What the Chief Minister said and what the Governor should do

"De facto cooperation on the ground has always happened but cannot form part of an agreement, as far as we are concerned, until Spain accepts our legal jurisdiction over the waters set out as BGTW under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."

That being the case, surely it cannot be right what Commissioner McGrail has just done - opening the door of Gibraltar homes to the Spanish Guardia Civil, as if Gibraltar was part of Spain.

Low key cooperation may be one thing but allowing Guardia Civil officers to enter Gibraltar homes and to be part of a seach operation is something else, Mr Picardo must agree even if the naively political Commissioner does not. But who governs Gibraltar?

The Guardia Civil hierarchy tend to be anti-Gibraltar and manifest themselves as such whenever the opportunity arises.

What game is the Commissioner playing at? Does he not realise that formal joint operations

with the Spanish Guardia Civil can weaken Gibraltar's stand on joint sovereignty, something that was overwhelmingly rejected by the Gibraltarians in referendum.

He cannot put policing before the future of the people of Gibraltar, which is why the Chief Minister must forthwith tell the Governor to put the Commissioner in his place.

If there is a need to seek and search in Gibraltar then it should be done solely by the RGP , not as part of a joint operation. Allowing the Guardia Civil to enter Gibraltar's homes etc the complacent attitude over sea and even air incursions, the recent frontier fiasco - it all weakens Gibraltar's hardwon political position and opens the door to those in Spain who want to attack Gibraltar and its people.

25-10-2019 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR