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Jul 13 - Picardo And Garcia Meet New Prime Minister

The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia this afternoon met with the new Prime Minister Theresa May.

The meeting took place in the Prime Minister's Rooms in the House of Commons, which Mrs May had taken possession of a few moments before. This was ahead of her audience with Her Majesty the Queen to be invited to become Prime Minister and form a Government. It came straight after David Cameron's last Prime Minister's Question Time which Mr Picardo and Dr Garcia were able to witness from the Commonwealth Gallery inside the Chamber.

The Chief Minister reminded Mrs May that 96% of Gibraltar wanted to remain in the European Union and he explained the challenges ahead. It was agreed that, in the process of being "fully involved" in the process of the Brexit negotiations, Gibraltar would have an input into the discussions through the new unit in the Cabinet Office.

The meeting between the new Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister lasted approximately twenty minutes. The Government says it is very grateful that Mrs May agreed to the meeting and maintained it despite the important events that have been happening today.

In attendance with the Gibraltar side were the Attorney General, Michael Llamas QC, and the UK Representative, Dominique Searle.

The Chief Minister said: "We have had an excellent early opportunity to meet the new Prime Minister and to put to her Gibraltar's concerns and the economic issues that arise after the EU Referendum. We also discussed some of the rhetoric we are hearing coming from the caretaker Foreign Minister of Spain and the free movement issues that can arise at our frontier. I am very grateful to the Prime Minister that she allowed us time today on the very day of her appointment, demonstrating her understanding of the importance of the Brexit issue to Gibraltar and the depth of our concerns. Theresa May will no doubt be someone we can work with effectively as we seek to shape our future relationship with the EU in the manner that is most beneficial to Gibraltar and the wishes of the Gibraltarians as expressed so clearly in the Referendum result."


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