European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, together with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, met in Brussels earlier today.
The government is publishing a Bill for an Act to amend the Tobacco Act 1997. The bill has come about as a response to gap in current law for people concealing cigarettes in the bodywork, and other parts, of motor vehicles in connection with illegal tobacco activity, especially when the amount concealed is less than a commercial quantity.
On Sunday, HMS Diamond will arrive in Gibraltar for a week long visit before she sets out on a six month operational deployment to the Gulf. During her visit to Gibraltar, and as part of a number of training exercises, she will anchor in the bay at night.
HMS Diamond is the third of six Type 45 air defence destroyers, making her one of the most sophisticated warships in the world. The primary function is to protect a task group of friendly ships from aircraft and missile attack, but she is also capable of other war fighting roles, maritime security roles and can be used to help in humanitarian efforts.
Commander Andy Ingham, HMS Diamond's Commanding Officer said:
“Whilst it has undoubtedly been difficult for us to say goodbye to our loved ones, myself and my crew are looking forward to the task in hand and doing what the Royal Navy does best – providing a resilient and adaptable UK military presence ensuring security and stability wherever the UK has an interest.”
HMS Diamond was launched in November 2007 by her sponsor Lady Johns. The ship arrived in Portsmouth in 2010 and was commissioned in spring 2011.
In a press release today, the GSD have shown their support for the Government's latest Macaque plan, the exportation of the "naughty" ones. The GSD Opposition has publicly supported the exportation and notes that this will not be the first time.
‘The announcement by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA) of its privacy awareness campaign during this year is to be welcomed. But it does not go far enough, not by a long stretch of the imagination,’ Felix Alvarez, Chairman of Equality Rights Group has said in a statement to the press.