A British MP at the heart of the Foreign Affairs Committee probe into Overseas Territories has denied that its report was one-sided.

The committee recommended phasing out conscription, a review of voting rights for long-term residents and the outlawing of discrimination based on sexual orientation in a wide-ranging report released last week.

But it came under attack from Government with Labour, Home Affairs and Housing Minister David Burch saying the FAC MPs who visited Bermuda in March had spoken to the "'lunatic fringe" and Premier Ewart Brown saying they had talked to people who read like a list of United Bermuda Party members.

He said at a public meeting in Hamilton Parish on Wednesday: "For some reason, they believed that the people they were talking to represented a good cross section of Bermuda, but they were people who still to this day have not accepted the result of the election in 1998, the result of the election in 2003 and the result of the election in 2007."

On the accusation of bias, UK Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay told The Royal Gazette: "I don't accept that at all. We probably spent more time with the Ministers than with the Opposition party — we only had one meeting with the Opposition party.

"Clearly we saw not only the Premier but other ministers and people closely associated with the Government. So I don't accept that criticism.

"We held an open meeting, very few people turned up. It was a bit wishy-washy but anyone was able to make representations. Also I think we summarised the thing objectively."

He said the report was the first real attempt by the UK parliament to assess how its 17 very diverse territories were performing.

"It is the beginning of the process and not the end," he said.

"In any event it's my view that Bermuda, along with Gibraltar, is considered to be one of the flagship overseas territories.

"Whatever the criticisms about faults are, overall they are very good. I am not sure who our critics are but, in the time available, we have made a reasonably balanced judgment."

The United Bermuda Party also rejected the Premier's claims.

A spokesman said: "We've looked through the list and can find no UBP members — apart from party leader Kim Swan who with colleagues met with the FAC delegation, and John Barritt who provided it with a position paper.

"There may be people on the list who voted UBP in the last election, but that could mean the same for the PLP. We just don't know.

"What we do know is that Premier used misleading political language before a crowd of people to discredit the work of the committee.

"What he did not do was comment on the committee's findings, which is unfortunate because they touch on issues affecting the lives of many."

However, the Premier gave a much more toned-down description of the work of the FAC in a response to Parliament on Friday.

He said: "Let me first say that this Government welcomes any review of our administration by any legitimate body sanctioned by the British Parliament.

"We believe we have an impressive track record of accomplishment, have demonstrated fiscal responsibility and have been responsive to the needs of the people in clear and demonstrative ways.

"There will always be more that we can do and we can always do better."

The Premier again did not address any of the specific matters raised by the report in his speech to MPs.

But he pointed out that all the recommendations refer to matters which the Bermuda Government has responsibility for under the Bermuda Constitution and he said many are under review.

Dr. Brown added that if the British wished to act on the recommendations he hoped they would do so within a framework of respect to Bermuda's constitutional responsibilities.

The Premier's stance differed from Progressive Labour Party backbencher Walter Roban who told this newspaper that some of the points raised by the UK MPs, such as concerns about the security of tenure for judges and the need for an electoral commission, needed constitutional change which would therefore need the assent of the British Government.

Mr. Roban said the PLP had pushed for security of tenure for judges and the need for an electoral commission in submissions to the Bermuda Independence Commission but it was for the British to take forward those issues now.