Philip Hammond admits Gibraltar will be tougher to protect after Brexit referendum
Foreign Secretary pledges to 'continue to stand beside Gibraltar' after Spanish sovereignty demand following vote
GIBRALTAR will be harder to protect outside of the EU, Philip Hammond has warned.
Speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday show yesterday, the Foreign Secretary promised to “continue to stand beside Gibraltar”.
The Spanish government called for “co-sovereignty” over the British overseas territory after the referendum results were announced.
But Mr Hammond promised not to enter into any negotiations against the will of the people that live there.
He said: “We will be less able to protect Gibraltar's interests – not defend Gibraltar's territory, of course we can do that, but to protect Gibraltar's interests – if we are not inside the European Union.”
The territory relies heavily on its open border with Spain for trade and the free movement of workers.
Spanish border guards caused chaos in 2013 when they reintroduced checks during a dispute over an artificial reef.
Mr Hammond continued: “Gibraltar depends on thousands and thousands of Spanish workers crossing that border every day and any disruption to that flow will be extremely damaging to the Gibraltar economy and I think we saw that reflected in the huge vote to remain in Gibraltar.”
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The territory voted heavily in favour of Remain in the Brexit referendum, following pre-vote warnings that leaving would make the peninsula vulnerable to Spanish aggression.
A massive 19,322 people voted In – compared to just 823 who opted to Leave.
A 2002 referendum in Gibraltar on the issue of joint sovereignty with Spain was similarly one-sided –with 98.48 per cent of citizens declaring their allegiance to Britain.
But Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo pushed the issue to the fore once again in an announcement just hours after the Brexit vote.
He said: “It’s a complete change of outlook that opens up new possibilities on Gibraltar not seen for a very long time.
“I hope the formula of co-sovereignty – to be clear, the Spanish flag on the Rock – is much closer than before.”
But the British reaction has been uncompromising, with the Royal Navy sending nuclear submarine HMS Ambush to the territory as a show of force.
And Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo said: “Gibraltar will never be Spanish, in whole, in part or at all.”
He also tweeted: “'We have surpassed greater challenges. It is time for unity, for calm and for rational thinking.
“Together and united we will continue to prosper.”
Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, but Spain has been agitating to get it back in recent years.