Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to take steps against Spain other than to appeals to the Government should incursions on the UK border continue.

Mr David Lidington

We will continue to uphold British sovereignty by challenging and protesting each and every unlawful incursion into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. We will also continue to lodge formal diplomatic protests about delays at the border.

In addition to these formal measures, we will continue to make representations to the Spanish government at the highest level, making clear the damage that unlawful incursions and disproportionate measures at the border cause to our bilateral relationship.

The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) has spoken twice to the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, about delays at the border. As a result of those conversations, the Commission sent a monitoring mission to the border and we now expect the Commission to insist that Spain implements the recommendations it received on improving the flow of people and traffic.

We do not rule out further measures. However, it is important that we act in ways that do not make life still more difficult for businesses and ordinary citizens in Gibraltar. We are continuing to seek a way forward on the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) proposal for ad hoc talks as the best means of discussing and resolving issues of concern.