The Government says that the comments made by the Opposition on its recent announcement regarding the level of unemployed Gibraltarians reaching a record low figure of 164 as at 31 August 2015, “are a nonsense and do not do justice to the actual state of affairs that this Government has achieved in terms of employment levels in Gibraltar.”
The GSD says it would like to remind the public that, in October of 2013, the Government amended the Nature Protection Act in order to allow the Minister for the Environment to introduce regulations to allow regulated fishing with EU compliant nets. The Opposition says that, despite the change to the Act, the Government has still not introduced the regulations. The GSD now asks whether the Government is waiting until after the election to do so because of a “potential public backlash”. The GSD says this would be wrong and the Government “has to have the courage of its convictions” to defend its policy and expose it to public scrutiny.
The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has today concluded an intense series of engagements on the margins of his 24 hour attendance at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. The Gibraltar Government hosted its annual reception for MPs and supporters of the Rock which was packed to capacity.
The GSD Opposition says it welcomes the announcement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirming the appointment of Lieutenant-General Edward Davis CB CBE as the next Governor of Gibraltar and Commander-in Chief. The GSD says Gibraltar has had a long tradition of military Governors particularly Royal Marines with exemplary service to defence and Lieutenant General Davis is no exception with an impressive résumé from Commanding the Special Boat Service between 2002 and 2004 to Deputy Commander of NATO Land Forces based in Turkey.
The following is the full text of the speech given by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
Foreign Secretary
Minister for Europe
Ladies and gentlemen
Friends
It is a great pleasure for me to be back here in the great city of Manchester.
