As alien to her as it is to us; as with the Foreign Office, I dare add. This is both sad and worrying because as one sits on a cloud of confusion balancing Irish backstops and the like; one ponders whether such actions; as a group of MPs have taken in such cavalier fashion, from differing parties and differing policies; are the end result of selfish attitudes and infighting for leadership; or whether in truth, this is about disillusionment in what they stood for and believed in.

UPHEAVAL

One senses that politics in Britain is undergoing a path of revolutionary upheaval, which is altogether deeply unsettling for them and us. It is true that now and again new ideas have to come into the political arena; even fresh blood; but I strongly feel that the timing is not right; when at present our security and quality of life is being threatened in this most complex Brexit negotiation.

Some British politicians appear to have lost sight of the fact, or even forgotten momentarily, that they have an obligation to the people who have voted for them. Leaving their constituents high and dry is hardly conducive to building bridges to a better day.

I still believe that; whatever political shenanigans may have led to the results of the referendum, the British voters were influenced by the fact that they were extremely fed up with the huge influx of immigrants who have been entering the UK; a large number of them primarily to sponge off the State and give very little back; plus witnessing the slow erosion of their customs and character.

Curiously, a similar sentiment was also expressed once in Gibraltar. In 1889, an ordinance issued by the Governor, declared that only native born inhabitants had the right to seek residence in the Colony, everyone else, including British subjects but excluding officials of the crown, had to obtain permission to live on the Rock. It was in part the response to local resentment at the number of aliens on the Rock.

But it was also a tacit recognition by the London Government that the local people of Gibraltar could boast certain rights in the colony which others could not. There is food for thought in these words particularly when we look to the matter of our community care! Gibraltar has thrived together with its multinational community; but this has been the result of everyone pulling their weight; of mutual understanding, and of giving to the community.

SPANISH CLAIM

There have always been comings and goings of political parties, but the one thing that has never altered, or changed one iota, is the Spanish claim; which has remained to haunt Gibraltar. The policies of the PP in particular, are constantly influencing the far right, by stirring up hatred and promoting hostility such as which extremists feed upon, and at the core of their supposed democracy, the future darkens in an agitated country such as theirs.

I say this naturally on account of the ever increasing influence of “Vox;” a group which is fed by the forefathers of Franco’s regime and their descendants; enter the right of Fraga, Aznar, and the Spanish grandee Esperanza Aguirre. It is said that the leader of this group is a personal friend of hers. It was she who hand picked him and helped him get started out by placing him in charge of a foundation for the defense of the Spanish nation; a publicly founded entity and with a salary of around 83,000 Euros.

After a year it was wound down without any sign of any activity. It was then that in 2013, Vox came to be. But in usual Spanish style, already its vice president Victor Gonzalez Coello de Portugal; the fundraiser of the group; was already being condemned for accountancy irregularities last December; with Vox involved in an economic scandal. Nothing new here!

The leader who receives 6,000 Euros monthly, so we are told, is being quizzed by the newspaper “La Tribuna” who asks what happened to the 740,640,36 Euros of the “chiringuito” i.e. foundation, he headed for a year. This is the party whose true credentials hide under the guise of patriotism.

EMBRACE

Looking back, I remember being held in what felt like a foreboding embrace, the day after we voted to stay in the EU, as my fellow Gibraltarian whispered in my ear, “what “if” it does not go our way?” Well, the “if” happened and has left behind what some might call an air of silent preoccupation; an indefinable ache.

In his book “Gibraltar the making of a people” which was awarded the Gibraltar Heritage Trust Senior Award in 1994; a copy of which I bought at its second publication; Dr. Joseph Garcia in his dedication to me wrote “to Carmen, May the struggles of the past serve as encouragement for the struggles of the future.”

What else is there to say?

04-03-19 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR