If England doesn’t leave the EU, they’ll probably end up surrendering the Falklands and Gibraltar, Diego Garcia
I thought Diego Garcia was ours. My father used to go there in the late 70s.
Among the most inspiring experiences of my time in politics was meeting people who, in spite of great pressure to the contrary, chose to be British.Read the rest of the article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/09/leaving-the-eu-would-be-disastrous-for-the-falklands-gibraltar-a/
If you were born in Yorkshire, like me, being British is effortless. While we still cast suspicious glances at our Lancastrian neighbours, these days that is only for the sake of ribbing them: we do not fear that any outside force will threaten our identity and loyalty.
But if your native land is Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, or Northern Ireland, your right to remain British requires a vigilance, a resolve, and sometimes the exertion of an effort that has come recently to Scotland and is still unfamiliar to most of us in England and Wales
..Whenever Gibraltarians or Falkland Islanders have expressed a collective opinion, they have recorded 99 per cent majorities for the sovereignty of the UK. Faced respectively with border closures and foreign invasion, they have come through them with stoic determination. In return, Britain has expended precious blood or huge diplomatic capital in their defence.
...I lost count of the number of times I had to complain to a Spanish Foreign Minister about intrusions into the waters of Gibraltar, or unnecessary delays being caused at a border crossed every day by thousands of people going about their business. On most of these occasions, my trump card was that both Britain and Spain are members of the European Union, even to the point of calling in Commission officials from Brussels to insist that the freedom to cross the border be maintained.
If the UK leaves the EU, Gibraltar leaves with it, and the economic impact on its people, particularly the damage done to its financial services industry, would be very serious. For Spain, the legal constraints on a more hostile approach would be lifted, potentially leading to severe disruption of trade and workers at the border, or even a return to the past policy of a total land blockade. Small wonder that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar has said that a British exit could have disastrous consequences for the people on the Rock.
.Seven thousand miles further south, the Falkland Islands Government uses similar language. Their representative has said that Britain leaving the EU could be “catastrophic” for them because nearly three-quarters of their exports go to the EU market, while they are shut out of most of South America by Argentine pressure.