The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia has said that although Gibraltar prefers a treaty to govern our relationship with the European Union, there are fundamental red lines which the Government is not prepared to cross in order to achieve it. Dr Garcia was speaking in Brighton today at the annual party conference of the U.K. Liberal Democrats.
Coinciding with the visit of UK Europe Minister to Gibraltar, David Lidington, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has this week insisted that the British Government has ‘shown weakness in response to a concerted Spanish campaign directed at Gibraltar.’
The Defenders of Gibraltar met yesterday with the Minister for Europe David Lidington. ACSTEG, For A Humanitarian Border and VOGG were also present.The Defenders of Gibraltar expressed their concerns regarding the continued harassment and bullying of Gibraltarians and cross frontier workers by the Spanish Government. The group explained that not enough was being done from a UK perspective to rein in Spain, adding that the the effect of this “fence-sitting” was beginning to affect “our economy and way of life.”
The full text of the Deputy Chief Minister's Budget 2014 Speech is as follows:
Mr Speaker, this is my sixteenth contribution to a debate on the Appropriation Bill in this House, my third as a member of the Government.
PARLIAMENT
There have been many changes to this place over those sixteen years. Some have been physical changes to the building like the introduction of air conditioning and the refurbishment of the Chamber itself.
Other changes have been of substance, to the rules, the procedures and the practices of the House.