THE long-awaited report into the controversial retirement of Gibraltar’s former police commissioner, Ian McGrail, will finally be delivered to the government this afternoon.
According to an official statement, the chairman has completed his findings and will submit the report to Number 6 Convent Place at 4pm.
The move marks a major step in one of Gibraltar’s most politically charged investigations in recent memory, examining the circumstances surrounding McGrail’s sudden early retirement in 2020 and the alleged pressure he faced from senior officials.
The Chief Minister put to bed concerns that the government might attempt to bury the report or redact significant sections.
“The report is going to be published in its entirety,” Fabian Picardo told Parliament this morning.
“If there is a reason to redact a few words, it will be for reasons related to security,” he said.
“But I have no reason to believe that there is anything in the report that will now touch upon national security.”
He added that he didn’t see ‘any reason to redact any words at all whatsoever’.
When pressed on whether the government would follow the inquiry chairman’s recommendation that the press be given early access to the document under embargo, Picardo replied: “It is my view that we should be able to provide it to the national broadcaster and to other press in Gibraltar, probably the Gibraltar Chronicle.”
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No clear timeline for publication has been laid out as of yet.
The report will be tabled before Parliament ‘in the coming weeks’, while core participants and inquiry witnesses will also receive copies.
The McGrail Inquiry has gripped Gibraltar for more than two years, probing alleged interference at the highest levels of government and policing.
The eagerly-awaited release of the final report is expected to shed light on the internal power struggles and decision-making that shaped one of the Rock’s most significant constitutional controversies in decades.
Picardo confirmed in Parliament that the inquiry has cost taxpayers around £8 million (€9.3 million).
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