Gareth Thomas letter to William Hague on Gibraltar and visits from Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers

Gareth Thomas MP, Labour’s Shadow Europe Minister, has today written to the Foreign Secretary, asking whether reports that the Foreign Office has not sent a Ministerial delegation to the British Overseas Territory since the election of the new government there in 2011 are accurate.

He also urged the Foreign Office to clarify if the European Commission intends to publish its recent letter to the Spanish authorities regarding the heavy-handed nature of controls on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar.

The full text of the letter is below:

The Rt. Hon. William Hague MP

Foreign Secretary

20 January 2014

Dear William,

I am writing to express my concern about the continuing pressure on the Gibraltarian border with Spain.

As you will be aware, as well as unauthorised incursions by Spanish vessels into British Gibraltarian Territorial Waters, lengthy border queues on the Spanish side of the border are now commonplace. Whilst commercial traffic has not been heavily slowed down, passengers travelling by car are being delayed on the worst occasions by up to 6 hours and those travelling by foot by up to 2 hours.

I understand that following their recent inspection of the border the European Commission, contrary to some reporting, recently wrote to the Spanish authorities outlining a number of concerns about the heavy handed nature of controls on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar. I would be grateful if you could indicate whether the UK government has formally requested that this correspondence be made public. If the UK government has not made such a request to the European Commission, why not, and will you now be willing to do so.

In addition, I would welcome an indication as to whether the UK government has been informed as to whether further action is planned by the European Commission in regards to this problem, and indeed whether the UK government has indicated its support for further action by the European Commission.

Finally, I understand that in the period since the election of a new government and Chief Minister in 2011, no Foreign Office Minister has visited Gibraltar, despite the notable increase in tensions in the area. I would be grateful if you could confirm whether this is the case and whether there are plans in place in the near future for a visit by you or one of your Ministerial colleagues.

Yours sincerely

Gareth Thomas MP

Shadow Minister for Europe