UK Armed Forces Minister Leo Docherty’s very recent intervention in the House of Commons is a further sign that a Gibexit Deal is ‘done’, and other meetings in London with the Chief Minister today indicate that an announcement may be in the offing.
All that, despite past indications that military/defence considerations were possibly delaying the ability to conclude a Gibexit treaty, Leo Docherty seems to indicate now that it is not so.
MoD AND CIVILIAN POPULATION MUST BE SUBSTANTIVELY IDENTICAL
Any differentiation in the treatment of the Ministry of Defence or its personnel [MoD] in a Gibexit deal should not undermine, however, the British status of Gibraltar’s civilian population and institutions.
Great care must be taken therefore to ensure that any discrete treatment of the MoD should be procedural in nature, and not substantive.
A substantive distinction could be seen as amounting to a diminution of the civilian population’s British sovereignty. It would not be so if what will be applied is non-nationalistic EU requirements to civilians in return for EU privileges and advantages.
NO “EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE” TO UK’S GIBRALTAR OPERATIONS
Mr Docherty has confirmed, in answer to a question in the House of Commons from fellow Conservative MP, Greg Smith, that the Gibexit negotiations continue to ensure the UK’s ability, without “external interference”, to operate through Gibraltar.
His answer was, “The Ministry of Defence continues to engage with other Government Departments throughout the negotiation process to ensure that the UK remains able to operate to through and from Gibraltar without interruption or external interference.”
CHIEF MINISTER’S LONDON MEETINGS
At the same time, GBC has reported that there will be a meeting in London today between the Chief Minister and Lord Cameron, the UK Foreign Secretary, as hopes for a Gibexit treaty intensify according to GBC.
Further, the Chief Minister will be meeting also with David Rutley, the UK Overseas Territories Minister.
IMMINENT ANNOUNCEMENT?
Hopefully there will be news of the outcome of those meetings, but what is significant is that the hopes of a Gibexit treaty are growing, so the possibility of an imminent announcement increase.
As previously said on this blog, there is a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on 16-17 May in Strasbourg. We shall see if a Gibexit treaty progress announcement will be made on the peripheries of that meeting.
Llanito World 