Here is the full text of the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo’s speech to the United Nations Committee of 24 in New York earlier today:

Madam Chair,

I warmly congratulate you on your re-election as Chair of this important committee. 

The work of this Committee will not be complete until the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories on your list have been decolonised. 

Gibraltar is one of those nations. 

Representatives of the People of Gibraltar have been appearing before this Committee since the 1960’s. 

Those who came before us never gave up. Those who will come after us will never give up. 

We will continue our work to ensure that our nation is removed from the list of Non-Self- Governing Territories in keeping only with one principle. 

The principle of the self determination of peoples. We will never surrender that.

We will never give that up. We will be here to insist always on that right. 

A right that crystallised with General Assembly Resolution 1514(XV).
And a right which is now recognised as a fundamental principle of customary international law. 

We will also insist on the natural consequence of that right – our right to preserve the integrity of our territory. 

These, and only these, are the principles that must apply to the decolonisation of our homeland. 

The inalienable right of the Gibraltarians to decide their own future within the internationally recognised boundaries of their territory. 

THAT takes legal and moral precedence over any claims our neighbour may improperly advance. We take huge comfort from the Chagos Opinion of the ICJ. 

The Court in that matter held that the right to territorial integrity of a Non-Self-Governing Territory is a natural consequence of the right to self-determination. 

The whole of our territory – isthmus and waters included – must remain intact during the decolonisation process. 

Any attempt to interfere with our territorial integrity is expressly prohibited under paragraph 6 of Resolution 1514. 

So forget the IRRELEVANT references you have heard, year after year, to resolutions of the General Assembly from the 1960’s that Spain says support its territorial claim to our homeland. 

Moreover, the resolutions Spain refers to originate from claims to Gibraltar at a time when Spain was not a democracy. 

General Franco is now recognised as a mass murderer by the progressive Government of the Socialist Party in Spain. 

It was his dictatorship that first decided to use this Committee as a forum for prosecuting its claims to the land of my people. 

The land of my parents and grandparents. 

The land of my children. 

Our land and ours alone. 

That awful dictator died half a century ago. 

The representatives of today’s modern and progressive Spain should reflect with embarrassment on their reliance on a dictator’s legacy here. 

I celebrate the excellent approach of the current Spanish Government to the recognition of Franco as a brutal dictator. 

I am, nonetheless, saddened by their continued dependence here on the useless resolutions he sought. 

But, in any event, nothing in those resolutions takes precedence over the inalienable legal right of self-determination of the People of a Non-Self-Governing Territory. 

Of that, there is no question. 

And therefore, you must disregard everything you have been told repeatedly by Spain. 

You must act to help the people of Gibraltar on the path to decolonisation. 

That is your mandate and your obligation under international law, 

And you must do so by having regard ONLY to our freely expressed wishes in accordance with our right of self determination. 

Having been on your list since the formation of this Committee, for over 60 years, I am here to tell you that you are taking too long to act. 

The Committee should not shirk from its mandate just because another state comes here seeking to stake a medieval claim to our land. 

Stop doing nothing. 

Start planning a visiting mission. 

Take action now. 

Because, if you don’t, you play into the hands of those who delegitimise the whole of this organisation. 

I stand with you in defending the important work of this Committee and of the UN. 

Those of us who believe in the rules based, international legal order want the UN to succeed. 

We want this Committee to succeed. 

I welcome your proactive approach, Madam Chair. 

I implore you to starting a process to bring a visiting mission to Gibraltar with the support of my people and the administering power. 

Just last week we have been able to agree with the EU and Spain how our relationship with the EU will be regulated in a future UK-EU Treaty on Gibraltar. 

Let us also try to see progress on our delisting. 

Under the new arrangements with the EU, I can see a new and more positive relationship between us and Spain. 

Leaving aside and untouched the issue of sovereignty, we believe we can see a new partnership for prosperity for our people. 

A new opening for the whole of our region to become a hub for investment from outside the EU. A future for more and better jobs and stronger and better human relations. 

And all, Madam Chair, respecting the highest regulatory and law enforcement standards and the highest levels of security for our people. 

We will no longer have border controls between us as we join a common travel area with Schengen. 

But we will work together to ensure the protection of our respective jurisdictions. 

Co-operation and partnership in key areas of trade, immigration and law enforcement. 

But all without prejudice to our respective positions on sovereignty. 

That is what Prime Minister Sanchez promised the people of the region in 2018 when he became President of the Spanish Government. 

He told his people he would seek solutions beyond the eternal issue of the sovereignty dispute. This new deal does just that, leaving the sovereignty issues untouched. 

Because, when it comes to the decolonisation of Gibraltar there is no doubt as to which rule applies. 

There can be only one.

The right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination.

Our choice.

And nothing will ever change our desire to choose to remain 100% British.

From the northernmost tip of our land, to the southernmost extent of our waters.

We will never give up one grain of our land, one drop of our water nor one breath of our air. But we will always be a ready partner for progress and prosperity for people in our region. 

Come and see for yourselves. You won’t be disappointed!