Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the actions of the government of Spain in the light of the incursion of a Spanish corvette into British Gibraltar territorial waters on 25 February.

The Royal Navy challenged the incursion by Spanish navy vessel Infanta Elena on 25 February, as it does all such unlawful maritime incursions in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. We backed this up by making a formal diplomatic protest to the Spanish government, as is our standard practice. Spanish incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters do not weaken or undermine the legal basis in international law for British sovereignty over Gibraltar including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. The British Government regularly makes clear this position to the Spanish government.