COMMENT
Once the dust settles
It is not surprising that the new PP government, faced with huge problems in Spain and with the economy, is making loud noises about Gibraltar. It will no doubt - along with the disappearance of the ferry and promises being made by Madrid to cross-border workers - set of a sense of deja vu for many middle-aged and older readers.
But neither Gibraltar nor the Campo, nor Madrid nor London, want to go back to those days.
A sense of priority
Interpretation and presentation of figures, anyone who deals with accounts and accountants knows, can take many very different approaches. And perception and attitude is a very large part of financial management.
Last night’s statement by the Chief Minister not only sets out to cast doubt on the presentation that was sustained by the previous Government, but goes further in stating that some estimates presented at the last Budget were “inaccurate” and that by July the then Chief Minister would have been aware of this.
Debt row should stick to facts
The continuing row and exchanges between the Government and Opposition is nothing surprising – it has plagued UK politics too. But in Gibraltar the issue of national debt has become a political issue over the actual assessment of the Government’s finances. The public are left largely with having to decide on ‘faith’ rather than ‘facts’.
With Gibraltar’s ungenerous rumour mill, ever unceasing, grinding on, the proper action to take would surely be for an independent assessment to be produced by an expert on public finances along with the responsible public servants.
King’s cavalcade of challenges
After the promised publication of the King report on GBC it is likely that there will be a mixed reaction to this varying from agreement to many being frankly incensed. King sets out many obvious points that needed to be said and enshrines critical issues such as the independence of GBC as well as a basic issue of management crisis and working practices. Not least the bizarre situation where MOD still hangs on unnecessarily to crucial frequencies.
Past the post and at the bottom of the hill
Despite our ‘first past the post’ electoral system it is clear that many people in Gibraltar would share the PDP’s sense that the concept of proportional representation has merit to it. The argument is clear that no Chief Minister of Gibraltar can be as happy with less than 50% of overall electoral support than with a good majority.
Thus it was in 2007 when the GSD obtained a whisper above 49% and now with the Alliance too with just below 49%.
Clearly the Opposition has not just a role to play in parliament but a duty.
The prince and the charming
Gibraltar always welcomes the visit by a British royal and the news that the Earl and Countess of Wessex are to visit for the Diamond Jubilee will be especially pleasing as they are the most senior royals to visit for some years. Naturally there is always the caveat that Gibraltarians would especially be jubilant if Her Majesty were to return after more than a half century.
Sir Bob…..
When someone has been a public figure for as long as Sir Robert Peliza had been there will be many very different recollections and memories of the man and his passion for Gibraltar.
Sir Bob, he preferred Bob, was passionate about Gibraltar’s ties with Britain and very much a product of the 1960s politics that were so dramatic for that generation of Gibraltarians.
Tectonic shift, but we must avoid division of our
Since many of us in Gibraltar, ultimately, are softies, there can be no doubt that, whoever you voted for, the dignity of the occasion at the John Mackintosh Hall, the victory and defeat speeches yesterday, were moving. In many places there would have been much greater expressions of the tension that such a close result can bring.
For the second time in eight years we have a government that does not enjoy 50% or more of the electorate’s support. In the long term we should be talking about how we get the best of Gibraltar’s citizens to serve our Rock – together, not in competition. But that is never going to be the focus of any one party in power.
The voice of democracy
One of Gibraltar’s greatest assets is it people.
When we have had to speak internationally on the various challenges we have faced we have done so, together.
Manifest Challenges
The manifestos are now out and it is tempting to be nostalgic for the days when they were just a few pages long – reading through all three deserves some sort of award!
But we only have to look across the border and further to Madrid where Mariano Rajoy is meeting union leaders to set out the full set of knives which fate has set before him, not to move wealth to the right but to cut deep into the Spanish economy and sanitise it for future viability.