Campaigning British MP Andrew MacKinlay is waging a war against conscription in Bermuda. Today he tells reporter Caroline Stevenson why he is so opposed to the practice.

He is most famous for winning a pardon for more than 300 servicemen executed for desertion and other offences during the Great War. But just weeks after the families of the victims were able to celebrate their first remembrance day since the change in the law, British MP Andrew MacKinlay has already begun his next campaign ? to end conscription by the Bermuda Regiment.

Ever since the Labour MP first saw an article about the Regiment, Mr. MacKinlay has been raising the issue in the House of Commons.

The MP representing Thurrock, just east of London, claimed the article featured a number of conscripts who had been arrested on the charge of desertion. They were chained up and wearing what he describes as Guantanamo Bay-style orange jump suites.

?It?s not necessarily that I am against conscription, it?s more that I am against the consequences of conscription,? Mr. MacKinlay explains to as he outlines the reason behind his campaign.

He claims people who are considered ?deserters? are arrested and thrown into prison ? something he considers ?unacceptable?. ?And what?s more is that we don?t know if they have stopped this practice,? Mr. MacKinlay added.

Now he has vowed to tackle the Government on the issue once again. ?I shall return to this issue again,? Mr. MacKinlay promised.

As Bermuda is a British overseas territory, and defence is therefore the responsibility of the United Kingdom, the Regiment is under the control of the Governor of the Island ? and ultimately the responsibility of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.

?The point is they are under the jurisdiction of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who could and should have stopped conscription,? Mr. MacKinlay said. ?It?s just that in this day and age I believe a person should be able to say I don?t want to serve in the army.?

As a result the MP has tabled a series of questions to Parliament in a bid to get to the bottom of why conscription is still allowed in Bermuda ? a position which is unique of all the land forces still under the British Crown. But Mr. MacKinlay claims he has found it ?difficult? to get straight answers.

In response to the question about whether the Regiment is part of the British Army ? and therefore under the direct control of the UK Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said ?no?.

?The Bermuda Regiment is an internal security force whose role is to help the Bermuda Police Service maintain law and order,? he said. ?Although there are strong links between the Regiment and the British Army, it is not part of it.?

?It?s been very difficult getting answers to these questions,? Mr. MacKinlay said.

?It?s not as if I can go over to Bermuda and find out exactly what is going on. It is a far away country, but ultimately I believe we have responsibility for it.?

In his endeavour to find out the truth about the nature of conscription in Bermuda, Mr. MacKinlay recently asked the Minister of State for Europe Geoff Hoon how many people have been charged with deserting the Regiment in 2006.

Worryingly, it was revealed that of the 541 men called up to serve, 94 ?did not report for medical examination, nor explain their absence in advance?.

Of the 94 men, 51 are still believed to reside in Bermuda, while the whereabouts of the remaining 43 is unknown.

Mr. Hoon went on to reveal that under the Defence Act, every soldier who fails to perform military duties is charged internally with unauthorised absence.

So far in 2006, 21 such cases have been heard and all have been found guilty, the Minister revealed. The commanding officer handed out extra duties to three of the accused, four were issued fines and 11 were required to restart the military year, while the remaining three cases have been deferred to the magistrate?s court for sentencing. Previously Mr. MacKinlay has argued in Parliament that Bermuda?s conscription policy is contrary to the European Convention on human rights.

He told MPs in 2005: ?Unless there has been a recent change that has not been drawn to the attention of the House, Bermuda has compulsory national service for men. That immediately flags up to Members of the House the fact that there is gender discrimination.

?In addition, those who refuse to serve are not just arrested but taken in chains, United States-style, in jumpsuits, and with both their feet and arms in manacles. I find that humiliating, and it is contrary to our obligations, particularly under the European Convention on Human Rights.?

At the time Larry Burchall, the Island?s Administrator of Defence, said the Mr. MacKinlay was referring to an incident two years ago when a serving solider was seen with handcuffs on his hands and feet.

Mr. Burchall ? a former captain in the Regiment in the 1970s and 1980s ? said prisoners at Warwick Camp still wore jumpsuits and were handcuffed if deemed a flight risk.

?They are normally used in the transport process, outside of camp. Once they are brought into camp under orders they are never used,? he said. ?This practice stopped years ago.?

This came despite information provided to Mr. MacKinlay in July 2001 by the former Foreign and Commonwealth Minister Ben Bradshaw, which revealed that a leg brace had been used three times as a restraint in respect of the conscripts that year. Mr. Burchall also said that technically speaking Bermuda did not have compulsory national service for men since a ballot process was used.

The Bermuda Regiment said it could not comment on the country?s conscription policy.

However, Lt. Col. William White, the new commanding officer, said if the policy was aborted, alternative methods would have to be found to keep recruitment levels up. He said: ?The roles that the Regiment has been tasked with currently are not capable of being fulfilled by a purely volunteer cadre of personnel.

?Conscription supports the Regiment in fulfilling its operational mandate in times of crisis in Bermuda. ?The Regiment?s primary focus, of course, is to support the society from which the conscripts are pulled. ?If conscription were to be phased out or removed, a viable alternative would be required to supply the necessary personnel to fulfil these important roles that support Bermuda society in so many important ways.?

Public Safety Minister David Burch ? a former Bermuda Regiment commander himself ? was unavailable for comment yesterday.