Oct 19 - Government: Gibraltar Day This Year Was Cheaper Than In 2011
The Government has said that it is clear that the Leader of the Opposition continues to make public statements “based on complete ignorance of the facts” adding that his latest comments on the cost and value of Gibraltar Day are a case in point.
A statement released this morning by Number Six continued: “The plain fact is that the overall expenditure for Gibraltar Day in 2015 was £37,485 less than it had been for Gibraltar Day 2011 when Mr Feetham was in Government.
“The overall cost in 2015 was £79,213 when compared to the cost of £116,698 for 2011.
“The Government has already introduced some changes to Gibraltar Day and it considers that the event should be reviewed further for next year. However, it is a bit rich for Mr Feetham to criticise the event when it was invented by his own party when they were in Government and it continues in a format that has not changed much since then.
“However, one change that this Government has made is to include the Leader of the Opposition in the invitation list. When Mr Feetham was in Government the GSD did not invite Joe Bossano or Fabian Picardo when they held the office of Leader of the Opposition. Mr Feetham is now invited, sits on the top table and his attendance was paid for by the taxpayer the first time he went, despite his misleading tweet suggesting the opposite.”
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, added: "We have reduced the cost of Gibraltar Day and will do so even further as we modernise the event. Unlike the GSD, I will continue to invite the Leader of the Opposition to this event in future. Selling Gibraltar in the UK has huge benefits and we are able to do so at a much reduced cost by better planning and greater cost efficiency. Will Mr Feetham congratulate us for having reduced the costs from the amounts the GSD spent by over £37,000?"
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