00:00Foreign Secretary David Lammy appears to have admitted that Spanish border guards could stop Brits entering Gibraltar
00:06because of this new post-Brexit deal that he signed yesterday.
00:10Then he was pressed on the matter by Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice.
00:14So you might have missed this. Here he is.
00:16Just to probe this question of whether or not Spanish border officials, Foreign Secretary,
00:22have an effective veto on the entry of a British citizen from the United Kingdom landing on British sovereign territory in Gibraltar.
00:32I just want absolute clarity for everybody, please, in this house.
00:36Do Spanish officials have a veto or not?
00:38If he went, if he flew into Gibraltar airport and there was an alert,
00:44I'm not sure why there might be an alert in the Schengen system,
00:47but if there were an alert in the Schengen system,
00:52can I reassure him that as he is stopped by the Spanish border guards
00:57operating on behalf of the European Union,
01:02that he would be handed back to the Gibraltese.
01:08Hmm. OK. So under the terms of this deal signed,
01:11people flying into Gibraltar from the UK will face one cheque from Gibraltarian officials
01:16and another by the Spanish on behalf of the EU.
01:19And, of course, the big question is, what happens if they fail that cheque?
01:23Do they get told that they're not allowed in Gibraltar?
01:25It seems very odd.
01:26Joining me now is Falkland's war veteran, Simon Weston.
01:29Simon, thank you very much for joining me, by the way.
01:31Look, the way to move this on, as far as I can see,
01:34is do you think that the Argentinians are going to be looking at this
01:37and they're going to want to have another go at the Falklands?
01:40I'm fairly convinced that's going to be something they'll want to try to achieve.
01:46And with the current track record, I mean,
01:49considering this government's only been in place,
01:51was it about 11 months,
01:53they've already sort of interfered in two overseas territories,
01:59in one country to take over the Chagosian islands, Chagos.
02:07They've got rid of that.
02:09What they're going to do, or what they've done with Gibraltar,
02:12is that Fabian, because he seems to be quite happy with the deal.
02:19Certainly when he was photographed, he was absolutely elated with David Lammy.
02:26So I think he sees it as being a good deal.
02:28But, you know, my absolute concern is about the 90-day relationship,
02:33you know, whether they can stay on the island.
02:36They have friends who have property in Gibraltar,
02:38they have friends who live in Gibraltar,
02:41and I'm wondering how it's going to affect them.
02:44Because the rules seem to be fairly sort of abrupt in Europe
02:47about the 90-day exclusion.
02:51Yeah.
02:51I mean, I am very sympathetic, by the way,
02:55to the idea that people who live on Gibraltar
02:58can often have a nightmare getting into Spain,
03:00working every day, and, you know,
03:01I'm all for something that makes their lives easier.
03:04I wouldn't like to have to wait three hours
03:06at a Spanish border crossing every day to go.
03:08However, I worry that for the ease of access,
03:13on certain occasions,
03:15we have forgotten the very British principle, frankly,
03:17that when you land on sovereign British territory,
03:21you should only have your passports checked by a Brit.
03:25And, you know, you were willing to put your life on the line
03:28to protect the Falklands in its entire sovereignty.
03:31And I'm just worried that we've softened a bit here.
03:35It's a bit weird, you know.
03:37If you've ever seen the programme Cops on the Rock,
03:40and one of the reasons they say
03:43they have to have such stringent checks
03:45is the worry about cigarettes being smuggled
03:48because Gibraltar had no VAT on cigarettes.
03:51Now, to be honest with you,
03:53the more you charge for cigarettes, the happier I am.
03:55But the fact is that
03:57they were always chasing these unbelievable boats
04:00that could go much quicker,
04:02and they'd be landing on the Spanish coastline
04:04delivering drugs and cigarettes anyway.
04:07So I don't see that as being a justifiable reason
04:10for some of the checks that went on.
04:12I've been to Gibraltar several different times,
04:14crossed over on the land bridge,
04:16and, yeah, the interference by the border patrol there
04:21was quite ridiculous.
04:24But, you know, I suppose they're doing their job
04:26to irritate as best they can.
04:28Or they were.
04:29And now that one goes away.
04:30But I do worry about the Falklands
04:32and how easily we've done these two deals
04:34that seem to have thrown everything away,
04:38whether we will.
04:39I've spoken to somebody quite high in the government
04:42and involved in overseas territories,
04:45and he absolutely swore blind, straight to my face,
04:49when asked the deliberate question,
04:51what about the Falklands?
04:53He said it's never been on the table
04:54for any discussion with anybody,
04:57and certainly not the Argentinians.
04:59And I suppose you've got to take him to his word.
05:02But, I don't know.
05:04You just don't know anymore.
05:06No, you don't know anymore.
05:07It is a very concerning time.
05:08It's certainly got a big green flashing light on it now,
05:11the Falklands,
05:11because, you know, if I was Argentinian,
05:13I think this is the softest, weakest opportunity
05:16for us to go and get it back.
05:18So, you know, I can see the logic there.
05:19The only thing I will say
05:20to slightly counter the Falklands thing
05:22is something you alluded to there,
05:23which is it appears to me
05:24that Labour have basically just signed off
05:26on the things that the Tories
05:27weren't prepared to sign off on.
05:29So there were already deals in place.
05:30The Tories had said,
05:31oh, we've got red lines.
05:32Labour has just gone,
05:33screw that, we're signing it.
05:34I don't think there was anything like that
05:36in place with the Falklands
05:38or with the Argentinians,
05:39I should say, already.
05:40But, Simon, we're going to have to leave it there,
05:41my good man.
05:41Thank you very, very much.
05:43Always a pleasure.
05:44You take care.
05:44Simon Weston there,
05:45Falklands war veteran,
05:46war hero, really, I should say.
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