Feb 16 - Westminster MPs Visit The Rock As Part Of Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme
Last night, the Chief Minister hosted a dinner for several Westminster MPs and other guests. The MPs are visiting Gibraltar as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.
Here’s Mr Picardo’s full speech:
Welcome to Gibraltar.
I am delighted that you are able to join me in the context of your MoD focused visit to our Rock, generously supported by the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.
I can’t help feeling that you all somehow missed the bus.
Well THE ship!
Just last Friday HMS Queen Elizabeth had much of Gibraltar clamouring to the rooftops to see the magnificent sight of her maiden port of call into Gibraltar.
Her majestic tour of the waters around the Rock will have sent a powerful message to every one of just how important Gibraltar remains to the United Kingdom and its role in global defence.
Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Defence rightly remarked that we would be very proud to see Britain’s future flagship sail – all 65,000 tonnes of her - through British waters.
We were ecstatic, and we want her back soon!
I have written to long term friend of Gibraltar Sir Mike Penning to thank him for the commitment he made that she would be in Gibraltar within 18 months of his visit some seventeen months ago.
And I was very proud to present Jerry Kyd, the captain of HMS Big Lizzie with a polished stalactite of the Rock to sit in his banqueting hall so that the Rock will always be present in the heart of the Royal Navy’s flagship.
I am sure you have been well briefed by the Governor Ed Davis but I will echo his words last week when he stated that he is confident that HMS Queen Elizabeth’s entry into service will see Gibraltar “continuing to prove its vital relevance as a mounting and sustainment base for global Britain’s contribution to international security.”
We look forward to continuing to fulfil our role as the Mediterranean home of the Royal Navy.
I know that some of you have visited Gibraltar before – so you will be aware from the tunnels, the architecture you have seen and the people that you have met, that Gibraltar and its people are an integrated part of the Rock’s military past, present and future. Gibraltarians are deeply proud of their service in support of MoD.
We remain fully committed to supporting not just Her Majesty’s ships and aircraft but in also giving a warm welcome to the personnel who work here or pass through in the service of their country.
As one of the nations that makes up the British family, Gibraltar is proud to be an important naval asset.
British and, indeed, US nuclear submarines, as well the vessels and aircraft working in support of NATO and our defence will always be welcomed.
You can count on us now and for the future.
And an important part of achieving a closer partnership in this respect will be the introduction of an Armed Forces Act in Gibraltar.
We are working hard to finalise agreement on the terms of such an act between Gibraltar and the Ministry of Defence and hope that we will soon be able to consider that issue dealt with by an Act of the Gibraltar Parliament.
You will have seen from your visit that Gibraltar continues to boom.
Yes, despite Brexit.
We had an ambitious development plan when we came into office and it continues to be so in the context of Brexit.
In fact, parliamentary opposition colleagues in the Gibraltar Parliament take quite a novel approach by sometimes asking us to do less or to do things more slowly.
But we are an ambitious bunch in this government I lead and we will not be willingly persuaded to work less or deliver less for our people.
A challenge does not scare us.
It invigorates us.
And that is how we have dealt with the challenges that Brexit presents to us.
And so you won’t find any remoaners here.
Instead you will find us remainers energetically and enthusiastically committed to delivering the will of the British people and entirely committed to remain a part of the British family whilst we do so; despite our quite vehement vote to remain in the European Union.
Gibraltar has stood by and worked with Britain for over three centuries.
That is never going to change.
We share both the confidence and the sense of challenge that the decision to leave the EU encapsulates.
Gibraltar voted 96% to remain because we felt that membership of the EU provided the legal framework and market access that reinforced our ability to pay our way in the world.
Since the decision to leave, the Gibraltar government has engaged very closely with Mrs May and her government, we have kept MPs and Peers up to date so that there is a clear understanding in the United Kingdom of the issues that are important to us.
I am pleased to say that the ministers and politicians we have engaged with have been hugely supportive.
They have understood the importance of not only sustaining our close ties but of building and growing these - not least in terms of seamlessly continued market access to the UK and inclusion in future trade deals.
They also understand that is logical and vital that we take this journey with the UK through the transition and into the new place in the world, engaging and trading with world markets or continuing access to the EU single market if the UK achieves that duality.
We cannot be left on the wayside.
Our regular JMCs are a genuine platform of negotiation and discussion.
We have a series of working groups engaging with their counterparts in the Treasury, Home Office and other departments to ensure that we can transition out of the EU without losing vital links that have worked fluidly as part of our relationship under the aegis of the EU.
Brexit is complex for all of us, but I believe we are now talking less about the shock decision to depart and more about the strategic direction we will take.
The most important thing is that the goodwill and genuine support we have in the UK is translated into the practical detail that will give us both continuity and open new avenues of opportunity to grow economically with global Britain, with the Commonwealth and indeed with the EU as a partner.
And dare I say it, we restate also our good faith in seeking a relationship of normality with our neighbour, the Kingdom of Spain.
In all this we are, of course, not the only British territory with a border onto a member state.
Northern Ireland and the Cyprus SBA’s also share that similarity with us – although both are also as different from us as they are similar.
As with Northern Ireland we want to ensure that Brexit does not harm social and economic interests on either side of the border.
We have detected a fresh realism and pragmatism with our neighbour and we remain committed to our long-standing policy to engage positively in areas of co-operation.
I have welcomed Snr Dastis’s clear positioning of Spain away from the mantra of sovereignty recovery and onto the attempt to deal with matters of mutual concern that can deliver greater joint prosperity for the whole region.
Those things are of course, easier said than done.
But if we are not daunted by Brexit, we are certainly not going to balk at an opportunity to achieve normality in our relationship with our neighbour.
We will be as energetically and enthusiastically invested in such an opportunity as we would be in good faith should the opportunity actually materialise.
Of course, our red lines on sovereignty remain as bold and clear as the HMS Queen Elizabeth adorning our waters and defending our homeland.
No one would expect otherwise.
But, you know that already.
As clear as the sun rises in the east.
As night follow day.
Gibraltar will always be British.
Thank you for coming to Gibraltar.
I know you will take back with you a real sense that you have been home from home.
Just like the crew of the HMS Queen Elizabeth did this past weekend.
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