speaking to the international organisations like the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development should not be dismissed out of hand.

The story in Monday's newspaper in which a financial advisor for Gibraltar said the offshore centres should team up would emphasise the level of fiscal responsibility and muscle that the offshore centres have.

When then-Premier Pamela Gordon attended the meeting of Dependent Territories conference in early 1998, proposals were put together for the territories to meet regularly. Very little has happened since then, although there are plans for an Overseas Territories forum at the end of this year.

There is no question that there are differences in the government and financial structures of the dependent territories which have strong financial sectors. Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Gibraltar all service different areas and, depending on whom you talk to, are treated with varying degrees of respect.

These differences widen when other offshore centres such as Luxembourg, Dublin and the Bahamas are included.

Bermuda can also claim to be among the cleanest financial jurisdictions in the world -- much cleaner than many so-called onshore jurisdictions. It can also point to the added autonomy and advanced Constitution it has compared to other British overseas territories.

These arguments can still be made to international bodies, and they can be used to point out how Bermuda is, in many ways, a model jurisdiction which others could emulate.

But when Bermuda is making the same arguments as other territories, it would make sense to speak with one voice.

STORM SEASON EDT Storm season Hurricane season has arrived with a bang as Tropical Storm Arlene came out of nowhere on Friday and, as of yesterday evening, was a potential threat to come close to the Island Even if the storm doesn't come ashore, it's a timely reminder to "prepare for the worst and hope for the best''. Tropical storms and hurricanes should never be taken lightly and we have been remarkably lucky since Hurricane Emily in 1987.

That doesn't mean we will remain lucky and now is the time, if you haven't done it already, to pull out your hurricane check lists and make sure that houses are secure, shutters are working, trees are cut back from power lines and you have emergency supplies.