Jul 25 - Opposition Says The Government “Prefers Spin To Reality”
The GSD has said that the Gibraltar Government, and particularly its Chief Minister, “must listen properly before attacking” the Leader of the Opposition adding that the Chief Minister’s twitter account has been “ablaze” in reaction to Mr Feetham’s interview about the power station broadcast on GBC. The GSD says that “amongst the flurry of comments he could not help but also have a dig at his comments regarding the concrete blocks by stating that he does not believe ‘we should be moving any part of the artificial reef in BGTW’, adding that to do so would give up ‘sovereignty, jurisdiction and control.’”
The Opposition believes that, in saying this, Mr Picardo implies that the Leader of the Opposition would somehow be willing to compromise such sovereignty, jurisdiction and control. Nothing could be further from the truth, it says, and such “attempts to spin the truth only highlight the Chief Minister's unfortunate brand of leadership.”
A statement from the party continues:
There can be no doubt whatsoever that neither Mr Feetham nor any other Gibraltarian currently serving in our parliament will do anything to compromise British sovereignty over our land, sea or air. The Leader of the Opposition has said on numerous occasions that these are BGTW and the Government had every right to lay the reef, even though the GSD would not have done so.
The only point which the Leader of the Opposition made was that he did not agree with the statement that "hell would freeze over" before the blocks could be removed as has been stated by Mr Picardo previously. That was an unnecessary and characteristically populist statement for Mr Picardo to make, which serves absolutely no purpose.
No one is suggesting that the removal of the reef is on the agenda, but responsible Government demands that whilst our sovereignty must be defended, no doors are closed on opportunities that genuinely benefit our community, however remote those may be.
The GSD reminds the community that in March 2012 the Government tore up the 1999 Fishing Agreement on the grounds that the rule of law had to be upheld in BGTW and amid cries from its supporters of “aqui no se pesca”. The situation today is that there is more fishing by Spanish Fishermen than ever before. Indeed, on 22 June 2014, in the Spanish program “Viajando con Chester” the Chief Minister was asked why he did not allow Spanish Fishermen to fish and the Chief Minister’s response was that Spanish Fishermen were fishing!
