backbencher in saying Government plans for an Independence referendum were finished.

"I think that there will be no legislation to carry it out, and the Premier will have to wait until the fall if he intends to persist,'' Mr. Wade told The Royal Gazette .

Mr. Wade said he held his view for the same reasons stated on Monday by the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto of the UBP.

She pointed out that in rejecting a Commission of Inquiry, as the House did on Friday, it also rejected the referendum. The Independence Referendum Act 1994 that the House passed in February said the referendum would be held no more than 120 days after the Commission of Inquiry reported, she noted.

On Friday, the Premier tried to replace the original Independence referendum bill with a new one. But it was defeated 18-17 on first reading when two UBP MPs were absent from the House while two others abstained.

Although the House is to deal with a Senate amendment to the original bill this Friday, the rules would not permit the House to make other changes to the bill, Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto said. Only the amendment could be changed.

References in the bill to the Commission of Inquiry could not be removed.

House Clerk Mr.

James Smith said yesterday that he agreed with Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto's interpretation of the rules. "The House has already passed the whole bill,'' Mr. Smith said. "They can only deal with the amendment.'' Asked if the House could remove references to the Commission of Inquiry from the bill, Mr. Smith said: "Definitely not.'' Cabinet was to consider the matter yesterday. There were still other options to proceed, but difficult House and Senate procedures were expected no matter what route was chosen. The UBP caucus is to meet today.

Mr. Wade said the Premier should drop the matter, at least until a new House session begins next fall. "If the rules are followed, I don't think there is any procedure that is going to let the Premier change the referendum bill to permit it to be used,'' he said.

A Cabinet discussion paper called a Green Paper could still be produced in place of a Commission of Inquiry report, Mr. Wade said. Instead of a referendum, he wants Independence decided in a general election.

The PLP leader also called Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan's leadership into question. "The Premier's characterisation of the defeat on Friday as a technical defeat is misleading, to put it at its mildest,'' he said.

"He failed to get a first reading for the most important bill he has put forward before the House, I would think, during his leadership .. . It's something he's risking his whole career on.'' Certain consequences had to flow from that defeat. He said the Governor Lord Waddington might want to ask the Premier to resign. Handling of the Independence issue "must bring some doubt to the Governor's mind about the Premier's ability to carry on,'' Mr. Wade said.

The main reason the UBP wanted to decide Independence in a referendum, rather than an election, was that Government was afraid it would lose an election, he said.

"That is putting their personal feelings ahead of the country,'' he said.

"This is very disturbing,'' and contrasted with South Africa, where outgoing president Mr. F.W. de Klerk put the Country's interests first, he said.

"It's that kind of leadership Bermuda needs, not one based on selfishness,'' he said.