Activist’s Gibraltar flag generates interest outside Commons

As a Sky news reported on the Brexit mayhem in Westminster on Thursday evening, Gibraltarian viewers were delighted to see a large Gibraltar flag behind the head of presenter Adam Boulton. But who was the mystery person waving that flag?

Today, we can report it was 47-year old local Jonathan Dolden, 47, who said he was inspired to head down to Parliament Square during a vote after finding out that few Gibraltarians had protested outside the House of Commons.

“People are used to seeing a Union Jack or an EU flag, so when they saw the Gibraltar flag they started to ask me where it was from,” he said.

“I managed to speak to activists supporting both Leave and Remain, and once I told them about Gibraltar they were very supportive.”

Mr Dolden said he spoke to some 15 people about Gibraltar’s relationship with Spain and its people living across the frontier.

He said that although many had heard about Spain’s colony comments recently, they were not aware about the number of Spanish workers who come into Gibraltar on a daily basis.

“I was genuinely pleased, and perhaps slightly surprised, that despite whatever divisions there are currently in Brexit politics at the moment, I found everyone I met to be genuinely interested and supportive regarding Gibraltar,” Mr Dolden added.

“Despite where they were on the political spectrum, they were interested to learn about how Brexit affects Gibraltar.”

He is now encouraging more Gibraltarians to head down to the area and wave the red and white flag with pride, and said helping to spread the message about Gibraltar “can only be a positive”.