Mr Speaker,

As members of the House will know, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos met in Madrid on the 27^th October 2004 for a wide ranging bilateral meeting between them. This was not a Gibraltar specific meeting (still less a meeting under the Brussels Declaration), but Gibraltar was discussed.

The House will also be aware that, since August this year I have been having informal contacts with the Director General for Europe and the Americas at the Spanish Foreign Ministry, Sr Jose Pons. These contacts, which I welcome, responded to a conciliatory statement by Sr Moratinos published in the El Pais Newspaper on the 4^th August 2004, in which he indicated a desire to have improved relations with Gibraltar and co-operation regardless of whether or not there was progress on Spain’s sovereignty claim. I look forward to these informal contacts continuing and restate my offer to meet with Spanish Foreign Office ministers at any time.

I have of course also been in contact with The British Foreign Office and with the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to whom I wrote prior to his meeting with Sr Moratinos setting out the Gibraltar Government’s position. The purpose of that letter was to ensure that the Foreign Secretary was personally aware of the basis of our contacts with the Spanish Foreign Ministry and of the basis of our willingness to engage in a process of co-operation with Spain, namely, that it was de-coupled from the question of sovereignty and concessions on sovereignty, and that there could be no "quid pro quo" on sovereignty negotiations in exchange for co-operation. I informed the Foreign Secretary that Gibraltar’s position on sovereignty remained unchanged, as does our opposition to any resumption of Sovereignty transfer negotiations between the UK and Spain. This is well understood by both Her Majesty’s Government in the UK and by the Spanish Government.

Although we reject and oppose Spain’s sovereignty claim, we understand that she has not renounced it, that she professes a determination not to do so and that she will be careful in the forthcoming process of co-operation and in any process of dialogue to avoid steps which prejudice her sovereignty claim. Indeed, we understand that, for Spain, even co-operation is in the context of her objectives in relation to the Sovereignty of Gibraltar. Spain is free to have and to pursue whatsoever objectives she chooses. That is a matter for her.

We for our part, will be similarly and equally careful to ensure that there is no prejudice to our position and objectives on Sovereignty, on self determination, and on Constitutional Reform. We have the comfort and security of knowing that we are able to prevent the achievement of any objectives with which the people of Gibraltar do not agree. That is very important for us.

The House will also wish to know, and I am certain will welcome the fact, that the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw was in touch with me directly during his meeting with Sr Moratinos in order to secure a position and statement agreeable to all parties concerned. I wish to record my thanks to the Foreign Secretary for that.

As a result of all these contacts the Gibraltar Government has been fully involved in the setting up of the initiative for local co-operation, and also in the drawing up of the joint press statement by the two Foreign Ministers, including the paragraph relating to the setting up of a new forum for dialogue.

I wish to repeat in this House the Gibraltar Government’s satisfaction and contentment with the joint statement. I authorised the Foreign Secretary to say this on my behalf during his Press Conference in Madrid, but I think it appropriate to repeat it in this House. We believe that the statement represents a positive outcome for Gibraltar on terms acceptable to all sides and success for our longstanding policy in relation to the terms and purpose of dialogue.

We welcome particularly the move towards the establishment of a new forum for dialogue on Gibraltar with an open agenda, in which Gibraltar would have its own voice. This is what the Gibraltar Government has been seeking and working to achieve since 1996. Indeed, all previous Gibraltar Governments and political parties have called for it. We are delighted that we may now be able to achieve it.

The joint statement by the two Foreign Ministers, while already saying that it will be a new forum, that it will have an open agenda and that Gibraltar will have its own voice, (all of which are important changes) acknowledges that the modalities for this dialogue will need to be agreed by all the parties concerned, i.e. by Gibraltar as well. This too is important. Our longstanding position in this regard is very well known. The dialogue must be safe for Gibraltar, and that means no agreements on anything without our agreement. We will engage positively and constructively with London and Madrid to work out the details of the modalities for this dialogue.

The House will also be pleased to know that the British Government’s position is now that dialogue with Spain over Gibraltar can only take place provided that the Gibraltar Government has an equal footing in that dialogue, i.e. agreement will require all parties’ acceptance, and that discussion takes place on the basis of a genuinely open agenda.

We welcome also the possibility of replacement of the Brussels Declaration with a process viable and acceptable to most people in Gibraltar as well as to the other two parties. This will be greatly welcome to all those people in Gibraltar, (of whom I recognise there are many) who felt that the Brussels Declaration could not be modified to make it desireable for Gibraltar to take part in.

We also welcome the realisation by all parties that the 1987 Airport Agreement is no longer relevant or appropriate, just as we welcome the opportunity to explore the possibilities to reach an agreement on the airport of Gibraltar under a formula acceptable to all parties. We hope that, through its expanded and joint use, the airport will be a positive factor for the benefit of the continuation of the economic and social development of both Gibraltar and the Campo. It is clearly understood by all that as far as we are concerned this must have no adverse sovereignty implications for us.

We welcome and applaud Spain’s decision to immediately lift restrictions relating to Cruise ships and diverted flights. As a result Cruise ships that have come from, or are going on to, Gibraltar will no-longer risk exclusion from Spanish ports nor have any restrictions placed on them. Also, flights that need to divert from Gibraltar due to bad weather will now be able to divert directly to a Spanish Airport without the need to first visit Tangier or another third country airport.

The British Government has agreed to establish a technical working party to examine and to exchange information on the pensions issue of Spanish ex-workers in Gibraltar. This is without prejudice to any outcome in respect thereof. The Foreign Secretary has accepted that our own agreement of the language of the joint statement does not mean that we would agree to pay any upgraded pensions that may in the future be paid. Our position on this remains unchanged.

Mr Speaker, the Gibraltar Government greatly welcomes the new climate of relations that is potentially made possible by these developments. It remains to be seen whether the opportunities are grasped and the potential benefits to people on both sides of the frontier are harvested. Spain has said that she wants to end the policy of obstruction (subject to not prejudicing her Sovereignty claim). She has said also that she wants a new, non-hostile relationship with Gibraltar and its people. We welcome that and will contribute as we can to the creation of that new climate. But the people of Gibraltar will judge Spain by her actions and not just her words.

Some people have asked, "why the sudden change of policy"? I believe that the maturity and success of our international political campaign to resist the joint sovereignty initiative, including the Gibraltar Government’s Referendum of November 2002, and its result, has demonstrated to the world, to the UK and even to Spain, that we have come of age politically to the point where it is no longer viable or realistic for anyone to disregard us, or our wishes, or to us like someone else’s possession. We in the Government see these potential developments as important and as a vindication of our policy since May 1996, and we look forward to participating with confidence and security in any new process of open agenda dialogue on the terms that we have been advocating since 1996 in the knowledge that everyone knows and understands what the position of Gibraltar is on Sovereignty, that it has not changed and that there can be no negotiations to transfer our sovereignty without our consent.