Visiting UK parliamentary delegation briefed on treaty talks and no-deal planning

The newly appointed Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group [APPG] on Gibraltar, Amanda Martin, said on Monday that the UK remained optimistic a deal could be reached for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar.

Ms Martin is visiting the Rock for National Day, part of a group of 11 MPs and peers who spent much of Monday being briefed by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia and the local business community on potential treaty outcomes and concerns.

Ms Martin, the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, took over from former APPG chairman Sir Bob Neill, who stepped back from frontline politics at the recent general election.

She told the Chronicle that the new Labour Government understood both Gibraltar’s concerns and the role that it played as a member of the wider UK family.

“The United Kingdom has a new Government, and it is a new Government of service,” she said.

“It understands the service that the people of Gibraltar do for this country, it understands that Gibraltar is one of our outer territories.”

“The time that it’s taken to get anything across the table [in the treaty negotiation], and the upset that it’s caused and the pain that it’s caused for the people living here, is not good enough.”

Ms Martin nevertheless said the UK remained committed to a deal and optimistic that it could be delivered.

“In the United Kingdom there’s real optimism and hope,” she said.

As the Chair of the APPG on Gibraltar, Ms Martin said cross-party support for the Rock in Westminster is vital, adding that “having a common understanding helps to get that vision across Parliament”.

She said the briefings attended by the MPs – who also visited Parliament and met with members of the Representation in Westminster Group – had put a spotlight on “the concerns and the issues and the reality that faces Gibraltar”, including discussions on a possible deal, as well contingency plans for a no-deal scenario.

Also in the UK delegation was Lord Brady of Altrincham, a member of the House of Lords who was previously Conservative MP and chair of that party’s influential 1922 Committee.

Lord Brady, who has visited Gibraltar on numerous occasions in the past, welcomed members of the new Labour Government in “sending a message to the people of Gibraltar that the new government will respect your sovereignty and your right to self-determination as the previous one did”.

Lord Brady told the Chronicle he hoped the negotiation would come to a successful conclusion, acknowledging how long the process had already taken.

“It’s gone on for much longer than it ever should have done,” he told the Chronicle.

“I hope you can reach a good, sensible outcome.”

After briefings on the Rock, he said it was clear that there was a desire to strike a deal, “but not at all costs”.

“There is an absolute bottom line, which is about respecting the rights of the people of Gibraltar,” he told the Chronicle.

Lord Brady also underscored the need for Gibraltar’s views to be understood and supported in Westminster.

“It’s essential because Gibraltar’s been under the British flag for over 300 years,” he said.

“It’s vital that whoever happens to be in office in Westminster, whatever party, that you can have that confidence that we will stand behind you.”

Other visiting MPs and peers include Matt Bishop (Labour); Sharon Hodgson (Labour); Mark Pritchard (Conservative); Martin Vickers (Conservative); Baroness Hooper (Conservative); Lord Marland (Conservative); Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat); Baroness Butler-Sloss (Crossbench) • Lord Rogan (UUP).

On Monday, the National Day banner was also signed by Gibraltar Government ministers.