House of Lords Deputy says UK will follow wishes and views of Gibraltar Government

There were questions on the treaty in the House of Lords on Tuesday.

Peers discussed the Government's statement following its publication.

In answer to questions, the Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Collins of Highbury, said the United Kingdom would exercise its powers on the termination or suspension of its obligations under the agreement only following full consultation with the Government of Gibraltar, whose wishes and views they would follow. 

This, he added was the principle to which they would stick rigidly.

Conservative Peer, Lord Callanan welcomed the fact that the Government of Gibraltar had been involved in the negotiations throughout.

He however asked about the work being carried out to ensure UK citizens would continue to enjoy smooth and free access to Gibraltar, as a British Territory.

Liberal Democrat, Lord Purvis of Tweed sent it right back at him, saying it had been the previous Government who'd ignored the wishes of the People of Gibraltar, forced on them the hardest of Brexits, had taken no action to correct the damage and had refused to present to parliament a mandate for negotiations towards a sustainable agreement.

He said his benches support the Treaty and welcomed the constructive amendment in the Gibraltar Parliament which ensured the motion would be passed unanimously.

He called for implementation before the 10th of April to avoid the costly burden of installing EES infrastructure. 

Lord Purvis welcomed the Gibraltar Government's approach, questioning whether the UK would be able to follow its lead and enjoy equal benefits.

The Liberal Democrat Peer sought assurances that the dispute mechanisms between the UK and the EU would also allow for Gibraltar to seek to extract itself from the terms should it feel these had been reneged on.

The Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Collins of Highbury repeated there would be nothing about Gibraltar without Gibraltar.

He also told the House, the Labour Government was clear dispute resolution processes and mechanisms would be available to both parties and that if issues could not be resolved amicably, there were process in place.

The Treaty and improved relations between the EU and the UK, he said,were not necessarily reliant on each other.  This agreement, he said was for the people and the Government of Gibraltar.  On whether it would influence the UK's future, he said "We all know that the prosperity of our country and Gibraltar requires good relations with the EU".  That, he added, was the objective and what they would continue to do.