Those against Independence are making a ?universal declaration? that they do not trust themselves or their fellow Bermudians, Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch has argued.

Addressing the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton on Monday, Jennifer Smith?s former chief of staff launched an impassioned defence of Independence, suggesting those who are ?terrified? of the consequences of sovereignty have been ?rendered devoid of logical thought about Bermuda?s future?.

?Foreigners? with an opinion on Independence were told to ?butt out ? this has nothing to do with you!? while he poured scorn on the left-of-centre Washington think-tank which recently submitted a sceptical paper on the issue, labelling them ?fraudsters? who were merely the lackeys of the status quo.

And the ?scare tactics? deployed ? particularly by the Opposition United Bermuda Party ? to dissuade locals from even debating the concept are bordering on ?racist?, he suggested.

?As the governing party, the current Opposition used every scare tactic in the book to convince Bermudians that Independence was the very worst thing that Bermudians could aspire to,? he said.

?In fact ... the UBP were so successful in demonising the ?I? word, people were afraid to even utter it aloud. The fact that the UBP?s manufactured resistance to nationhood and self-determination was self-serving and designed to ensure the continued economic control of the governing minority was so successfully camouflaged, that the majority of Bermudians were, and today some remain, terrified of Independence for Bermuda.?

?Here it is ? the 21st century,? he continued.

?The world has changed ? even Bermuda has changed ? yet those opposed to nationhood are citing the same old reasons for their opposition ... How odd a nation we are. Things that are natural progressions for other countries become the subject of wild debate for us ... For years the UBP Government convinced the people of Bermuda that they were better than their (Caribbean) relatives to the south because ? we were told ? they thought with their hearts and we thought with our heads. In actual fact, we were being made to think with our pocket books, our jobs, our mortgages. In other words ? we were threatened.?

The ?perceived failures? of recently independent black run countries were ?trotted out? as a warning against the pitfalls of sovereignty, Colonel Burch argued.

?No failure on the part of any white-run independent countries was ever mentioned,? he said.

?...And while convincing Bermudians that the Caribbean countries were doing so badly they set up businesses in those very same countries to increase their profits.?

Colonel Burch questioned ?why it is so difficult? for Bermudians to believe that a country that has been self-governing for ?almost 400 years? was perfectly capable of looking after all of its own affairs.

?Life as we know it will continue after Independence, except for the fact we will have genuine responsibility for ourselves, like the grown-ups we profess to be,? he said.

The ability to control our own Police service and Judiciary would be two of the most positive consequences of Independence, he proposed, while Bermuda would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with other sovereign nations at international conferences rather than being simply a silent onlooker with little or no influence.

?Because of my former job, I have been privileged to attend all kinds of meetings here in Bermuda and overseas,? he said.

?And I can tell you, you feel less than adult when you are relegated to observer, or non-speaking, status at meetings overseas. Other nations look at us and can?t understand why so wealthy and sophisticated an Island is content to sit idly by while its destiny is chartered by others.?

?I can make no more compelling a case for Independence than taking responsibility for self.

?All our talk to young people about taking responsibility is worthless when we refuse to take responsibility for our own future as a nation.?