COFFEE WITH SIR GRAHAM

Whenever I am in Brussels, which to be honest isn’t that often, I always try and touch base with our Lib Dem Euro MP, Sir Graham Watson. I have described Graham many times as our man at the EU because of our six elected MEPs he is by far the most proactive on our behalf.

I met up with him for coffee last Thursday before he headed off for a busy Brussels day and then flew home to his constituency, which could be anywhere in the South West of England or indeed Gibraltar.

I was taken up to Graham’s office by Sonia, one of his hardworking team. Sonia has skills involving throwing coffee cups in to the air, which are rare even at the EU, but my lips are sealed. However she gave an interesting insight in to Graham’s widespread constituency.

Euro MPs are allowed to claim for travel to and from their constituencies. However she was having a lot of trouble with the EU’s fees office over Graham’s travel to Gibraltar. Officials could not understand why the UK MEP for the South West of England was flying to Gibraltar and even on occasions to Málaga. There is no other constituency of this type in the EU and of our six Euro MPs Graham is a frequent visitor whilst the others are not.

Needless to say the two key topics on our agenda over coffee were EU related. The awaited report by the EU inspectors on the summer border chaos and the Commission’s State Aid enquiry.

There is still no word on the outcome of the inspection at our border although it took place around a month ago. However I suspect four weeks is not a long time in Brussels. Graham has been pushing for the report to be issued and is very bullish on what he believes should be its conclusions. Graham here has two advantages: he has sat in the queues himself and he knows how the EU works so he hopes justice is done and is seen to be done in Gibraltar’s favour.

The European Commission’s decision on starting a State Aid enquiry had just been announced and was welcomed by our own Government who believe we are in a good place. Indeed anybody who listened to our Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, speak on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme at the crack of dawn on Monday will know he totally disarmed what was set to be an aggressive attack from his business affairs interviewer.

Graham had been monitoring the Twitterati in Gibraltar who had smelt a rat in that it was a Spanish Commissioner who would be investigating our affairs. It could not be any other way as Joaquín Almunia is the EC Commissioner in charge of this specific matter and the EC has to investigate a complaint when it is laid.

However as I pointed out to Graham and have written here previously Joaquín Almunia is hardly flavour of the month in Madrid and is not on Rajoy’s Christmas card list. In July he declared that Spain’s ship yard subsidies were illegal and had to be repaid with the industry warning that 87,000 jobs could be put at risk, many in Almunia’s home territory. The figure paid out in subsidies is 2.8 billion euros but the figure to be repaid, which could be 20 per cent less, has yet to be fixed. When you are an EC Commissioner you serve the EU not the country that appointed you.

The elephant in the room whilst we sipped coffee and chatted was would Graham be here this time next year. Indeed I had just attended in Brussels a PES election strategy meeting designed to get socialists in and others including Lib Dems out. Interestingly though when I voiced my support for Graham to PES members it was clearly obvious he was highly regarded in the socialist camp.

The South West of England constituency of which Gibraltar is part is not typical of the UK. Graham admits this will probably be his hardest fought election yet. The Lib Dems are on the slide and it remains to be seen how UKIP and the Conservatives will do in a Euro seat where they hold two and three seats respectively. I along with many others will be working to ensure one of those seats at least goes to Labour. None-the-less I will also be supporting Sir Graham Watson the Man because I believe if he loses his seat, Gibraltar will lose its most powerful advocate in Brussels.

DUFF THE DUFFER SPEAKS ON GIBRALTAR

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.