Theresa May has given way to Madrid’s demands over the future of Gibraltar after the Spanish prime minister threatened to “veto” the Brexit deal due to be signed off by EU leaders on Sunday.
On the eve of Sunday’s special Brexit summit, the British ambassador to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, wrote to concede that Gibraltar would not necessarily be covered by a future trade deal with the EU.
The development gives Spain a veto over Gibraltar benefiting from a future trade and security agreement between Brussels and the British government.
The Spanish leader, Pedro Sánchez, reacted immediately, claiming the UK would now have to open talks on “joint sovereignty” of Gibraltar, over which Spain has had a claim since the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Sánchez said: “Once the UK has left the EU, Gibraltar’s political, legal and even geographic relationship with the EU will go through Spain …
“Spain will be a fundamental pillar of the relationship between Gibraltar and the EU as a whole.
“When it comes to the future political declaration, the European council and the European commission have backed Spain’s position, and backed it as never before.
“In these fundamental future negotiations, we’re going to have to talk about joint sovereignty and many other things with the UK.”
The 27 EU member states are set to publish a further statement in solidarity with Spain at the summit, according to a leaked document seen by the Guardian.
“After the United Kingdom leaves the union, Gibraltar will not be included in the territorial scope of the agreements to be concluded between the union and the United Kingdom,” the EU will say.
In the statement, the EU will go on to warn that any separate deal to protect Gibraltar’s economy will “require a prior agreement of the Kingdom of Spain”.
The news was met with anger by politicians across the political spectrum. The Liberal Democrat’s Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake MP, said: “The prime minister has caved in once again. In a desperate bid to get her disastrous deal across the line, May appears to have cast the people of Gibraltar aside.
“She has conceded that Gibraltar won’t necessarily be covered by a future trade deal, simply another example of why what she has negotiated is completely unacceptable. She has left the status of Gibraltar in jeopardy.
“This is a day of shame. The only way to sort out this chaos would be through a People’s Vote, with the option to remain in the EU”.
Labour’s MEP for Gibraltar, Clare Moody, said: “What is remarkable is that Theresa May has gone to Brussels to concede further text at this stage, before we’ve even left.”
The Conservative MP, Andrew Bridgen, said: “It appears that there is no-one the prime minister will not betray to achieve her sell-out deal”.
Amid the growing outcry over the concession, the prime minister, insisted that nothing had changed over the UK’s territorial claim to Gibraltar, as she visited Brussels on Saturday night for meetings with EU officials, including European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker.
May also dismissed claims from Spain’s…
