The part of the former Principal Auditor's report, highlighted by GBC today, which sets out Tony Sacramento's personal view that Gibraltar should have a Public Accounts Committee, is a further illustration of how biased the 2018/2019 report is.

It is a massive discredit to the office of the Principal Auditor that the former holder of the office should have taken such a party political approach to a matter that is a policy difference between the GSLP Liberals and the GSD.

Indeed, in choosing to take that approach, he has ignored the democratically expressed view of the People of Gibraltar, given that this was a live issue in the last election.

The GSLP Liberal manifesto set out the Governing parties' policies on the issue of a Public Accounts Committee as follows:

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE
The policy of the GSLP Liberals on the establishment of a Public Accounts Committee in the Gibraltar Parliament remains unchanged.
In the past such a Committee existed for only one term because it became clear that it was not suited to the size of our democracy and to the way that our Parliament works.The Gibraltar Parliament already enjoys the power to examine expenditure in detail both during the budget debate and outside it.

It is important to stress that the GSD do not make full use of the tools available to them at the moment in this respect.The establishment of a Public Accounts Committee, chaired by an Opposition MP, would lead to Controlling Officers and other civil servants being grilled in public by the Opposition. We believe that Ministers should be answerable to the electorate in Parliament for the performance of their departments and that civil servants should not be on the front line. We want to shield public servants from this unnecessary and unpleasant cross-examination.

The GSD manifesto set out the Opposition party's position on a Public Accounts Committee as follows:

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE

We are the only UK Overseas Territory without a Public Accounts Committee.
We will ensure the establishment of a Public Accounts Committee in Parliament to scrutinize Government expenditure.

The PAC will be chaired by a member of the Opposition.
The GSLP/Libs have refused to establish a PAC and are philosophically against its creation.
If the Opposition refuse to participate in such a committee for their own party-political reasons we will appoint a majority of independent persons to serve on the PAC and it will be chaired by a person independent of Government.

The position taken by the former Principal Auditor is to agree with the GSD Opposition, almost in identical terms and thereby make his office, whilst he held it, partisan and lacking in objective independence.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC MP, said:

"I have sought, and won, on four separate occasions, the support of the Gibraltar electorate for a policy on a Public Accounts Committee.
The role of the Principal Auditor is to audit the public accounts of Gibraltar independently.

It is NOT, on any interpretation, to give his opinion on what policies the Government should or should not adopt – especially when the view he decides to remark upon is party political and against the express policy of the Government which the public have selected at a General Election 20 months ago!

This illustrates the former Principal Auditor's party political bias to an unprecedented degree and shows this report is intended as no more and no less than a hatchet job on me and my Government and nothing less.
The sensationalist and tabloid nature of the errors and bias the report reflects has already led to death threats against me.

I will, nonetheless, ensure that I point out every material errors and every instance of bias in this report so that the public can make a full and informed judgement, in due course, of the value of relying on any aspect of it.”

ENDS