GIBRALTARIANS DEMAND VOTE IN EU IN-OUT REFERENDUM

Gibraltar captured the news headlines in August after the Spanish Government imposed lengthy eight hour queues to enter and leave the Rock as part of its age old campaign to regain sovereignty.  However my article today leaves aside that 300-year-old dispute and instead deals with events being played out in a dusty committee room of the House of Commons. This centre’s on the battle to ensure Gibraltarians are allowed to vote in the Conservative’s EU In-Out Referendum should the Tories be returned to power at the next UK election.

Gibraltar has been a member of the EU since January 1 1973 by virtue of Britain’s membership. However although Gibraltarians are full European citizens they were denied a vote in the European Elections until the 2004 poll. This followed a ten-year legal fight by Gibraltarians which culminated with the European Court ruling that as European Citizens they had the fundamental right to vote in the Euro elections. The UK then added Gibraltar to the South West England Constituency where it sits today.

A cynic may say there are two facts that may colour the Conservative Party’s seeming reluctance to include Gibraltar in its EU In-Out referendum. The first is that in the 2009 European Elections Gibraltar was the only area amongst all the UK Constituencies where the vote for Labour increased.

The second is that Gibraltar is very pro-Europe and indeed the UK’s withdrawal from the EU would be politically and economically disastrous for the Rock. Hence if an In – Out Referendum is held in 2017 it is likely that Gibraltarians will vote massively to continue EU membership. True Gibraltar only has around 20,000 votes but in a tight election that total could help swing the election in favour of staying in the EU.

The whole concept of the 2017 referendum is a bizarre piece of legislation. It is not the Conservative – Lib Dem Government that is proposing it but it comes in the form of a Tory private member’s bill. It would only be enacted if a Conservative Government was returned. It has little to do with the EU but rather is a tactic to fend off UKIP at the next General Election and to keep Tory Euro-sceptics onside.

The job of the current Gibraltar Government is to ensure Gibraltarians are part of any referendum with full voting rights. A general election will have been held in Gibraltar before the 2017 date comes around so it will be for the next Government to deal with the actual referendum and its campaign.

In off the record chats with Gibraltar Government officials I have been told that the UK has given the impression that Gibraltarians would be allowed to vote in the referendum. However there is nothing in writing and the current bill being discussed in Committee at the House of Commons, the Conservative Private Member’s Bill, does not allow for Gibraltarians to vote.

The Conservative Minister for Europe David Lidington had the chance to clear up the matter last week when he addressed the committee stage of the Bill. He said that regardless of whether or not Gibraltar is included in the In-Out referendum on the EU, which has yet to be determined, the UK should consult the Government of Gibraltar to fully understand its views as Gibraltarians would be affected by the decision either way.

Indeed they would Mr Lidington but asking the Gibraltar Government its views is a far cry from allowing Gibraltarians, as British and European citizens, to vote and is simply not acceptable. The suspicion that the Tories intend to deny Gibraltarians the vote is strengthened by the fact that Lidington did not take the opportunity when he had it to state categorically that Gibraltar would be allowed to participate which would have cleared up all doubt.

Instead it has been left to Lidington’s shadow, Labour Europe Minister Emma Reynolds and her team to fight Gibraltar’s corner. Reynolds is worried that the bill as currently drafted fails to appreciate the particular and unique legal and constitutional position of Gibraltar as both a self governing British Overseas Territory and as part of the European Union.

As the Bill is currently drafted, the entitlement to vote in the proposed referendum will be restricted to “persons who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in any constituency.”

Whilst Gibraltarians are entitled to vote in European Parliamentary elections as part of the South West England Constituency they are self governing and not represented in the UK’s Parliament. The people of Gibraltar would therefore not be able to vote on whether to remain or leave the European Union should a referendum take place. There is also the prospect of Gibraltar having to leave the European Union, alongside the UK, without its people having had a say. Labour has proposed two key amendments: the first to ensure that Gibraltarians as British citizens are included and the second that Gibraltar’s result is declared separately. Will the Tories take note? No sign so far!

For Gibraltar this is a two-fold issue. Gibraltarians, as European Citizens, must be allowed to vote on their future in Europe. Withdrawal would have important negative economic implications for Gibraltar.

Gibraltar’s successful business model has taken the best part of the past forty years to develop as Gibraltarians have matured into their role in Europe. In an address to the Fabian Society in London in April Gibraltar’s socialist Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, stated: “Our success in tourism, bunkering, telecoms, financial services and gaming as well as the many other sectors of our economic activity depends on our membership of the EU giving us unimpeded access to the Single Market in services and free movement of people and capital.” He added: “Now would be the wrong to time to change one of the few successful economic models in Southern Europe.”

The prospect of Gibraltar’s economy being destroyed by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, via a referendum in which Gibraltarians as British and European Citizens had no say, would be disastrous for Gibraltar and disastrous for our concept of democracy. It is the duty of the Conservative-led Government and the Conservative Party to ensure that does not happen.

(The above article appeared in the London Progressive Journal on September 16 2013 with a version also in the Gibraltar daily, Panorama).

IT’S FRANCO’S HEART THAT BEATS IN MADRID

No Gibraltarian and come to that anybody living in the real world will believe the confrontations at sea last week over the reef laying and the six hour car queues to leave Gibraltar at the weekend were anything but linked. Thanks to the world media from the BBC to Fox News much of the rest of the world now knows that too. Even Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and the Foreign Office issued urgent protests to Madrid.

The confrontation started last Wednesday when a tug was laying concrete blocks in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters between the North Mole and the runway. Nor was this action a surprise because the creation of reefs in different parts of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, as part of Gibraltar’s marine protection strategy, was announced when the Government published the fishing report. These reefs will increase biodiversity and provide refuge for many marine species.

This was not some whacky idea dreamed up by Environment Minister Dr John Cortes over a plate of calamari but approved science. So whilst the Andalucía Government accuses Gibraltar of potentially damaging the environment it has emerged that Sevilla has created 480 square kms of exactly the same reef structures off its own coastline – a coastline that it shares with Gibraltar.

So why has Andalucía done this? It has installed 25 artificial reefs over the period 1989 to 2011to protect the marine environment and promote traditional fishing methods. These being more selective allow the regeneration of fishing resources and to ensure rational exploitation.

The whole scheme has cost 12 million euros and whilst Andalucía has paid 25 per cent of the cost the balance has come from EU fisheries funds – in other words EU tax payers throughout the community.

Andalucía has installed these reefs which contribute to the protection of the coastal zones and some of these are of high biological interest just as Gibraltar’s waters are. Most importantly they are also a defence against overfishing.

The reefs prevent the use of drag nets which are not authorized and their installation preserves the ecological value of the sites. It also promotes the breeding of many species of interest to fishermen. Once the number of these fish increases it is possible for them to be caught in a sustainable manner.

Perhaps somebody needs to sit down and explain all of this to the owner of the “Divina Providencia”, which fishes illegally in Gibraltar’s waters and the neighbouring La Línea and Algeciras fishing communities. The Andalucía Government, which is a socialist and far left coalition, should be asking itself a lot of uncomfortable questions on this issue too.

All of that being so the actions of the Guardia Civil at sea last Wednesday and Thursday and also of Spain in protesting against Gibraltar’s reef laying had nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with their claim over Gibraltar’s waters. Sovereignty in other words. Yet Gibraltarians and indeed the UK Government knew that anyway.

Hence we move on to Friday and the weekend when Spain again shot itself in the foot by making Gibraltarians, Spaniards, EU citizens and other nationals queue in their cars in the blistering heat for up to seven hours to cross the border in to La Línea.

Whatever argument Spain may have about Gibraltar protecting the environment, and on the face of it there is none, all the world has now seen the true face of the Partido Popular Government in Madrid. Nobody believes the queues had anything to do with the search for contraband but everything to do with Gibraltar having stood up for its internationally recognised rights. Its territorial waters are recognised by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea so it is Spain and not Gibraltar that is the law breaker.

Spain has been shamed, Gibraltar’s environment is better protected and Gibraltar moves on whilst Madrid shows that it is Franco’s heart that that provides the beat of Rajoy’s Government.

(Photograph: Gibraltar’s Environment and Health Minister, Dr John Cortes, and Culture – Sports Minister Steven Linares hand out water to queuing motorists waiting to enter Spain on Saturday)

(The above article was published in the London Progressive Journal on July 29 2013).

GIBRALTAR: A ROCK OF DEMOCRATIC STABILITY AS SOME NATIONS BECOME UNGOVERNABLE

A very notable event happened on the fourth of July. Apart from being Independence Day in the USA it was the date of a by-election in Gibraltar. The election was free and fair, the candidates and their parties behaved within the norms of electoral law – and here’s the big shock, the winning party, the GSLP, happened to be the socialist party in a coalition Government and increased its popularity with the voters.

Whilst in Old Europe we take free and fair elections for granted such a situation does not even hold true within the entire EU. Likewise whilst the majority of Old Europe sees its political parties act within the electoral norms there are other countries in the EU where vote rigging and buying are the norms instead. And here’s the real shock: Gibraltar has a government party entering mid-term which is more popular now with voters than when it was elected. That situation is very unique in Europe.

So whilst democracy is seemingly safe in Gibraltar there are worrying signs elsewhere that suggest that some countries may be becoming ungovernable or are indeed already there.

Let us look at Egypt for example when President Mohammed Morsi has been deposed from power in a ‘peaceful’ army coup, ‘peaceful’ being a relative term here. There may be many reasons why Morsi was not the man for the job or his party the one to unite Egypt. However the fact is he was elected to the post of president in the country’s first fair and free elections in our life time. The people of Egypt had every right to peacefully protest against his actions and policies: but did the army have the right to remove him from power? If we believe in democracy surely that is the job of the electorate at the next election.

In Bulgaria the popularist GERB government resigned in February after violent street protests over a hike in electricity prices which few could afford and the economic state of the EU’s poorest country. In the May general election GERB, which has links to organized crime and is notorious for vote rigging, was returned as the largest party but its share of the vote collapsed. It could not govern on its own so the socialist BSP which came second joined a coalition to keep GERB out. However to do so it had to pact with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the nationalist party ATAKA to rule. ATAKA is anti Turkish and anti Roma whilst the MRF speaks for both: the MRF also has a history of vote rigging.

Some initial mistakes by the new prime minister brought the same protestors out on to the streets again and even the president has now suggested that new elections will have to be called. If so where does Bulgaria go from here? Do the protestors want GERB back? Certainly not. Do they want a socialist government, possibly, but even the BSP has in the past had links with its communist roots, oligarchs and criminals. Do they want the MRF or ATAKA to govern? Hardly. So how do you run a country when the rejected options are the most voted for parties even if vote rigging and buying is rife? The current anti-GERB coalition is far from perfect but it is realpolitik like it or not.

In Spain Transparency International reports that 86 per cent of Spaniards believe their politicians are corrupt as Rajoy wobbles under the sleaze accusations of Bárcenas. The political and summer heat is getting much hotter for the Partido Popular Prime Minister.

In a country where over 26 per cent of people are jobless, where if you are young you a more likely to be on the dole than in work, where thousands have lost their homes and are still deep in debit, where the economic crisis stumbles from bad to worse then for how long are people going to stand idly by whilst they are ruled by crooks. My guess is for not long at all and social upheaval will soon be upon Spain as it is in Turkey and has been in Greece.

Italy and Portugal could well be next.

Gibraltar was already remarkable in that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and people of other religions and none live side by side in perfect harmony in a world where that is far from the norm. In addition to that distinction Gibraltarians can get on with their lives safe in the knowledge they live in a stable democracy, as solid as their Rock.

However there are warnings for Gibraltar’s politicians and voters in what is happening around the world. The warning to its politicians is that voters will not accept governments that govern for themselves and not the people. The warning to its voters is to treasure the open, free and fair democracy they enjoy and protect it with all their might – because it is rarer and more fragile than they may think.

(Photograph: Albert Isola, the GSLP’s successful by-election candidate).

(The above article was published in the London Progressive Journal on July 19, 2013 and a version appeared in Panorama on July 17, 2013)

SPAIN’S FISHING ARMADA STOPPED FROM RAPING GIBRALTAR’S WATERS

In a 2010 report Greenpeace stated: “The Spanish government has encouraged the development of excessive and destructive fishing practices such as bottom trawling, purse seining and long lining. It has supported illegal ‘pirate’ fishing through fishing subsidies, and seems unwilling or unable to effectively prosecute Spanish companies who fish illegally.” It is that same Spanish fishing armada that has until recently raped Gibraltar’s waters, which are British waters, and the Gibraltar government is now insisting its environmental laws are upheld to stop the destruction of its marine environment.

In writing this article two statistics stayed with me that described the size of the problem facing Gibraltar. According to Greenpeace if you were to line up all Spanish fishing vessels, bow to stern, they would stretch for a distance of 123 kilometres. Whilst in a Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society (GONHS) paper dated 1999 by its then general secretary and now Gibraltar’s Environment Minister, Dr John Cortes, he stated: “The fact is that the average tramallo (bottom laid net) can be anything up to 1250 metres long while Gibraltar's coastline is only some 14 kilometres in length. Sixty four per cent of that coastline is taken up for commercial purposes; leaving only 36 per cent natural coastline where such fishing if allowed could realistically take place. A single net is equivalent to 11 per cent of our overall coastline…The fishing is neither sustainable nor sufficient.”

So what are Gibraltar’s waters? They are defined by the Geneva Convention of 1958 and Spain is a signatory to this Convention. The waters in question are three miles off the Rock to east and south and a median line in the bay to the west on the other side of which sits the Spanish port of Algeciras. Gibraltar had to play catch up in the 1980s on its environmental laws but in 1991 its parliament passed the Nature Protection Act which is the legislation currently being enforced by the GSLP Liberal Government.

When Gibraltar’s new government was returned in December it fell on its feet by having Dr John Cortes on hand to step in as its environment minister. His qualifications and credentials are internationally recognized and as long as a Spanish bottom laid net. He was General Secretary of the respected NGO the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society, a post he had held since its creation in 1976 and before becoming a minister was the Director of the Gibraltar Botanic Garden since 1991. It is worth noting he was also a director of Spain’s Parque Natural de Los Alcornocales: so is highly respected on both sides of the border.

I asked Dr Cortes about the current dispute with Spain’s fishermen and the Nature Protection Act 1991: what specifically does it prohibit? The minister stated: “It specifically prohibits the use of seine and gill nets in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. Seabed raking and the use of artificial lights for attracting fish are also illegal under the aforementioned Act.  These methods, including drift nets as well as long lines are used by Spanish fishermen in our waters.”

These measures were enacted in 1991 in order to safeguard marine habitats and species within Gibraltar’s waters that were being negatively affected by commercial fishing activities. Dr Cortes added: “In order to further protect the marine biodiversity the Southern Waters of Gibraltar were designated as a Site of Community Importance under the EU’s Habitats Directive. This designation was approved by the Commission in July 2006.”

Between 1991 and 1997 the Act was enforced by the Royal Gibraltar Police.  While some fishing occurred, this was without sanction and the Police effected arrests and prosecutions on a number of occasions. It was following such an arrest, a campaign was started by Spanish fishermen to press the Gibraltar Government to allow them to fish.  In 1999, after the fishermen blockaded the Gibraltar frontier, a ‘Joint Understanding’ was accepted by the fishing federations of the border town of La Línea as well as Algeciras across the bay and the then Chief Minister Peter Caruana. It allowed Spanish fishing vessels to fish in Gibraltar’s waters using methods illegal under the Nature Protection Act 1991.

So what are the implications of the new Gibraltar Government rescinding the illegal 1999 ‘Joint Understanding’? Dr Cortes explained it now follows that the Royal Gibraltar Police, who are not controlled by the government, are free to use their own discretion in enforcing applicable laws that prevent the use of illegal fishing methods under the Nature Protection Act 1991. 

The minister continued: “As circumstantial evidence strongly indicates that marine resources continue to decline, and in keeping with the precautionary principle, a revised system for the protection of marine resources, which will include regulation is currently being developed by my ministry for the Government of Gibraltar.”

During the past 3 months the enforcing of the Nature Protection Act 1991 has hit the news headlines as the Spanish fishing fleets have been banned from raping Gibraltar’s waters. This has led to illegal incursions by up to 12 fishing boats, sometimes escorted by a Guardia Civil armed patrol boat, to which the Royal Gibraltar Police or Royal Navy have had to respond. The fishing vessels had deployed seine nets and used artificial light lures: both prohibited under Gibraltar law. It is against this background that discussions have taken place between the Government of Gibraltar and the fishing confraternities of La Línea and Algeciras regarding commercial fishing within Gibraltar’s waters. Dr Cortes noted: “These discussions took place as a direct result of the Gibraltar Government rescinding the 1999 ‘Joint Understanding’ and the impact that this would have on the ability of the local Spanish fleets to continue fishing.”

The fishing grounds around Gibraltar have been over exploited and the fishermen themselves accept that catches have declined seriously.  It is ironic that as a result, protected areas including no-fishing zones and time restrictions have been applied by the Spanish authorities in their own waters: and would be extended to Gibraltar if its British waters were Spanish.

On a final note Dr Cortes stated: “The presence of rocky reefs in Gibraltar’s territorial waters is attractive both to fish and to fishermen.  This is one of the reasons why Gibraltar has created this protected area, one of the considerations being to provide refuge, feeding and breeding opportunities for fish, something which will be of benefit to fishermen in adjacent areas, as well as to all marine life.”

(The above article appeared in the London Progressive Journal on May 29 2012 and on various US environmental websites)

GIBRALTAR SWINGS TO THE LEFT

I am too long in the tooth to call an election before the votes are counted but this year’s opinion polls in Gibraltar make encouraging reading for the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party and their Liberal partners.

After four consecutive terms of a centre right GSD government under Peter Caruana the new leader of the GSLP, Fabian Picardo, has positive reasons to believe he could become the Rock’s next chief minister. The latest poll sounding by Vox gives the GSLP a 5.6 per cent lead over the GSD. It is the largest sample ever taken of Gibraltar’s voting intentions and was carried out on a household basis. As GSLP households tend to have more voters than GSD the actual lead could be larger still. However the outcome of the general election, which could come at any time, will depend on which party gets its share of the 21,000 registered voters to the polling station.

The GSLP should have a place in the heart of all British trade unionists. It is the oldest surviving political party in Gibraltar. Its grass roots are deep in the British Trade Union Movement because founder and outgoing leader Joe Bossano had lived in London’s East End where he was active in the Labour Party and union.

He returned to Gibraltar to become the District Officer of the TGWU which during Bossano’s tenure was instrumental in achieving parity with the UK for all workers in Gibraltar. Labour veteran Alf Lomas was Political Secretary of the London Co-operative at that time and active in the TGWU and the Labour Party. He told me: “There was no GSLP in those days and Joe and I had long discussions about forming a Labour Party. I helped to draw up the constitution and was made No 1 Honorary Member of the Party on its formation.” The GSLP fought its first election in 1978 and between 1988 and 1996 was the party of government.

Fabian Picardo was elected leader of the GSLP in April as Joe Bossano had signalled he would stand down before the next election. Picardo is now Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and a successful lawyer but started from humble beginnings and is a member of Unite, the successor to the mighty TGWU.

Gibraltarians are British subjects but it may surprise many readers to learn they do not share in the same basic rights enjoyed in the UK. The GSD government has done nothing in its four terms to rectify this sorry state of affairs indeed there is every indication it has no intention of doing so. Gibraltarians cannot appeal to the UK as they have their own government so their sole right to justice is via Europe which often sends the case to the UK.

Hence in the GSLP’s “Make the change” campaign Gibraltarians’ rights and open, transparent government are priorities with a Ministerial Code, Freedom of Information Act, Citizens Charter, protection for whistle blowers and the introduction of a 30 Year Rule already announced in policy statements.

So how has Fabian Picardo’s working class background shaped his political views. He told the MORNING STAR: “In every way. I am the product of that upbringing. I understand what it is like when people don’t have jobs and I consider myself a worker. My parents worked very hard indeed to enable me to become a professional; and I won’t allow anything to go to my head and make me think I am better than any other worker or anything other than a worker. I understand the need to make ends meet requires careful planning and that a wage sometimes needs to be stretched by working people. That is why I get so annoyed when I see taxpayers money wasted on frivolities or for what are clearly GSD partisan ends.”

So as the Gibraltar general election approaches what is his message to the voters of the Rock? Picardo is clear: “I do not want to be an all-powerful leader who uses Ministers like assistants as Caruana does. I want to strengthen democracy and accountability. I want to strengthen the civil service as an essential part of the structure of government. I am in politics because I believe in protecting the Gibraltar that I grew up in and making it stronger in the international community of nations. I want to see the quality of life of Gibraltarians improve and I want to see Gibraltar stay British as a guarantee for our future in respect of education, the rule of law and the quality of our democracy.”

The coming weeks will decide whether the GSLP Liberals take power in Gibraltar by ousting the GSD regime headed by Chief Minister Peter Caruana who rules the Rock as if it is his personal fiefdom. If Fabian Picardo takes office Gibraltar will again have a true socialist and trade unionist at its helm. When was the last time that happened in Britain?

(A version of the above article appeared in The Morning Star on September 27 2011)