David Burt has said former premier Sir John Swan’s comments questioning Bermuda’s membership in Caricom are “disappointing and sadly out of step with today’s reality”.

Sir John warned that full membership of the Caribbean Community and Common Market, as being explored by the Government, would jeopardise the island’s existing relationships with the United States and Britain, and should be put to a referendum.

The Premier said that Sir John’s comments were “completely unsupported by facts” and that at the Joint Ministerial Council, the British Government fully endorsed the Government's proposal.

Mr Burt said that Britain looks forward to receiving Bermuda's request for an entrustment by which that government will set out the parameters of the process.

He added: “Those parameters will reflect Bermuda's status as an Overseas Territory of the UK and will, by definition, be different to those full members who are sovereign states".

While Mr Burt promised a consultation process on membership, he made no mention of a referendum, and said that full membership would not harm Bermuda’s relationship with America.

He said: “The irony of Sir John's comments is that in 1983 the US Senate specifically amended its definition of beneficiary countries under this Caribbean Basin Initiative to include Bermuda.

“In fact, the US has been fine with us affiliating with the Caribbean for 40 years, but apparently, Sir John is not. And the US were just fine with it three years later, in 1986, when Sir John's famous US-Bermuda Tax Treaty was signed."

He challenged Sir John’s suggestion that the membership could threaten the US Customs pre-clearance at LF Wade International Airport or the island’s visa-free access to the US.

Calling the comments “plainly irresponsible”, Mr Burt said: “US pre-clearance predates even Sir John's tenure as Minister of Home Affairs and has been of benefit to Bermudians and visitors for almost 50 years.

“The United States is a valued trading partner and excellent neighbour. The relationship that has been built over decades would never be put at risk by this government.”

Mr Burt said that Caricom does not issue passports, that freedom of movement does not automatically follow full membership and that the island’s immigration laws can continue to apply to any foreign national seeking to reside or work here.

He added that the majority of Caricom member states retain the Privy Council as their final court of appeal, and so would Bermuda under full membership.

Mr Burt said most disappointing about Sir John’s comments were that they echoed a time Bermudians were made to look down on their ancestry and that the United Bermuda Party he led “waged a targeted campaign to malign all things Caribbean while profiting from the region”.

He said while he respected the island’s longest-serving premier, “he is plain wrong”.

The Premier’s remarks followed those by Walter Roban, the Deputy Premier, who said that Sir John’s pointed opposition to the Caricom move was “a regrettable stance to be taken by a supposed National Hero”.

Mr Roban compared Sir John to the colonisers of the Caribbean and accused him of discriminating against West Indians during his tenure as home affairs minister as well as premier.

Jarion Richardson, the interim Leader of the Opposition, chastised him for his attack on Sir John’s remarks. He said that the statement went too far.

“The Deputy Premier of Bermuda should not be speaking to anyone in that manner, especially an elder.

“This is the reason why people are scared to speak up in Bermuda.

“Even when they are trying to have objective and frank exchange of ideas, they get attacked personally and derided.

“The Deputy Premier has done not only himself but Bermuda a disservice — it’s a political manoeuvre more familiar in places overseas.”