§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response he gave and when to the letter of the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in January asking Her Majesty's Government to reject the Spanish proposals for joint sovereignty; and if he will publish his reply. [72210]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 22 February 1999]: I replied on 28 January to a letter of 27 January 1999 to me from the Chief Minister of Gibraltar. Official Ministerial correspondence of this sort is confidential and not normally published. But I can say that I underlined that our commitment under the 1969 Constitution, that we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes, remained steadfast.