May accused of ‘selling out’ Gibraltar with Spanish veto
THERESA MAY was accused of “abandoning” Gibraltar last night after she was forced to give a written guarantee that Spain could exclude the territory from negotiations on the EU-UK future relationship.
Under the terms of a “veto” deal struck last night, the British and Spanish governments will have to hold separate negotiations covering the Rock.
MPs accused Mrs May of yet another capitulation in the negotiations after Spain threatened to derail today’s “seal the deal” summit without the veto.
Stewart Jackson, the former MP who became chief of staff to David Davis when he was Brexit secretary, warned: “If Downing Street is selling out Gibraltar now before the deal goes through the Commons, then what will she surrender after it’s approved?”
Owen Paterson, a Eurosceptic former Cabinet minister, said: “If this is true it is absolutely shameful. At the last referendum 99 per cent of the people of Gibraltar wanted to stay with the UK and it’s only right that, should we leave the EU, they should enjoy the same benefits of doing trade deals around the world as the rest of the UK.”
Mrs May denied accusations of a sellout, saying the UK’s position on Gibraltar “has never changed and will not change”. She said: “In the future we will continue to negotiate on behalf of the whole UK family and that includes Gibraltar.”
Fabian Picardo, the Gibraltar Chief Minister, last night said: “The United Kingdom has not let us down,” adding: “The sovereignty of Gibraltar is and will remain entirely British.”
SPAIN was claiming a diplomatic coup last night after forcing Theresa May into giving written confirmation of its “veto” over Gibraltar being covered by post-Brexit trade negotiations.
The Spanish move, which hands Madrid massive negotiating leverage over the future of the British Overseas Territory, came after days of diplomatic wrangling had threatened to derail today’s “seal the deal” Brexit summit in Brussels.
After 48 hours of diplomatic armtwisting, the British Government conceded in writing that no part of the future agreement can apply to Gibraltar without the agreement of the Spanish government.
Josep Borrell, Spain’s foreign minister, said the agreement was “highly positive” for Spain and “the most important one since the Utrecht Treaty of 1713” when Gibraltar was ceded to the British Crown.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, called the agreement “historic” and hinted that it would open the door to a redefining of the status of Gibraltar and enable Spain to push for shared sovereignty of the Rock.
“Spain has achieved a historic triple lock with which it can enter definitive discussions with the UK over the future of Gibraltar over the next few years,” he said.
“We have gained sufficient guarantees to be able to seek the solution to a conflict between Spain and the UK that has lasted more than 300 years.”
Analysts said that Spain would use its “veto” over the future relationship negotiations to extract a series of deep concessions over Gibraltar, which it regards as a tax haven.
“At some point Theresa May or future UK prime ministers will have to leave behind Gibraltar when the Spanish claims are legitimate,” said Ignacio Molina, a senior analyst at Elcano Royal Institute, a Madrid-based think tank partly funded by Spain’s government.
Mr Molina said that Spain accepted it could not claim full sovereignty over Gibraltar against the will of its people, who voted in a 2002 referendum to reject a proposal of joint sovereignty from Tony Blair’s government by nearly 99 per cent.
But, he added, that did not mean Madrid would not use the leverage to force it to make changes in areas of legitimate interest, like taxation where Gibraltar has no VAT and only 10per cent corporation tax, compared with 25per cent in Spain.
“‘Legitimate and reasonable’ means, corporate taxation, tobacco, gambling, some security issues, the airport, access to waters for fisheries, when any of these topics are included in general UK-EU future deals,” Mr Molina added.
Gibraltar’s government released a statement saying that the “deep and unbreakable bonds” binding the UK and Gibraltar had not been diluted as a result of Brexit.
“Throughout our history we’ve stuck with Britain. After Brexit, we will stick with Britain in the future too. This is our most important relationship,” said Fabian Picardo, the Gibraltarian chief minister.
Samantha Sacramento, Gibraltar’s housing and equality minister, also struck a defiant note. “Gibraltar will not fold. Gibraltar will not be bullied, not then and not now,” she said.
The Spanish “veto” has been written into the Brexit negotiations since April 2017, but Mrs May’s remarks last week that she would negotiate for the “whole UK family” caused Spain to demand an explicit recognition of the veto.
Asked if Mrs May had been forced to climb down, a government spokesman said: “No. This is the same position as for the first phase of the negotiations.”
‘Spain has achieved a historic triple lock with which it can enter definitive discussions with the UK over the future of Gibraltar’