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Serco deal weakens the MOD presence in Gibraltar
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If anything, what most people in Gibraltar have always wanted to keep is a strong MOD presence, and for more reasons than one.
However, slowly but surely the MOD presence has been going downhill. It is now almost at Rock bottom.
And let's face it, the deal with serco opens the door to a further weakening of the traditional links between Gibraltar and the MOD.
This serco deal is nothing to be proud of. It may be a good deal for them; and the unions may have scrounged the best they could, but in general terms it is not a deal that preserves the time-honoured MOD presence which has always been a key-point in Gibraltar's future.
That presence has received another jolt - and the fact of the matter is that a private contractor has moved into the naval base, somthing that was sacrosanct.
When taking a serious look at the developing situation, we cannot be blinded by the short-term prospects. The pill may be sweetened for a number of years so that it is easily swallowed, but in this, like in other issues affecting Gibraltar, we must look at the longer term - and see where all this is taking us.
As far as the MOD is concerned, what is happening today is another nail in the coffin. Remember the closure of the dockyard, which used to be the main employment area? That closure was resisted for a while, and then we let go. In its place they provided the deal of a commercial shipyard which was to solve every problem. It was a pill sweetener then like the serco deal is today.
The dockyard closure symbolised the beginning of the end. The end is now nearer.
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