In 2016 the UK proposed that the Border Force and Royal Navy work jointly to patrol territorial waters, as fear of immigrants was growing; with one of the ships operating in the Aegean Sea, to strengthen operations against and including, drug gangs.

At present only two of Britain’s five high speed cutters are currently patrolling the Channel to stop and rescue migrants; a third is on standby and two are in the Mediterranean and the Aegean.

I ask; if Gibraltar’s waters are also UK waters, why does the Home Secretary not deploy one high speed cutter to work jointly with the Royal Navy in defending our waters, which are also theirs?

They have said on many occasions that the illegal Spanish incursions are a violation of sovereignty, though they will always add that they are not a threat to it. Surely a Spanish incursion into British waters in the presence of a nuclear submarine is a veritable threat to human security! A threat is an intimidation.

Then again, passage is innocent as long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state. There is a very fine line between the two and I believe it’s high time the UK stopped playing silly buggers on this issue.

20-02-19 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR