The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party held its 44th Party Conference on Tuesday of this week at the John Mackintosh Hall Theatre.

This is the first time that the Party has held the Party Conference since 2019 given that the lockdown and other restrictions during the Covid pandemic meant that the 2020 and 2021 meetings had to be cancelled.

A party statement continued: “There was a good turnout at the John Mackintosh Hall, with a full house in the main hall and the atmosphere was positive throughout, with all members delighted to be meeting in person once again.

“This year marks 46 years since the creation of the Gibraltar Democratic Movement (which was renamed as the GSLP in 1978).

“The first item on the agenda was an address by Party Chairperson, former Member of the House of Assembly, Pepe Baldachino. Mr Baldachino spoke of the difficulties Gibraltar had faced in the past two years and the magnificent way in which the GSLP/Liberal Government had faced those challenges. He also led the party in a minute’s silence for all members and compatriots that had passed away since the last AGM in 2019 and the EGM later in that same year.

“Also on the agenda was the election of the Party Leader. There was only one nomination for Party Leader and Fabian Picardo was returned unopposed and by acclamation. Mr Picardo thanked the floor for returning him as party leader, especially given that he is required to stand every two years and a general election is to be held before then, such that he is therefore the party’s elected leader for the period of the next general election.

“The agenda of the meeting then provided for the election of five members to the Executive. Those returned to the five posts in the Executive were Mrs Gemma Arias- Vasquez, Mr Andrew Camilleri, Mr Joseph Cortes, Ms Pat Orfila and Mr Giovanni Bagu. These members will now also serve for two years before they will have to seek re-election. The other half of the elected members on the GSLP will need to stand for election next year.

“After the election of the members of the Executive, three policy motions were tabled, the text of which reads as follows:

Motion 1

“SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS”

This meeting,

NOTES the continued provision of tuition and maintenance scholarships for Gibraltarian students;

ACKNOWLEDGES the economic challenges faced by the GSLP/Liberal Government due to Brexit and, more recently, the COVID-19 global pandemic which has had a serious impact not only on Gibraltar’s economy, but on economies around the world;

SUPPORTS the GSLP/Liberal Government in its decision to continue to provide tuition and maintenance grants for all undergraduate students and for the vast majority of secondary degrees and postgraduates;

FURTHER RECALLS & SUPPORTS that it was Sir Joe Bossano’s GSLP Government which introduced the provision of mandatory scholarships for all Gibraltarian students, and that this GSLP/Liberal Government extended that to include appropriate postgraduate degrees and increased the grant in line with inflation prior to the pandemic.

AGREES that the continued provision of scholarships throughout the years following Brexit and, more recently, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, was the correct and prudent decision to have taken given that the scholarships represent a direct investment in the economic prosperity of Gibraltar;

AND SO THEREFORE NOW CALLS on the GSLP/Liberal Government to continue to provide these scholarships and to ensure that students are appropriately supported throughout the entire application process.

This motion was proposed by the Youth Section’s Samuel Marrache and it was seconded by Gemma Arias-Vasquez.

Motion 2 “PUBLIC FINANCE” This meeting,

REAFFIRMS the GSLP core policy to limit recurrent public spending at, or below, the level of recurrent revenue, the Golden Rule in Public Finance.

SUPPORTS that the Government should implement such measures as may be required to restore financial stability,

INSTRUCTS the Executive Committee to work closely with the Government in drawing up a roadmap of policy measures designed to achieve this result, ensuring, at the same time, protection for those on the lowest incomes.

Proposed by former elected member Joseph (Pepe) Baldachino and seconded by Party Founder, Hon Sir Joe Bossano MP.

Motion 3

“TREATY”

This meeting,

NOTES the ongoing negotiations with the EU & UK on a potential future Treaty on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU;

ACKNOWLEDGES the challenges faced by the GSLP/Liberal Government in respect of these negotiations, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic and its economic and social effects, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which is greatly occupying the time of relevant senior political figures outside of Gibraltar;

SUPPORTS the GSLP/Liberal Government in its work in pursuing a UK/EU Treaty which respects Gibraltar’s Red Lines whilst remaining reflective of the New Year’s Eve Framework Agreement;

FURTHER RECALLS & SUPPORTS the view of the Governments of both Gibraltar and the United Kingdom that no-deal is better than a bad deal and that a Treaty which crosses Gibraltar’s traditional red lines on sovereignty is not a treaty the GSLP Executive & Membership would be willing to endorse;

AGREES that any agreement which might, in principle, emerge should be ratified in Gibraltar by a motion of the Gibraltar Parliament, before formal ratification by the United Kingdom;

AND SO THEREFORE NOW CALLS on the Party Leader, in his capacity as Chief Minister of Gibraltar, to continue to negotiate with optimism and good faith towards a UK/EU Treaty whilst continuing to be prepared to walk away from a deal which compromises values the GSLP has defended over 40 years in the defence of the exclusively British sovereignty Gibraltar and its People.

Proposed by Albert Borrell and seconded by Party Leader, Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP.

“All three motions were presented and discussed and passed unanimously. There was one abstention on the motion on scholarships.

“The evening ended with a rousing address from the newly elected Party Leader which served to show up the political hypocrisy of the parties in opposition. Additionally, Mr Picardo highlighted the fact that the GSLP had often had its policies held up to ridicule by the opposition parties, only for subsequent events and the same opposition parties to later agree that the GSLP was right all along. This is best seen in, the international sphere, on the issue of opposition to the Strasbourg, Lisbon and Brussels Processes, the 1987 Airport Agreement or the Cordoba Agreement. Additionally, Mr Picardo referred also to local policies, such as the introduction of mandatory scholarships or the bringing of the Sunborn to Gibraltar, both of which, however different they might be, had elicited the same initial response from the opposition, namely that they would lead to the economic ruin of Gibraltar. Now, Mr Picardo noted, the opposition were trying to claim credit for the scholarship scheme and filming their party political videos on the Sunborn!”

The Chairman of the GSLP, Pepe Baldachino said: “I am very happy that we have been able to return to meetings in person and that we were able to meet party colleagues yesterday in large numbers. We have work to do as a party, after the pandemic, to organise and be ready for the next General Election, whenever our party leader, in his capacity as Chief Minister, may call it. I want to see the party return to its constant events at every level. We had a great 1st of May eve event this year also returning to our normal activity. We look forward to more of that now.”

The Party Leader, Fabian Picardo, said: “I was honoured to be elected once again, for the sixth time, as leader of the GSLP. I look forward to leading the party for the next two years and to continuing to work for the people of Gibraltar on the lines set out by the members of the party in our manifesto and in these three most recent motions. The motion on the Treaty, which I seconded, was brilliantly presented by Albert Borrell and I thank him for this. It serves to strengthen my hand in negotiations. I also thank Sir Joe specifically, for his additional references to the work I am doing with the UK generally and on the treaty in particular in the course of his equally important motion on public finances. Pepe and Sir Joe defended that motion with evidence of the work they had done in the first GSLP administration to balance our nation’s books, and their statements were very well received by the party as a whole. Everything in Gibraltar is linked and the motion on scholarships was movingly presented by the brilliant Samuel Marrache and passionately seconded by Gemma Arias, both of whom reflected that, like me, they would not have been able to obtain their university degrees without the visionary policies of Sir Joe Bossano’s first GSLP administration. It was an excellent evening, with hundreds of people present from all of Gibraltar’s walks of life, demonstrating the depth of the party in our community and the diversity that we represent. I look forward, like Pepe, to more in- person events in coming weeks and months now that we are able to meet in person again like before the pandemic.”