Pro-Independence campaigner Walton Brown has slammed the Bermuda Independence Commission report for ?intellectual dishonesty?.

The report which took more than six months to compile and cost the taxpayers more than a third of a million dollars had been commissioned by then Premier Alex Scott to encourage debate on Independence.

But when the 600-page document was released last September it came under-fire for a number of errors and omissions.

The report left out the Opposition?s position on going it alone and claimed that no territory had ever held a referendum on Independence ? even though Bermuda held its own referendum in 1995. However most pro-Independence supporters had welcomed it, including Mr. Brown at the time.

But yesterday Mr. Brown, who has long campaigned for Bermuda to split with Britain told : ?It lacked credibility. You are trying to do something objective but it was intellectually dishonest, saying no country made a decision on Independence by a referendum and by leaving out the UBP submission.

?You say it is an oversight. You don?t have an oversight with the most important document to come out of Government in the last 20 years.

?Don?t you have a review of the final document before you print it??

He also slammed the report for dressing up opinion as fact. ?You cannot state as a fact that the economy won?t suffer because of Independence. You can state there is a lot of evidence to suggest that that it won?t. But you can?t state it is fact. I would never do it. You can state Moody?s and Standard and Poor?s don?t think Independence would affect the economy conditions. It was intellectually weak.?

The 13-person BIC had been formed in late 2004 by Mr. Scott to encourage debate on Independence. But Mr. Brown said the intangible aspect of Independence now needed to be stressed.

Those who said Bermuda was largely self-governing should have no problem with removing the reserve powers held by Britain said Mr. Brown. And he predicted that Premier Ewart Brown would want to decide the issue by referendum ? despite the long-held PLP policy that it should be decided at a General Election. ?Why risk losing power in the issue?? asked Mr. Brown, whose polls for through his company Research Innovations, have consistently shown a clear majority against autonomy from the UK.

?From a power stand-point that would be foolhardy. Dr. Brown has already broken the mould in some of his decisions so one can expect change in a number of levels.?