Claire Wilson
GIBRALTAR could be forced to leave the EU against its citizens’ wishes if UK prime minister David Cameron pushes ahead with a referendum on Britain’s membership.
Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, said the initial draft excludes voters in Gibraltar, even though they are able to participate as part of the South West of England constituency in European elections.
The Tory MP for Stockton South, James Wharton, has now introduced an amendment which will include Gibraltar in any referendum after the omission was spotted when the Bill was in committee.
Horwood, however, warned the people of Gibraltar may choose to remain in the EU and then be forced to leave should the UK vote against it.
He said: “It does raise the question of what happens if Gibraltar votes to remain in the EU and exercises and expression of their destiny… but then the UK votes to leave.
“I’m not sure where that would leave Gibraltar. It is only included within the EU by virtue of the UK’s membership.”
Gibraltar must immediately dump concrete blocks into the Thames off the Houses of Parliament (British Territorial Waters) to establish a fishing reserve. This will focus the British Government’s concentration on the problem wonderfully.
It worked for the Spanish Government and the dormant sovereignty issue.
It’s not just the people of Gibraltar who will be denied a say in this important matter, it is all ex pats who have chosen to live in the EU in retirement. We perhaps much more than others could be badly affected if the UK votes to leave. It is true that Brits lived in Spain France and many other countries before the formation of the EU but that was a long time ago and unless new reciprocal agreements are drafted quickly we could find ourselves severely out of pocket and should spite come to the fore our homes.
I would have thought David Cameron would have welcomed Gibraltar’s contribution to the referendum as it will be about 30,000 voter with a “yes” vote to stay in!
@Paul
Re my comment above you would have thought he would welcome a million votes from Brits living in Spain, France and Italy but from my correspondence with the Foreign and Commonwealth office it is clear that we will be cast adrift should Britain leave the EU. The way this current government is acting towards ex pats it wouldn’t surprise me if we weren’t stripped of our pensions and passports.
I don’t understand why the OT and other English language newspapers in Spain aren’t printing articles every day waking people up to what’s going on, because the vast majority of ex pats are sleep walking towards disaster.
The EU is a monstrous construct, an anti-democratic bureaucratic oligarchy. Its aim is the destruction of the nation state, it is totalitarian in its approach. It is corrupt and unaccountable
As an ex-pat I love Europe, but hate the EU and what it has done to to southern Europe, in particular it’s Treatment of Greece and it’s people. The approach it has taken is fascist, even though the whole organization is Marxist in its construct.
Free people of Europe beware.
Graham,
totally inaccurate rant – southern Europe created it’s own problems because corruption is endemic in the very culture that exists there. In what way is the EU different from the UK establishment.
EU a Marxist organization? your not Freikorp are you?
Wonder how welcome another visit to Gib. by UKIP would be now?