Aug 14 - Gibraltar Doesn’t Deserve British Protection Because It Doesn’t Pay British Taxes – Controversial Opinion Piece By Guardian Columnist
The Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins (left) has written an article that argues that Gibraltar should not be allowed to rely on British military backing because residents do not pay UK taxes and the “colony” is a tax haven.
He writes: “The British empire had much to be said for it, but it is over – dead, deceased, struck off, no more. The idea of a British warship supposedly menacing Spain is ludicrous. Is it meant to bomb Cadiz? Will its guns lift a rush-hour tailback in a colony that most Britons regard as awash with tax dodgers, drug dealers and right-wing whingers?”
Mr Jenkins also says that, although the inhabitants of Gibraltar and the Falklands have certain rights, “such rights have never overridden political reality,” and “Britain's security does not need these places.”
He argues that British territories have the best of both worlds because they act as tax havens and then, “when the neighbours cut up nasty, they demand that those whose taxes protect them should send soldiers, diplomats and lawyers to their aid.”
He concludes his piece by saying that “An occasional six-hour queue at La Linea is a small price to pay for declining to join the real world.”
Full article (with heated pro-Gibraltar comments) can be accessed on: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/14/gibraltar-falklands-deny-logic-history
