Dec 21 - Christmas Message From Lawrence Llamas
By Lawrence Llamas
Good evening
As you will recall, I stood for election to the Gibraltar Parliament in 2015 with the GSD and, in July this year, for established reasons, I took a step into the unknown and became an independent MP. Today, Keith Azopardi leads the GSD and I wish him and the party well.
Despite the challenges of the turmoil during the budget session which led to my resignation, the last six months have been tremendously gratifying.
I have been able to engage and to serve you in and out of Parliament. I have dealt, for example, with a number of initiatives since then. With the “aqui no se limpia” campaign, I brought the issue of the state of our public areas to the fore and I think I was able to use the power of the people’s voice through social media to compel Government to act. I have also been asking questions in respect of education, housing and health, in respect of which, the Government itself has acknowledged some dissatisfaction with specific matters.
I also recently wrote to the Government to request that the Parliamentary Committee for Exiting the EU meets to discuss latest developments in that context. As your parliamentarians, it is important that we understand what the real position of Gibraltar in the negotiations is. Our future is at stake here.
Regrettably however, I continue to worry about a lack of genuine transparency. On a number of occasions the Government has refused to provide me with information in a manner that raises legitimate concerns about, not just transparency, but about how data is processed by Government.
A privilege and an honour to serve
I am acutely aware of the privilege that serving you as an independent MP represents, a privilege which I plan to honour by continuing to work hard for you.
In my national day message this year, I explained that I believe that Gibraltar needs to make an honest assessment of some of the issues that we face today. We need to conduct a soul searching and candid assessment of our readiness to tackle these challenges.
We see buildings going up, high levels of employment and our social media feeds full of images and posts. They are a glimpse into the lives of family and friends enjoying holidays, celebrations and generally relishing the things that so many of us take for granted. Gibraltar is a picture of abundance, a picture of a community doing well YET I worry about what lurks behind our social media feeds. I worry about the long term effects of this prosperity, not just on our finances, but on the national psyche and in the mental health context too.
A new vision
I share a vision with a growing number of people who I am working with. We believe that it is important that this new vision for Gibraltar be alive to the dangers we have yet to articulate, whether homegrown or external. We believe that this vision requires honesty, regardless of whether we like what we find when we search within.
We believe that that vision needs to consist of a resetting of expectations. We need to work to ensure a stable, sustainable and secure future. We need to rekindle a sense of civic responsibility.
The immediate future
In the coming months, I will be looking at developing new ways of engaging with you by means of, for example, surveys and online platforms. These will be initiatives which I hope will allow us to interact without jeopardising the anonymity many of you crave or need. I would urge you to get involved, to share your views with me and to assist me in influencing our future. I want you to help me by sharing what keeps you awake at night, what makes you happy and what could be improved.
Education
On education, I’ll be focusing on the plans announced by the Government which cover importantissuesofinteresttomanyofyou. Issuessuchasthetransferofyearsevenchildren into the mega-school campus environment;, the management of the interaction between 11 year old and 18 year olds on the same campus; and in a new co-education environment.
Think about it.
Eight new schools; two comprehensives, one mega-school campus and co-education. All to be done in less than two years. Has it all been properly thought through I ask?
The Government may say that it is satisfied that it has consulted far and wide, but many of the various stakeholders take the time to stop me down the street - parents, teachers, students, and other concerned individuals. They raise concerns about these plans, concerns which in my view have not been adequately addressed.
The key point here is that the single most important thing about these plans is that it is ABOUT EDUCATION. It may also be about buildings, locations, traffic, costs and other things, but let us not lose sight of the fact that this is about the education of our children and therefore a key responsibility of this Government.
These surveys will allow ALL of you to participate anonymously, without fear of consequence. They will allow me to harvest and collate the data gathered and present it to Government.
I want to give parents a voice. I want to give students a voice. I want to give teachers a voice.Your input is critically important in this process. Remember, we are all in this together and your voice must be heard.
Being Together
I urge you, if any of the themes and issues I have touched upon today or during the course of the last six months have resonated with you, or if you feel you can make a contribution, join me.
Get in touch. Come and meet me.. Come and meet me and learn more about the work that we’redoing.Joinmeandtheotherswhoalreadysharetheseviews. Otherswhoarekeento make a difference and keen to see the vision I have set out a moment ago become a reality.
You can make a difference; WE can make a difference.
Christmas
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2018 and to wish the Jewish community a happy Hanukkah. I would also like to send a special Christmas message to my wife, children, family and friends and thank them for the support they have given me this year.
I conclude by urging you all to stay safe and alert while you enjoy the festivities. Let’s do what we can to assist our essential services, to whom we owe such a great debt of gratitude. They keep us safe while we go peacefully about our lives, safe in the knowledge that we live where we do, in God’s favourite little place on earth.
Thank you for watching, good night.
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