Oct 03 - Chief Minister Hosts Gibraltar Reception At Conservative Party Conference
The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo yesterday hosted the traditional Gibraltar reception at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
The speeches of Mr Picardo and Dr Liam Fox MP are attached.
The reception was also attended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond MP, who spent considerable time in discussion with the Chief Minister. Also in attendance was Robin Walker MP from the Department for Exiting the European Union, who spoke at the recent Westminster Hall Debate on Gibraltar held after the referendum before the summer break.
The Chief Minister said: "As is usual at the Conservative Party Conference, we had a huge attendance. The speech from Dr Fox was fantastically supportive and clear on the issue of Sovereignty, and came with warm regards for Gibraltar from the Prime Minister herself. The Chancellor was also able to make time to attend and to convey his good wishes and his understanding of the issues Gibraltar faces. Having been Foreign Secretary and having recently visited Gibraltar, he is an important friend of Gibraltar at this difficult time. It was clear to me that Gibraltar was surrounded by good friends last night and that they are listening to our concerns."
Chief Minister’s Address at the Conservative Party Conference
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening and welcome to this reception, which I've described to Colleagues in Gibraltar as a place where I can guarantee it is going to be shoving room only, because that's the sort of level of support that we have had from the Conservative Party.
Can I start by congratulating you on the appointment of Mrs May as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A magnificent choice, what a steadying force in what others have described as uncertain times. Well, I think after today there is much less uncertainty to be spoken of.
David Cameron, I must say, was an absolute champion of the People of Gibraltar and in the context of congratulating Mrs May, I expressed this to her and she has written back to me, as Chief Minister of Gibraltar, to ask me to convey to the People of Gibraltar, that she too will be a champion of the People of Gibraltar. And I have no doubt that that will be the case.
On the day of her appointment as Prime Minister, before she went to kiss hands with Her Majesty the Queen, she had agreed to see us. Although she didn't on that day, at the time that she had agreed it, know that that would be the day that she would become Prime Minster. I was expecting to be told that she, of course, could not keep the appointment. To our great surprise she not only kept the appointment but she was kind, she was thoughtful, and she was concerned about Gibraltar and more than anything else she was determined to make sure that everybody who needs to know knows that she will stand by the People of Gibraltar.
Of course, that is not to say that we are not facing challenges. On the morning of the 24th of June a number of things were announced. One of them was the issue of the joint sovereignty of Gibraltar once again being a proposal from the Spanish [boos]. This was recently the front page of the ABC newspaper in Madrid proposing what is a novel view of what joint sovereignty might look like: just the Spanish flag. [Laughter] They haven't even started yet, can you imagine what they might get up to if we ever were to let them get their foot in the door?
Well, let's be very clear. In 2002 it was the Conservative Party that made a common cause with the people of Gibraltar to defeat joint sovereignty when it was shamefully proposed by Labour and by Tony Blair [boos]. Today, I have no doubt that the people of Gibraltar will also be able to make common cause with a Conservative Government to see off the threats of blackmail that come from Madrid and to see off any attempt to put joint sovereignty seriously back on the agenda.
Now, we've already had a referendum on the issue of joint sovereignty in 2002. I think you remember the result. It was slightly higher even than the result announced in the early hours of the morning from Gibraltar on the other referendum that you may recall, and the position of the people of Gibraltar is not going to change. We have an answer in relation to the proposal to joint sovereignty: it's simple, it's two letters, N and O, no!
I just wonder, whether perhaps it's not translating well. [Laughter] And so if you don't mind I will demonstrate to you the Gibraltarians are also bilingual and I can spell it in Spanish: N O, no.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brexit means Brexit, British means British, Gibraltar will be British forever!
And one of strongest supporters, whether he has been a Member of Parliament in Opposition, whether he has been a Member of Parliament who has not been in the Cabinet and now as a member of the Cabinet, has been Dr Liam Fox. He is going to join us tonight. I want to thank him for the work he has done for Gibraltar in the past and I have no doubt he will be as strong a supporter of ours as he has been in the past now.
Dr Liam Fox’s Address at the Gibraltar Reception of the Conservative Party Conference
Thank you very much, Fabian. The reason you've only got his number at the reception tonight is we couldn't get a bigger hall for the Party to demonstrate its support and solidarity for the people of Gibraltar, and the Prime Minister sends her warmest regards and asked me to pass them on to you this evening.
As you remember, last time we met was during the referendum campaign when I went to campaign in Gibraltar. Now, some people would say that only getting 4% wasn't a great return. I like to think that if we hadn't been it might have been 2%. [Laughter] So, it depends a little bit whether you're a glass half full man or a glass half empty man. Of course, being Scottish I think the glass is simply not big enough. [Laughter]
We understand the complexities, especially in trade, that Gibraltar faces as we go into the negotiations ahead of us. We are sensitive to those and we want to work those through with you. And I believe that we can find, if there is good will on both sides, a very positive and reasonable result that actually does not in any way discriminate against the people of Gibraltar and also the many people in Spain who require Gibraltar and Gibraltar's prosperity for employment. And as long as we remember to put the people before the politicians I'm sure we can get a suitable and adequate response to the problems we face.
But let me be very, very clear on one point. There will be no reopening of the issue of sovereignty.
The relationship between us in UK and Gibraltar is not a relationship born of convenience. It is a deep, strategic relationship. Your security is our security. Your prosperity is our prosperity. Your identity is our identity. Your Britishness is our Britishness, and nothing will change any of those. Nothing and no one, not the forces of politics, not blackmail, not force of arms will ever stand between us. Not now, not in the past, not in the future.
Of all the relationships that we have, possibly none is closer than the one that we enjoy. Can I ask all Party members here tonight to raise a glass to the continuing closeness, the strategic importance of Gibraltar and the implacable nature of the Conservative Party that we will never, ever contemplate the betrayal of Gibraltar.
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