Jun 13 - VOGG and DOG Warn Lidington Not to Fall on same Trap as Labour Administration
In a further attempt to voice their concern over the ever growing tensions between Spain and Gibraltar within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, the Voice of Gibraltar Group, along with the defenders of Gibraltar have responded to Europe Minister, David Lidington’s letter.
Within the letter, the two pressure groups request the Mr. Lidington understand their reservations with regards to the position of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Government, towards Gibraltar. They go on to add, ‘for example you mention that the relationship the UK has with Gibraltar is based on “respect”. We believe that your use of this word is out of place, seeing as from our perspective the UK Government seems unwilling or unable to fulfill its constitutional duties with reference to Spain’s constant undermining of our laws and its open challenge to sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters; perhaps because of Britain’s wider interests?’
In response to the Minister for Europe’s insistence that the UK Governnt attaches the highest priority to the safety and liberty of all Gibraltarians, the groups urge him to explain further, adding that ‘this is not something which springs to mind to most, if not all Gibraltarians’.
The letter continues, ‘On diplomatic protests – would you honestly have us believe that Spain takes note of the UKs protestations when the Spanish Governments Official position is that Britain has no sovereignty of the waters around Gibraltar? Was there not another SERIOUS incursion on 11 June 2013 by a particularly large Spanish Navy vessel?
We welcome the UK Governments commitment to the British Overseas Territories as set out in the Queens Speech in Parliament on 8th May 2013. We do however feel slightly insulted and patronized by your assertion that the current situations Gibraltar faces from Spain do not constitute a 'genuine threat'. It would appear that you have not been kept up to date with recent developments in the Spanish Parliament, particularly when the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister stated, “Gibraltar is a threat to National Security”. How do you reconcile that?
With regards to your opinion that Guardia Civil incursions do not present any credible threat – this statement equates to clear appeasement and practically condones the Guardia Civil's actions, and opens the door for Spanish Navy vessels to follow in their footsteps as we have recently seen. We wonder whether in the event of a serious incident, if Britain’s wider interests will still prevail? What exactly constitutes your red lines?
We understand and agree with your assertion that incursions are a misguided and futile attempt by Spain to assert their long-standing legal position over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. This assertion does not however make any realistic difference to the current situation Gibraltar faces. We feel the time has now come for Britain and Spain to take the issue of Territorial Waters to an International Court to be settled once and for all. We know that Spain is unlikely to agree to legal arbitration as they have accepted internally that they have an extremely weak legal position. In this case Britain needs to expose this publically or seek an extension of BGTW to the 12 nautical mile limit, which would in effect call Spain’s bluff or push it into settling the issue at an international court.
We recognize that the current situation perhaps when viewed through the prism of European or UK- Spain relations, may appear to be an anomaly. We do not view the situation as such as we have experience in previous and current Spanish tactics to undermine Gibraltar’s economic and political peace and security at every opportunity; for example frontier queues, air movement, bunkering, finance industry, online gaming industry, UEFA membership – as you can imagine the list is too extensive to detail here.
We appreciate the need to weigh up interests, however note that we seem to be last in the queue behind Britain and Spain when it comes to such interests. You can also forget the current Partido Popular government ever returning to the trilateral forum for dialogue, irrespective of how you press them for a return. We also expect you not to succumb to their demands for bilateral discussions on Gibraltar.
With regards to the appointment of a Spanish Judge in the ECJ appeal, all we can say is that we are disappointed with the UKs seeming inability to stave off Spanish tactics (for example European designation of our waters to Spain, approved by a UK representative present during the approval process). This is simply an extension to previous disappointments in relation to the European delegation of responsibility over our waters to Spain. It is even more disappointing that the UK has not sought to have this listing annulled.’
The groups explain that they will remain in close touch with the Convent and welcomed a possible meeting with the Minister when he is next in Gibraltar. They add that his ‘Conservative Friends of Spain’ meetings have ‘ not gone down very well in Gibraltar’.
The letter concludes with, ‘last but not least, a bit of friendly advice from two different pressure groups. Carry on like this and you are going to find yourself in a similar situation the previous Labour Government found itself in 2002, when they disregarded Gibraltarian feelings and failed to do what was right.’
