Dec 06 - Picardo’s Speech At Swearing-In Of Sir James Dutton
This is the full text of the Chief Minister’s Speech delivered earlier today in Parliament during the swearing-in of the new Governor Sir James Dutton:
Your Excellency
On behalf of the People of Gibraltar and on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar a WARM GIBRALTARIAN WELCOME TO GIBRALTAR to you and Lady Dutton.
I have no doubt that in the time you will spend amongst us you will find yourselves always made to feel at home.
Welcome also, in particular, to the heart of Gibraltar’s democracy; to this newly refurbished Parliament Chamber.
The continuing refurbishment of this Parliament is a metaphor for the way in which we are in the process of reforming, modernizing and opening up our democracy to our people.
And the reforming zeal of this Government spreads well beyond this Parliament.
We have made and are making huge changes to the way that Gibraltar is governed in order to deliver modern good-governance and setting a standard in good government.
That is the way it should be.
But the past two years since our election have not just been about delivering as a Cabinet on our electoral commitments.
We have had to face new challenges that have required action and a carefully calibrated and measured approach from us in every respect.
And the challenges have not all been from the traditional quarter.
Of course we have a serious problem with our northern neighbour which I will come to in a moment, but the matrix of challenges is much more multi- dimensional than just "Spain".
We are facing the challenge from the UK Exchequer on a point of consumption tax. I am pleased that we are finally fully engaged with the UK Treasury in this respect – indeed I have been in direct correspondence with the Chancellor himself in the past weeks on the subject. We are addressing potential solutions to the concerns of the online gaming industry here which now employs as many people as the Ministry of Defence used to as recently as some twenty years ago.
In fact, the online gaming industry in Gibraltar has grown in the past twenty years but as been facing challenges for a lot of that time.
Interestingly, I was reminded whilst researching other subjects we will come onto shortly that in September 1999 there were press reports of a threat of "direct rule" from London over betting on the Rock, following the widespread publicity arising from the relocation to Gibraltar of a prominent UK gaming entity.
Under the heading TAX HAVEN IS NOT AS SOLID AS THE ROCK, an article in the Daily Telegraph said: "The era of gunboat diplomacy may be over but the Treasury is considering something equally audacious by late 20th Century standards to stop bookmakers disappearing to the tax haven of Gibraltar and denying the Government upwards of £40 million a year in betting revenue."
It was then Chancellor Gordon Brown who was allegedly exploring using reserve powers buried in the small print of legislation to impose a betting tax on Gibraltar.
How apposite given the situation now. You see that would have been in the first term of the then New Labour Government in the UK and in the first term Government of my predecessor the learned Sir Peter Caruana QC as Chief Minister.
History sometimes repeats itself in some ways; although happily now without the “tax haven” epitaph or the threats in the British press of direct rule, something now reserved for the colonial history books for good.
Separately another challenge has come in the form of the international initiatives on transparency in matters related to taxation.
We have been able to support the pioneering efforts of the Prime Minister, David Cameron to use his leadership of the G8 to deliver an end to money laundering and tax evasion because Gibraltar has led on these initiatives since 1994.
We have invested huge amounts of public money in the past two years since our election in order to ensure that Gibraltar has transposed into law all pending EU directives on all subjects – in particular financial services.
This is a boast that not many EU nations can make, not even those much larger than us.
So when the time has come to seek extension of the OECD Multilateral Convention and support the Prime Minister in his G8 initiatives, it has been a small step for Gibraltar, and a giant leap for many other jurisdictions.
But let us all be clear that whilst there is not a worldwide level playing field, the challenge of considering action plans for registers of beneficial ownership, whether central or not and whether public or not, is one that we have to address very carefully indeed.
And of course, there is also the matter of what we all thought was a European frontier and the country we all want to believe is our modern European neighbor.
Undoubtedly the current attitude of the Spanish Partido Popular government is highly challenging for both Gibraltar and the United Kingdom.
In this respect, it is essential that we understand what is happening and why it is happening.
The Partido Popular have repeatedly made their positioning on Gibraltar crystal clear.
Indeed, let us go back initially to the period from 1996 to 2000 when Snr Abel Matutes was Spanish Foreign Minister and Mr Caruana - as he then was - was Chief Minister.
Lengthy queues were then the order of the day, as they are now – although the particularly cruel “pedestrian queue” to exit Gibraltar is a new phenomenon.
We were referred to then as a tax haven by Spain.
And all as a result of a fishing dispute that had rumbled on for three years and had led to the arrest of a vessel and even to the closure of the frontier by a picket of fishermen.
[Incidentally, it seems that having to deal with Spanish fishermen is a right of passage for a modern Chief Ministers in his first term.]
When the frontier was not entirely closed by the fishermen, there were extensive searches of vehicles by the Spanish authorities.
A frontier complaints office was set up by the then Gibraltar Government together with a website – in those early days of the internet - with cameras trained on the frontier. It got 1.4m hits.
Queues were regularly two hours and frequently up to 3 hours. As a result the European Commission received 7,000 letters of complaint from EU citizens.
Newsdaily Panorama reported that “a feature of the situation is that whereas in the past there were times when there was no queue, nowadays there seems to be a queue at all times - even though numbers of crossings are considerably down.” A short queue of 50 or so cars could lead to 1 hour delays. Your Excellency, I could be reading yesterday’s newspaper and not one from 15 years ago.
Snr Matutes actually accepted on occasion that the queues were political and the same local newspaper listed the excuses Spain was using for the queues then as “Tobacco smuggling! Money laundering! The finance centre!”
Ground hog day, Your Excellency.
The EU Commission considered taking legal action against Spain but instead simply asked that checks at the frontier should be proportionate. At least today we know from yesterday’s Gibraltar Chronicle that Spain has been told by the EU Commission that some of her checks are entirely unjustified – something that curiously did not make it into their press release on the subject!
The UK – then via foreign secretary Robin Cook – called the checks “extraordinary and without precedent”.
Chief Minister Caruana described them as a “harassment” and “un- European”.
When interviewed by Sir David Frost the then Spanish Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was asked whether Spain was going to continue delaying people at the frontier, Snr Alberto Aza said that Spain was simply “applying EU rules at the border”.
The Spanish representative on the UN Fourth Committee Snr Perez Griffo needed 24 hours before replying to what the Panorama newspaper called the "no punches pulled" intervention of the Chief Minister Caruana in October that year and returned the day after Mr Caruana’s intervention with a 4-page reply which, significantly, referred to Mr. Caruana by name and asked that the 4th Committee should “... not be fooled by what the Chief Minister said," he told the UN.
Your Excellency, who says history will not repeat itself?
Then Mr Matutes referred the court of international public opinion to 51 EU directives which Gibraltar had failed to transpose into law as an example of Gibraltar as a non-compliant jurisdiction – at least that is something he cannot do now.
Snr Matutes referred to us as “the dirty money colony” and – amongst money other disgraceful defamations - talked about how the mafias used Gibraltar to launder their money.
Chief Minister Caruana made clear that those were “mendacious lies” and completely false.
On the 8th December 1997 Mr Caruana issued an even more strongly worded statement in which he rightly said – and these were his words -that the Gibraltar Government deplored the spate of intemperate, threatening and provocative statements by Sr. Matutes relating to Gibraltar which he said do not create a favourable environment for worthwhile dialogue.
So far, so similar to today.
And in those days, of course, no-one from here ever countenanced going to Spain to blame the Gibraltar Government for the problems created by the arrest of a fishing vessel in our waters; because the genesis of the problem was clearly the Partido Popular’s attitude to Gibraltar.
When Snr Pique took over in the year 2000, matters became even worse.
With Snr Aznar as President of Spain, Mr Blair as Prime Minister and the relationship between Gibraltar and the UK not as close as it could have been, we saw the fishing crisis and queues of the 90's lurch into the uncontrollable threat of Joint-Sovereignty.
There is today no question of a return to Joint-Sovereignty proposals.
There is no question of a return to bi-lateral discussions between UK and Spain under the Brussels Process or otherwise in relation to Gibraltar's Sovereignty.
But you can see the similarities between the PP position of 1996 to 2003 and the identical campaign unleashed on us from their election as Spain’s Government in 2011.
Indeed, even with the Socialist in power in Madrid, we have on ocassion had to suffer very bad queues. Indeed in 2010 when the Partido Popular’s was in power in La Linea and their idea of charging Gibraltar residents a toll to enter Spain created huge tail backs in Gibraltar which gridlocked our city.
All that was all before a GSLP/Liberal administration led by Fabian Picardo.
Because the common denominator of the problems we have today is the Partido Popular's approach to Gibraltar.
Let us therefore not allow ourselves to believe otherwise. Let us not allow fanciful notions to obscure the real politic of what is happening.
We in Gibraltar must be vigilant not allow the Partido Popular to divide us on these issues; or persuade us to consider a staunch defence of our nation as somehow “provocative” or “incendiary” as some PP politicians have described our actions to some astonishing but minor local echo.
Of course we all hanker for the relative peace of the period under Snr Moratinos and the PSOE in Spain.
And this government is ready for dialogue to deliver understanding in place of confrontation. The UK has repeatedly made clear that it is ready for dialogue.
Whether that is under the Tripartite Forum or even under the “ad hoc” formula.
But Spain has not yet responded to the UK and Gibraltar’s most recent communications on the proposal.
Remember that Foreign Secretary Hague proposed the more flexible but entirely safe “ad hoc” talks in April 2012 – last year – with our full support.
Because we believe that dialogue is possible - and with imagination and goodwill on all sides even the boldest red lines on all sides can be maintained and dialogue produce fruitful results.
And that is what Gibraltar wants to try to achieve.
Like the United Kingdom we do not wish to see any escalation of the dispute with Spain but we sometimes will need to defend Gibraltar when we are vilified or we would be failing in our duty to our people.
This was echoed by the Minister for Europe in answer to a question this week in Westminster which called on him to use his influence to temper the language of the dispute with the Spanish, who he described as “great allies” of the UK.
The Rt Hon David Lidington told the Commons that he would be “only too pleased if we could lower the temperature.”
But he added: “It is not just a matter of lowering the temperature in verbal exchanges but of expecting our NATO allies in Spain to desist from the unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar waters that have been all too common.”
Our position is exactly that of the Minister and of the United Kingdom Government with whom we remain in lockstep on this issue and with whom I had an excellent and fruitful meeting on Tuesday.
Because resolving issues through talks we will always support – if there were a will to talk on the part of Spain in the fora proposed - because the civilised future in our view is based on one overriding principle: DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE.
Nelson Mandela, who the world mourns today, was a shining example of the power of dialogue over revenge. After the end of this happy celebratory occasion the Gibraltar Government will fly all flags from Government buildings at half-mast as a mark of respect for Mr Mandela’s passing.
Even the US and other powers are talking to the Islamic Republic of Iran after almost 35 years of diplomatic estrangement.
Yet the Partido Popular’s Spain will not talk to Gibraltar.
Your Excellency, in the interest of all the people in this region, we must be able to break the impasse with common sense, good faith and mutual understanding.
It is in that context that Gibraltar needs our strong political leadership today and it is into that background that you arrive on the Rock.
At the best of times the role of a Constitutional Governor is never going to be an easy one. But with our own good will and with open channels of communication, we shall no doubt be able to work together to foster an even closer relationship between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom that will continue to be of enduring and mutual benefit.
Moreover, as the representative of Her Majesty you will soon be able to appreciate the loyalty of Gibraltar to our Queen and to the Crown.
And so you will appreciate the symbolism and significance of the Keys to our city which are entrusted to you the period of your stay.
They represent our British past and also the keys to our future and whilst they are in our British hands this fortress will be secure and all will undoubtedly be well.
I am sure that you will also find that however rocky our geography, we are a warm and hospitable people who will make it easy for you to soon consider Gibraltar your home, deserving of your lifelong commitment by the time you leave us.
I therefore have no doubt at all that in common with your predecessors you and Lady Dutton will find that your time here will be among the best years of your lives.
