Apr 03 - Labour Wants a Return to Trilateral Forum – Says UK Shadow Europe Minister
On his second visit in under a year, Shadow Europe Minister Labour MP Gareth Thomas today met with the Chief and Deputy Chief Ministers to discuss various matters including the continuing frontier queues and other matters which the Chief Minister insisted needed to be understood by Westminster, including the UK Government’s Point of Consumption tax which will target Gibraltar based gaming companies and recent attacks on Gibraltar’s Bunkering industry.
Mr. Thomas explained that part of the motivation for his return was to inspect the border situation and see ‘how things had changed or not changed in the three months since [he] last came’. He added that yesterday evening he witnessed vehicle queues of an and a half to two hours. Mr. Thomas said this was very useful for him to understand just how much the border delays are still continuing.
He also said that the serious incursion on Tuesday night, that stirred a serious response from the UK government and saw both Spanish and UK Ambassadors called upon by the Spanish and UK Governments, was a powerful reminder of what Gibraltarians are having to put up with.
Dr. Garcia noted that the men had also discussed aviation issues, and the crucial EU dimension, including the way Spain is attempting to exclude Gibraltar for Aviation measures once again.
Gareth Thomas also explained that the UK Labour party is committed to a job guarantee scheme similar to the GSLP/ Liberals’ Future Job Strategy. He noted that it was interesting to hear of the success of the measure, in Gibraltar. This, he added, could help the UK understand what could potentially be done on a larger scale to cut unemployment and youth unemployment.
Responding to YGTV questions on a possible 2015 Labour Government in the UK and their position on the former Europe Minister Peter Hain’s scheme of allowing joint sovereignty of Gibraltar with Spain and the UK, Mr. Thomas said that the party was given a very strong message by the people of Gibraltar following this, when they unanimously voted against the proposal. He added that following this, the Trilateral Forum was formed. This is a format that the Labour party would like to see a return to. Mr. Thomas added, ‘we would be keen to more actively push Spain to return to the table.’ He explained that the people of Gibraltar have the right to determine their own future.
