UK to guarantee Gibraltar it won't be excluded from Brexit deal by Spain

Ministers are guaranteeing Gibraltar that it will not be left out of any Brexit deal struck with the European Union after the divorce and that they will refuse to "choose" between the Rock and a trade deal.

This comes after the EU granted Spain the power to veto any transitional deal applying to Gibraltar, unless Madrid has pre-approved it. The UK suspects that Spain could exploit its power to reopen the issue of the Rock’s sovereignty.

If Britain were to refuse this clause in the deal, Gibraltar could leave the EU without a transition deal and lose access to UK financial markets.

Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo told BBC Radio 4 on 8 March that Gibraltar's parliament has its own veto that can decide what parts of the Brexit deal apply to its region and that sovereignty was decided in the Helsinki accords and in Utrecht and should be accepted.

He said, "We don't barter with sovereignty today as if we were in the 17th century, with kings passing around sovereignty of pieces of land."

He also added, "We are very linked to the UK, we see the world through British eyes and we don't want to change that."

Gibraltar authorities argued last week it is an unfair measure, especially since 98% of Gibraltar voters chose 'Remain' during the referendum. They believe that this measure will only cause uncertainty for thousands of ordinary citizens and their families that live on both sides of the border.

A UK government spokesperson said, "The prime minister has said that as we negotiate these matters we will be negotiating to ensure that the relationships are there for Gibraltar as well.

2We are not going to exclude Gibraltar from our negotiations for either the implementation period or the future agreement."