Gibraltar First Minister calls for Brexit Secretary to go

Reports indicate that the Brexit Secretary did not communicate the Government’s plan for Gibraltar with its Government, with Picardo threatening an independence referendum if Gibraltar’s concerns are not resolved.

Brexit Secretary Twistednuke in hot water over the Government’s plan for Gibraltar

We can also report that a Motion of No Confidence in the Brexit Secretary has been submitted by Labour Leader WillShakespeare99.

Fabian Raymond Picardo, Chief Minister of Gibraltar, has published a scathing open letter calling for the resignation of the Brexit Secretary and threatened an independence referendum if the government does not reverse course on its agreement reached with Spain over Gibraltar.

Picardo refuted the Brexit Secretary for his failure to communicate with the Government of Gibraltar, stating that it was “plainly and simply unacceptable for the Government of Gibraltar to find out details regarding a massive change in the constitutional status of our country through a press release from the Spanish foreign ministry.”

This press release was the only notice given of the agreement, with silence from the Brexit Secretary and the Government on the issue.

MPs have already begun to comment on Picardo’s letter, with opinion heavily against the Government from the Opposition and their own backbench. The Conservative MP InfernoPlato tweeted that:

At first glance this looks like abysmal negotiating by the government, giving into Spanish demands and forcing Gibraltar’s citizens to adopt Spanish citizenship if they want to carry on work. It’s blackmail and forcing people to adopt a citizenship they do not want in order to carry on the status quo.

The LPUK’s cthulhuiscool2 also spoke to The Guardian, stating

This government’s foreign policy has been nothing short of a train wreck. This most recent blunder proves the Liberal Alliance is not capable of governing and I sympathise completely with the Chief Minister.

The Guardian understands that close allies of the Foreign Secretary report that he was at least partially not privy to the details on the Gibraltar situation and supposedly remarked “Fabian I know how you feel” upon reading the statement by the Chief Minister of Gibraltar.

UPDATE 23:06 – The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary CDocwra has resigned from the government and from the Classical Liberals. See his statement here.

This story is still breaking. We’ll update you as and when we have more information.