games for the loss of his Hamilton West seat in the 1989 general election.

And he said the Island could again see conflict over the local decision to hang convicted murderer Rudolph West. The UK has been urging Bermuda to abolish capital punishment.

In other Independence developments: Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan responded to referendum concerns voiced by the Island's two top bankers, denying that other pressing problems were being neglected while the Independence debate rages.

Community and Culture Minister the Hon. Wayne Furbert threw his support behind Deputy Premier the Hon. Irving Pearman as Sir John's successor, should the Premier resign as promised after a referendum `no' vote.

Mr. Burgess, who was Minister of Youth and Sport in 1986, pointed to the Commonwealth Games in Scotland when asked how dependent territory status caused problems for Bermuda on the world stage.

"The Bermudian people wanted to put sanctions on South Africa,'' he said.

"Britain's position was that she did not support sanctions.

"We were tearing each other apart, calling each other racists, accusing each other of not understanding one another.

"What we really didn't understand was that we were expected to take the British line. Clearly, what the Bermudian people wanted and what the British Government said we had to accept were gulfs apart.'' The sanctions controversy raged at the time of the Commonwealth Games and Mr.

Burgess wrote the Bermuda Olympic Association urging it to reconsider its decision to leave Bermuda's athletes in the games. The team was finally withdrawn amid confusion and recriminations.

"When the Bermudian people wanted to act in an independent way, I paid the ultimate price -- my seat. The scapegoat was Maxwell Burgess,'' he said. "I was ridiculed in the Press.

"The potential, as Britain goes into Europe, to produce more conflict, is real.'' Mr. Burgess said his feeling was not "anti-British,'' but "pro-Bermuda.'' "I respect Britain's position to take care of her people first,'' Mr. Burgess said. "We have the same obligation to Bermuda.'' Burgess: More conflict between Bermuda, UK Asked about the recent death sentence imposed on Bermudian Rudolph West for the murder of his estranged wife Rochelle West, Mr. Burgess said: "As you know, we've sentenced more than one person to death where we've had English Governors commute those sentences.

"I don't know, when the matter comes before the Governor, what he will do.'' The Premier, meanwhile, defended his decision to resign unless Bermuda votes `yes' to Independence, and responded to concerns voiced over the weekend by Bank of Bermuda chairman Mr. Eldon Trimingham and Bank of Butterfield chairman the Hon. Sir David Gibbons.

Sir John agreed with the bankers that Independence should remain the focus of the plebiscite, but said it was Independence critics who had turned it into a poll on his leadership.

"It is clear that if the vote is against Bermuda moving to Independence, the governing party would undergo both an ideological and philosophical shift which would oblige the Cabinet supporters of Independence to sit out their parliamentary terms on the back bench,'' Sir John said.

Yesterday, Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness brought his stance into line with Sir John's, saying those Cabinet Ministers who resign after a `no' vote "won't be in anyone's Cabinet after that. We'll be in the back bench''.

That also applied to Deputy Premier the Hon. Irving Pearman, he said. "I'm not prepared to be the leader or part of a Cabinet with the group that has maligned Sir John,'' Mr. Edness said. Earlier, Mr. Edness had not ruled out returning to Cabinet under Sir John's successor. The Premier's statement yesterday would appear to include Mr. Furbert and Senator the Hon. Gerald Simons, two Cabinet Ministers who publicly favour Independence but have made no resignation pledges.

The Premier rejected Sir David's view that pro-Independence Ministers would lose credibility in the event of a `no' vote. "On the contrary,'' those Ministers would have worked for Independence just as they had "worked long and hard over many years to produce equality and fairness in Bermuda'', he said.

"Pressing problems'' referred to by Mr. Trimingham were "being addressed'', not neglected as the bank chairman suggested.

Sir John cited Bermuda's takeover of responsibility for the Airport and progress in combatting drugs, reforming education, and improving waste treatment.

It was "high time for Bermudians to join hands to build a better society...based on mutual respect and equality,'' Sir John said.

Independence would "set the stage for that''.

Mr. Furbert, who had just returned from abroad, said yesterday that he would not be issuing the same resignation threat as some of his Cabinet colleagues.

"If the people say it's `no', then I will live by the decision,'' he said.

Mr. Furbert noted that the Cabinet would be dissolved in any case if the Premier resigned, as The Royal Gazette reported earlier. He would have to assess whether he would return to Cabinet under Sir John's successor. Until yesterday, only Mr. Burgess had said he would move to the back bench for the life of the current Parliament in the event of a `no' vote.

Mr. Furbert expressed concern for the future of the UBP should Sir John resign. Nobody in the UBP could attract black voters like Sir John could, Mr.

Furbert said.

"With Sir John going, there's a significant gamble whether the UBP can win the next election. I hope that Irving Pearman will take up the reins.

"I think Irving Pearman right now is the only person who can probably pull the party together, despite his (pro-Independence) views.'' Mr. Furbert, who was not an MP at the time, said he supported the Hon. C.V.

(Jim) Woolridge in the 1982 leadership race that led to Sir John's selection, but he would not support Mr. Woolridge now. If Mr. Pearman, Mr. Edness, and Mr. Burgess -- who all represent marginal constituencies -- were to leave politics, "you're talking about almost the end of the UBP'', Mr. Furbert said.