Premier Alex Scott is focusing on a constructive engagement with the British Government over disposal of toxic waste and asbestos left here by the US Navy, he said yesterday.

And his concerns that Britain was seeking to tighten the colonial grip on Bermuda were alleviated by his meeting last week with Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell.

Speaking at a Press conference yesterday afternoon to brief the media about his trip to the British Labour Party conference, Mr. Scott said that he was not about to spend any more time arguing his view that the British and Americans have a moral responsibility to clean up the waste.

"They have other views and little is to be gained by us standing and arguing," he said.

"Bermuda is better served if we make progress. That, I think, makes for a better working model than for me to be out there debating my view or the Government's view on an issue that really should be put behind us."

Britain has agreed to pay for a study on the asbestos problem and refused to accept any liability for costs associated with its disposal.

But Mr. Scott's meeting with Mr. Rammell yielded an undertaking by the British to look into alternative funding for disposal.

He said later that Bermuda will continue discussion on environmental issues with the British at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting in December.

Besides asbestos, the Americans have left tons of toxic waste, including jet fuel, and heavy metals.

"Asbestos is on the table now," Mr. Scott said. "I don't think the conversation has been completed with the UK about the environmental concerns in Bermuda."

He added that environmental remediation could be made part of a deal with developers of the former baselands.

The Premier reiterated that recent correspondence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had raised alarm bells about British designs on Bermuda.

"It was, and is my view that the content of this correspondence, together with a visit to all the Overseas Territories by a senior Foreign Office official earlier this year, sent a clear signal that the UK might seek to exercise greater control over its Overseas Territories."

At question time, he said that one letter arrived on July 29 - the day he was sworn in as Premier. It congratulated him on his appointment and then immediately started discussing the need for high standards of governance in the Overseas Territories and how the relationship between Britain and her colonies should evolve.

"That had my political juices running," he told the assembled media. "Actually paranoia goes a long way in politics. It certainly keeps one ahead of things - or out of things."

Mr. Scott said he was assured by Mr. Rammell that any concerns Britain had with governance in the colonies did not involve Bermuda.

"We certainly don't want to turn the constitutional clock back, we certainly don't want to invite any Governor to dictate controls," he said.

Mr. Scott went to London last week to attend the British Labour Party conference and meet key British Government officials, including Mr. Rammell.

He was accompanied by his wife Olga, Tourism Minister Renee Webb and Cabinet Secretary John Drinkwater. He defended the trip as an "unqualified success".

He said there had been considerable interest in the circumstances of his rise to the Premiership, and that the delegates had been impressed with how the ruling party survived the tense leadership struggle that led to former Premier Jennifer Smith's ouster.

"They were supportive, and are, supportive of the former Premier and I guess I wanted to make it clear that wasn't the individual who held the long knife," the Premier said.

"I wasn't the author of her problems."