My dear fellow Gibraltarians,

Today is exactly 5 years since Gibraltar’s first COVID lockdown came into effect.

A day earlier, I had stood in front of these same GBC cameras and made the announcement.

That moment was one of the most difficult of my life.

Starting a process to force you to stay at home.

First the elderly.

Then the rest of the whole of the population of Gibraltar.

It was, without a doubt, the most testing moment of my tenure as your Chief Minister.

Earlier that day, officials in my office had purchased a bed and pillows to be set up here for me at No6 Convent Place.

To protect my family, this was where I would isolate if I caught Covid.

I barely left my office in those days.

Neither did the doctors, nurses, ministers and civil and public servants who worked tirelessly on Gibraltar’s pandemic response.

Our civil contingencies office was permanently active.

A Major Incident was declared.

The GHA moved to MAJAX status.

Normal clinical procedures were cancelled.

Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze command structures were in permanent session.

In the days leading up to the announcement, I held many conversations with medical experts.

The projections they shared were stark.

The worst-case scenarios were utterly unthinkable.

We were told that, if the virus spread unchecked, Gibraltar could face several thousand deaths.

The scale of the threat was beyond anything we had ever prepared for in peacetime.

Beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

Among the many difficult decisions we had to take, we had to move to ensure that we had sufficient mortuary capacity.

We ensured we had niches in which to bury the hundreds of dead expected.

We needed the capacity to cope with an overwhelming number of dead bodies we were told we might have to deal with.

Soon, our bustling streets fell silent.

Our schools and businesses closed.

Our families retreated indoors and outdoors everywhere people were wearing masks.

We were uncertain of what lay ahead.

Main Street became as still at midday as it is now at midnight.

Beyond our shores, the world was in turmoil.

The images from Italy were harrowing.

Their hospitals overflowing.

In Spain, the crisis was worsening by the hour.

Lockdown measures grew stricter, and military convoys patrolled deserted streets in our neighbouring state.

In Wuhan, where it had all begun, we saw a city of millions sealed off from the rest of humanity.

The pandemic spread like wildfire across continents.

It disrupted economies.

It devastated communities.

And it took a human toll that felt unimaginable.

Here in Gibraltar, we braced ourselves.

We knew that we were not immune to the viral storm raging across the globe.

But even in those darkest days, we held onto something stronger than the sum of our fears:

Our resilience.

Something so ingrained in us that it flourishes when we need it most.

And our unwavering community spirit.

The Gibraltarian spirit.

Because when things get tough, we stick together.

We protect each other.

And we ensure that nobody is ever left behind.

I want us all to remember where we were then.

How worried and vulnerable we were then.

And how uncertain the future seemed then, five years ago today.

It matters that we remember the heroic work of our GHA professionals.

The sterling efforts of our essential services and our law enforcement agents.

That we remember the solidarity of the volunteers who delivered groceries to the vulnerable.

And that we remember the discipline and maturity with which the people of Gibraltar accepted and respected the rules made by the GHA professionals.

I want us also to remember that we used our resources to pay the salaries of all those who worked in our economy but who could not be permitted to work during lockdown.

We did that, regardless of their nationality.

I want us to remember, with pride, and the fact that our hospital was never overwhelmed.

That no patient was ever denied a bed or a respirator.

Our Nightingale Hospital was never required.

And that all our medical professionals had all the PPE that they required, when they required it.

I want you to remember that the British vaccine rollout, the first in the world, was extended to Gibraltar.

And because of our size, Gibraltar’s success story as the first, complete, full nation vaccination programme, was front page of news outlets all over the world.

This was also extended to all cross frontier workers.

Because the political relationships we had built meant that the frontier never closed even in this period.

Of course, all this came at a tremendous cost.

In those critical months, the Government of Gibraltar spared no effort in protecting lives and livelihoods.

We deployed vast sums of money; public funds to strengthen our healthcare system.

We secured medical supplies.

And we supported businesses and workers with BEAT payments through each of the successive lockdowns.

GDP contracted as entire sectors came to a standstill.

The financial strain on our public finances was huge.

It was unanimously agreed in Parliament that we would take £500m of extra debt to pay for the costs of COVID.

That was the necessary response to an unprecedented crisis.

The UK came to our aid with a long-term Sovereign Guarantee.

But the economic impact was no less severe.

The road to economic stability has been long.

And challenges remain.

But Gibraltar has once again demonstrated its ability to weather even the worst storms.

Five years later, we have shown the depth of our resilience.

Our economy has not only recovered.

It has flourished and now surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Gibraltar is again safe, prosperous and free.

All of our liberties have been restored.

We have Unlocked The Rock.

Our pandemic preparedness is now much reinforced.

And the economy is once again stable.

The public finances once again stable.

But regaining this stability has been an arduous task.

Every single Gibraltarian has had a role to play in this story.

The healthcare professionals on the frontline.

The essential services staff and law enforcement agents who protect us.

The stay at home parents who cared for our children and elderly.

And every single worker in our economy who pays the taxes and social insurance that sustain our community.

You all deserve recognition.

And so I am here to commend you all.

To thank you all in all of your collective efforts.

All of the people of Gibraltar.

All of our cross frontier workers.

All of our allies in the United Kingdom.

In the FCDO, the MoD, especially the RAF – the Angel Wings that brought us the vaccine - and the UK Treasury, too.

Thank you all for working with us in successfully confronting the Covid Pandemic in the way we did, starting 5 years ago today.

We did it.

We succeeded, together.

But I also want us to remember where we were then and where we are now.

Because, 5 years after our first lockdown, there are important lessons we must learn from the Covid Pandemic.

The pandemic was not just a health crisis; it was a turning point in history.

The age of misinformation took hold as so many were confined to their homes.

This has led to mistrust by some of us in the institutions that helped save all of us.

But while our institutions are fallible, they are also extraordinary and worth preserving.

Because challenges continue to face us.

Brexit remains an unresolved, running sore.

But we will make use once again of our resilience.

We will tap into our community spirit.

We will once again no doubt show our resourcefulness.

And, like Gibraltarians do in every crisis, we will turn into another success.

But we must realise one thing.

The world is a less stable place today than it has been for a long, long time.

Perhaps, even since 1939.

The invasion of Ukraine has destabilised the security of European frontiers.

And set off a chain reaction of price inflation.

The Liz Truss mini Budget had a massive effect on UK interest rates.

All of these factors are relevant to our economy as they are to others.

In a connected world, we are not immune from these realities.

But we can be prepared for them.

We can be ready.

And we must be united to deal with the challenges on foot and the challenges to come.

Five years after lockdown, everything has gone back to normal.

But nothing will ever be the same again.

With 114 lives lost in our nation, we must have a memorial.

We must have a service of remembrance this year.

And we must hold our Covid Inquiry.

Details of all that will be announced in coming days.

For now, I want to remember those who died.

I wrote to the families of each and every one of them.

I want to you to remember the dark days of the pandemic lockdowns so that you can relish every moment of the freedoms we enjoy today.

Being your Chief Minister in this time and generation has been and is a massive challenge.

But it is also and even greater honour.

The past years have been tough beyond my worst nightmares, both personally and politically.

But they WERE also years of huge political success for Gibraltar.

Great socio economic progress for our nation as a whole.

And there is more to come.

I told you in 2020 that I believe in the Gibraltarians.

As Covid becomes a memory, let us pledge to always stick together.

The Gibraltarians always as one.

To understand that we have to protect what makes us special.

Let us pledge to defend our democracy even as misinformation attacks genuine debate.

To stop the virus of distrust and disinformation.

And to ensure that our liberties are always protected.

And let us also pledge to never forget the time we staved of a killer by staying home to protect each other.

Because history has taught us, time and again, that we succeed as one.

We succeed together.

We succeed united.

But in division, we can fail.

So please:

Remember that time.

Reflect on what we went through.

And rejoice for what we have.

Covid is now a but memory.

But in memory of all those we lost then, I pledge never to forget.

Please join me in that pledge.

Thank you, Gibraltar, for everything.

I will now, nonetheless take questions from those journalists at No6 Convent Place.