Jan 07 - New Year Message From The Deputy Chief Minister
Below is the full text of the Deputy Chief Minister’s New Year Message:
2015 marks the 75th anniversary of the evacuation of the civilian population of Gibraltar during the Second World War. It was a defining moment in our history and one that your Government intends to commemorate with the importance that it deserves.
In May 1940, fearful of an all-out attack on Gibraltar by the Axis powers, and mindful of the fact that the Rock was primarily a fortress, the announcement was made that women, children, the elderly and the infirm were to be evacuated from Gibraltar. The news came as a bolt out of the blue. It was to lead to the enforced departure of thousands of people first to French Morocco and then to London, Madeira, Jamaica and Northern Ireland. The experiences of the evacuees away from Gibraltar and of the men left behind on the Rock served as a spur for the demands for greater self-government that followed the War.
This was a fundamental episode in cementing together our identity as Gibraltarians and an important step in our collective journey as a people.
The Government already have plans in hand for the production of a short documentary and a booklet to mark the evacuation. There will also be an exhibition among a number of different events.
In order to kick off the commemorations to mark the evacuation, the Government Archivist has produced a welcome addition on the subject to the website of the National Archives. This includes interviews with and personal testimonies of a number of persons who were evacuated. It also includes songs which used to be sung by evacuees during those Wartime years, now sung by local school-children. This collection of personal histories and audio files will further enhance the historical information that is now available on-line.
The Government will therefore continue to develop our policy of digitisation of the archives and of the Garrison Library. We promised to do this and we are doing it.
The evacuation events will continue to run in parallel with the progression of works at Gorham's Cave and at the Northern Defences thereby spanning, as these projects do, different aspects of our historical evolution during different moments in time.
In Opposition, the GSLP/Liberals promised a greater engagement with Europe. In Government that is exactly what we will continue do. The expanded Gibraltar representative office to the European Union will open in Brussels later this year. It will spearhead the Government's initiative to increase the awareness of Gibraltar before the European Council, Commission and Parliament.
In the Parliament, we will lobby hard from the base of cross-party MEPs that make up Gibraltar's direct representatives. The aim will be to increase that lobby with new MEPs, not necessarily from the United Kingdom. This is why during my first visit to Brussels after the European elections last year, I met with Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, UKIP and Green MEPs.
Last year we held a very successful seminar on self-determination. A number of experts, academics and politicians, from different parts of the world gave us their views on the subject. This year a follow-up seminar will look at Gibraltar and at the Second World War with the moves towards decolonisation that followed. This will allow scope for an analysis of World War Two and also of Gibraltar's role in it, including the evacuation of civilians. The symposium will also serve as a bridge to that which took place last year, through an analysis of decolonisation following World War Two. The aim is to look at specific case studies as well.
This is an ambitious project and the Government looks forward to the continuing support of the Director and staff of the Garrison Library in this regard.
In the next 12 to 14 months a general election will take place. You will be called to the polls to elect a Government. Time has flown by since the last general election.
More than any other Government before us, we have placed the manifesto that got us elected at the centre of our commitment to you. We promised that we would deliver and we have done so.
I know that you will remember how in 2011 there were those who questioned the delivery of our manifesto. They have been proved wrong and we have been proved right.
2015 will therefore be an exciting year.
Those of you who have been allocated flats at Beach View Terraces and Mons Calpe Mews will start moving into your new homes. A further 1500 new homes will be marketed this year.
We said that housing was a priority and we have made it a priority.
Another flagship project at Commonwealth Park has been completed. The small boats marina is well underway. The tourist product in general and the beaches in particular are better than ever with new flights to Bristol and Morocco in a few months time. A car park with 1000 spaces in the centre of town is already under construction. New facilities for the elderly at the John Mackintosh Wing and a day care centre at Waterport Terraces are already in place. New housing is going up for our senior citizens at Charles Bruzon House and at Mons Calpe Mews.
And so, it is clear that by any standards, we have achieved an incredible amount in only three years thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Chief Minister and the whole ministerial team. It has been a real team effort with Ministers and departments supporting each other.
Above all, we have shown that we honour what we promise.
Therefore when the time comes to re-elect your Government we will ask you to put your faith in the tried and tested partnership of the GSLP and the Liberal Party because we mean what we say and we do what we say.
