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| Fmr. British Home Secretary Accused Of Jingoism Over Gibraltar Remarks | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 3 2017, 01:13 PM (12 Views) | |
| Webster | Apr 3 2017, 01:13 PM Post #1 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Michael Howard accused of 'absurd jingoism' over Gibraltar threat --Yesterday, only four days after Theresa May triggered article 50, the public debate bypassed “heated” and accelerated headlong into “surreal/barmy” territory as Lord Howard, a former Conservative party leader and former home secretary, suggested that the government should threaten the use of military force to protect the interests of Gibraltar as Brexit unfolds. He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: Thirty-five years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a taskforce halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country, and I’m absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar. This morning Jack Straw, who served as home secretary and foreign secretary in the Labour government and who shadowed Howard in the 1990s, told the Today programme that Howard was being “absurd” and that he was guilty of “19th century jngoism”. He said: The idea of Britain going to war, or Spain going to war against Britain, over Gibraltar is frankly absurd and reeks of 19th century jingoism. I doubt very much that Gibraltar will be the deal breaker. Last night, on BBC Radio 4’s the Westminster House, Dominic Grieve, the Conservative former attorney general who now chairs parliament’s intelligence and security committee, also criticised Howard, albeit more tactfully. He said Howard’s language was “a little bit apocalyptic”. Even Howard himself seems to have had second thoughts. On Channel 4 News last night, asked if he was “seriously suggesting” war with Spain, he replied: “Of course not.” But he did add: “I can see no harm in reminding them what kind of people we are.” Yesterday Downing Street was refusing to comment, but there is a lobby briefing this morning where we may get a response, and Theresa May is bound to be asked about this on her trip to the Gulf. |
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| Webster | Apr 3 2017, 01:27 PM Post #2 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() (The Guardian) Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. On arrival, he said Gibraltar would stay British unless the people of Gibraltar backed change. He told reporters: The sovereignty of Gibraltar is unchanged and is not going to change, and cannot conceivably change without the express support and consent of the people of Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, and that is not is going to change. But sovereignty is not really the issue. The threat to Gibraltar is that it could be excluded from a future UK-EU trade deal, as the EU’s Brexit negotiating guidelines issued on Friday suggested. -Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/31/future-of-gibraltar-at-stake-in-brexit-negotiations |
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| Webster | Apr 3 2017, 01:29 PM Post #3 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() (The Guardian) Spain suggests UK needs to calm down over Gibraltar --The Spanish government is urging the UK to calm down over Gibraltar. As Reuters reports, the Spanish foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, told a conference this morning: The Spanish government is a little surprised by the tone of comments coming out of Britain, a country known for its composure. Dastis also said, according to the Financial Times: In this case, the traditional British composure has been notable for its absence. The Spanish paper El Pais has more on what Alfonso Dastis, the Spanish foreign minister, has been saying this morning. Dastis said that someone in the UK was “losing their nerve” over Gibraltar and that there was no need for this. Here is the El Pais headline: Dastis: “No hay ninguna base para perder los nervios con Gibraltar” Google Translate translates that as “Dastis: ‘There is no basis to lose the nerves with Gibraltar’.” UPDATE: A reader on Twitter has a better translation... @AndrewSparrow “Perder los nervios” is better translated as “losing their cool”. Nothing to do with losing nerve. |
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| Webster | Apr 3 2017, 01:32 PM Post #4 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) No 10 refuses to condemn Lord Howard - but does confirm UK won’t send taskforce to defend Gibraltar --(The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow is) just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing. And I suppose we can be grateful for small mercies. Downing Street is ruling out sending a taskforce to protect Gibraltar, although the prime minister’s spokesman refused to condemn Lord Howard for his comments. |
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| Webster | Apr 3 2017, 02:19 PM Post #5 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Bert Koenders, the Dutch foreign minister, called for calm in the row between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar. “We see now how difficult the divorce is”, he said. “Let’s be cool and carry on and not use too harsh language. Let’s just negotiate.” In Brussels there was no weakening on of the resolve to allow Spain a say on the future of Gibraltar. “The draft guidelines have the full backing of the European commission, the full support by President Juncker and Michel Barnier,” said a commission spokesman. “Let there be no doubt about it. This is a process on which we work very closely with President Tusk and we are very happy to affirm our support to these guidelines.” Asked to respond to the Lord Howard’s comments, the spokesman said: The European commission takes the side of dialogue and cooperation - which is our way of doing things. Javier Nart, a Spanish liberal MEP, said that his country’s interest was to ensure that Gibraltar, could no longer act as a tax haven to the detriment of Spain. Frankly speaking it does not give me a second of happiness if the Spanish flag is on the rock. What is important for Spain, and for me, is that this territory is not used as a fiscal base against Spain. No-one is going to back the situation of the United Kingdom on Gibraltar, it is unacceptable. This jingoism from Mr Howard, that he wants to put on the battle-dress, is grotesque and ridiculous. The degree of quality of the politics and politicians in the United Kingdom is now at the level of Farage. |
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