In accordance with established practice, the Chief Minister has approved the closure of all non-essential Government Offices on 2nd January 2015, which will be treated as a privilege holiday, given that it falls on a Friday.
The dinner dance hosted by local charity Action4schools-Sierra Leone held at the Calpe Rowing Club on Saturday 6th December raised funds in aid of the "ebola orphans appeal" which the charity recently launched in Gibraltar. The charity had pledged £2,000 from general funds, the event raised £4,500, a £500 donation was received from the Rotary Club of Gibraltar and then a further £1,000 donation was made by an anonymous guest of the dinner, raising the total to £8,000.
The GSD says it notes the explanation afforded by the Chief Minister to allegations made on social media that he held an interest in a business selling sunglasses at the time he reduced duty on sunglasses to zero at the last Budget. It will be recalled, says the Opposition, that the GSD then issued a communiqué asking the Chief Minister to make a public statement as to the veracity of the allegations. Consequent on that communiqué, the Chief Minister said that the information was "out of date" and that he "used to own a sunglasses shop many years ago". He then said that he owns "a company with other investors" which now operates as "a landlord of property in Main Street, from where another business operates selling sunglasses".
The final communique issued at the end of this week’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council in London contained references to several issues of current concern to Gibraltar. Overall, the communique pledged the UK, the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to work together in areas such as Prosperity, Security, Environment, Governance, Communities and International issues.
