If you have heard the sound of weeping and gnashing of
teeth if may have been Gibraltar’s hard-working MEP Sir Graham Watson fearing
his re-election chances next May have been washed down the pan by one Andrew
Duff MEP.
Of course if it wasn’t for the fact that Sir Graham is
a gentleman the sounds of agony might have been the said Duff being run through
with the Lib-Dem knight’s sword.
The Lib Dem vote in Gibraltar could have been dealt a
severe blow thanks to the bizarre article “Goodbye to the Gibraltar Problem” by
Andrew Duff MEP – who represents the East of England for that party. It appears
Duff has just returned from holiday and given his baldpate probably didn’t wear
a sun hat so his brain was fried.
Apparently Duff is an expert on Gibraltar. What’s
going on at the moment is a “petty little spat” and all the fault of Fabian
Picardo. The MEP tells his readers that “while the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 settled
the sovereignty of the rock on Great Britain, nothing was established about
control of the coastal sea.”
What Duff fails to tell his readers is that the 1982 UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea gives Britain the right to claim up to 12
miles for British Gibraltar Territorial Waters although the current limit stands
at three miles, the tradition before the treaty came in to force. Even Franco
recognised this but not the Duff.
He then goes on to tell his readers:
“Uncharacteristically, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel
Garcia-Margallo, reacted badly. Spanish border controls were increased and
traffic delays lengthened. More was threatened, including the imposition of a
50 euro fee for crossing the border. There is certainly good evidence of
smuggling and Gibraltar is known to be a centre for money laundering, so strict
border controls are wholly reasonable.” Is that the Gibraltar Sir Graham
represents?
The solution to the
problem, says Duff, lies with the Schengen Agreement. He adds that the British being “proud
islanders as we are, have refused to enter the Schengen area” which is of
course Spain’s justification for having a border and controls at La Línea. He
then goes on: “it would be perfectly possible to negotiate an exemption
from the British opt-out for Gibraltar.” There’s more: “If Gibraltar was to
join Schengen, the petty nationalists would be deprived of their soap box.”
Seemingly Duff sees no contradiction in the British
being allowed to be “proud islanders” but the Gibraltarians not being able to be
“proud Gibraltarians”.
Obviously Duff didn’t run his entire article through
with the Spanish embassy or his beloved Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo because to
paraphrase our Chief Minister - Hell would freeze over before Spain would allow
Gibraltar to join Schengen independently. It would even put up one hell of a
fight if the UK opted in. Andrew is clearly up the Duff.
The question is will this one man’s Lib Dem view of
Gibraltar affect his party’s vote here in next May’s Euro elections. My
suspicion is it won’t and here’s why.
First Gibraltarians are both a sophisticated people
and electorate. They know that one lose cannon’s words are not necessarily
representative of the party he is a member of. Peter Hain is loathed by
Gibraltarians but Glyn Ford, who is number 2 on the Labour list for next May’s
euro poll, gave sterling service to Gibraltar during his term as our MEP.
Gibraltar has many loyal and staunch friends in Labour: it is Hain who is our
pain.
Second Sir Graham deserves to be judged on his record
and the plain fact is that Gibraltar has no finer or active advocate that this
Lib Dem MEP. No other MEP has worked as hard for the Rock as Sir Graham and it
would be a travesty if the Duff intervention counted against him.
Credit has also to be given to the Conservative – Lib
Dem Government for staunchly defending Gibraltar against Spain’s aggression and
our right to self-determination. I wonder what Duff’s “home-grown nationalists”
– David Cameron and William Hague – who “were quick to climb on to the
bandwagon” make of his words?
If there is justice in this world then the voters in
the East of England will dump their duff MEP next May. I am sure the Partido
Popular will find room for him in their ranks.
