June 27 - GSD Opposition Member Ellul-Hammond’s Budget Speech - Full Text
Introduction
Mr Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to address Parliament as Opposition Spokesman for Health, Social Services and Civil Contingencies. It is both a duty and an honour for us on the Opposition benches to contribute to, and vote, on this vital discharge of the responsibility of Parliament.
And what a year this has been Mr Speaker, a year in which the GSD opposition has held the Government to account on behalf of the people of Gibraltar. A year where the GSD Opposition has questioned Government policy where appropriate, occasionally even getting an answer to those questions. A year of positive and effective Opposition.
Gibraltar National Dance Organisation President Seamus Byrne recently represented Gibraltar at the 2013 International Dance Organisations’ annual conference, held in Portroz, Slovenia. Seamus took the opportunity to team up with the newly appointed Web Team IDO, which is made up of IDO Vice President Michael Wednt and Gaynor Johnson who are responsible for the official IDO webpage and Facebook page. Seamus currently acts as the administrator for the IDO Youtube page.
Following the recent and extensive coverage of Sunday’s incursion incident involving Guardia Civil Vessel ‘Rio Cedena’ and a local jet ski pilot, His Excellency the Governor has insisted that it ‘was clearly an unlawful incursion and a very serious incident which has been corroborated by video footage now in the public domain. The discharge of a firearm presents serious risks to the safety of us all. Such reckless action could have had dire consequences and led to an escalation that we all want to avoid.’
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, has told the David Cameron that the incident in which Spanish Civil Guards shot at a jet-ski inside British Gibraltar Territorial Waters was dangerous and wholly unacceptable. He added that this and other incursions constitute a serious challenge to Gibraltar's jurisdiction and British sovereignty.
