Jacob Rees-Mogg has sparked a diplomatic war of words with Fabian Picardo after he accused the Gibraltar chief minister of wanting the territory to be Spanish on social media.
The governments of Gibraltar and the UK are believed to be close to agreeing a treaty that some fear will see EU Frontex border guards decide who can enter the British overseas territory – and will give them the power to turn away British citizens.
Gibraltar has been a British territory since it was handed to the UK in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, part of a series of agreements that ended the war of the Spanish succession.
Spain, though, has long disputed the land on which the RAF Gibraltar air force station is situated, claiming it was part of an illegal landgrab by the British in the 19th century.
Now, tensions threaten to spill over as rules governing Gibraltar’s border with Spain are discussed as part of a post-Brexit treaty.
Brexiteer promises of stronger sovereignty, already diluted in areas such as Northern Ireland even potentially UK bases in Cyprus, look set to be diluted even further, engaging MPs such as Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Not only will EU Frontex border guards be stationed at the border, there remains the threat that Gibraltar could become subject to Schengen area rules, which would mean that UK citizens will only be allowed to stay for 90 days on “the Rock” even though it is a British overseas territory.
Posting on social media, the Somerset North MP said: “Clearly Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, no longer wants the inconvenience to Gibraltar of being British so he must want it to be Spanish.”
The comments have provoked outrage, with Picardo firing back: “I am sorry to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg clearly has not even started to understand the complexity of the issues that arise for Gibraltar as a result of Brexit.
“BRITISH is what Gibraltar is and will always be. BRITISH is what I and all my fellow Gibraltarians are and will always be.
“It is cheap and wrong for anyone to suggest we would ever consider our BRITISH nationality, heritage and birthright an “inconvenience”. We are negotiating for fluid travel, immigration and trade arrangements, not sovereignty.
“Happy to brief Mr Rees-Mogg if he really has the remotest interest…”
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