GIBRALTAR today Letters

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GBC silence

Dear Sir,
I read with interest your article about Momy Levy wanting GBC TV to screen “God Save The Queen” at the end of their programmes.
I agree with Mr Levy that GBC TV should screen the National Anthem.
I am surprised about the silence from GBC TV. They should answer why they refuse this request, especially when it is not going to cost them anything.

A. F.

Who are we kidding?

I have sent endless letters to the UK media, and MP's in my constituency, expressing as to why we wish to remain British. The outcome is that neither the UK press nor politicians care. The politicians that speak in favour of Gibraltar are only doing so to score points for themselves. I am a Conservative member and I have written several letters to my MP, who is a Conservative front bench member, shadow minister, and a very long term politician, RT. Hon Michael Howard. But to this day he has not replied yet. You see by replying to me he does not score points, the only way they reply if it's something against the NHS or if I were an Asylum seeker.
UK does not want us, this is shown clearly by the Government and the UK press. Spain we are not even going to talk about them. The Spanish government can carry on with their so-called behind curtains democracy, but we can see straight through that fascist style curtain.
Where has all the 'We want to remain British" got us? Nowhere. Just people in the UK making fun of us, and using a very powerful smear campaign to degrade us.
I for one am sick of this, and it's about time that our message goes out strong. We want self determination, and if UK don't want us, then so be it, we become Independent!
UK does not subside Gibraltar in any shape or form. I say to the Chamber of Commerce "Don't be scared of what Spain might do, are we going to believe that they are going to put armed guards in the Frontier so that no tourist comes in?"
Enough is enough, for 37 years now day in day out, all that I have been hearing is what UK and Spain are doing to us, and the way that we are deprived of what we are rightfully entitled in the European Union. Its about time we stood up for ourselves, and told the whole b****y world, that GIBRALTAR BELONGS TO THE GIBRALTARIANS AND WE ARE HERE TO STAY!!
Both UK and Spain have become the Bully over us, but make no mistake 30 thousand Gibraltarians are worth 30 million of any country. It only took 30 of us in London to make Piquet go in the back entrance of the Common and Foreignwealth office.
This is the last letter I am sending to the media, as I am tired of my message falling on deaf ears. If anyone needs any help from me they can send me an e-mail.
Lets not forget we are better than any of these large countries and most of all we can survive on our own.
LET’S MAKE GIBRALTAR INDEPENDENT!

Regards,
Allen Bula
UK.
Abulauk@aol.com

Say NO loudly

Sir,
Under no circumstances whatsoever should Gibraltar's people allow themselves to be forced into any undemocratic cohabitation with Spain. Say no, loudly and at every opportunity. The appeaser Blair and his Chamberlain-like toadies should be exposed for the disloyal opportunists they are.
Do not trust the politicians who put terrorists into parliament. Do not trust politicians who enthusiastically order the bombing of Serbs but do nothing to save their kith and kin suffering under the lunatic Mugabe. Do not trust politicians who can turn a blind eye to Spain's hypocritical "ownership" of Ceuta and Melilla. Do not trust politicians who are steadily destroying their own hospitals, police forces, rail services, and schools. Do not trust politicians who undersell their own country's iron and steel industries to moneyed foreigners. Do not trust a political party whose leader avoids parliament as much as possible in case he is asked embarrassing questions.
Do not cooperate with them.

David Allen.

Totally committed to Gibraltar remaining British, says MP

• Last week we published an extract of what Mr J. E. Robeson had told his MP.
This is the reply received.

Dear Mr Robeson,
Thank you very much for your letter of 14th January concerning Gibraltar which I have read very carefully.
I was extremely interested in what you have to tell me about your background. I am totally committed to Gibraltar remaining British. When I was first elected in 1983 I made my first parliamentary trip as a British representative to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association AGM and, as part of that delegation, I spent a lot of time with the then Prime Minister. I think that what is happening at the moment is an absolute disgrace and I was absolutely fascinated to learn about how you arrived here and your general upbringing. I will certainly make sure that Michael Ancram is made aware of your views. We will not allow Gibraltar to be sold out - have no doubt about that at all.
With all good wishes.

Yours sincerely,
David Amess MP.

Support for Gibraltar

• Letter received by Liberal Leader Dr Joseph Garcia

Dear Dr Garcia,
I write at the behest of my mother and father-in-law, Mr and Mrs Bacarese, regarding my recent letter to the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw MP. As I believe they have explained to you, although I am English by birth, I am married to a Gibraltarian and as such take a keen interest in all matters affecting Gibraltar.
With the on-going British-Spanish discussions taking place I felt I could not let matters go without comment and this together with the press reports about what was actually being discussed led me to write to Jack Straw on 21st January. I received a reply from the Foreign Office on Mr Straw's behalf on 15th February although as you will see from my follow-up letter this raised as many questions as it answered.
I do not intend leaving matters and as such will continue to press for an answer to the important issues raised. The letters I have written are self-explanatory and I am more than happy to provide you with copies of all correspondence to date for you to use as you see fit. You will forgive me for quoting from your book "Gibraltar: The Making of a People" in my first letter as I found this invaluable in lending support to various points made.
I am glad that through you I now have an opportunity to share my support with the Gibraltarians, having originally attempted to get my letter published in the Gibraltar Chronicle only to see that whilst my covering letter was indeed printed, my letter to Mr Straw was itself omitted. You do have friends in the United Kingdom and, us someone who considers himself to be Gibraltarian by marriage, I am pleased to play my part.
I shall of course keep you updated. In the meantime please feel free to discuss or advise how I may be of any further assistance.

Yours sincerely,
Andrew Dennis,
Brighton.

• Letter to Jack Straw follows.

Despair and frustration

Dear Mr Straw,
I write with an ever increasing sense of despair and frustration regarding the on-going discussions over Gibraltar. Being married to a Gibraltarian and as a frequent visitor to the Rock over the past ten years, I feel I am well qualified to speak on the matter.
Recent press reports seem to indicate that the question of sovereignty is in some way, shape or form being discussed. Whether this be a total surrender of sovereignty to Spain or some type of compromise with joint sovereignty a possibility, the fact of the matter is that the Gibraltarian people simply do not want to be anything other than British. In fact, I can categorically state that I have never encountered a more patriotic people. The language in the street may be predominantly Spanish, but the official language is English. The Gibraltarians are brought up through a British education system which follows the National Curriculum. The road signs are English, as are the buses, policemen and telephone kiosks. Above all the sense of national pride is British. St George's Day, the Queen's birthday, Trafalgar Day are all celebrated with Union Jacks or the flag of St George hanging from windows and the whole population wearing red, white and blue. Whenever the English football team plays, again the flags come out, not just in important world cup matches but even in friendlies. The local football league has Premier League team names, the best in recent years having been Manchester United and Liverpool. In short, as a people the Gibraltarians are more patriotic and proud of their British heritage than those back in Britain itself.
As matters stand the Gibraltarians are extremely worried about the current situation. The Foreign Office, Peter Hain, you have all stated that their wishes will be paramount and that a referendum will be held. However, what you must appreciate is a distinct lack of trust in that the question of sovereignty has ever been raised. The Gibraltarians have already made their opinion known in the 1967 Referendum. In this, "the Gibraltarians made their wishes known to the world on 10 September 1967. There was never any doubt about the result. In the weeks before the referendum, whole streets had been spontaneously painted red, white and blue by the locals, with Union Jacks flying from the windows and balconies of most dwelling places. Thus on a turnout of 95.8%, 12,237 cast their vote, of which 12,138 voted for Britain and only 44 for Spain, with 55 spoiled ballot papers". [Gibraltar: The Making of a People - Joseph J Garcia (MedSUN 1994)].
The question therefore remains. Why even discuss sovereignty? The referendum result of 1967 speaks with devastating clarity. Think of it. A turnout of 95.8%, a pro-British vote of 99.19%, a Spanish vote of 0.34% - what could be clearer than that? Indeed, Compare the turnout and result with the British turnout and your own percentage of the electorate during the last General Election.
Quite simply, the Gibraltarians have never wanted to be Spanish and, if you listen to them, never will do. They are British and want to remain so. Is that so wrong? Should they be penalised for this?
I expect that your argument will be that the question is yet to be decided, and that Gibraltar will have the chance to vote on matters in any case. However, the Gibraltarians do not believe that their vote will necessarily carry any sway and, frankly, why should they? They have already been told that Gibraltar would always remain British (by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht), that the 1967 Referendum result would mean that there would be no need for a future one, and that sovereignty would never be discussed. Despite this, however, sovereignty is now on the agenda in the British-Spanish dialogue. What is to stop a new referendum now giving various options so worded that any choice would mean an increased Spanish influence? What is to stop some sort of fudged compromise allowing, say, the subjects to remain British but the Rock itself being run by Spain? Indeed, whilst the Gibraltarians may well have the chance to vote on the issue, who is to say that the result will actually influence matters? I speak from personal experience, when a recent mayoral vote allowed two choices, both of which would result in a change from the stains quo, the vast majority of the electorate wanted no change at all - a choice which was not put to the voters on the ballot paper.
One sort of compromise that may seem fair to you may be for the Rock itself to remain British but for Spain to have some sort of administrative office with the Spanish flag flying. Let me tell you here and now that this would show a complete lack of understanding and total disregard for the Gibraltarians. Indeed, it will never be tolerated. A flag may only be a piece of material but it symbolises much more. Flags raise high emotions. I need only to remind you of the national outcry when the Royal Standard continued to fly at Buckingham Palace following Princess Diana's death. Gibraltarians have vowed that any Spanish flag will be torn down within minutes of being raised.
This letter has through necessity been detailed and involved. However, allow me to summarise matters with the following points:
• Gibraltar is British, has never wanted to be anything other than British in the past and wants to remain British now. It has been British since 1713, longer than the United States has been in existence;
• Spain has never owned Gibraltar (prior to British rule it was ruled by the Moors) and despite Spain's close proximity, Gibraltarians have never wanted to be Spanish. Spain has absolutely no legal claim on Gibraltar as The Treaty of Utrecht of 13 July 1713 cedes Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity, "without any exception or impediment whatsoever";
• The 1967 Referendum made the world aware of the strength and depth of feeling, after which Gibraltarians were promised they would never again need to vote on the issue as it would never again be put to the test;
• Gibraltarians' patriotism has never wavered during the long isolation period during Franco's reign when the border was dosed and, if anything, it has intensified even further following the long and protracted Spanish spoiling tactics of frontier delays, restricting telephone numbers, banning flights between Gibraltar and Spain and restricting airspace so any Gibraltar-bound flight needing to be diverted to Malaga due to Gibraltar airport cross winds must first land at Tangier in Morocco;
• There can be no compromise over sovereignty - it is either British or it is not. Any increase in Spanish influence, officialdom or presence is automatically a decrease in Bntishness - something the Gibraltarians simply do not want;
• The promise of Gibraltar having the final say through a referendum is not believed as, if a referendum were indeed to be held, who is to say that the one option the Gibraltarians want (ie., to remain British with no increase in Spanish jurisdiction at all) will be included?
• Whilst Gibraltarians may indeed have the right to vote, who is to say that any notice will be taken out of the outcome? After all, no notice seems to have been taken about the outcome of the previous referendum or, indeed, the 1713 Treaty, both of which either contained or were followed by promises that Gibraltar would always remain British;
• Even considering the question of sovereignty with Spain is tantamount to considering sovereignty of the Falklands in Argentina (despite the sacrifices of our forces in 1982), the Channel Islands to France, the Shetland Islands to the Norwegians or East Kent to Belgium! Ridiculous? Yes of course, but then to the Gibraltarians so is it ridiculous to consider Gibraltar's sovereignty with Spain;
• Gibraltarians take it as an absolute insult that the matter is being discussed at all;
• In your capacity of Foreign Secretary I urge you to think deeply before you act on this matter. Read the local Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper. Talk to the Gibraltarians. Visit the Rock itself and see for yourself the strength and depth of feeling. See how proud these people are to be British. Experience their love of Britain, desire to be British and to remain so;
• As Foreign Secretary you have the ability to set my mind at rest along with the minds and hearts of the thousands of worried and concerned Gibraltarian people. I trust that your reply will address the points I raise sufficiently and do just that.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Yours sincerely,
Andrew Dennis.

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