Dec 21 - Government Says GSD Is Becoming Tiresome With Brexit Strategy Criticisms
The Government says the GSD is becoming "tiresome with its wholly unfounded" criticisms of the Government’s Brexit strategy.
A spokesperson for the Government said: "It may be that the GSD enjoys digging themselves into an ever deeper hole. That is their problem, not ours. It seems pointless for the Government to repeat its position and it will not do so.
"In their latest tirade, the GSD raise a new issue. Apparently, the Chief Minister needs to stop hiding behind civil servants who follow his instructions in the negotiations. What on earth are they talking about now? What civil servants? What hiding? The deal that the Chief Minister has negotiated is his deal. When has he said otherwise? The swipe that the GSD take at the civil service is nothing short of shameful.
"Civil servants play a fundamental role in delivering the Government’s Brexit strategy, both those directly involved in the negotiations as those who are not who keep the Government functioning in circumstances where the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister are not as available as they would otherwise be were it not for Brexit.
"These are great people who make a great contribution to the governance of Gibraltar. They are not there just to follow instructions. They are part of the decision-making process they are fully involved and they are part of a team and treated as such."
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said: “It is nothing short of deplorable that the GSD should now seek to undermine the importance and relevance of the civil service to the Brexit negotiations, as if they are there to do as they are told and not to express their own opinion of issues which informs the position the Government takes on a wide range of issues. I have the pleasure and privilege to be working with civil servants of the highest professionalism and competence, whether they are directly involved in the Brexit negotiations or doing the other work that needs to be done. If only the GSD would challenge me with the quality of the discussions that I have with some of these civil servants, democracy in Gibraltar would be better served. Instead, all I get from the GSD is diatribe of the most mediocre level that serves little if any purpose and advances nothing other than the GSD’s desperate attempts to make themselves relevant”.
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