The UK has just announced that students from UK Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, will pay the same university tuition fees as UK students. Fees for overseas students at British universities are considerably higher than those for locals, so this move...
In November 2004, public opposition to independence stood at 61%. Since then, we’ve had the public meetings of the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC), the BIC report itself, and the five PLP public meetings on the subject. Today, opposition has risen...
Just a reminder that the PLP is holding another independence meeting at Penno’s Wharf in St. George’s this evening (Thursday), starting at 7.30pm. If you can’t make it in person, KJAZ 98.1 FM will be broadcasting the proceedings live.
An eagle-eyed reader has pointed out that the general hostility of members of the PLP to including sexual orientation in the Human Rights Act is at odds with the party’s own submission to the Bermuda Independence Commission. On page 11,...
It appears that support for a referendum on independence hasn't suffered a catastrophic collapse, after all. Although today's Royal Gazette reported that only "one in seven" people (14.3%) want the issue decided by referendum, the paper has confirmed that that...
The current discussion on independence for Bermuda is not a new one. Back in 1988, when I wrote this column for the Mid-Ocean News, many of the issues then were similar to those now. At the time, I had a...
Martin writes to express his unhappiness with the suggestion of Charles Jeffers, former chairman of the National Liberal Party, that people over 55 should not be allowed to vote on independence: "As I enter what Charles Jeffers calls “my twilight...
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs have just released their latest memo on Bermuda's independence debate. In summary: While the Council on Hemispheric Affairs historically has supported every independence campaign in its purview where a majority of the people have called...
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs is preparing to release another memorandum on Bermuda's independence debate. Having seen a draft, I think it's safe to say that the Government isn't going to like it any more than the last one.
The South Pacific islands of Tokelau have become the latest colony to reject independence in a referendum. Sixty per cent of the islands' 600 voters supported an end to rule by New Zealand, but this fell short of the two-thirds...
I'm not sure why today's Royal Gazette chose to classify PLP Senator Walter Roban's announcement of an independence education campaign as "news". The PLP has already mentioned its desire to hold such meetings to highlight the findings of the Bermuda...
Bermudians for Referendum (BFR) started out as a group with an admirably clear aim: to have the independence debate settled by a referendum instead of a general election. They persuaded 14,008 voters, 47.5% of those who voted in the last...
It's time we held our own referendum. In watching our own political spectrum evolve over the last few years I've begun to wonder where Bermudians really stand when it comes to our present government. It is quite baffling to me...
I want to discuss independence. Already I can hear the bleat of anxious readers: the word “independence”, and the concept it embodies, is problematic. Any attempts to consider the topic are met with passionate responses. Rightly, independence has attracted the...
Calvin Smith’s opinion piece in The Royal Gazette on the 18th of October, “Independence fears are derived from ignorance,” is one more attempt to persuade Bermudians that they do not know what they are thinking or why, much as Alex...
Online news service Tax-News.com had a short piece today highlighting the recent call by BIBA chief Greg Haycock for the Government to bring forward a referendum on independence. “The message back from our sources of business has been unequivocal –...
The Royal Gazette has been revealing the results of numerous Research Innovations polls over the last few days. Since wading through the stories to pick out the key figures is tedious (I wish they'd tabulate the data to make it...
In a determined effort to shovel his way to the planet's core, Premier Alex Scott is continuing to offer more amusingly implausible suggestions about what happened to the UBP's submission to the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC). "[The UBP's submission] was...
The UBP have given me a copy of their submission to the Bermuda Independence Commission. You can download it here. It's 42 pages long and its title suggests it was submitted to the BIC on 8 June. Which rather gives...
I was looking forward to hearing what Premier Alex Scott would say to the representatives of Bermudians for Referendum (BFR) when they finally presented their petition to him today. The document, which contains 14,008 signatures, calls on the Government to...
The final report of the Bermuda Independence Commission has been released and is available here. » I've heard that Dame Lois Browne Evans spent most of the press conference in the front row before the cameras sound asleep. Guess she...
Concerned that the recent opinion column by Limey in Bermuda Phillip Wells may have actually galvanised support for independence, last night a desperate Alex Scott instructed Bishop Vernon Lambe, chairman of the Bermuda Independence Commission, to use what he called...
Royal Gazette Opinion, Thursday 1 September 2005 The PLP intends to throw the next election and allow the UBP to return to poweri The astonishing news was revealed to this newspaper in an exclusive interview with a highly placed PLP...
The United Nations has just published the report of the visit to Bermuda by its Decolonisation Committee earlier this year. It tries to be even-handed, but as might be expected from a body that refuses to accept that some colonies...
Still concerned that Premier Alex Scott might try to take Bermuda to independence by means of a general election? Worry no more. At a dinner on Saturday evening, Bermuda's Governor, Sir John Vereker, reiterated the UK's position on the referendum...
From today's Royal Gazette: Independence campaigner Walton Brown has warned that if the European Union’s proposed constitution is adopted, the EU could gain control over Bermuda’s ability to levy Customs duties on goods from EU member countries... "In one deft...
Royal Gazette Opinion, Thursday 21 April 2005 One of the most surprising things to emerge during Bermuda’s independence debate is the number of Bermudians who have said that they don’t have a sense of national pride. At the recent meetings...
The first public meeting of the Bermuda Independence Commission was held at the Warwick Workman’s Club on Thursday evening. The Commission’s choice of venues - all bastions of black, working-class Bermudians - has come in for some criticism. I too...
Following the unveiling of the Bermuda Independence Commission's new logo, questions have been raised about whether they have preconceived ideas about the desirability of independencei
The public meetings of the Bermuda Independence Commission start tomorrow (Thursday) evening with a meeting at the Warwick Workman's Club, 42 Cobbs Hill Road. For the benefit of anyone who may have missed the announcement of the dates and locations...
Bermuda's independence debate has now reached the pages of one of the UK's broadsheet newspapers - The Independent, appropriately enough - with this article and editorial.
The more I read the Premier's most recent statement on independence, the more holes I find in it. For example: "The Bermuda Independence Commission and its work will not be usurped by external opinions on what we should or should...
When asked to comment on recent contributions to Bermuda's independence debate from parties outside Bermuda, Premier Alex Scott had this to say in today's Royal Gazette: "While many continue and may continue to weigh in on the subject of the...
Earlier this year, Premier Alex Scott said that one of the benefits of independence would be the possibility of Bermuda playing host to UN delegations. Yesterday it became clear that we won’t have to wait that long. The United Nations...
Ernst & Young have a good summary of the salient points of today's Budget here. Alternatively, if you suffer from insomnia you can read the full thing here or here. I was particularly interested to hear that "Government has made...
The UK Government has announced that its preferred method for Bermuda seeking independence is by way of a referendum. In an exclusive interview with A Limey In Bermuda, Premier Alex Scott was furious¡ "This is just another example of the...
Here's the latest list of reasons why Premier Alex Scott thinks you should support independence: We'll have more success fighting crime because the Government will tell the police what to do. It will boost tourism because we'll be able to...
I'd like to congratulate Premier Alex Scott for finally having the courage to admit what's been evident to everyone else for some time: although the Government would like to fight crime and drugs and make society safe, it's unable to...
Did Premier Alex Scott really suggest that the Government is being hampered in its attempts to tackle crime because the police report to the Governor and the Commissioner of Police? And did he really imply that if Bermuda was independent,...
Bermuda’s independence debate is attracting attention in the United States. A memorandum published today by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a Washington think tank, concludes that despite the prominence Premier Alex Scott has given the issue, “a political tsunami that...
This afternoon the Premier named the members of the Bermuda Independence Commission. They are: Bishop Vernon Lambe (chairman), head of the First Church of God Dame Lois Browne Evans (advisor), veteran PLP MP Phil Perinchief (secretary), Government lawyer Bob Steinhoff,...
With alarm growing about the appointment of lawyer Phillip Perinchief to the Central Policy Unit to research the issue of independence and liaise with the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC), I decided to see what I could find out about him....
Bermuda, 13 December 2004. Good news from the commander today. After nine months of kicking our heels, it’s starting to look like we’re finally going to see some action. Seems General Scott has become concerned about our deteriorating situation and...
Following some criticism last month of the Royal Gazette's tendency to trumpet the results of its online polls without making their biases clear, this week the newspaper announced its intent to start commissioning more scientific surveys of public opinion. The...
First we were told they'd probably begin in April. Then it was July. Then, "by the end of the year". So it came as no surprise that in a speech in London last week, Premier Alex Scott announced that discussions...
When you manage to anger both Calvin Smith and Rolfe Commissiong, you know you’re probably doing something right. The recent letter from the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) urging Premier Alex Scott to reconsider his approach to taking Bermuda...
Poor Alex Scott must have been aggrieved to find that his “significant statement” on the Social Agenda that opened last night’s annual PLP conference wasn’t the top story on the front page of this morning’s Royal Gazette. Instead the paper...
For a supposed master of spin, sometimes the Premier has a funny way of putting things. Consider the comment he made at a press conference on Friday while talking about independence: "If I’m the Premier and I become Prime Minister,...
For eight months after the European Allies declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3rd 1939, neither side launched a significant attack and there was little fighting. All that Europe’s citizens could do was to wait uneasily for the inevitable...
Last week's poll asked what you thought would be the best mechanism for deciding whether Bermuda should go independent. Of the 102 votes cast, 83% were in favour of a referendum; only 11% thought the issue should be decided by...
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