Nov 26 - Garcia Addresses Joint Ministerial Council on Spain Dispute and the Effect on Gibraltar’s Economy
The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia delivered one of the lead interventions in the discussions on the economy, which are taking place at the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in London. This brings together Overseas Territories Ministers with different UK Government Ministers.
He said that the most immediate, direct challenges to the economy of Gibraltar came not from the world economic crisis but from political decisions taken in both London and Madrid. He accused the Spanish Government of seeking to undermine the economy of Gibraltar by effectively blocking the frontier and threatening action elsewhere.
The Foreign Office’s protest against the search of a Diplomat’s bag by Guardia Civil officers at the Gibraltar – Spain Frontier today has been picked up by the UK National media, with reports made in the BBC, The Independent, the Telegraph, the Guardia and the London evening Standard.
Yesterday Unite the Union, together with the Government’s Human Resources department, held a well-attended presentation on the Government’s pension scheme at the John Macintosh hall for school lunch attendants. The meeting was opened by Unite’s Government Convenor Angelique Borastero and gave the members an insight on pension options and their benefits as well as other relevant information.
The Foreign Office has described an incident last Friday in which a British Government diplomatic bag was opened and searched by Guardia Civil officers as it was being couriered across the frontier as a “serious infringement of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
Responding to the GSD’s statement on the Future Job Strategy and it’s high cost to the Government, No.6 has stated that the GSD’s former Vocational Training Scheme was not structured. A statement adds, ‘the useless GSD Vocational Training Scheme (VTS) which used to pay cheap labour rates of £400 or less a month up to 2011. According to the GSD this discredited scheme had resulted in 28% of those participating obtaining employment after completion. They called this 28% a huge success..’
Media – Police Reports
Writing in yesterday’s edition of The Telegraph, former Navy boss Lord Admiral West has claimed that Spain’s recent behaviour is more akin to that of a Fascist dictatorship or banana republic. Recent tensions have seen an extension in stringent checks being made by Spanish customs officers, with pedestrians having to queue for up to 2 hours last week, to enter Spain. Lord West insists that ‘this is extraordinary behaviour for a democratic European state in the twenty first century.’
