Fabian Picardo, Leader, GSLP Liberals

It is scarcely believable that today marks the end of the second week of the campaign for this election.  It is a mark of the intensity with which we are engaged in working to secure the trust of the people of Gibraltar one more time that we are now less than three weeks away from polling day.  The enormity of the developments in the UK too, with the decision of the Supreme Court and the scenes we have seen unfold in Westminster, have only made the time feel shorter still.  Frankly, I was less than impressed by the use of language by all sides in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening.  Speaking out for all my MP colleagues in the Gibraltar Parliament, of all political parties, I really do not think that there is anything we can by taught these days by Westminster politicians when it comes to debate – although we are all human too and we also go over the top on occasions!

I am thrilled, however, that the GSLP Liberals are pulling out all the stops and working every hour available to build the absolute best case for our re-election on October 17th.  The GSLP Liberals are not taking this community for granted.  We are delighted to have the opportunity of the election to spend time talking about what we have done in the last eight years but, more importantly, to have the opportunity to set out the exciting plans and ideas we have for the next four years.

I’m very proud of our work so far this election, but I’m genuinely wondering whether the other political parties are.  We seem to be the only ones taking this election seriously. From the moment I called the election I have been determined that we should provide the community with every opportunity to understand what we propose to do and how determined we are.  I am surprised and disappointed, though perhaps I shouldn’t be, at the lack of output from the other political parties - Together Gibraltar, supposedly the young and energetic bunch and the ‘old hands’ of Gibraltar politics, the GSD. In short, the novices and the has beens.

Notwithstanding the fact that the team and I have been working flat out to produce the final product of our manifesto for 2019, members of the GSLP Liberals team have also been hard at work putting out their own releases, discussing their areas and presenting the reasons why we believe you should choose the RIGHT people for the job when we next take to the polls.

Producing a manifesto is nothing short of a gargantuan task - we spend years preparing and then hours upon hours discussing every last initiative, costing each idea and setting it against the backdrop of the environmental filter, as well as that of the prudent management of the public finances we have always pursued.  The manifesto is nothing short of a labour of love for me and for the rest of the GSLP Liberals team.  Our manifesto is our commitment to you. It is one which we strive to deliver in its entirety. It is more than just a wish list. This is why I confess that I am disappointed that there are a number of initiatives we have simply been unable to deliver in the last four years.

I make no bones about this, and I won’t seek to pretend otherwise.  I do not subscribe to the view that you should seek to deny or excuse failings. We are all humans, after all.  The strength of the GSLP Liberals is in acknowledging this and in the unending, unwavering determination to do what is right by Gibraltar, and that is why our manifesto has the best ideas.  Our manifesto will likely, as ever, be the last to make its way out into the public limelight, and there’s a good reason for that.

As the political grouping which has delivered so substantially on the two excellent manifestos on which we stood for election in both 2011 and 2015, you know that when we put something in our manifesto, we mean it.  If something is in our manifesto, it is an initiative that has been costed and properly planned.  A manifesto commitment will be an objective for us, not just a loosely worded wish list we hope people will forget. Commonwealth Park, the new LNG power station, and the new world-class schools we have invested your money in are just three examples of the amazing progress we’ve been proud to oversee during our time in office.  A GSLP Liberal manifesto is a serious document indeed.

I have this week opened three new schools and, as a Headboy of one of them, I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of what has been achieved by the massive and entirely committed teams that made our dreams for education in Gibraltar a reality.

With the schools we have exceeded even our most ambitious expectations. Notre Dame First School, St Anne’s Upper and both Bayside and Westside Comprehensive schools are truly special.  It is a highlight of my time in office to have watched my dear friends, Gilbert Licudi and Dr John Cortes run with the dream of an Education Revolution and to follow it through.  The new schools are a monument to the commitment and dedication of all the workers and teachers who have helped to make it a reality.  It is a symbol of the Gibraltarian’s single-minded determination to be the best we can be.  I couldn’t be prouder of it if I tried!

We have delivered on the economic performance over the last four years.  Once again, Sir Joe Bossano’s predictions on the economy have stood the test of time. In 2015 our economic plan predicted that the economy would grow to £2.4bn by March 2020. I was happy to report at my budget address this year that we had as good as hit that target a full year earlier than anticipated.  GDP was also up, as it has been every year the GSLP Liberals have been in Government, by £177.8 m - a staggering growth rate of 8.2%. Net national debt is also at a record low of 13.37% of GDP.

The economy added 7% more jobs than we had last year, taking us to a full 29,995 jobs in Gibraltar - a record.   We have added almost a third more jobs in the time we have been in office. Private sector growth was substantially responsible for that growth and, as at summer this year, unemployment stands at just 37! The Future Jobs Strategy our opponents said would never work has delivered results and will continue to deliver results.

In the last financial year we underspent by £4m, a feat that has been possible thanks to the sterling work of the Financial Secretary and his team, a feat which silences the criticisms levelled upon us some years back by our political opponents. Arrears owed to the Government are now down an impressive £23.1m since 2016.  At the same time, we have ensured that the Minimum Wage, which the GSLP introduced in 1988 for the first time, has gone up EVERY YEAR.  Under the GSD there were some years when the Minimum Wage did not go up. The GSD left the Minimum Wage frozen for five years twice!  They did this between 1996 and 2001 (when Mr Azopardi was in Government!) and between 2004 and 2009.  In fact, it should be noted that IN 16 YEARS IN GOVERNMENT THE GSD ONLY PUT THE MINIMUM WAGE UP 5 TIMES! Now they pretend that they will be the heroes of the working class! We inherited the Minimum Wage at £5.00 (or £10,950 pa) and have put it up to £7.00 already, going up to £7.50 (or £15,210 effective 2021).  That shows a real commitment to increase the Minimum Wage which the GSD has never shown.  We will have raised the Minimum Wage by 50% pursuant to the announcements made in the Budget this year.  We still believe that the Minimum Wage is too low and will continue to increase it as much as we consider we are able to. 

We have provided support for all in our economy. We have abolished tax for those on less than £11,200 and given effect to a significant reduction in income tax across the board. We have delivered above inflation pay increases in the public sector of 20.4% since elected as well as delivered annual increases in old age pensions, and the minimum income guarantee.

We have achieved SUSTAINABLE growth. We have achieved RECORD low unemployment. These figures are not a flash in the pan - they are delivered year on year, year after year.

AND... we have delivered the best sporting facilities our nation has ever had, two new health centres, six new schools already in 8 years (with more to come) and almost 4,000 new homes.  I do not think even our opponents genuinely think that we have done anything other than an excellent record on which we should be positively judged.

But there’s more yet to do, and I trust that our energy, our focus and our attention to the electorate during this campaign will persuade you of what I know to be true - that we are the RIGHT people for the job.  Next week will see our public meeting take place on Tuesday evening and I would love to see all of you there to share in some of our ideas for the future. There will also be a series of debates which you can get details by logging onto our social media pages under the handle ‘GSLP Social’. I am excited, and so should you be.

I have said before, and I will say again, never before in the history of this community has the choice of political leadership been more important to us.  Gibraltar has a simple choice to make in a complex context.  The choice is stark and it is binary - you can choose the wrong people for the job or you can choose the RIGHT people for the job. Now is not the time for novices or has beens, nor is it the time for political experiments or spent forces.  Now is the time for the proven, not the promised.   That is what will give you the confidence that what we promise you now is what will have been delivered by the next election.

Now is the time for the successful team and the tried and tested leadership for our nation that we represent. That’s why you know, as the campaign gets into its stride, that the GSLP Liberals are the best choice for Government on the morning of the 18th October.

On October 17th, vote for all TEN GSLP Liberal candidates.  We will not let you down.  I will not let you down.