proposals to the British Government on the Island's constitutional status.

What has been confirmed is that Ms Gordon and some of her colleagues made informal suggestions to the British Government that more control of the Police be transferred to the Government from the Governor and that the Governor should be Bermudian.

Ms Gordon has characterised these points as trial balloons, but if that's the case, it is not clear why they were floated.

That's because both points would be fresh steps towards Independence, which was overwhelmingly rejected two years ago. The 1995 Referendum, to all intents and purposes, was a vote for retaining the status quo.

On the question of increased Government control of the Police Commissioner, Ms Gordon is treading on dangerous ground. There is a great weight of public opinion that believes the Police Commissioner should be more independent of politicians, not less, in the wake of Colin Coxall's departure. Of course, there are also many who believe the Police should be placed more firmly under the control of the Government.

This newspaper has already made it clear that it favours the former position, and there's no need here to belabour the point again. What needs to be emphasised is that the whole question of control of the Police is bound to be highly divisive and there is no assurance that Ms Gordon could build a consensus on it.

Bermuda does not need further divisions on constitutional matters and any negotiating positions -- as opposed to "trial balloons'', should be established after the Government has established a national consensus following full public consultation.

If Mr. Coxall did lose the confidence of the Government, as it appears he did, then the system as it stands surely worked to Government's satisfaction -- he is gone. Public dismay over his departure has less to do with the manner of his going than the reason why -- and that has still not been satisfactorily explained.

The proposals for a Bermudian Governor are less contentious, at least in Bermuda.

But Britain would probably be unenthusiastic about the idea because of the division of responsibility facing a Governor as both de facto head of state and the senior representative of the British Government in Bermuda. This requires that he or she be both an advocate for Bermuda in Whitehall while remaining accountable to the Foreign Office. Inevitably, a Bermudian Governor's loyalties would be suspect.

It can be argued that the current situation already exists in reverse, in which a British Governor's first loyalty will always be to London, not Bermuda. But balanced against that is the full weight of the elected Bermudian Government which acts as a check on the Governor's power. Britain's leaders would probably feel that any changes would weigh too greatly against them, leaving them with plenty of responsibility but no power.

By all accounts, Ms Gordon did not get into serious discussions with the British Government about these points when she met with Baroness Symonds and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook this week. Instead the meetings seem to have been get acquainted sessions.

But before Bermuda and the rest of the dependent territories get down to serious talks with Britain, Ms Gordon should make public what other trial balloons she has floated on Bermuda's behalf.

And she should begin an open debate on what changes in Bermuda's constitutional position Bermudians desire.