Slowly, the arguments in favour of Independence are taking shape.

That?s good news, because since Premier Alex Scott announced in April that he wanted the Island to re-open the debate on Independence, there?s been precious little discussion, in part because Independence advocates have not come up with much.

Last week in an exclusive interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr. Scott began to make the case, while discussing his first year in office.

The arguments in favour of Independence ? as opposed to the rebuttals to the anti-Independence arguments, which are a different thing ? seem to centre on two areas, according to Mr. Scott.

The first is the question of national pride. Mr. Scott and others believe that Bermudians lack a national identity; they are British, African, Caribbean or Portuguese first and Bermudian second, the argument goes.

Mr. Scott contrasts that with his visit to Grenada where he said he met young people who were deeply proud of their country and were Grenadians first. How nice it would be if Bermudians felt the same way.

There are several flaws in this argument, aside from the general question of just how beneficial the broad concept of nationalism has been for the world (remember Kosovo, Rwanda, Bosnia and the Second World War).

The first is that if the Prime Minister of Grenada came to Bermuda and met a group of young Bermudians, it is likely that they would talk very positively about their pride in Bermuda.

If they discussed some of the Island?s problems, then that?s all right too. No country is without problems and it is a sign of maturity if you are able to talk about them and to constructively seek solutions. There?s no doubt that Grenadians talk about their island?s problems as well among themselves, just as Bermudians do.

Secondly, Mr. Scott?s thinking is inherently wrong. It?s a fair bet that most Bermudians think of themselves as just that.

Everyone from Bermuda is descended from people who came from somewhere else, and more and more people now have at least one parent or grandparent from another country. That does not make them English or American or Portuguese or Barbadian or anything else.

They are still Bermudian, and as time goes on and the old lines of segregation become increasingly forgotten, these different ancestries will get more and more mixed until this notion of labelling becomes even more ridiculous than it is now. And it is not a given that Independence will change how people think of themselves.

Mr. Scott?s second argument is over the Governor?s right to make a number of key appointments, including that of the Police Commissioner and the Chief Justice.

Mr. Scott said last week: ?... Right now when a Governor wishes it to be so, he can mandate who our Chief Justice is. So how can I then turn to a young, bright Bermudian and say ?this is your Country, be proud?.?He?ll say ?I want to be Chief Justice, you can?t guarantee it?. I say ?this is your country be proud!?. He?ll say ?you can?t even tell me who will be Commissioner of Police next week. Suppose that?s the job I want?.?

Mr. Scott is drawing a fine line here. In an independent Bermuda, he could not guarantee a job to a young, bright Bermudian either. Independence would simply mean a Bermudian turning down a Bermudian instead of a British person turning down a Bermudian.

After all, a bright young Bermudian who wanted to be Prisons Commissioner or Bermuda College president would be disappointed right now. The reality, as Mr. Scott must know, is that the demands on the small Bermudian labour force are such that it may never be possible to have Bermudians in all the top Government jobs all of the time.

That, to some degree, is the price of the Island?s success. But to claim that Independence will change that is specious.

There will always be arguments over whether a particular Bermudian is right or ready for a particular job. And it is certainly debatable whether any Premier in an independent Bermuda would gave the right to appoint a Chief Justice or a Police Commissioner since that would breach the separation of powers that is a key foundation of a parliamentary democracy.

No one can ?guarantee? anyone else a job, whether they are Premier or Prime Minister. And if that is the kind of argument that will be made in favour of Independence, then the current ?debate? deserves to be met with a resounding no.