The Government is disappointed to note the GSD’s insistence on stirring the pot at such a crucial milestone in Gibraltar’s history, this time by feigning concern for the wellbeing of law enforcement officers at the border. 

Work on treaty implementation, interim arrangements and contingency plans has been ongoing for a number of months, with weekly planning meetings involving all stakeholder departments and agencies. 

These interim measures are a necessary and unavoidable part of Gibraltar’s preparedness for treaty implementation and could not have been done at any other time. 

Given that there was no alternative to these essential infrastructure works being done in June, measures have been taken to protect those working outdoors at the frontier: 

• Officers of the Borders and Coastguards Agency and HM Customs have been on 30 minute rotations to ensure that nobody is working in the sun or heat for too long. 
• With the works to remove the canopies now complete, temporary shading will be improved as from this afternoon. However, this is constrained by height requirements for vehicles crossing the frontier e.g. large coaches.

The Government has also conducted a series of stakeholder briefings on the Treaty and its contents, including specific briefings for HM Customs and the BCA, each lasting over 2 hours and which gave officers of all ranks the opportunity to ask direct questions of the Government and Attorney General. 

It has been made abundantly clear that there will be no job losses, and indeed the Government is investing heavily in the capacities, resources and resilience of all law enforcement agencies, who will also benefit from a new, purpose-built facility in the area of the frontier. It is true that some roles may change as a result of our new, modernised relationship with the EU, and the Government has full confidence in the professionalism of Gibraltar’s law enforcement agencies to adapt. 

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

“Whilst Ms Ladislaus reduces herself to the GSD’s usual, empty scare tactics warning of ‘collateral damage’, the Officers of HM Customs and the BCA can be reassured that there will be nothing of the sort. Quite the Opposite: the Government has invested heavily in increased resourcing for all of Gibraltar’s law enforcement agencies, who are vital to the smooth implementation of the Treaty. 

“Interim logistical measures cannot be avoided whilst we work hard to deliver on the infrastructural requirements of treaty implementation, which on the Gibraltar side has been completed ahead of schedule. Measures have been taken wherever possible to mitigate the impact of June’s hot weather, within the space and infrastructure constraints in which frontier traffic must operate.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the professional officers of HM Customs and the Borders and Coastguard Agency for their vital work in keeping Gibraltar safe and secure as we look forward to a new, better way of going about our business at the border.”