Govt slaps down GSD opposition to Llamas joining Brexit Select Committee

There were furious exchanges in Parliament yesterday as the GSD called on the Government to abandon a motion that sought to add Independent MP Lawrence Llamas to the composition of the Brexit Select Committee.

Setting out the GSD’s opposition to the addition of former GSD MP Mr Llamas to the Committee, the Leader of the Opposition, Elliott Phillips, said the Government was “demonstrably playing party politics” over the composition of this important committee.

“It is clear to us that despite what anyone says, they will force this issue in without any real analysis and without any explanation,” Mr Phillips said.

The select committee was established in 2016 in response to the UKs decision to leave the European Union.

Its main aim is to formalise and take forward the expressions of cooperation between the Government and the Opposition on Brexit and its impact on Gibraltar.

The composition of the Select Committee was intended to reflect the composition of Parliament with a total of seven members; four from the Government benches, two GSD MPs and the Independent MP Marlene Hassan Nahon.

But Mr Llamas has since left the GSD and set himself up as an Independent MP.

The Government’s motion sought to add Mr Llamas to the membership of the Select Committee along with Minister for Infrastructure Paul Balban so as to reflect the current composition of the House.

But Mr Phillips flagged how the GSD is the only political party represented on the Opposition benches with its members holding the majority on that side of the House and said this should be properly reflected in the composition of the Select Committee.

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