independence is mere coincidence.

First Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb stated that Bermuda would benefit from independence and that the Government wants it; the only question is one of timing, she said.

Then, during the debate on constitutional change, Education Minister Sen.

Milton Scott said Britain's White Paper on its Overseas Territories, "Partnership for Progress'' was clearly pushing Bermuda and the other territories towards independence.

Next, Independence proponent and PLP pollster Walton Brown says Britain's failure to enact its promise of passports for overseas territories' citizens was a clear signal that it wanted them to go independent.

Then on Wednesday, Tourism Minister David Allen tells Bermuda that it will be easier to get more flights and cheaper fares if Bermuda was independent.

At the same time, Premier Jennifer Smith confirmed the PLP's position that it will not seek independence in its first term in Government and will not seek it until it is in a platform. Left unsaid was whether or not it will be in the next platform.

Leaving Premier Smith's non-position aside, the foundations for an independence drive are being laid now through these statements, some of them accurate, others the merest fantasy.

In theory, independence would make it possible for Bermuda to get more flights because the Island would no longer be tied to Britain through the Bermuda II agreement. Whether that means more airlines would actually come to Bermuda is far from certain.

Similarly, Sen. Scott is reading a different document from the rest of Bermuda if he can see a path to independence being laid out by Britain. The British policy is quite clear and has not changed since 1979. It is up to Bermuda whether it wishes to become independent. "Partnership for Progress'' (and the use of the word partnership directly contradicts Sen. Scott's fantasy version of events) outlines ways in which the Overseas Territories can modernise and improve their administrations and economies -- without seeking statehood.

Mr. Brown's fantasy -- no passports now must mean independence soon -- has already been contradicted in the House of Commons. The great passports in the Queen's speech balloon was largely media generated speculation since Baroness Scotland had already stated in the spring that passports were unlikely to be granted before the next British General Election.

Still, the fact remains that the PLP has always been lukewarm towards British passports, because their grant will necessarily strengthen ties with Britain when, whether in the 1998 platform or not, independence is a goal of the PLP.

In theory, under collective responsibility, the statements of the Cabinet Ministers mean independence is on the table. Under this Government, Ministers have said what they wanted when they have wanted and it has only become official policy when convenient.

But some honesty on this issue, as opposed to the evasions and shadings of the truth which have characterised the constitutional debate, is the least the community deserves.

The Premier, on behalf of the Government, should answer one simple question: Will Independence be in the PLP's next General Election platform or won't it?