May urged to stand firm over future of Gibraltar

European Council plans to give Spain veto on decisions regarding territory

Theresa May is coming under pressure to stand up to European Council proposals which would give Spain a veto on decisions over Gibraltar’s future.

Guidelines for Brexit negotiations issued by Council president Donald Tusk state that following UK withdrawal, agreements between the EU and Britain on issues like trade will apply to Gibraltar only if agreed by Madrid.

The announcement came just two days after the Prime Minister told MPs that the territory was “covered by our exit negotiations” and vowed never to enter into talks over its sovereignty against the wishes of its people.

The Tory chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar, Jack Lopresti, accused Spain of using Brexit as “a fig leaf for trouble-making over the status of Gibraltar”.

“It is shameful that the EU have attempted to allow Spain an effective veto over the future of British sovereign territory, flying in the face of the will of the people of Gibraltar,” said Mr Lopresti.

“The UK Government’s position is clear and will stand. There will be no negotiation over the status of Gibraltar.”

Spain has a long-standing territorial claim on Gibraltar, which has been held by the UK since 1713 and currently has the status of British Overseas Territory.

Any suggestion Madrid might have a say over the future of the self-governing territory, which is home to important UK military bases, will undoubtedly raise concerns among its 30,000 inhabitants.

Gibraltar is addressed in a single paragraph of Mr Tusk’s nine-page document, which states: “After the United Kingdom leaves the Union, no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom.”

Downing Street said Mrs May had made clear the Government was “absolutely steadfast in our support of Gibraltar, its people and its economy” in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Lord Boswell, chairman of the House of Lords EU Committee, said it was “unfortunate that the Prime Minister’s letter to Donald Tusk, triggering Article 50, made no mention of Gibraltar – the Government mustn’t give the impression that Gibraltar is an afterthought”.

Picture: AP. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, second from left, is greeted by the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat outside his office in Castille, Valletta.