We are now coming to the end of a chapter in Bermuda's history. It is, of course, also the beginning of another chapter. Tuesday, August 15th 1995 is a day when every voter must follow their conscience. I am, as everyone is by now well aware, urging a "No'' vote.

This struggle with the Independence referendum and the rationale behind it has caused many of us grave concern. I and others, especially Ann Cartwright, forced the Government to make a number of concessions which safeguard the rights of Bermudians: Firstly, we forced the Government to produce the Green Paper. We were, however, very displeased with its shallowness which confirmed there was no clear thinking and vision with respect to Independence. Secondly, we requested a White Paper and were thereby responsible for forcing the Government to produce the so-called position papers to allow the fleshing out of the Green Paper to give the voters more direction. Thirdly, we were responsible for producing the formula that a "Yes'' majority, in order to be binding, has to be greater than 40 percent of the registered electorate. This was achieved after five to six hours of wrangling in the UBP caucus against seemingly overwhelming odds. The object of this particular exercise was to force the Government to go some way towards living up to its policy as stated in the 1979 White Paper that, "... it would be morally wrong to take Bermuda into independence without a clear indication that a majority of Bermudians supported it.'' Fourthly, we forced on the Premier and his supporters the Advance Polling day of July 25, at which over 700 people voted.

Were these such right-wing ideas? I think not! It never ceases to amaze me that the present leadership of our party, which likes to talk about democracy, education and checks and balances, was so against those ideas in reality. The leadership instead of embracing those ideas staunchly resisted them.

Speaking of checks and balances, there were very many concerns about the concentration of political power in the hands of the Prime Minister in the position papers. He would directly appoint many more officials than the Premier nows does. These include the Governor-General, Senators, the Public Service Commission, The Judicial and Legal Service Commission, the Police Service Commission, and others. At one point I expressed concern about this concentration of power and one young Cabinet Minister responded: "But Trevor that is the purpose of the exercise!'' One point I wish to make is that I worked hard on refining the drafting of the citizenship section of the position papers, especially with respect to granting status/citizenship to long term residents, because I firmly believe that this is a policy which is right and just whether we go to Independence or not. I have been disappointed by the Minister's reluctance to say that this will be Government policy in any case.

It has become increasingly clear that Independence offers no material advantages for Bermudians. The arguments have lately centred on feel-good benefits of Independence, increases in self-esteem etc. As I have said before we are in no-win situation. If we go to Independence there will be real anger as it will soon become clear that no one's self-esteem will improve because of Independence, except the self-esteem of the new Prime Minister which would inflate immensely! There was a letter to the Editor on July 29 by Samantha Pacheco which quoted Sir Henry Tucker in "Man of Stature'' by J. Randolf Williams as follows: Question -- Is there any way a Government Leader/Premier can wield too much power in Bermuda?'' Sir Henry: "Yes! (pause) Yes! Could happen if he surrounded himself with `yes' men in his Cabinet, and if he took no advice from people better qualified in specific affairs than himself; sure (pause), we and the Island would be in trouble.'' In conclusion, I urge voters to recognise we do not have a consensus on Independence and this is not the time. Let us end this distraction from the real business of the people. As Jim Woolridge said, vote "No'' on August 15 and let's get Bermuda back on track.

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