The GSD’s National Day message follows below:

This is a National Day unlike any others that have gone before. This year we will celebrate the day without the big crowds that we have got used to because of the effect of the COVID19 pandemic.

No-one could have envisaged as we entered 2020 that this year there would be no Casemates rally or thousands of people on the streets celebrating. No- one could imagine that things would be so different. The pandemic has swept the world and changed how we live our lives even impacting how we socialise, do business or talk to people. We hope that these changes are as short-lived as possible but we must be ready to adjust as an economy and a society if this new climate endures. It will not be easy and hard economic choices may need to be made but I am confident that properly handled we can see a way through the effect COVID is having on Gibraltar. 

Equally this is our first National Day outside the EU. But the effect of that has been dulled by the fact that we are in the last few months of a transitional period that expires on 31 December 2020. Because of that it still feels as if nothing has changed. But the next four months are crucial. By the end of the year we will know whether an agreement has been reached setting out our future relationship with the EU or whether no agreements have been possible. 

None of us wanted to be here. We voted strongly to remain in the EU in 2016 and until last year had hoped there might be a change of view in the UK. But unfortunately, we find ourselves in the position of having to negotiate a deal to minimise the effect of departure from the EU. That agreement needs to respect our fundamental rights as a people, our sovereignty, our land and waters. It should mark a new relationship of Gibraltar with the EU with international recognition and respect of our rights at its core. If that happens and we obtain clear enduring economic and political benefits then the agreement will be a good one. We think that is possible if we negotiate with strength and imagination. If, however, what is on the table at the end of the talks with the EU, Britain and Spain does not do that then we should walk away from a bad deal. 

The COVID and post-BREXIT challenges are monumental ones for this community. This is a year that will test us all. They are, together, the biggest challenge since the joint-sovereignty bid of 2001. As has been the case with other challenges we need to stare it down and unite as a people to do so. 

More than ever our celebration of our separate identity and rights as a people is an important reflection of where we have come from, the success of previous generations in developing our country politically, economically and socially and the resolve we must now have to secure our present and our future. In the GSD we are confident that we can ensure the survival and development of our country for generations to come. 

On behalf of myself and all my colleagues in the Opposition I wish you and your families a happy and peaceful National Day. However you spend the day I hope you enjoy it and spend a few minutes to reflect on our common values, history and common aspirations as a people. That is what makes us who we are – a red and white wave in this corner of the Mediterranean.