UK reaffirms sovereignty pledge to Gibraltar in UN speech

The UK Government this week restated its sovereignty commitment to Gibraltar and its people during a speech to the UN General Assembly’s Fourth Committee.

The message came as the closing note during an address on the UK and its overseas territories by Jonathan Allen, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN.

“It is important that I restate the United Kingdom’s long-standing commitment to the people of Gibraltar, which is unchanged,” Mr Allen told the UN committee.

“The United Kingdom will not enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.”

“The United Kingdom also confirms that it will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.”

Earlier in his speech, Mr Allen had also reflected on Brexit and the UK’s pledge to the overseas territories to ensure “their priorities are taken into account at every stage of the process”.

He singled out Gibraltar given its “particularly strong interest” in this context.

The Gibraltar Government normally attends this session of the Fourth Committee, as well as the Committee of 24 earlier in the year.

The disruption of Covid-19 this year, however, means this has not been possible, while the session of the C24 was cancelled outright by the UN.