The Government has reacted to the photograph of Gibraltar’s religious leaders over the Holocaust Memorial that stands at Commonwealth Park, presenting their position in favour of the ‘NO’ campaign in the abortion referendum.

The Government says it considers that the photograph is “badly ill-judged” in “seeking to mobilise the horrific atrocity and crime against humanity that the Holocaust represents in favour of one side in the referendum debate.”

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: “This photograph of our otherwise much loved and respected religious leaders deploying the Holocaust genocide in promoting their views in the up-coming referendum on abortion is badly ill-judged. The Holocaust stands alone as a crime against humanity and it is wrong to seek to mobilise it in favour of any argument. It is frankly distasteful, disrespectful and unacceptable to have attempted to draw this parallel.”