In the Commons, Brexit wounds fester in exchanges on Gibraltar

There was a distinct whiff of hypocrisy in the House of Commons on Monday as Brexiteer MPs voiced outrage at the progress of a Gibraltar treaty negotiation now in its final stages.

The exchanges were triggered by an urgent question tabled by Sir Bill Cash, the veteran Eurosceptic chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee.

Sir Bill said he was “alarmed” at talk of Schengen checks “on” Gibraltar and alignment of customs rules on either side of the border, and “deeply troubled” by efforts to allow flights between Gibraltar and the EU.

He seemed surprised by it all, even though there was nothing there that hadn’t been said repeatedly since day one at the end of 2020, when the New Year’s Eve framework agreement underpinning the treaty negotiation was first announced.

At one point Sir Bill proudly told the Commons his question was so important that even Gibraltar’s Chief Minister had written “an urgent letter” proposing a meeting with his committee.

That was true, but the inference – that Fabian Picardo was also worried– was nonsense. The Chief Minister had asked Sir Bill for a meeting to make clear to him that the UK and Gibraltar were on the same page, that sovereignty would not be compromised, and that talks with the EU were going well.

Foreign Office minister David Rutley explained the aims of the negotiation and told MPs that commitments should be bilateral and reciprocal, “not based on the rules of either negotiating party”.

“Here we go again,” brayed Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois from a sedentary position, summing up the mood in the Brexit camp.

Except Brexit was never resolved for Gibraltar, so we’re not ‘going again’. We’re still going, that’s the point.

There was not a hint of self-reflection in the Brexiteer camp, not even the faintest sign that they understood the Gibraltar negotiation was about resolving the mess they themselves caused for us.

If there was ever an existential threat to Gibraltar’s British sovereignty it was Brexit itself, a divisive internal political row that has also harmed the UK.

The Gibraltar negotiation is about salvaging that mess with pragmatism and goodwill, hammering out a deal that respects red lines on sovereignty – everyone’s, not just ours – and brings Gibraltar closer to the EU on issues of mobility and trade.

We have chosen to remain British and that is not going to change. But we want more Europe, not less. That’s why most of us voted for Remain, conscious, if nothing else, of geographic reality.

The hardcore Brexit camp was always going to scream outrage at any successful effort to bring Gibraltar and the EU closer, not least because it will expose the stupidity of leaving in the first place.

On Monday, it was all as bizarre and depressing as it was predictable.

But there was a lot in that Commons session to take heart from too. Across all parties but particularly in the Conservative and Labour camps, there was clear and fulsome support for Gibraltar.

Sir Bob Neill, the Conservative chairman of the all-party group on Gibraltar and a Remainer in 2016, reminded MPs that Gibraltarians were best placed to decide their own future and that, while no side in the talks would step over its red lines, a pragmatic solution was both “necessary and achievable”.

So too did former Brexit minister Robin Walker, who had also opposed leaving the EU and was appointed to that role by former Prime Minister Theresa May, herself a Remainer in the Brexit campaign.

Mr Walker, who worked closely with the Gibraltar Government for two years in his ministerial role, pressed MPs to agree that “it is important that we show respect for the views of the people of Gibraltar”.

Scottish National Party MP Kirsty Blackman was even blunter.

“The UK has, over recent years, managed to trash its international reputation,” she said.

The negotiation must be in the interests of the people of Gibraltar, Ms Blackman added, “not in the interests of ideological power trips”.

Perhaps the most important contributions were from the Labour benches, particularly given the polls point to a change of government at the UK’s next general election.

Stephen Doughty, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Office minister, said Gibraltar’s sovereignty and self-determination “are not up for debate” and that if there was a new government in the UK, “there would be no change” in that respect.

“We believe in the right of the people of Gibraltar to choose their own future as they have made clear, and this must be the bedrock of any negotiations with Spain, which, of course, is equally a close friend and ally of the UK and a critical partner in NATO and in many, many other respects,” he said.

There was so much common sense in that sentence than even Sir Bill and his fellow Brexiteers must have paused for thought.

But it was Labour’s Stella Creasy who, for me at least, took the prize on Monday.

Ms Creasy reminded Sir Bill that 96% of Gibraltarians voted against Brexit in 2016.

“When the member opposite [meaning Sir Bill] talks about giving them a voice, perhaps he needs to listen to why,” she said.

After it ended, I came away from the debate with another thought.

When the Brexit purists start complaining and crying foul, it probably means we’re finally getting close to a deal that works for all sides.

Earlier this month Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares sought cross-party support for the treaty aims during a session in the Spanish Parliament.

He got it from allies but not from opposition parties, who remained silent. The hawks in the Vox camp are no doubt planning their own urgent question on Gibraltar in due course. We’ll see if the PP takes a more nuanced stance.

The upshot is we should expect more noise in the coming days and weeks, not just in London and Madrid but no doubt here too. If and when we get a deal, it’s a given that not everyone will agree with its terms.

But it’s our duty to look past emotion at the wider, long-term picture.

Now is probably a good time for a collective deep breath and a calm mind.