The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has said that the envisaged Gibraltar treaty with the EU will be safe and secure or there will be no treaty. This came in his New Year message which was delivered last night.

Mr Picardo left no doubt that there will not be any concessions on the exclusively British sovereignty, jurisdiction or control of Gibraltar “or on any of the components thereof.” In an address which focussed almost exclusively on the treaty negotiations, Mr Picardo was at pains to stress that either he came back with a safe and secure treaty or he would not bring back a treaty at all. However, he did acknowledge that “there are parts of the discussion with the EU and with Spain that may cause us discomfort.”