Gibraltar

Lord Empey Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Empey (UUP)]

The Minister said that this agreement would be subject to approval. We have not seen the detail, but I want to know what would happen if there were a different Government—for instance in Spain—who might take a different attitude. Is there something there to protect the situation? Is there some arbitration? Once people get their foot in the door the bureaucracy can be more difficult: they can refuse this, that and the other, and quite a bit of nastiness could develop at the point of entry. I am sure that has been taken into account, and I hope that when the minutiae are available, we will be able to confirm that. It would be helpful if the Minister could address that.

The other thing I want to do is to gently remind the Minister that she has said twice now that negotiations had been taking place and that the people of Gibraltar, through their First Minister, were represented at each stage—quite properly. I just gently remind her that when the Governments were negotiating the Windsor Framework and related matters, our representatives were not present.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

If the noble Lord thinks I am getting back into the Windsor Framework and all that—I am sorry, but not tonight. He is right to say that there is the possibility, with a change of Government here or in Spain, or even in Gibraltar, that different approaches may be favoured in the future. As we would always expect in this type of deal, there will be some dispute mechanisms. Ultimately, although I genuinely do not expect this to happen, and I hope for the sake of the people of Gibraltar that this never happens, there is the possibility for either party unilaterally to end the agreement. However, we do not anticipate that happening. This is a good outcome for the people of Gibraltar.