Britain will give Bermuda no further powers while it remains a dependent territory, Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman said last night.

Short of Bermuda going Independent, the United Kingdom felt there was "nothing else to give'' in terms of changes to the Constitution, Mr. Pearman said at Heard Chapel AME Church hall.

Speaking to about 50 people at an Independence forum organised by the North Village Community Club education committee, Mr. Pearman said that was the message he got when he headed a Cabinet delegation that travelled to London to discuss Independence in October.

Mr. Pearman, who chairs a Cabinet committee that is writing a discussion paper on Independence, also said he received no encouragement that relations with Britain would change when Hong Kong returns to China in 1997.

Conservative MP Mr. Rupert Allason, a part-time Bermuda resident, has said that once the millions of Hong Kong residents are no longer a concern, citizens of a dependent Bermuda might be free to live and work in Britain and the European Union on an equal footing with British citizens.

But during lengthy talks with Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mr. Douglas Hurd and other UK officials, "I found nothing to give me any comfort along those lines,'' Mr. Pearman said.

Therefore, "there's no reason to delay the process of determining where Bermuda wants to go.'' The discussion paper, called a Green Paper, is to factually set out the effects of going Independent or remaining a dependent territory. It was also to identify what Constitutional change was possible while remaining a dependent territory. Mr. Pearman's comments suggest that chapter will be a short one.

After presenting the Green Paper to the House of Assembly in January, Government will hold a series of public meetings around the Island before holding a referendum in late June or early July, he said.

Mr. Pearman, who hinted last night that he personally favours Independence, said he will publicly state his own views once the Green Paper is released.

"At that time, if I stood before you, it might be an entirely different presentation.'' He referred to broad support in the Country for the view that "it is time Bermuda advanced itself and became Independent''. And he lamented the fact that when the American Base lands are returned, they first must be returned to the UK, then to Bermuda through an Order in Council of the British Cabinet.

Mr. Pearman shared the panel with two strong proponents of Independence -- Bermuda Times writer Mr. Larry Burchall and Committee for the Independence of Bermuda chairman Mr. Walton Brown.

Mr. Burchall argued that Bermuda's status as a dependent territory was hampering it from properly dealing with crime and drugs.

Police Commissioner Mr. Lennett (Lennie) Edward's boss was Governor Lord Waddington, not the Government, Mr. Burchall said. And that hampered Government in addressing crime. "The more we ask of Lennie, the more we tread on the Governor's powers.'' He also said the fact so many Bermudians had ties to other countries was blocking the development of a national identity and feeling of self-worth.

Black Bermudians, in particular, "don't seem to be sure who we are or what we are,'' he said.

Mr. Brown said "there is no single valid reason why Bermuda should not be Independent''.

Mr. Pearman faced anger in the audience, over Immigration and crime as well as Independence.

One man questioned how Government could be spending time on Independence when Bermuda was confronted with the huge problems of crime and drugs. Another man, who predicted "a lot of blood is going to run'' when black anger explodes into attacks on whites, told Mr. Pearman he "represents the slavemaster's children''.

Mr. Pearman reminded the audience of his own roots. "I'm from the shop floor,'' and originally had only a high school education, said the managing director of Holmes, Williams & Purvey Ltd.

"I represent a constituency that's not lily white. It's 86 percent black.

I've been re-elected since 1983.'' He said he sometimes had to address "perceptions'' or people would start to believe them. "I am concerned about the ordinary man,'' he said. "I understand, I empathise, because I came from that kind of background.''