Gibraltar: Standing firm.

Above, Kaiane Lopez, Mayor of Gibraltar.
Brexit was always going to be a difficult and dangerous thing. So dangerous that if the truth had been known, it is unlikely that “Leave” would have polled 52%!
Fundamentally the danger is contained in the FACT that British politicians, starting with the Arch Traitor Heath have subsumed this formerly sovereign kingdom into a supra-national confederation.
The TRUTH is that it was NEVER going to be an EASY task to FREE ourselves!
Some Brexiteers have insisted that the country ignore the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty and simply repeal the European Communities Act of 1972. This would result in instant chaos of a Hard Brexit.
Brexiting via Article 50 was the only practical method. However, as British Gazette readers will know if they have been reading this organ’s articles, this route is fraught with danger. This is because Article 50 is designed to put the leaving state in a disadvantaged weak position!
At this point, British Gazette readers will be fuming with the sad realisation that (and this organ has stated this many times before) – If you hand the government of your country over to a foreign power; what do you expect?
The sad FACT is that whatever deal Madam Mayhem succeeds in getting – and we include in this getting the EU 27 to agree to the UK revoking Article 50 notification following a second referendum vote to “Remain” – Spain will insist on gaining some influence over Gibraltar.
IF the government of Madam Mayhem is to walk away with any sense of national pride and self respect this CANNOT be allowed to happen!
So the question is WHAT should HMG do?
The FIRST thing is to fully understand their situation.
The SECOND thing is to pursue a strategy to manoeuvre Spain into an isolated position.
Thus, HMG has firstly to realise that to secure her objectives against the UK, Spain needs the support of the other 26 EU member states.
This means that Gibraltar must be the one and only stumbling block to an agreement.
It also means that the UK must confront and face down Spanish claims to such an extent that the other 26 EU member states will demand that Spain throws in the towel. This is because they will not have a dog in this particular fight. We choose this old Confederate idiom deliberately as the situation could get very serious and nasty.
British possession of Gibraltar was settled by the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. Under it’s terms, should Britain ever wish to relinquish possession, Spain has “first refusal”. This has prevented Gibraltar from becoming an independent state. Furthermore, the Treaty stipulates “that the above-named propriety be yielded to Great Britain without any territorial jurisdiction.
The British and Gibraltarian governments assert that Gibraltar has been effectively decolonised. However, the UN Special Committee on Decolonization maintains Gibraltar on its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Spain opposes any attempt to remove it from this list and Spanish commentators still describe Gibraltar as a “colony”.
What HMG should do is to present the EU with a choice of two options, being:
1. Back down and accept the status quo ante Thursday 23rd June 2016 vis-à-vis Gibraltar.
2. Abrogate the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 and enact legislation to make Gibraltar an independent country with HM the Queen as it’s monarch.
This will truly put the cat among the pigeons!
Should the Kingdom (or Principality? or Duchy?) of Gibraltar become independent, it can confidently be expected that the United Nations will NOT accept Gibraltar’s application to become a member. This is because Spain will object and will have the strong backing of China who will take the opinion that since the UK has relinquished sovereignty of Gibraltar, then the territory is properly one belonging to Spain. This due to China’s attitude towards Taiwan.
There is also a strong possibility that the Commonwealth will not agree to Gibraltar’s inclusion as China will put very strong pressure on Australia.
IF HMG stands it’s ground this confrontation will more than likely result in one of two outcomes:
1. Spain will back down due to overwhelming pressure from the other 26 EU member states.
2. The EU will invent a new rule and declare that agreement (between the UK and the EU has been reached on all but one of the substantive issues) and therefore the UK Brexit agreement OR UK revoking of Article 50 has been accepted) and that the one substantive issue is one that will allowed to be resolved subsequently.
Now certain readers who are English lawyers will scratch their heads and declare: “The EU cannot simply dream up imaginary rules to suit itself!”
To this the British Gazette would simply state: The EU does and just has! The EU has pronounced that Article 50 is revocable – with the agreement of all other 27 member states.
FACT – the text of Article 50 does not support this! There is no revocation text! It does not exist!
That something does not exist is of course no reason for that well known institution the European Court of Justice – that British Gazette readers well know is NOT a court and does NOT dispense justice – has not to declare that that something does indeed exist!
The FACT is that IF Gibraltar becomes independent it would make life very uncomfortable for several parties. Things of course would be difficult for the Gibraltar people as Spain would cut off it’s nose to spites its own face by closing the border. However others would suffer. Gibraltar is a tax haven. Were Gibraltar to find itself in the position of Taiwan – no state other than the UK recognising it – then clearly no extradition treaties or tax haven agreements would apply.