Conservatives call for ‘urgent clarity’ on Gib treaty

The Conservative party has called on the UK Government to provide “urgent clarity” on the UK/EU treaty for Gibraltar.

Conservative MPs Priti Patel, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, and Wendy Morton, the Shadow Minister for Europe, wrote to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper raising concerns about a “continued lack of clarity” that meant MPs were learning about the treaty through Gibraltar media.

They said “despite repeated efforts”, the UK Parliament had received no formal communication from the UK Government on the treaty.

The letter, which was shared by Ms Morton on her social media, noted the Gibraltar Government’s briefings on the treaty and said the absence of any UK ministerial explanations made it “all the more concerning”.

The Conservative MPs said there was no clear guidance on how British nationals travelling to Gibraltar would be treated in practice.

“We are also concerned by the lack of clarity surrounding the sovereignty implications of the treaty, including the proposed role of Spanish authorities in conducting Schengen checks at Gibraltar’s port and airport,” they wrote in the letter.

“Public assurances given previously about full UK control appear increasingly difficult to reconcile with information subsequently provided by the FCDO, yet Parliament has been given no opportunity to test or scrutinise these claims.”

The letter is perhaps unsurprising from an opposition party that will look to apply pressure on the government wherever it can.

Ms Morton was in Gibraltar just last December for meetings and was briefed on the treaty arrangements.

But the letter was clear that, as far as the UK Government was concerned, the Conservative Party expected more.

She urged ministers to publish the treaty and debate it in Parliament “without further delay”, adding MPs “should not be expected to accept second-hand briefings and media leaks in place of ministerial accountability”.

“Parliament, Gibraltar’s residents and British citizens deserve better than silence on an issue of this magnitude,” she said in the letter.

The letter to the Foreign Secretary comes as the Gibraltar Government steps up its briefings on the treaty both here and in London.

In recent days Sir Bob Neill, a former veteran Conservative MP and Freeman of Gibraltar who enjoys wide respect in Westminster and is an advisor to the Gibraltar Government, and Jonathan Scott, Gibraltar’s UK representative, have been engaged in briefings with key committees in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

On Wednesday they met with Lord Stirrup, the new chair of the European Affairs Committee in the House of Lords, and his team.

This is one of the parliamentary oversight committees that will scrutinise the treaty and will play an important role as it progresses through the UK Parliament.

“There’s very positive support for the treaty in the meetings that we've been having with members of both houses of Parliament,” Sir Bob said.

“Everybody recognises that it's absolutely in Gibraltar's interest to have a good and effective deal, particularly to ensure a cross flowing frontier, but at the same time respecting Gibraltar's British sovereignty and British identity.”

“Those are the red lines that both the UK and Gibraltar have had and the good news is that hasn't changed since the change of government [in the UK].”

“The current government is as committed as the previous one to protecting Gibraltar's British sovereignty but also getting a deal that works, and supporting the Gibraltar Government in getting that deal, making sure that if it's acceptable to Gibraltar.”

“Then Britain will stand behind that and I'm very optimistic. We're making good progress there.”