conscience. The time has come now to ignore the politicians and to try to ignore all of the misleading information and the political agendas and make a personal decision on how to vote. The answer is to make a choice without reference to all the multitude of pressures being applied in Bermuda right now.

No-one has a right to ask you not to vote, nor should they do so in a democratic society. It is also grossly unfair for anyone to subject you to pressure which amounts to "vote as I say or you will suffer the consequences''. Independence is forever. Politicians come and politicians go but Bermuda will go on.

A referendum on the future of the Country is not and should not be confused with a general election. In general elections politicians make political points in the hope of attracting votes, one party against the other, one in power and one in opposition. They want to win a majority of seats so that they can govern. They want to run the Country according to their political philosophy. But a referendum is a one person, one vote democratic decision on a major issue. The public chooses "yes'' or "no'' according to each individual conscience. No politician should make the choice for you or influence you in any way except with honest information.

It seems to us that the politicians lost their way on Independence and tried to turn the debate into a party political contest. The leaders of the PLP asked their followers not to vote at all while the leaders of the UBP asked their followers to vote against the wishes of the UBP's basic following.

What started as a free and open debate quickly turned into a bitter and nasty political contest. Those who have taken part in the debate, even those like Mr. Peter Lloyd who have tried to be fair and honest brokers, have been abused. But a referendum should not be a contest of political wills. It should be a free choice according to each individual conscience of members of the public. That is the reason the public information supplied by Government should have been fair and unbiased rather than politicised.

After the referendum the political parties will still be here. They will still have their points of view and their supporters and detractors and they will still have their voters and their seats in the House and the Senate. There will still be elections based on political choice.

But an Independence vote is a free choice for your conscience.

Simply vote "YES'' if you think Bermuda and Bermudians will be better off after Independence and "NO'' if you think Bermuda and Bermudians will not be better off after Independence.