Ben Pawlowski
CHIEF Minister Fabian Picardo has blasted right-wing Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after the Tory veteran accused Gibraltar’s leader of wanting the Rock ‘to be Spanish’ in a social media spat.
The war of words began after Brexiteer Rees-Mogg, 54, tweeted a link to a Daily Mail article describing the development of the EU-UK Gibraltar post-Brexit treaty negotiations which claimed that the EU could have the power to block British visitors from entering the tiny enclave located on the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
Rees-Mogg, who was one of the leading voices for leaving the EU in 2016, said: “Clearly Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, no longer wants the inconvenience to Gibraltar of being British so he must want it to be Spanish”.
Picardo, who has been representing Gibraltar’s interests in the crunch talks, blasted the Tory grandee for his comments, adding that he would be ‘happy to brief Mr Rees-Mogg if he really has the remotest interest’.
The Chief Minister tweeted in response: “I am sorry to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg clearly has not even started to understand the complexity of the issues that arise for Gibraltar as a result of Brexit. BRITISH is what Gibraltar is and will always be. BRITISH is what I and all my fellow Gibraltarians are and always will be”.
He added: “It is cheap and wrong to suggest that we would ever consider our BRITISH nationality, heritage and birthright an ‘inconvenience’. We are negotiating for fluid travel, immigration and trade arrangements, not sovereignty”.
As a result of Picardo’s riposte, a Community Note appeared on Rees-Mogg’s initial tweet, saying: “Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, is clear that Gibraltar is British and should remain British”.
Rees-Mogg then invited Picardo onto his GB News show – the Chief Minister accepted, but added it would have to be a different day as he was reacting to the dissolution of Parliament by Rishi Sunak on GBC, the Rock’s national broadcaster.
The social media spat comes after the latest round of talks on Gibratlar’s post-Brexit status ended without a deal.
Picardo spent six hours meeting with UK foreign secretary David Cameron, his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šef?ovi? earlier this week.
UK Prime Minister Sunak’s decision to call a general election for July 4 also set alarm bells ringing, but Picardo has reassured the public that treaty negotiations can continue during the campaign and when a new government is formed.
The highly contentious talks on the future of the tiny Overseas Territory have worn on since 2020 and are set to take a brief hiatus ahead of the European Elections next month.
95.9% of votes cast in Gibraltar in the 2016 Brexit referendum were in favour of the United Kingdom staying in the EU.
