Jun 24 - Alvarez: “UK Does Not Speak For Gibraltar”
The Equality Rights Group Chairman has issued the following statement reacting to the news that the UK has voted to leave the EU: “Britain has spoken. But it has spoken for itself. Not for Gibraltar. That much is clear from the results of the In/Out EU Referendum held yesterday. As I said in our recently published book ‘From Town To City’, the UK’s democratic, majority decision taken yesterday is a game-changer for us in Gibraltar. It has to be a point of departure for the Rock!
“Gibraltar must never ever allow itself to be so vulnerable ever again. We need to reconsider our political strategies. Never again must we allow our politics to take us to a point and a place where our destiny depends on the decisions of others, whether they be in Sunderland or at No. 10 Downing Street. We Gibraltarians must advance our own identity, our own vision, our own way of doing things, and our own social model in our own interests.
“It is no longer good enough to forever rely on a copy/paste pursuit of British models and structures alone. Nothing should hold us back from looking inwards to ourselves and to our own creative solutions. There is also no disloyalty in looking outwards to Sweden, to the Netherlands, to Denmark or to other progressive societies as models from which we can learn. Gibraltar is a People. It is also now a State. States do not have emotions. They have interests, just like England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland. Gibraltar must act likewise. We must discard the co-dependence of the past. That will often require us thinking in new and daring ways.
“The biggest lesson Gibraltar needs to derive from the UK and its Referendum is that fostering a politics of inequality in the distribution of both wealth and social rights only leads to instability, insecurity and a fraught path of internal conflict and paralysis. Gibraltar must beware pursuing the same paths. Embedding and strengthening equality and human rights into our fundamental social model is essential to building cohesion, unity and prosperity, and to avert the danger of the kind of social breakup we see elsewhere. Cutting corners on people's rights is not only a huge mistake, it's an expensive error in every way, as Britain itself cannot now help noticing.
“We are living in times of increasing uncertainty, and the only attitude to adopt is to stand together, talk together, and bring out each and every ounce of positivity and imagination we can muster in the pursuit of innovative solutions for the sake of future Gibraltarians. If we continue to opt for the weathered approaches and the tired language of the past we can only be drawn deeper into the mire,” Mr. Alvarez ended.
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