the Bermuda Government, is going to London to argue for a Constitutional conference. She is right to do so.

The changes being proposed by Premier Jennifer Smith are the most wide-ranging since the 1968 Constitution was drafted and should be discussed as widely as possible.

A debate in the House of Assembly cannot achieve that. A conference, even if the changes being proposed by Government are accepted in the end, can at least ensure that all the issues are aired and all ideas to ensure the fairest form of democracy are discussed.

There has already been some discussion here about the fairest form of democracy, which is proportional representation.

But PR is invariably criticised because of fears that it will lead to unstable or coalition governments.

There have been concerns aired that the current system of boundaries is unfair and means that not every voter has an equal vote. In actual fact, voters in Smith's Parish, Pembroke, St. George's, Hamilton Parish and Southampton all have roughly equal representation, with about 800 voters for every MP.

Paget is "over-represented'' with one MP for every 630 voters, Sandys has one MP for every 1,100 voters and Warwick is the "worst'' represented constituency with one MP for every 1,260 voters.

Clearly, the current system contains some inequities. But it is worth remembering that the system is not nearly as unfair as it is often painted and that single-seat constituencies cannot guarantee equal representation either.

The Progressive Labour Party, at least until it won the last Election, claimed that constituencies were gerrymandered in the United Bermuda Party's favour, and that may be so.

But the PLP's proposals to divide the Island up into an as yet undetermined number of single-seat constituencies contains just as great a risk of gerrymandering for whichever party is in power, as do the plans to reduce the size of the House.

As Dr. Eva Hodgson noted in a recent letter to the Editor, reducing the number of representatives of the people will reduce democracy and increase the concentration of power in the hands of a very small group. That's dangerous, regardless of which party is in power.

For those reasons, Baroness Scotland, the junior Minister in the Foreign Office responsible for Bermuda, should give Ms Gordon a fair hearing when she visits London and support Ms Gordon's call for a Constitutional conference.

The British Labour Party, which has done much in the UK to devolve power in Scotland, Wales and London, and has carried out interesting experiments with proportional representation, should hesitate before attaching its name to a process which could result in less, not more, democracy in one of its Overseas Territories.