Keir
Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the UK, has written to
David Davis this evening to raise ongoing concerns about the impact of Brexit
on Gibraltar.

Keir’s
letter follows a conversation with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian
Picardo, earlier today.

In
the letter Keir highlights three major concerns:

1.     
The application of any new UK/EU trade deal on
services to Gibraltar.

2.     
Agreement on the continuation of access Gibraltar’s
access to the UK market.

3.     
Agreement on the application to Gibraltar of any new
trade deals the UK does with third countries.

Keir
Starmer said:

“This afternoon I spoke with Fabian Picardo [Chief Minister of
Gibraltar] and it is clear there are serious and ongoing concerns about the
situation in Gibraltar. The Government need urgently to address this and to
provide clear reassurances for British citizens in Gibraltar.”

Ends

Notes
to editors:

·        
Full
copy of the letter to David Davis below:

Dear
David,

After
discussions this afternoon with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian
Picardo, I am writing to raise a number of important issues concerning the
ongoing situation in Gibraltar.

The
Chief Minister emphasised three outstanding concerns to me, all of which I hope
you will consider and respond to as a matter of urgency.

1: Application of any
new UK/EU trade deal on services to Gibraltar

A concern that the UK should be firm in continuing to defend the
position that any new agreement which may emerge from these negotiations should
cover Gibraltar.  

The Chief Minister emphasised that the UK cannot just accept the
Council’s draft parameter, setting out Spain’s position that any new trade deal
can only apply to Gibraltar as a result of a bilateral agreement between the UK
and Spain.  A tough line needs to be taken and maintained.

2. Agreement on the
continuation of Gibraltar’s access to the UK market

A concern that the Government of Gibraltar needs to be able to
finalise the agreement with the UK to demonstrate that Gibraltar will have
continued access to the UK market.  This is important in respect of all
services but in particular, in respect of financial services (especially
insurance) and online gaming services.  I am told that the wording used to
date has been very helpful as political commitment but that a proposed one page
agreement has not yet been finalised despite finding considerable favour and
traction with colleagues in the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) from the
Department for Exiting the EU and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

3. Agreement on the application to Gibraltar of any new trade
deals the UK does with third countries

I understand that this is also agreed but that Gibraltar need a
very clear public statement of this.  Clear language from yourself and The
Secretary of State for International Trade on this point would be helpful to
Gibraltar.

As
you and I discussed over the weekend, the sovereignty of Gibraltar should not
be used as a bargaining chip in Brexit discussions. It is vital that the
interests of British citizens in Gibraltar are protected and that ongoing
uncertainty over Gibraltar is resolved urgently.

I look
forward to your reply.

Yours
sincerely,

Keir
Starmer QC MP

Shadow
Secretary of State for Exiting the EU

MP
for Holborn & St Pancras

Angela
Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the Government’s
funding announcement for schools in England, said:

“None of today’s announcement is new money. Seven years
of Tory neglect has left our children in crumbling and overcrowded schools.

“The National Audit Office have
already told us that existing school buildings across the country are
inadequate, while money has been ploughed into inefficient free schools and the
Prime Minister’s grammar schools vanity project.

“This announcement will do nothing to address the funding crisis facing
schools across the country.”

Jeremy
Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party,
commenting on the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, said:

“The Prime Minister
should put human rights and international law at the centre of her talks with
Saudi Arabia’s government this week.

“Numerous human
rights organisations, including the UNHRC and Amnesty International, have
documented the dictatorial Saudi monarchy’s shocking human rights record.

“The Saudi-led
coalition bombing in Yemen, backed by the British government, has left
thousands dead, 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and three
million refugees uprooted from their homes.

“Yemen urgently
needs a ceasefire, a political settlement, and food aid, not more bombing.
British-made weapons are being used in a war which has caused a humanitarian
catastrophe.

“Britain must halt
arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately, throw its weight behind a ceasefire
resolution at the United Nations and back a full and genuinely independent
investigation of the evidence of war crimes in Yemen.

“As it stands, the
British-Saudi relationship is damaging to the people of Saudi Arabia, Britain
and the wider Middle East, and helping to export insecurity to the rest of the
world. 

“Unless the Prime
Minister challenges the Saudi regime over its abuses this week, it will be
clear she is ready to sacrifice human rights and security on the altar of the
arms trade.”

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, is joining fellow MEPs in calling for the creation of a new independent surveillance agency ahead of a vote on the findings and recommendations of the committee inquiry into the Dieselgate scandal.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee, of which Mr Taylor is a member, has already voted to back the establishment of a new EU-wide agency to guarantee independent enforcement of EU emissions legislation.

Keith, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee and a vocal campaigner on air quality issues, said ahead of the vote on Tuesday (4 April):

“The dieselgate inquiry shows unequivocally that EU emission limits, far from simply being ignored by some car manufacturers, were the subject of deliberate fraud with criminal intent, through the use of so-called ‘defeat devices’ which trick the test procedure into thinking that the car produces much lower nitrogen oxide emissions than it does on the roads. Nitrogen oxides react in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide, which is toxic to human health.”

“The inquiry is clear that member states and the EU Commission both failed to act on emissions fraud and are not sufficiently impartial to ensure a similar scandal does not happen again. It is clearly not enough to simply ask our national governments and the Commission to do better next time.”

“The establishment of an EU-wide independent and neutral surveillance body, that has the power to test vehicle emissions in the laboratory as well as in real driving conditions, is absolutely essential for the health and wellbeing of the people of Europe, who have twice been the victims of Dieselgate; from being exposed to toxic air pollution and having their rights as consumers disregarded.”

“Dieselgate is not a problem of too much Europe, but too little. The UK government’s promise of a bonfire of regulations and the fact that Tory MEPs tried to water down this report gives British citizens an alarming insight into what kind of (lack of) protections we can look forward to outside of the EU.”

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