MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar Breaking News.

Headlines:
Overseas Territories meeting in London; Tories solid rock behind Gibraltar; U.N. decolonization seminar in Papua New Guinea; Cruise controversy: UK diplomatic protest; Gibraltar Labour deplores Macshane's remarks.

Overseas Territories meeting in London

Gibraltar Governor Sir Francis Richards is in London for a two day meeting of all Governors from British Overseas Territories. The annual meeting which is a closed session is being addressed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Earlier Sir Francis will be meeting at the Foreign Office with Europe Minister Dr Denis MacShane. (TGC)

Tories solid rock behind Gibraltar

Conservative leader Michael Howard is to visit Gibraltar in the coming weeks as part of the Conservative campaign to win Gibraltar's votes for European Parliament. Mr Howard's tour of constituencies will bring him to Gibraltar, reported the British daily "The Independent". It said Gibraltar is treated like a county of England for the purposes of the elections after voters on the Rock won the right to cast their votes in Britain. "Ballot papers from Gibraltar will be taken to Bristol on 10 June and counted in the South West regional election. The Tories, who are hoping most of them will go their way, feel that visiting the Rock is like turning back the clock to the heyday of Thatcherism. One grandee in Mr Howard's plane said: "When you go down the main street, you get mobbed. It's like another world''. "A signed speech by Michael Ancram, the portly deputy leader of the Conservative Party, sold for £360 in an auction on the Rock. Tory MEPs will be spending euro expenses on regular trips to Gibraltar for the campaign." Mr Howard wants a new veto, or "red card", against Brussels that would force the Commission to withdraw or repeal laws that are opposed in the parliaments of five member states. Meanwhile the Tories published their manifesto for the Euro-elections last week. In it the Conservatives make clear their rejection of the joint-sovereignty proposals which Labour attempted and failed to sell to the Rock. "Sovereignty shared is sovereignty surrendered. We will not surrender British sovereignty" and an incoming Conservative Government will not be bound by any agreement to surrender Gibraltar's sovereignty which has been reached without the consent of the people of Gibraltar, it said. They argue instead that Britain and Spain should now discuss those matters where agreement can be reached. "They do not include the issue of sovereignty".(TGC)

U.N. decolonization seminar in Papua New Guinea

The annual United Nations Committee of 24 Seminar on Decolonisation is scheduled to take place from 18-20 May in Papua New Guinea. Last year Spanish and UK representatives attending the Anguilla Seminar for Decolonisation brought up the issue of Gibraltar's future, and affirmed their commitment to a self-governing Gibraltar. The Spanish representative said Madrid was prepared to ensure that Gibraltar enjoyed the maximum possible internal self-Government to meet the interests and aspirations of that territory through a comprehensive settlement with the United Kingdom. The representative said Gibraltar should benefit fully from a new era of European and regional cooperation, and that Spain was committed to make possible a secure, stable and prosperous future for Gibraltar. In response, United Kingdom's representative argued the position of the British Government on the question of Gibraltar was well known, that the UK continued to stand by its commitment to the people of Gibraltar whose Constitution enshrined the principle of their consent to any change in sovereignty. Acknowledging the dialogue, which had resumed with Spain in 2001, he said his country was committed to building a better future for and with the people of Gibraltar. Gibraltar does not attend all these seminars and was not present last year. The C24 itself is starting its formal summer session in New York, which Gibraltar traditionally addresses, on June 7.- (TGC).

Cruise controversy: UK diplomatic protest

Britain has told Spain that it does not wish to see any further cases of cruise liners that have left Gibraltar being denied access to Spanish ports. In the latest round of diplomatic brinkmanship Foreign Secretary Jack Straw instructed Stephen Wright, British Ambassador to Madrid, to deliver a message to officials from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express Britain's disappointment and surprise at the Spanish action. However, there were indications that the matter was being resolved. But no details have emerged. Since the incident with the "Norwegian Dream" there have been further incidents involving the "Noordam" and "Crystal Symphony" which was understood to have called off its Gibraltar visit because it feared rejection at Barcelona. The Bahamas-flagged "Norwegian Dream" was denied access to the port of Barcelona by the Spanish authorities but Britain insists that there is no good reason for Spain to deny entry to ships such as this one. "It makes no sense for anyone - not for Gibraltar, not for passengers, not for Spain either, least of all the Spanish port cities denied legitimate business. More broadly, Spanish actions like this make it harder for Gibraltarians to have any confidence that dialogue with Spain could be beneficial," a Foreign Office spokesman said. It appears they were denied entry to the Spanish port because the vessels were coming directly from Gibraltar. The F&CO said that this is their understanding and it is understood an explanation is being sought from Madrid. "We have raised these with the Spanish Foreign Ministry and stressed that we do not wish to see any further cases of this kind," said the FCO spokesman. (TGC).

Gibraltar Labour deplores Macshane's remarks

Gibraltar Labour Party has deplored what it describes as Minister of Europe Denis Macshane's "shilly-shallying answer" to Tory MP Andrew Rosindell's question in the House of Commons "concerning the right of the Gibraltar electorate to vote in the UK referendum on the European Constitution". A Labour spokesman said: "There is no case for excluding Gibraltar, given that the Constitution will apply in a fundamental way to Gibraltar, if it is accepted, and given that Gibraltar has the vote in elections to the European Parliament by an Act of the UK Parliament and without distinction to those similarly enfranchised in UK." "According to the Chief Minister, the position of the Blair Government is that ?HMG does not believe that Gibraltar's withdrawal for the EU is a serious or desirable prospect for Gibraltar, is not a realistic option, and would not be in the interests of either Gibraltar or the UK.'" "In effect this means that the Blair Government would impose the European Constitution on Gibraltar, if it is accepted by the UK as a whole. Given the people of Gibraltar will apparently have no separate democratic way of accepting or rejecting the terms and conditions in the Constitution that will apply to Gibraltar, the British Government should have at least accepted without hesitation that Gibraltar will have the vote in the UK's European Referendum. The Blair Government cannot have it both ways. We welcome the Conservative Party's commitment that they will not surrender the sovereignty of Gibraltar to Spain and would not be bound by the joint-sovereignty agreement."