‘UK will always stand up for Gibraltar’, says Cameron

Former Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the United Kingdom will always stand up for Gibraltar in a letter written while he was still in office and in which he reiterated that Gibraltar should be fully involved in the process to leave the EU.

In a letter to Conservative MP and friend of Gibraltar Bob Neill, who raised a number of questions with Downing Street, Mr Cameron outlined measures that will be particularly significant for the gaming and insurance industry and those who are employed in the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Cameron said that the idea of a “UK-Gibraltar common market” is being looked at across the UK Government as a matter of urgency.

He also confirmed that there are currently no plans to introduce any changes to the treatment of gambling marketing services, in particular in relation to VAT.

Mr Cameron made it clear that, following a request from the Chief Minister, the Ministry of Defence have agreed to place a planned redundancy announcement on hold and have agreed to pause the public consultation over the implementation of the new Operating Model in British Forces Gibraltar.

Those commitments will be upheld by the UK’s new Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Mr Cameron also declared that one of the top priorities of the UK remains a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border.

“It will take some time for our future relationship with the EU to become clear but I can assure you that there will be no immediate changes in Gibraltar’s circumstances. There will be no initial changes in the way people can travel or in the way services can be sold”, he explained.

Mr Cameron added that the UK will work in partnership with the Gibraltar Government to seek to ensure that its interests are properly taken into account.

“Gibraltar has been British for 300 years and I want to keep it that way,” said Mr Cameron.

“The United Kingdom has always stood up for Gibraltar, and we always will”, he concludes.

The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said: “The Government is very pleased that the issues we raised with the United Kingdom have been dealt with at the highest level and are being looked into so quickly.”

“I also want to thank Bob Neill who is a great friend of Gibraltar for taking up these matters with Downing Street. This final communication from former Prime Minister David Cameron, whilst he was still in Downing Street will be very welcomed by all and in particular by the gaming and insurance industry and those who are employed in the Ministry of Defence.”