Brexit: Richard Holden says Labour has ‘no interest in defending Britain’ after controversial Gibraltar deal – ‘Surrendering!’
Shadow Paymaster General Richard Holden has launched a scathing attack on Labour’s handling of the Gibraltar agreement, declaring that “every time we see Labour negotiate on behalf of Britain, Britain loses.”
The agreement, reached in principle between Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo in Brussels, will see Spanish border officials conducting passport checks on behalf of the European Union at the British Overseas Territory.
Speaking about the controversial deal that hands border control to Spanish guards, Holden said: “Every time we see Labour negotiate on behalf of Britain, Britain loses.
“Whether it’s the latest deals with the EU, the so-called deal with the US, where we’re now facing higher tariffs than we were just six months ago, and Labour still celebrates it as some kind of successor the notorious Chagos deal, where we’re paying £30 billion to essentially lease back our own land, it’s quite unbelievable.
“It’s quite clear to me that the Labour Party has no genuine interest in defending our national interests.
“When it comes to matters involving our overseas territories and dependencies, I get the strong impression that Labour just wants to give everything away as quickly as possible.
“They seem deeply uncomfortable with Britain having a significant international role. They want us to retreat from the world stage.
“I don’t want to see that. I want to see Britain moving forward, stronger, more confident, standing up for ourselves while engaging internationally. This constant retreat from the Labour Party needs to stop. It’s time we turned things around.”
WATCH: Gibraltar’s chief quizzed by Nigel Farage about Rock being ‘a little less British’ after post-Brexit deal
Under the new arrangement, Britons travelling to Gibraltar will face two passport checks – an initial one by Gibraltarian officials followed by a second check carried out by Spanish guards enforcing EU Schengen Area rules.
This means UK travellers could be refused entry if they fail to meet strict EU requirements, including the post-Brexit rule limiting stays to 90 days within any 180-day period without a visa.
The deal effectively brings Gibraltar into the EU’s Schengen zone, moving border checks from the Spain-Gibraltar frontier to Gibraltar’s airport.
Conservative MPs have reacted furiously to the deal, with several drawing parallels to the government’s controversial Chagos Islands agreement.
British citizens travelling to Gibraltar may have to show their passports to Spanish or EU border guards under the dealGETTY
Tory Armed Forces spokesman Mark Francois warned: “First Chagos and now Gibraltar and then probably the Falklands, too.
“This Europhile, human-rights obsessed Government can no longer be trusted to robustly defend any of our overseas interests, as this further needless concession to Spain shows.”
He added: “Labour used to sing The Red Flag now they just wave a big white one instead.”
Former home secretary Suella Braverman echoed these concerns, stating: “Another surrender and a hand-over in all but name. It is unforgivable. The Falklands will be next.”
