The Government of Gibraltar on Monday issued a statement commenting on remarks made by UK Foreign Office Minister, Jim Murphy, with regard to the relationship between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom.
According to Gibraltar's Panorama news service, Mr Murphy sought to clarify the position of the two states, following earlier remarks on the matter, explaining that:
"What's clear to myself and the FCO is that the relationship between the UK and Gibraltar is clearly a modern partnership of significance importance. A changed relationship, a modern relationship, and a relationship which British ministers have said on many occasions should not be described as colonial."
Commenting, the Gibraltar authorities announced that:
"Following the New Constitution, the UK Government has made it crystal clear
by numerous statements in Parliament, in the UN and elsewhere that the relationship
between the UK and Gibraltar is now modern, not colonial in nature and cannot
be described as being based on colonialism."
"A phrase used by Foreign Office Minister Jim Murphy when giving evidence recently
to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, was publicly misinterpreted
by Mr Bossano in a way which he said meant that these statements by the UK Government
did not mean that it thought that Gibraltar had ceased to be a colony, and that
this therefore contradicted the Gibraltar Government’s stance."
"For its part the Gibraltar Government rejected Mr Bossano’s interpretation
of Mr Murphy’s words in the Foreign Affairs Committee."
The Government continued: "The Statement made on Thursday by Mr Murphy during his visit to Gibraltar leave
the matter crystal clear: - “If you do not have a colonial relationship,
it is not a colony.”
"This is precisely what the Gibraltar Government has been saying all along.
It is simple semantic and political logic. The matter of what the UK and Gibraltar
Governments think is thus now settled."
"Neither Government considers that Gibraltar is a colony or in a colonial relationship
with the UK."
"A wholly different matter is whether the UN chooses to recognise this reality
and thus “delist” us, i.e. remove Gibraltar from its list of non-self
governing territories."
"That will require the UN to change the anachronistic tests and requirements
(sometimes called criteria) under which it assesses whether a territory should
be removed from its list of non-self governing territories."
"That is a matter for the UN, but does not alter the reality, nor the position
of the UK and Gibraltar Governments on the matter."
"This represents the successful achievement of the Government’s longstanding
policy, namely, to obtain decolonisation by a process of modernising our constitutional
relationship with the UK whilst leaving intact
our British Sovereignty and our close Constitutional links with Britain."
"Any politician, like Mr Bossano, who thinks that more needs to be achieved
without the UN changing its so-called “delisting criteria”, should
explain clearly to the people of Gibraltar what changes they would wish to make
to our existing relationship with Britain in order to satisfy the UN’s
existing delisting requirements."
"The test of whether or not the UK believes we are a colony is what she clearly
declares her position to be on that question."
The Government statement concluded:
"The test is not whether the UK continues to submit annual reports to the UN,
which the UK appears to be obliged to do whether or not the UK thinks Gibraltar
is a colony. "
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