5 Conclusion
95. We do not believe that any Spanish
government is likely to renounce its sovereignty claims to Gibraltar
in the foreseeable future, but the stance taken by the current
Spanish government appears particularly aggressive when it comes
to imposing penalties on Gibraltar. We were struck when we visited
Gibraltar by the sense that its citizens felt under siege.We
consider that the pressure currently being applied on Gibraltar
by Spain, through the imposition of delays at the border, unwarranted
maritime incursions, and diplomatic pressure in international
institutions amounts to a campaign of harassment and intimidation.
96. Not only is this unacceptable
in a close EU partner, it is also counter-productive, as it only
hardens Gibraltarians' feelings toward Spain. Spain must understand
that any hope it has of settlement will only be achieved with
the goodwill and consent of the people living on Gibraltar. If
Spain is indeed using the Gibraltar dispute as a means of drumming
up populist sentiment at the expense of the quality of life of
Gibraltarians, this is a deeply cynical form of politics.
97. With little prospect of reaching
a settlement of the core sovereignty dispute, the UK Government's
task is to reach an acceptable status quo for the people on Gibraltar.At
present, the status quo is far from acceptable, and there is a
pervasive feeling in Gibraltar of being under siege by a bullying
and unreasonable power, as well as frustration at the lack of
progress. The UK Government has shown restraint in response
to provocation by Spain. It was right to do so: but the UK's approach
of consistently trying to de-escalate tensions in the face of
mounting provocation has also achieved little discernible effect,
aside from giving Gibraltarians the impression that not enough
is being done.It is now time for the UK Government, with the agreement
of the Government of Gibraltar, to think again about what measures
can be taken to discourage Spain from exerting pressure on Gibraltar.
98. However, the limited measures
we have recommended in this report reflect the fact that the UK
Government has a narrow scope for action in this regard. It would
be counter-productive to engage in tit-for-tat squabbles and there
is no desire on the part of the British or Gibraltarian governments
to escalate the dispute. The mostresponsible course is for the
Government to review and intensify the mechanisms for diplomatic
pressure that it is already using, in light of the continuing
provocation by the Spanish government. In this context, we have
recommend in this report that the UK Government should:
Robustly oppose Spain's attempts to
use international institutions
Revive efforts to remove Gibraltar from
the UN list of non-self-governing Territories
Increase the speed with which it delivers
diplomatic protests, and review criteria for summoning the ambassador
Identify areas of non-essential cooperation
and make the UK's support for Spain's international initiatives
dependent on improvements in Gibraltar.
99. Finally, while intensifying the
diplomatic pressure, the Government should make clear to the Spanish
Government that there is much goodwill between our peoples and
a real desire on the part of the British government to re-start
dialogue.
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