ERROR RG P4 24.3.1995 A story and headline in Wednesday's paper incorrectly stated that UBP MP Mr.

John Barritt claimed -- based on a survey -- that very few were in favour of a referendum. Mr. Barritt said very few were in favour of Independence at this time.

Independence has been given the thumbs-down by Devonshire South constituents who expressed their views in a brief questionnaire this month.

In the House of Assembly yesterday, Government Whip Mr. John Barritt revealed the results to date of a short questionnaire circulated among the 2,200 registered voters.

"There is no question in my mind that people are not in favour of Independence at this time,'' he said.

Of 300 respondents, only "half a dozen'' came out in favour of a referendum, he claimed.

Results of the questionnaire on the proposed Independence referendum, dubbed "neverendum'' by Mr. Barritt, were announced during the debate on the Green Paper.

The questionnaire sent out by Mr. Barritt and Finance Minister Dr. David Saul earlier this month, asked if constituents: Had read the Green Paper; Were sufficiently well-informed to make a choice; Had made up their minds how they would vote on Independence, and Thought the matter should be decided by this summer.

Respondents were not, however, asked to show which way they would vote on Independence.

Yesterday Mr. Barritt revealed that 227 claimed they had decided which way to vote. Only 38 replied they were not ready and 28 were undecided.

Of those who had read the Green Paper, just over half had read the whole paper. 20 claimed to have read part of it while 120 admitted they had not read any of it.

Most, however, still felt well-informed enough to make a decision although 113 replied they did not. Oddly, two were undecided.

While Mr. Barritt would not disclose the response to the fourth question in view of Friday's vote, he said it was clear the Island had not "caught fire'' on the issue''.

But he added there had been a perceptible shift in attitude since Independence was last debated in 1979. People, he said, were more prepared to examine the issue.

One constituent complained, "What worries me is what I don't know and am not being told,'' Mr. Barritt quoted.

Another claimed the issue was being used as "a smokescreen behind which to hide''.

A third argued the Green Paper should be more reader-friendly for the average person.

Mr. Barritt agreed that basic points in the paper should be simplified. It was unfair, he said, to leave a large segment of the population confused on the issue.