The Diplomat
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, is confident that after the victory of Keir Starmer’s Labor Party, negotiations for an agreement between London and Brussels on the future of the Rock can be accelerated in the United Kingdom.
Picardo noted in a statement from his Government, which wrote to Starmer to congratulate him on his appointment, he highlighted “the historic opportunity that for the first time the socialist parties are in the Government in London, Madrid and Gibraltar.”
He added that he also congratulated the new foreign secretary, David Lammy, and told him: “We are keen to continue our work to finalize a treaty between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar.” He also wrote to convey his congratulations to John Healey, who takes over the Ministry of Defence.
In a statement to Canal Sur Radio, Picardo described Starmer’s victory as “historic” and pointed out that “after the break due to the electoral campaign, what is coming now is to accelerate and continue trying to reach that definitive treaty in which we all win.”
However, he did not want to put a chronological horizon to the negotiations. “I have learned not to do it, from the beginning I didn’t do it, but at some moments I thought I knew when this was going to end,” added the Gibraltarian leader, who has shown himself to be “sure” that there will be no change of positions in the end because “The parties are serious, they will reach agreements and maintain those agreements, and I hope that day will come soon.”
Picardo did not want to go into details of issues that are on the table, such as the harmonization of indirect taxes on both sides of the fence, but he stated that “from the first moment” he has said that “there will be no harmonization of taxes between Gibraltar and Spain, and that is how it has to be because they are two different tax jurisdictions and that is how it has to remain, otherwise shared prosperity cannot be created.
