Lammy to tell Spain to leave Gibraltar military base alone
David Lammy will tell his European counterparts that Britain’s military base in Gibraltar must not be impacted by any post-Brexit agreement.
The Foreign Secretary is to meet senior figures from Spain, Gibraltar and the European Union on Thursday for a day of behind-the-scenes negotiations about the territory’s border arrangements.
The Tory government was close to finally striking a deal on Gibraltar, with Lord Cameron, then foreign secretary, carrying out talks in April and May after three years of uncertainty.
That progress was suspended for the general election in July, but now, with Labour in power, Mr Lammy will pick up the discussions for the first time since taking the role.
Land borders
At the heart of the debate is how Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, can keep its land border open with mainland Spain while checks on people moving into the EU can still be conducted.
All sides have agreed in principle that the border checks should take place at the Gibraltar airport, which is British soil, but the specifics of how they will work exactly are being negotiated.
The discussions, which seek to solve the impacts of Britain leaving the EU in January 2020, are fraught with political sensitivity because Spain still lays claim to Gibraltar.
It is expected that Frontex, the EU’s border agency, will oversee checks on people flying into Gibraltar who then hope to cross into Spain, and therefore enter the EU bloc. From there they could move freely within the EU’s 27 member states.
But the British are concerned about the knock-on impact upon the Royal Air Force base in Gibraltar, which uses the same landing strip as the commercial airport.
Mr Lammy will meet José Manuel Albares, the Spanish foreign minister, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s UK lead, and Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar.
The Foreign Secretary is expected to make clear to his counterparts that the UK’s military independence in Gibraltar must be unaffected by whatever treaty is agreed.
A senior UK government source familiar with preparations told The Telegraph: “Our military base on Gibraltar must be able to operate as it does now.”
The Spanish have been arguing for “joint use” of the Gibraltar airport. The specifics of how that would work in practice are being ironed out in the talks.
One area of discussion still yet to be resolved is said to be exactly where European border guards will stand in the airport.
Another is what uniform they will wear. Frontex uses border guards from individual EU member states, with the Spanish potentially providing those who will work in the airport.
‘Spanish boots on British soil’
But there is sensitivity on the UK side about the idea of “Spanish boots on British soil”, making the identification of border guards a point of discussion.
One issue the Spanish are said to be pushing is getting flights from the EU landing at the Gibraltar airport once again. Currently just UK flights are allowed to land there.
The ban on military flights is also a point of contention. A Gibraltar source said: “I have never understood how the UK accepts an air ban on military flights to Gibraltar from its Nato ally Spain.”
Nato stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military alliance of which both the UK and Spain are members.
Mr Picardo has spoken ahead of Thursday’s talks – the third round of negotiations in this latest drive – and projected optimism about the chance of progress.
He said: “I look forward to continuing the work of seeking agreement for a UK / EU Treaty on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU.
“We still have technical issues to resolve but I remain optimistic that a safe and secure agreement is possible that will be beneficial to all and that will bring renewed and enhanced prosperity to the whole region.”
Andrew Mitchell, the Tory shadow foreign secretary, said: “The last government was diligently addressing this issue.
“We have always been clear that sovereignty is not up for negotiation. Gibraltar is British. Period.”
