§ 7. Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to visit Gibraltar for discussions with the Chief Minister and Members of the House of Assembly.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI have no plans to visit Gibraltar in the near future, but I naturally consult the Chief Minister and his colleagues at regular intervals.
§ Mr. McQuarrieI am grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for that reply and I am well aware that he has discussions with the Chief Minister in London. I am sorry that he cannot find time to go to Gibraltar to have similar discussions not only with the Chief Minister but with Members of the House of Assembly. May I draw my right hon. and learned Friend's attention to the recent reported remarks by the Prime Minister of Spain, Senor Felipe Gonzalez, that he wants a solution to the Gibraltar 311 problem to be reached within four years, and that if that does not happen there will be serious repercussions for the people of Gibraltar? Will my right hon. and learned Friend make it clear to the Spanish Government that the sovereignty of the people of Gibraltar is not for trading, and that the preamble to the constitution of Gibraltar will remain so long as the people of Gibraltar wish to remain British?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweOn the central point of my hon. Friend's question, I am not sure that the reports that we have seen of the remarks by the Spanish Prime Minister are necessarily complete, but the substance of his point is contained in those reports. It is right to say that this is not the first occasion on which Spain has mentioned time scales in that context. Our position is quite clear. Our commitment to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar remains unchanged. The discussions that are taking place must take place in the context of that commitment. They are not susceptible to handling by the imposition of time scales, nor can their outcome be predetennined, but it is right to say that those discussions are taking place under the Brussels agreement of November 1984 in a friendly and constructive spirit, as is appropriate between two European allies and partners.
§ Mr. DubsIs the Foreign Secretary aware of the concerns that are being expressed by and on behalf of the small community of workers of Indian origin living in Gibraltar who feel angry that their wives are not being allowed to join them, or are being expelled from the territory or, on some occasions, if their wives are pregnant, are being asked to leave on the ground of some form of immigration control? As we have a responsibility for the territory, what does the right hon. and learned Gentleman propose to do about that?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI propose to look into the facts of the matter raised by the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. LathamWill my right hon. and learned Friend confirm the point that he did not mention in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. McQuarrie), which is that the British Government are negotiating firmly on the basis of the Gibraltar constitution which this House approved?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI thought that I had made it absolutely plain that our commitment to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar, which is set out in the preamble to the Gibraltar constitution, remains unchanged. It is most important to understand that the discussions are taking place on that basis.