Introduction
1. This is the fifth substantive Report on Gibraltar
of the Foreign Affairs Committee in four years.[1]
Much has happened in that period, not least the decision of the
British Government to negotiate with Spain a deal to share sovereignty
over the territory. Strong public interest in the fate of Gibraltar,
and the lack of any formal representation of Gibraltar in the
British political system, have convinced us we are right to take
such a close interest. Of all the subjects into which this Committee
has inquired in recent years, Gibraltar has probably found us
further from agreement with the Government than on any other issue.
Notwithstanding recent indications of a belated recognition by
Ministers of the futility of pursuing shared sovereignty against
the firm opposition of the Government and people of Gibraltar,
we believe that the Government has misjudged and mishandled the
Gibraltar question, and we will continue to scrutinise it closely.
2. Below, we follow up our Report of November 2002
by pursuing a number of points on which we felt that the Government's
Response was particularly unsatisfactory. For convenience, we
reproduce in each section the relevant conclusions and recommendations,
together with the relevant Government responses.
3. We have not heard further oral evidence in preparing
this Report. However, we did receive further written evidence—published
in this volume—and we held an informal meeting with the
new Governor of Gibraltar, Sir Francis Richards, just before he
took up his duties. We are grateful to Sir Francis and to those
who submitted written evidence.
1 The others were the Fourth Report of Session 1998-99,
HC 366; the Ninth Report of Session 1999-2000, HC 863; the Sixth
Report of Session 2000-01, HC 319; and the Eleventh Report of
Session 2001-02, HC 973, published in November 2002. The Government
Response to the Eleventh Report was published in February 2003
as Cm 5714. Back
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