§ 3.7 p.m.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the recent statement by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
that it remains the firm intention of Her Majesty's Government to sustain Gibraltar in her present difficulties",
they will request the Board of Customs and Excise to consider increasing for a specific period the £5 concessionary limit on souvenirs and gifts in Gibraltar by returning United Kingdom residents, so as to assist the economy of Gibraltar in a way which would be complementary to direct financial aid.]
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the Government appreciate the motive behind the noble Lord's suggestion, which has received very careful consideration, but they consider that increasing the present duty-free limit on souvenirs and presents acquired in Gibraltar and brought to this country would only marginally benefit the economy of Gibraltar, and that such benefit as it would give would be more than offset by the disadvantages, in the long term, of setting a precedent for using a Customs concession for a purpose for which it was never intended.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Would he not agree, though, on the question of setting a precedent, that the situation which exists in Gibraltar at the moment is a very special one, which we can only hope will be of limited duration? Therefore, could Her Majesty's Government not possibly consider this question a little more sympathetically? Would 990 the noble Lord not also agree with the article which appears to-day in The Times, saying that Gibraltar should be economically self-reliant round about 1970, and that therefore something more than direct grants by Her Majesty's Government could be considered? Would he further agree with me that the Answer he has given (although I can understand why he gave it) will not give encouragement to the businessmen and traders in Gibraltar, some of whom I met last week in Gibraltar?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the position of Gibraltar is obviously different from that of other countries which may be in slight economic difficulties. But the noble Lord will agree that the goods that would gain under this proposed concession are themselves largely, if not entirely, imported into Gibraltar and, therefore, whatever gain there might be would be within a very limited field of operation. I am quite convinced that the best way we can help Gibraltar is by providing grants, as was done the other day, and by continuing discussions with the Government of Gibraltar to ensure that the aid that we give in the special circumstances will have the maximum effect right through the economy of Gibraltar. I believe—I say this with the utmost sincerity to the noble Lord, and we have given careful thought to it—that it would be quite wrong to use such a concession (and it would be a concession, because, as the noble Lord knows, all goods that are imported into this country are legally liable for duty), accorded largely for administrative reasons, for the purposes that the noble Lord has in mind, even though all of us may sympathise with those purposes.
§ LORD MERRIVALEMy Lords, may I ask one more question on this? Is it that Her Majesty's Government do not have the political will to implement my request, or is it that the Commissioners have been consulted—I have consulted one myself—and feel that it would create a regrettable precedent?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, it is nothing to do with political will. Political will has been expressed by the grants that we have made and have promised to make to Gibraltar. It is a question of judgment, and the judgment is that this is the wrong way to proceed in helping Gibraltar.