Just a few moments ago, in New York, the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo addressed the UN’s Committee of 24. Mr Picardo argued that the approach and language adopted by Spain with regards to the Gibraltar situation had “no place in the modern world” and reflected a “medieval obsession.”

He urged Spain to test their “pathetic and unsustainable political view” in the International Court of Justice and went on to detail the options available for Gibraltar’s decolonization stressing that only a “tailor made solution” would be acceptable in Gibraltar’s case.

He repeated his disappointment that the Committee had not said anything on whether the new Constitution altered Gibraltar’s colonial status saying that “we cannot have a situation where the people of the territory, whose wishes are meant to be sacrosanct, are effectively ignored and side-lined by this Committee.”

Mr Picardo reminded the committee that they are explicitly committed to working to facilitate the advance toward complete self-determination and said that there was no “ad hoc, state by state mechanism that you can shape to please Spain.”

Mr Picardo informed the Chairman that Gibraltar’s recent UEFA success was proof of what happens when Gibraltar gets a “fair and unbiased hearing.”

He ended by saying: “We demand that you start proactively acting in defence of our rights now.”