Sep 12 - Feetham Backs Government on Fishing Legislation Amendments and ‘Ad Hoc’ Talks With Spanish Government
This evening Opposition Leader Daniel Feetham released a statement on the party’s view of current events. During recent weeks the Party has reserved its opinions on the on-going dispute with Spain, in order to allow the Government to work towards fixing the issue.
Mr. Feetham today touches upon the Party’s view that the Chief Minister should meet with Spanish fishermen to explain legislation changes face to face.
The GSD welcomes the Government’s decision to amend the 1991 Nature Protection Act. Mr. Feetham adds that during this time of dispute, it would not have been in Gibraltar’s interest for the Government and Opposition to be engaged in ‘a vigorous domestic political battle as [they] had been engaged as late as July of this year on the Sunborn or the Gibraltar Savings Bank.'
Mr. Feetham’s full statement is as follows:
‘As we end our National Week celebrations, I want to talk to you about current events in relation to how the Government proposes to deal with the current crisis with Spain and where we stand as an Opposition.
‘Over the last four weeks I have met with the Chief Minister on a weekly basis, so that I could be briefed on his strategy to deal with that crisis. I want to emphasise that the Opposition has had no input in the devising of that strategy nor, indeed, have we been privy to any discussions with the United Kingdom Government. In these confidential meetings with the Chief Minister my role has been to listen and to be as frank as possible with my views of events and the way the Government is handling and proposing to handle them. It has been our deliberate policy to say as little as possible to give the Government an opportunity to resolve the current situation.
‘My decision as Leader of the Opposition was that political accountability for the current state of affairs had to come second to allowing the Government the necessary space, at this moment in time, to attempt to resolve the situation. It would not have been in Gibraltar's interest for the Government to be engaged in a vigorous domestic political battle as we had been engaged as late as July of this year on the Sunborn or the Gibraltar Savings Bank, whilst at the same time trying to deal with a crisis that affects all of us. That is why I also agreed to postpone Parliamentary Questions and Answers in the month of September.
‘One issue where the Government can expect the support of the Opposition is in the passage through Parliament of amendments to the Nature Protection Act in order to allow fishing with EU compliant nets, including by Spanish fishermen. I have been calling for such amendments since this current crisis broke over a year ago.
‘In March of this year I renewed that call. I was criticised for doing so on the grounds that the term "EU compliant nets" was simply a euphemism for "Spanish nets". The implication was that somehow I was being soft on Spain by calling for a change in the law. Yet, throughout the recent by-election, that remained our clearly stated and consistent position.
‘Against this background, the Opposition welcomes the Government's convergence with - one might say conversion to - our position. Although the fact that the Fishing Report contains no recommendation to that effect it is the sensible and right thing to do for this community.
‘I believe that it is now important for the Government to meet with Spanish Fishermen and explain the changes to them face to face. I am prepared to be present at such a meeting to give the Fishermen the reassurance and comfort that regardless of the political party that wins the next election, there will be continuity in policy.
‘We do not have a fishing industry to protect but we do have an economy, a finance industry, a gaming industry and many small businesses in Main Street and elsewhere, which we must be mindful of when devising a policy which impacts on our relationship with Spain. Gibraltar is stronger when we pick and choose our battles carefully by reference to the obvious red lines we are all determined to maintain.
‘Although we are determined to resist the Spanish Government’s attempts to cripple our economy, we must not blind ourselves to the fact that the current crisis has been damaging for many businesses. Talk to taxi drivers and Main Street traders for example and they will tell you, to varying degrees, that this August has been a bad August for them.
‘That is why I have said, despite criticisms at a time of strong nationalist sentiment, that the GSD would not have laid the artificial reef had we been in Government. Of course, we have a legal right to do so. Of course, the waters are British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. Of course, Spain's reaction has been disproportionate, immoral and in relation to the border queues, illegal too. It is completely wrong to target an entire community as Spain has done with Gibraltar. As an Opposition, we have condemned the Spanish Government's actions over the last five weeks and I condemn them again today. But we would not so unnecessarily have given Spain the pretext to do so.
‘This is not the first time that Gibraltar has faced either a belligerent Madrid Government or a PP Government. We did so ourselves. Relations with Spain have always needed to be managed intelligently and with care. Always being prepared to defend important red lines for Gibraltar and issues that impact on our sovereignty, jurisdiction and control of our land, air and seas but being mindful not to create controversy on issues of less importance. Any Government of Gibraltar holds the administration of this community on trust for past, present and future generations. Time and right are on our side. In 30 years time, attitudes in Spain may well have changed. The policy of the PSOE today is not the same as the policy of the PSOE of Felipe Gonzalez in the late 1980s. There is no need to bring any crisis to a head or provoke one, however right we may be, unless it is of fundamental importance to this community.
‘That is why our policy has always been to fight the necessary and important battles, whilst being prepared to engage in safe and reasonable dialogue with Spain. Always striving to defend our vital interests, whilst also striving for normality in our relations with Spain in a calm, mature and intelligent way. And the reality is that my predecessor, Peter Caruana, was highly successful in doing so. That is why I felt it was important for me three weeks ago to state publicly that no one (either Spain or Gibraltar) had anything to gain by escalating the conflict or using inflammatory language that can only lead to an escalation. We had to attempt to de-escalate the current situation through dialogue.
‘For the specific purpose of trying to resolve the current situation, and no other, I said that the GSD would support dialogue outside the tripartite process, as long as the essential architecture of that process was maintained, namely; an open agenda and a separate voice, vote and veto for Gibraltar. That would ensure that Gibraltar was fully protected and that any talks were safe for this community. The importance of trying to resolve the current situation, overrode the importance of what additional parties attended the talks on the Spanish side, provided the essential architecture of the tripartite talks that I have described was maintained.
‘Provided these ad hoc talks announced by the Government are structured broadly as I have described, we will support and, indeed, welcome them. I sincerely hope that we can support the Government because the current situation can only be resolved through dialogue. So, to be clear: we support the resumption of dialogue provided that it is not on terms that amount to retreat by us and progress by Spain in our standing and status at those talks. We cannot lose our separate voice, or our separate status. Nor indeed can we lose our separate veto before there can be agreement about anything – as opposed to a veto exercisable by the UK on our behalf, which is bilateralism via the back door.
‘More detail on the way the talks are to be structured is needed. In short we need to be sure that they do not deprive Gibraltar of the benefit and protection of the essential architecture of the Trilateral Forum, which I have described to you a few moments ago and which was the position I outlined in a GBC interview a few weeks ago: separate voice, separate vote and separate veto.
‘Finally, one factor emanating from recent events that is most welcome, is the unstinting support we have received from the United Kingdom Government. Without that support Gibraltar would have faced severe difficulties. It proves beyond doubt, if proof were necessary, that it is in our interest to maintain our close constitutional links with the United Kingdom, which our current constitution guarantees - a maximum level of self-government short of independence and compatible with continued British sovereignty over this community. For these reasons I believe that calls for further decolonisation made in some quarters during National Day, are not in the best interests of this community.’
