West Midlands MEP Wants To 'Adopt' Gibraltar, Says Report

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

25 June 2002

Gibraltar could soon become part of the West Midlands for political purposes, according to a report in the Times on Monday.

This somewhat surprising announcement comes as the result of a 1999 European Court of Human Rights ruling, which granted the Rock the right to vote in Europe and ordered Britain to incorporate it into an existing UK constituency, as with a population of 27,000 the territory is too small to qualify for an MEP of its own.

The move must be made before the next Euro elections in 2004, and impressed by Gibraltar's patriotism throughout the recent Anglo-Spanish sovereignty talks, Philip Bradbourn, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, has decided to step into the breach:

'I was in Gibraltar recently and I saw the pride with which they fly the Union Jack,' he told the newspaper. 'It is that same pride with which I represent the West Midlands.'

The MEP for the 5.3 million strong constituency, which takes in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Walsall, added that: 'We want the opportunity to welcome Gibraltar into the European Parliament as part of the West Midlands.'

Responding to Mr Bradbourn's offer to take Gibraltar under his wing, Alberto Poggio, the Gibraltar Government's representative in London welcomed the possibility of becoming an honorary brummie.

'I know Mr Bradbourn and I know he is a supporter of Gibraltar,' he told the Times, adding that the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Jack Straw had promised that the Rock will be incorporated into a British constituency for voting purposes 'when parliamentary time can be found.'

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