UK must see off Spain’s ‘predator generosity’, Picardo tells Commons
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo yesterday delivered an impassioned defence of Gibraltar’s Britishness as he told UK MPs he believed Theresa May had “the stomach to fight” the Rock’s corner and stand up to Spain in forthcoming Brexit talks.
In doing so, he slapped down comments by Spanish politicians this week who said Madrid’s joint sovereignty offer was ‘generous’.
“This is the generosity of the predator that thinks its prey is finally prone and it’s going to take the price it’s been seeking to extract for the past years,” Mr Picardo told the House of Commons Select Committee on Exiting the EU.
“Neither the people of the United Kingdom nor the people of Gibraltar are a prey that is on its’ knees, seeking any generous offer from the people of Spain.”
And he added: “Gibraltar will pay any price, bear any burden and meet any hardship in the context of ensuring that we have a future that is bright and exclusively British post Brexit.”
Mr Picardo was quizzed for two hours by Committee members on a range of issues relating to Gibraltar and the UK’s negotiating objectives for its withdrawal from the EU.
He was accompanied in Westminster by the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, and the Attorney General Michael Llamas.
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