on Independence.

As expected, Government and Opposition MPs clashed over electoral reform and constituency boundaries, limiting the number of MPs in the House from 40 to 30 and the ability of Bermudian women who had children overseas out of wedlock to pass on their status to their children while Bermudian men did not have this same ability.

Government members stood steadfast on their wish to continue to use the present parish boundaries to separate voting districts, although they would be prepared to allow some concessions within each area.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan spoke for more than three hours yesterday in a speech that mixed personal anecdotes with an examination of Bermuda's history from its inception to the present day.

He also lashed out at the Bermuda media, accusing it of distorting stories and called for an end to the practice of Letters to the Editor signed with pseudonyms.

And he said last year's vote by the House to decriminalise homosexuality should have been decided by a referendum instead.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade last week questioned the purpose of the entire debate, since the position papers were not legislation and were not binding on the Government.

He accused Government of exhibiting woolly thinking and rushed and incomplete ideas.

Human Affairs and Information Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill chided the Opposition yesterday for taking issue with Government's decision to call the set of position papers a "compendium.'' He said the Opposition was missing a great opportunity, because this was the first time the issue of Independence had ever been given so "full and fair'' a hearing.

But Mr. Dill came in for a scathing attack from Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Mr. Alex Scott, who said the Government were not giving the people the whole story.

In fact Mr. Scott claimed that Government had a duty to educate Bermudians on what he claimed were their real options.

And this included the right to abstain in addition to a yes or no vote at the referendum.

"If you were using the party's money and not the Government's that would be a different matter,'' Mr. Scott said.

Full debate: Page 4