Moratinos Let The Cat Out Of The Bag
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07 April, 2006 06:41
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The Opposition considers that the negotiations on our decolonisation proposals that have taken place between the British Government and the Gibraltarian people is none of Spain’s business. They therefore reject that there is any need for the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to write letters to his Spanish counterpart Mr Moratinos to justify or excuse his actions in this regard.
That said, the Opposition believes that the reply from Mr Moratinos provides valuable evidence of the collusion that has existed between the United Kingdom and Spain in this matter.
"Mr Moratinos welcomes that our right to exercise self-determination should be qualified by other applicable principles. It is clear, therefore, that he is not aware that the use of the words “applicable principles”, which had been proposed as an addition to the Constitution, were deleted at the last round in London", stated the Opposition, which has highlighted the importance attached to these words in the past.
"It will be recalled that there was a heated meeting of the Gibraltar delegation at 6 Convent Place on Friday 24 February, before the last round of talks with the United Kingdom. The purpose of the meeting was for Mr Caruana to report back on his meeting with the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on the areas of the Gibraltar Constitution that had been left outstanding after the round of talks at the Caleta Hotel".
The Opposition reiterated that, "Mr Caruana informed the meeting that the words other applicable principles were going to be inserted in the text of the Constitution in the context of the mention of self-determination. When the Opposition Members said they would not support this, Mr Caruana said that it could not be removed because it had been proposed by him at the Caleta Hotel, he had reached agreement on this at his meeting in London and it had already been signed off by UK Ministers. He added that it would be very difficult to change. It was agreed at the end of the meeting that the Opposition would raise the matter itself directly with the UK delegation".
At the time, the Opposition explained in a press release its concerns that the same phrase “applicable principles”, which had been raised at the Caleta round of talks in September 2005, had then reappeared barely a month later in the draft Anglo-Spanish Consensus on Gibraltar at the United Nations.
"This is the very connection made in the letter by Mr Moratinos and it fully vindicates the arguments used by the Opposition in February. The Spanish Foreign Minister claims that we have accepted that our self-determination can only be given effect in accordance with “other applicable principles” which are not specified. He argues that this is evidence of recognition by the United Kingdom and Gibraltar that we cannot proceed on the route to decolonisation on the same basis as any of the other colonies", commented the Opposition.
He further emphasised this point by reminding Jack Straw that the British Government has already subscribed to the use of the words “applicable principles” in the General Assembly resolution of last December.
Unfortunately for Mr Moratinos, in the eyes of the Opposition, “applicable principles” no longer forms part of the text of the Constitution. At the meeting in London, despite what Mr Caruana had said about the difficulty of changing the text, the UK delegation stated that they were aware that the matter had caused great debate in Gibraltar and offered to withdraw the words without any arguments being put.
It seems clear to the Opposition that Mr Moratinos use of these words and the reference he makes to them is consistent with having been made aware of the different possible wordings which were being discussed in the talks. These different wording were supposed to be confidential, while the talks were still in progress. It seems that Mr Moratinos has missed out on the events of the last day.
The Opposition had always suspected that Spain has had a hand in the new Constitution by remote control and Mr Moratinos has now let the cat out of the bag.
The Opposition considers that the negotiations on our decolonisation proposals that have taken place between the British Government and the Gibraltarian people is none of Spain’s business. They therefore reject that there is any need for the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to write letters to his Spanish counterpart Mr Moratinos to justify or excuse his actions in this regard.
That said, the Opposition believes that the reply from Mr Moratinos provides valuable evidence of the collusion that has existed between the United Kingdom and Spain in this matter.
"Mr Moratinos welcomes that our right to exercise self-determination should be qualified by other applicable principles. It is clear, therefore, that he is not aware that the use of the words “applicable principles”, which had been proposed as an addition to the Constitution, were deleted at the last round in London", stated the Opposition, which has highlighted the importance attached to these words in the past.
"It will be recalled that there was a heated meeting of the Gibraltar delegation at 6 Convent Place on Friday 24 February, before the last round of talks with the United Kingdom. The purpose of the meeting was for Mr Caruana to report back on his meeting with the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on the areas of the Gibraltar Constitution that had been left outstanding after the round of talks at the Caleta Hotel".
The Opposition reiterated that, "Mr Caruana informed the meeting that the words other applicable principles were going to be inserted in the text of the Constitution in the context of the mention of self-determination. When the Opposition Members said they would not support this, Mr Caruana said that it could not be removed because it had been proposed by him at the Caleta Hotel, he had reached agreement on this at his meeting in London and it had already been signed off by UK Ministers. He added that it would be very difficult to change. It was agreed at the end of the meeting that the Opposition would raise the matter itself directly with the UK delegation".
At the time, the Opposition explained in a press release its concerns that the same phrase “applicable principles”, which had been raised at the Caleta round of talks in September 2005, had then reappeared barely a month later in the draft Anglo-Spanish Consensus on Gibraltar at the United Nations.
"This is the very connection made in the letter by Mr Moratinos and it fully vindicates the arguments used by the Opposition in February. The Spanish Foreign Minister claims that we have accepted that our self-determination can only be given effect in accordance with “other applicable principles” which are not specified. He argues that this is evidence of recognition by the United Kingdom and Gibraltar that we cannot proceed on the route to decolonisation on the same basis as any of the other colonies", commented the Opposition.
He further emphasised this point by reminding Jack Straw that the British Government has already subscribed to the use of the words “applicable principles” in the General Assembly resolution of last December.
Unfortunately for Mr Moratinos, in the eyes of the Opposition, “applicable principles” no longer forms part of the text of the Constitution. At the meeting in London, despite what Mr Caruana had said about the difficulty of changing the text, the UK delegation stated that they were aware that the matter had caused great debate in Gibraltar and offered to withdraw the words without any arguments being put.
It seems clear to the Opposition that Mr Moratinos use of these words and the reference he makes to them is consistent with having been made aware of the different possible wordings which were being discussed in the talks. These different wording were supposed to be confidential, while the talks were still in progress. It seems that Mr Moratinos has missed out on the events of the last day.
The Opposition had always suspected that Spain has had a hand in the new Constitution by remote control and Mr Moratinos has now let the cat out of the bag.
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