Gibraltar

Emma Foody Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

Absolutely, Spain does recognise the sovereignty of Gibraltar and its relationship with the United Kingdom in the agreement, and the right hon. Gentleman will see that detail in the treaty. He will know that the subject of dispute over many, many years—long before many of us were in this House—is over the isthmus. Much of the territory that some would describe as neutral—others have different descriptions—exists between Gibraltar and Spain. Overwhelmingly, there has been support for reaching this moment on both sides. I cannot comment on the extremities of politics in Spain, but I am sure that these days that can be looked up on social media.

[Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) is the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar. I know she is disappointed not to be able to join us today and would want to be here to welcome today’s UK-Gibraltar-Spain-EU agreement. It protects Gibraltar’s sovereignty, secures the British naval base and reduces border checks from 10 million to 250,000 a year, as well as strengthening the economy through new European flight access. That is an incredibly strong outcome. Will the Foreign Secretary confirm how we will ensure its smooth and effective implementation on the ground?

[Mr Lammy]

I, too, pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) for championing the people of Gibraltar and their issues and for ensuring that, in coming into Government, we made sure that there could not be an agreement that Gibraltar’s representatives were not content with. I should update the House that yesterday I also met the Opposition in Gibraltar, so they were fully informed of what I hoped would become a good outcome today. We will work at pace on the treaty. I cannot give my hon. Friend a timeline because of the technical legal detail that that will involve, but I will seek to update the House in the appropriate way if there are delays.