There was a marked escalation in the dispute over Gibraltar’s territorial waters as Britain and Spain both hardened their diplomatic stance in the wake of recent incursions.
Gibraltar said it complies with European Union and OECD regulations regarding finance centres and also indicated that it was willing to enter a double taxation treaty with Spain.
Britain this week raised the issue of disproportionate Gibraltar border checks and delays “at the highest level” with the Spanish Government. The issue was revealed in Parliament by Europe Minister David Lidington who was responding to a question in an emergency debate instigated by the all party Gibraltar group.
The Gibraltar Government strongly condemned the lengthy and deliberate delays to cross the frontier into Spain which have been experienced by Gibraltarians and visitors to Gibraltar. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, currently in London has already been in touch with the UK Government and urged them to take up the matter with Spain at the highest level
The opening session of the UN Fourth Committee on decolonisation was dominated by a joint verbal assault on Britain by South American countries over the issue of the Falkland Islands. One after another, representatives of governments in the region called on the UK to enter into dialogue with Argentina over the sovereignty of the Islands, which are claimed by the government in Buenos Aires.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo hosted the annual Gibraltar Government reception at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester on Sunday which was also attended by Falkland Islands Members of the Legislative Assembly, Jan Cheek and Ian Hansen.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told delegates at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Brighton on Sunday night that Gibraltar was grateful for the support it had received over the years from UK politicians.
The Government of Gibraltar will have a presence at the party conferences of the three main political parties in the United Kingdom this year. The conference season opens this Sunday with the Liberal Democrat party conference which takes place in Brighton from 23rd to 26th of this month.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has declared that UK-Spain bilateralism is “dead and will never ever be revived under any circumstances” regarding the Rock’s future.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has declared that he will never hand over “a grain of sand, a drop of water or a breath of air to Spain”. In an interview with the Spanish national press agency EFE, in Gibraltar House in London, Picardo regretted the “difficult relations with Spain” but reiterated that he would never cede “an iota of sovereignty to Spain.”