I do admire the cut of their Gib
IAM in Gibraltar, which is part of my constituency, for National Day and following a series of briefings on Brexit preparations, am more than impressed with the can-do attitude here. Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU but has spent the last three years making darn sure that it is nevertheless ready to leave and without a deal if necessary. It does not moan and whimper but simply finds solutions.
Obviously relations with Spain can be bad enough at any time, depending on the political weather, but arrangements for Brexit have been bedevilled by the uncertain relationship between the two countries.
Gibraltar sends its waste to be disposed of in Spain to a facility shared by several regions, but among which only Gibraltar pays for the service. Does Gibraltar wring its hands and wonder how it will get rid of its waste? No. First it calculates Spain will want to go on receiving its payments but even if it doesn’t Gib has provided for up to a year’s hygienic storage of its waste.
FOOD comes across the land border with Spain. Does Gibraltar whine about likely shortages, chaos and queues? No, it says it has organised transport by sea if that happens and, as a failsafe, by air. It appears to have thought of everything – from medicine to pet passports.
The point to note here is not that Gibraltar thinks a no-deal Brexit will be problem-free but rather that it has sorted out in advance how to cope with those problems.
When did Britain lose that can-do? That attitude which served us so well in the past? When did we swap it for timidity and the view that even the smallest disruption to the comfort and predictability of our lives cannot be worth the independence of the Realm? When did we become a nation of abject pessimists? When did we exchange resolution for nightmares?
I do not know but Gibraltar reminds me of how proud and determined we once were. Long, long ago.