“THIS HOUSE calls upon His Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to ratify, for the benefit of Gibraltar and its People, the Agreement in respect of Gibraltar between the United Kingdom and the European Union following negotiations conducted by the Government of Gibraltar, alongside the United Kingdom, for and on behalf of Gibraltar, and which His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar has tabled in this House on 26th February 2026.”

 

1. Madam Speaker, I am not going to repeat all that has been said in support of this motion, although I fully associate myself with the contributions from my colleagues. So, from me you won’t hear again about security, border fluidity, freedom of movement of people and goods, support for business, and so much more that’s been presented here, and has been the subject of so much discussion in our community. 
2. Instead, I’m going to give a personal perspective and, of course, touch on one of my areas, and on what I am pleased to say is a key principle embedded in the Treaty, the Environment.

 

3. Madam Speaker, I am a son of the evacuation generation, so, while I have not been around for as long as the Father of the House, it has been long enough for me to remember some of those seminal moments in our history, many of which have been referred to during this sitting of Parliament.

 

4. I remember the days of a pre-closure open frontier when there was little restriction to flow; I remember things getting more and more difficult, and I remember as a toddler waiting in the pre-closure queues wondering why it was taking so long to get to my auntie’s house.
5. I remember hearing about Sir Joshua Hassan’s and Peter Isola’s journeys to the United Nations in the early 1960s, and I have vivid memories of Referendum Day, the day before my 11^th I remember too, the new Constitution of 1969 and how, very soon after it came into force, the frontier closed.  My memories of that moment are vivid too. 

 

6. I remember spending all my teens with a closed frontier, and I remember when it opened, first for pedestrians and then fully, and how our fear then, including mine just before my 20^th birthday, was that we would be absorbed by Spain in a process of osmosis, a word that I’d learnt in my chemistry lessons at school and that became common parlance in Gibraltar.

 

7. It did not happen and, despite the fear, Gibraltar became stronger socially and economically; we thrived, and the strength of feeling about our Britishness did not diminish one little bit. Clearly did not, or we would not be here today.  Quite the opposite.

 

 

 

8. Madam Speaker, I’ve lived through all the ebbs and flows of the whims of successive Spanish Governments, with long frontier queues one day, no queues the next, and longer ones the following.

 

9. I remember Fraga, and I remember Matutes, Braña and of course Margallo, and I remember Francisco Franco, El Generalísimo.

 

10. So, while I am a child of the evacuation generation, my youth was defined by the closed frontier of fascist Spain, of families divided, shouting out greetings across two lines of fences over the heads de la guardia civil; and it made me angry, very angry. So I have as much cause as anyone else, and more cause than many, to be cautious, and suspicious of our neighbours.

 

11. So, if I now welcome this Treaty as being perhaps the most significant and positive development in our history for decades, tiene que ser por algo.

 

12. I don’t deny this history, I am shaped by it, but I can, and do, look beyond it.

 

 

13. Madam Speaker, as a child I grew up in the 60s, and while I was never quite a hippy, despite the long hair and tie-dye shirts, it was a generation that decried war and cried out for peace, harmony and love between peoples.

 

14. The closed border was an anathema.

 

15. We longed for a day when borders would tumble everywhere, all we were saying was give peace a chance.

 

16. And I pause there, Madam Speaker, because it seems that our species refuses to learn the lessons of history.

 

17. But we thought then that peace had a chance, which was what so excited me about the Common Market and what it set out to do, uniting countries that just a couple of decades before had been at war. And so I welcomed our accession with the UK in 1973.
18. Clearly, I grew up proud to be British, was so frustrated that I was too young to vote in the Referendum. To me it was simply not logical, simply unacceptable that I could no longer visit my auntie fifteen minutes away in Campamento, unless I crossed the Strait of Gibraltar twice.

 

19. As a student at university, I spoke in debates about this. I dreamt of a day when the frontier would not be a barrier between adversaries but a bridge between neighbours, a link between families, when our position on sovereignty would be protected, but when we could maximise the limitless potential of Gibraltar in context.

 

20. So, when the Chief Minister came into Cabinet one Monday morning, years ago now, saying that there was a real possibility of an Agreement with the EU, with no sovereignty implications, to resolve the issues looming once interim arrangements with Spain ceased, I must admit that I got quite excited. I knew it would be difficult, very difficult, as indeed it turned out to be, but deep down I think I knew that we – that he – could achieve it.

 

21. Madam Speaker, when we reach a destination, we can quickly forget the journey. We will not forget this one.

 

22. I won’t go into the detail of the disruption caused by Brexit to our programme, nor of all the toing and froing of the negotiations, as others who were more deeply involved will no doubt write about it one day. Suffice it to say, that as the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have often said, it was certainly not plain sailing. Much of what was put on the table was totally unacceptable, and whenever there was any doubt, the team would bring the issues to Cabinet and we would discuss at length, and give our support, and the mandate to take Gibraltar’s firm position back to the table.  There were times when we thought we were there and times when I for one was close to despair.  But we stood our ground, and common sense prevailed.

 

23. Madam Speaker, the Treaty is the product of astute diplomacy, of belief in our principles, commitment to reasonable dialogue, respect, and vision.

 

24. It is a world, nay a universe away from the politics of conflict of previous governments of Spain, and while, like every treaty it is not perfect, for either side, it is safe, and I am proud to be a member of the Government that achieved it.

 

 

25. And you know what one of the most significant things about the Treaty and the process is, Madam Speaker? - The position of Joe Bossano.

 

26. The Hon the Leader of the Opposition yesterday referred to Sir Joe’s statements in 2022, somehow suggesting inconsistency on the part of the most consistent ,member of this House!

 

27. Madam Speaker, that was his position four years ago! We were facing very different proposals then to what eventually got included in the Agreement thanks precisely to this firm stand. It is perfectly consistent.!  Joe Bossano didn’t change, the proposals did!

 

28. No one can doubt Sir Joe’s political acumen, love for our country, and willingness to stand ground against any and all, if things are going against what he believes is good for Gibraltar. His contributions in this House last Thursday and again today speak for themselves.

 

29. Madam Speaker, what is said in this House must be heard in the chambers of the parliaments of the United Kingdom and of Europe. This is a Treaty of hope, a treaty of getting things done, respecting differences but believing in working together as equals for the good of our people and of our countries, of our future.

 

30. Madam Speaker, I don’t know whether to laugh or scream when I read or hear the statements of politicians elsewhere decrying the Agreement. Politicians, mainly from the right, in UK, some of whom were part of the Government that negotiated most of the agreement; and most of whom quite literally got us into the mess of Brexit without caring where that would leave us. Es que es tener cara.  Despite their own Brexit-flavoured views, surely, they should respect, and dare I say support, the choices of Gibraltar as confirmed in this Parliament.

 

31. And what about those in the far right in Spain? Stuck in their anachronistic denial of the principle of self-determination, bogged down in the putrid mire of the remnants of fascism, worried that the progress we have made in defusing the frontier issue could remove a rallying-cry that they need-to-use, like Franco did, as a smoke screen when things go wrong for them. To them I say, Ya no podreis esconderos mas detrás de esa cortina, pues no somos humo, somos un pueblo que cree en su futuro.

 

32. Madam Speaker, there are others in Spain who, incredibly, are also criticising the Agreement.

 

33. One so-called environmental group in Spain, whose spokesman is quickly losing credibility and relevance given his propensity for politically motivated statements not backed by evidence or science, has been decrying the environmental provisions of the Treaty, even before they saw them; somehow proving my point as to the motivation.

 

34. Madam Speaker, this is not hyperbole. The Treaty text is brilliant when it comes to the Environment, for Gibraltar and for the surrounding region of the Campo de Gibraltar.

 

35. I could not have asked for more. And I think Madam Speaker that everyone in this House and beyond will know for certain that if it were a threat to our environment, or to our ability to look after and improve it, or to keep to our ambitious policies and international obligations, I would not be here supporting it now. I dare say that my lifetime’s work clearly proves this.

 

 

36. Madam Speaker, there is no doubt that the European Union has what is probably the most forward-looking and thorough environmental and sustainability legislation in the world. Up until the dark days when we were forced out of the European Union against our wishes, our legislation matched, and in some cases went further than that of the EU. In some areas, it still does.  While this Government had committed from the outset, in this House and beyond, to maintaining its environmental legislation dynamically aligned with the EU, that was by choice, and a future government without our environmental credentials might well have gone in a different direction.  The Treaty now ensures that we keep to the highest standards of environmental governance and law.

 

37. Its very preamble, in paragraph 9, stresses, and I quote, “…a commitment to uphold the Parties’ respective high levels of protection in the areas of … (inter alia) environment, (and) the fight against climate change…”.

 

38. In Chapter 5, which is headed “Environment and Climate”, Article 218 goes into more detail:

 

39. It defines “"environmental and climate levels of protection", stating that it means “the levels of protection provided overall in a Party's law which have the purpose of protecting the environment and climate, including the prevention of a danger to human life or health from environmental impacts and fighting against climate change, in each of the following areas:

 

• access to environmental information;
• public participation and access to justice in environmental matters;
• environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment;
• air emissions and air quality;
• nature and biodiversity conservation;
• waste management;
• noise emissions;
• the protection and preservation of the aquatic and marine environment;
• the prevention, reduction and elimination of risks to human health or the environment arising from the production, use, release or disposal of chemical substances; or
• climate change in particular emissions and removal of greenhouse gases, including the effective carbon pricing systems or equivalent measures to reduce emissions.

 

40. And it continues, “For the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, "environmental and climate levels of protection" means environmental and climate levels of protection in Gibraltar domestic law, including international commitments which have been extended to Gibraltar”.

 

41. Note the acceptance of our jurisdiction in making our own laws. No osmosis there.

 

42. And there’s more, Article 219, on levels of protection, states, “The Parties affirm the right of each Party to set its policies and priorities in the areas covered by this Chapter, to determine the environmental and climate levels of protection it deems appropriate, and to adopt or modify its law and policies in a manner consistent with each Party's international commitments, including those under this Chapter.”

 

43. And, “The United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, shall uphold environmental and climate levels of protection that are equivalent to the levels in place in the Union, including by effectively enforcing environmental and climate law applicable to and in Gibraltar.”

 

44. So, we set our laws – good for us; AND we keep to international obligations – great for the environment.

 

45. It could not be clearer. We have to uphold the highest environmental standards. Which we have done and we are very happy to continue to do.

 

46. So what are the detractors on about?

 

47. Gibraltar has clearly shown its commitment to the environment throughout our time in Government. Our suite of environmental legislation is wide-ranging, including our Climate Change Act and our Environmental Governance Act; its protected areas cover nearly 40% of our land and sea areas, exceeding the internationally recognised objectives, our published policies and documents, including the Climate Change Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan are robust and wide-ranging, and have been praised internationally. There is immersive participation of environmental professionals and NGOs in the planning process, robust environmental impact assessments, and legal protection of species from trees and green areas to our very special and unique species like the Gibraltar Campion.  

 

48. We are up there with the best.

 

49. And to make the point even more strongly, my team is currently working hard and fast with a legal team to ensure that our laws are fully up to speed with the EU, and we will shortly be publishing a raft of legislative instruments covering areas such as environmental restoration, energy performance, wildlife trade and green finance.

 

50. This Treaty will give a real boost to those of us who care deeply about the environment and will serve to confirm the importance of our environmental policy so far.

 

51. We are only short Madam Speaker, on the issue of waste water treatment, and I am able to confirm that the notices for the planning application of the sewage plant are now posted on site and published in the Gazette and the press, and the plans will be submitted to the Planning process within iust a few weeks. We will soon be able to tick that box too.

 

52. Madam Speaker, Carbon pricing and reduction of our carbon footprint are key elements of the Government’s policy – and of the European Union’s – and are an obligation under international conventions which, though our choice, apply in Gibraltar. Once again our commitment shows in that, at our request, we were the first British Overseas Territory to which the climate change convention was extended. Carbon is given prominence in Article 220 – and we will shortly be publishing legislation on this too.

 

53. Madam Speaker, I will now quote from Article 221, on environmental and climate principles, as follows,

 

54. “Taking into account the fact that the Union and Gibraltar share a common biosphere in respect of cross-border pollution, the Union and the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, commit to respecting the internationally recognised environmental principles to which they have committed, such as in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted at Rio de Janeiro on 14 June 1992 (the "1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development") and multilateral environmental agreements which apply in relation to the Union and to the United Kingdom which have been extended to Gibraltar, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity …, in particular:
    • the principle that environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policies, including through impact assessments;
    • the principle of preventative action to avert environmental damage;
    • the precautionary principle…;
    • the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source; and
    • the polluter pays principle.”

 

55. All words that are music to the ears of an environmentalist, a natural scientist, and a Government that cares ab out the Environment.

 

56. The more practical aspects Madam Speaker, are covered in the document that sets out the Administrative Arrangements, the Environmental MoU as we know it, which is not yet published, but which I have studied closely and fully support. It provides robust practical mechanisms for cooperation on environment, placing equal demands and responsibilities on both sides, with the opportunity to co-operate in environmental matters across the region.

 

57. Madam Speaker, we are proud in Gibraltar to have the highest level of expertise in environmental scientists – in the Botanic Gardens, the National Museum, the University, within my Ministry and the environmental NGOs, and, even, if I say so myself, Madam Speaker, in this very House.

 

58. The serious research that has emanated from Gibraltar is well respected, and the experience of our environmental campaigners is well known to us all.

 

59. Therefore, our contribution to research and conservation in the region will be huge; as usual, Gibraltar will be punching well above its weight.

 

60. In my humble view, we have much more to offer them than they have to offer us.

 

61. Madam Speaker, I am convinced that, apart from that one rogue environmental organisation, the serious, well respected environmental and research bodies in the region will welcome the Treaty. I know that from experience, as I served for over twenty years on the Board of the largest woodland nature reserve in the Iberian Peninsula, the Parque Natural de los Alcornocales, where I have always been treated with the utmost respect.

 

62. In the Treaty we agree to assume these far-reaching environmental responsibilities, while retaining the ability to make our own laws as well as the responsibility to apply European environmenmtal law. Which is what we used to do in the EU, the same EU that we voted overwhelmingly not to leave!

 

63. Madam Speaker, in a quite extraordinary comment yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition suggested that he did not wish to comply with EU environmental law, hinting that he might want to build in areas now protected. This is the Party that likes to accuse us of creating a concrete jungle!

 

 

64. Questioning the environmental provisions is a dangeropus position to hold in relartion to the Treaty as a whole, as it undermines Gibraltar’s position and will give cause to those accusing us of non-compliance and environmental crime something to latch on to should they ever, horror of horrors, get into Government.

 

65. To the envirnmental lobby, and to all of us who believe in a greener, cleaner, Gibraltar, ‘beware’ the GSD. Remember this at the next election

 

 

66. For our part, we have clearly proven over the last decade and a half, that environmental stewardship can and does go hand-in-hand with our economic and urban development and improving quality of life. We can develop and protect the environment. Not a problem, when you care.

 

67. I for my part have every intention, as we go forward, to support our growth, while ensuring that Gibraltar’s environment is an example to all, and that protecting and enhancing it benefits everyone and threatens no-one.

 

68. We will resolve the waste water issue, continue to improve air quality, restore nature and create green areas, encourage active transport and renewable energy, always with the involvement of all stakeholders, including of course our NGOs and academic institutions.

 

69. Madam Speaker, I end my contribution to this debate with some general thoughts.

 

70. This Treaty is a blow to the Brexiteers. In several ways. It shows that there is a European future that is not a risk, but a reassurance.  It proves that Brexit was bad, but can be remedied, and that Gibraltarians are a people resolute who will not just stand back and take it, but will chart their own course.

 

71. In the days of Franco’s blockade and since, we chose that course, and made those sacrifices because we believe in who we are.

 

72. My old school motto, Estote stabilis, Stand Firm, defines Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians. Our standing firm, then-as-now, has resulted in a forward-looking Treaty that will be the envy of the world.

 

73. In a world of returning conflicts, the fact that two sides that have been so far apart should set their fundamental differences to one side without conceding on them, and work together for the common good, is exemplary no matter how you look at it. It is an example to the world on how to conduct international relations. Oh, if only others would do the same….

 

74. Madam Speaker, let’s not kid ourselves. The implementation phase of the Treaty will present many challenges. But since when has a challenge stopped us?   The Government certainly is ready and able to work hard to ensure success – I sincerely hope that everyone in this House is.

 

75. Madam Speaker, freed of the yoke of Brexit and the millstone of years of negotiation, we will once again be able to focus totally on taking our beloved community forward socially, economically, culturally and, of course, environmentally.

 

76. It is important, Madam Speaker, that this Parliament speaks with one voice.

 

77. It appears that it will. But I regret the caveats and the negativity presented by the Opposition. In some ways it’s an equivocal position.  I welcome their support for the motion, but I question their motives and their commitment to ensuring that the treaty will work.  It’s almost as if they’re hoping it won’t – the “I told you so” principle, pehaps?  Time will tell.

 

 

 

78. I won’t labour that point any more, Madam Speaker, because this is not the time for party politics. It is the time for the politics of national unity. The unity that has brought us through all the obstacles that history has put in our way. 

 

79. And so, I am pleased that all in this House will support the motion. That we will set aside anything that feels less than comfortable and embrace the positive. That we understand that the alternative is not the status quo, but a collapse of our life as we know it.  For today’s world is not the world of 1969.

 

80. And I will end on a positive note.

 

81. Freed from the shackles of Brexit, Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians will seize the opportunity and thrive.

 

82. I have every faith in Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians. As I said here recently, this Pheonix will rise, glorious from the ashes of Brexit.

 

83. We have to be grateful to the UK, the EU, and yes, to those in Spanish political and diplomatic circles who have had the courage to break free of the remnants of that Francoist rhetoric that for decades has stifled progress, particularly on their side of the border, especially in our neighbouring town of La Linea.

 

84. This Treaty is the end of a process, but the beginning of the future. A future that is sound, safe, secure, and exciting, that will provide the kind of opportunities that our people will relish and on which we will thrive.

 

85. So, Madam Speaker, in strongly commending the motion to the House, I want to say very simply, but just as strongly: Gibraltar is here, more determined than ever, ready to take advantage of the opportunities. More than that, Madam Speaker, we’re about to take the world by storm.

 

ENDS