Gibraltar chief accuses Brexiteers of wilful ignorance of impact of leaving EU
Gibraltar’s chief minister has accused Brexiteers of being wilfully blind to the “huge problems” the UK leaving the EU has caused the Rock.
Fabian Picardo poured scorn on European Scrutiny Committee MPs, who questioned Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron over Brexit negotiations for Gibraltar on Monday.
London, Madrid and Brussels are in talks over the creation of a common travel area between Gibraltar and Spain which would give the Rock effective membership of the EU’s Schengen Zone of passport-free movement.
“Sovereignty means sovereignty,” Sir William Cash, the committee chairman, told the former prime minister, who admitted that EU border guards could turn British people away from the Rock under the terms of the putative deal.
Mr Picardo said he was “impressed but not surprised” by Lord Cameron’s grasp of detail but was scathing about his Eurosceptic interrogators.
“David Cameron has been clear in setting out that neither he nor I are going to give way on issues that relate to our sovereignty,” Mr Picardo said.
“Protecting the people of Gibraltar and fully preserving our sovereignty, jurisdiction and control is about more than just asking provocative questions, it‘s about working to bring about deliverable outcomes,” he said.
The deal would move the border to Gibraltar airport, protecting the post-Brexit free flow of some 15,000 Spain-based workers to and from the Rock every day.
Those workers are essential to the Gibraltarian economy, which offers much-needed employment to the neighbouring poor Spanish region.
Since Brexit, usual border procedures have been temporarily waived to allow the negotiations to continue.
Both sides now want a deal before this June’s European elections and Spain has warned the status quo is not sustainable indefinitely.
“They seem to want to turn a Nelsonian blind eye to the huge problems that their Brexit has created for Gibraltar and our current economic model,” Mr Picardo said.
In response, a source said: “I don’t think Nelson would have turned a blind eye to the potential of Spanish police entering British territory without let or hindrance. That is the reality of what may happen if Gibraltar becomes part of the Schengen area.”
In the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Horatio Nelson, who was blind in one eye, claimed to not see an order to disengage from the enemy and went on to score a famous victory.
“I see no ships” entered the popular imagination after the incident, which also led to the phrase to “turn a blind eye”.
Mr Picardo has been called to give evidence to the committee in what now appears certain to be a feisty session.