the British Government failed to pass on invitations to a United Nations seminar on decolonisation to its dependent territories, thus precluding them from attending.

"If the British Government receives invitations to forward to its dependent territories, it does that with dispatch,'' Mr. Willis said. "It is preposterous to suggest the British Government would delay those invitations.'' He claimed it was the United Nations, not the Foreign Office to blame for the delay. The invitations were only issued in the middle of June, he said.

Yesterday Cabinet Secretary Mr. Leo Mills admitted that the Premier had received an invitation to the Caribbean Regional Seminar in Trinidad, but that it had only arrived last week -- too late to make arrangements to attend.

"The invitation arrived very, very late,'' he said. But he refused to speculate on the reason for the delay.

Committee for the Independence of Bermuda Chairman Mr. Walton Brown Jr.

claimed a source within the United Nations had revealed that a number of British dependent territories had not received invitations to the seminar.

Even though the British government had pulled out of the United Nations decolonialisation conference, it still had an obligation to pass on information, Mr. Brown claimed.

"One of the disturbing aspects of the conference itself is the role of the British Government,'' he said. "It is consistent with the British Government's policy of not recognising the work of the UN in this arena and will run contrary to the interest of the colonies such as Bermuda. In our view this is inappropriate conduct.'' Mr. Willis said Britain had long held the view that it was for the territories themselves to decide their constitutional future.

"The policy is to neither to encourage nor discourage them from becoming independent,'' he said. "It really is a matter for the people themselves to decide.'' In the absence of a Government representative, Mr. Brown will be Bermuda's only delegate at the conference which begins on Monday.

He is to present a paper entitled: "Self-Determination and the Art of Politics: Lessons from the Bermudian Experience'' detailing a number of recommendations outlining steps to self-determination.

The conference, which was held in 1990 and 1992, is hosted by the United Nations to bring together all Britain's remaining dependent territories. It is one of a number of activities marking the decade formally declared by the UN as the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.