Speeches by Doughty.

“Thank you very much for having this session. I did not have the pleasure of hearing what the Chief Minister had to say but, having worked very closely with him and his team throughout this process—indeed, the way in which we and the elected Government of Gibraltar have been able to work together so constructively has b…”

“It is a reflection of the decisions that were taken both in this country and more broadly. It was clear that not having this new deal between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar was going to produce a level of uncertainty and detriment to the people and businesses of Gibraltar far outweighing anything else. That is why it w…”

“It has been incredibly important. I have to say that I have had excellent co-operation with Spanish counterparts not only throughout the process but since. I have an excellent working relationship with my immediate counterpart in the Spanish Government, and a range of other Ministers across the Government have met thei…”

“As I said, safeguarding the operational autonomy of the UK’s military facilities has been an absolute red line for us throughout the negotiations. The good news is that this agreement and the arrangements we have entered into very much protect that autonomy, make sure that our access and operations remain unfettered an…”

“I don’t think so. They go into quite technical detail about how things practically operate. They are obviously crucial, as Hazel said, but I cannot see any of them posing any difficulty, because they operate within the framework of the treaty—they are not treaty documents and do not require the same process—and they fu…”

“We want to make sure that you get enough time, but we are obviously not in charge of the timings on the EU side. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to present the virtually final draft version to Parliament earlier at the time of the statement and elsewhere: so that people could start getting into the detail, and …”

“I am not going to speculate on hypotheticals in any domestic politics, but treaties are entered into in good faith. They are signed treaties between countries and entities, and they stand in the normal way that treaties are governed internationally. It is crucial for the stability not only of Gibraltar but of the wider…”

“You may have seen the letter to the Chief Minister, who referred to it in a debate in his Parliament. We operate a principle in relation to all the overseas territories of “nothing about you without you”. I will read the exact quote from the letter so that I get it right. I said it is “politically inconceivable that in…”

“I was always confident too, and I shared his optimism. It required really hard work and, if I may, I want to put on the record my huge thanks to the FCDO officials, the Governor’s Office and officials in the Government of Gibraltar. They have put in so much hard work, and it has been really technical and detailed work,…”

“As I said, safeguarding the operational autonomy of the UK’s military facilities has been an absolute red line for us throughout the negotiations. The good news is that this agreement and the arrangements we have entered into very much protect that autonomy, make sure that our access and operations remain unfettered an…”

“I am not going to get into hypothetical situations, for obvious reasons. There are a range of dispute mechanisms under the treaty. There are a range of different committees and things that can be set up, and hopefully we would never enter into that scenario in the first place. Throughout, we have attempted to ensure th…”

“I am clear that they are the right arrangements for those locations. Of course, those are not the only two locations: there is of course the border between the sovereign base areas in Cyprus and the EU as well. There are distinct and unique arrangements in place in all three of those places, and they are the right ones…”

“That obviously was not on the table during this process, but we are looking to deepen and strengthen our co-operation at every stage. Ultimately, that would be a matter between our defence ministries and other authorities. We are delighted with the co-operation we have with Spain at the moment. In fact, a Spanish vesse…”

“I think are you referring to some of the different administrative arrangements. I will bring in Hazel in a second on those and other arrangements. Again, this has been subject to extensive discussions, and there are a lot of practical issues about how these things physically happen, but that has been done in full co-op…”

“The CRaG process takes the time that it takes, as you know, but we obviously want that to come in as soon as possible. It is literally now down to EU processes and some slight uncertainties. There are a couple of possible dates when we might get the final documents agreed, but our aim is to do this at the earliest poss…”

“We have a rough idea of when we think it might be. The most likely date is after the General Affairs Council meeting on 16 June or 10 July, and following that we would obviously present it to Parliament in the usual way. The delay—”

“I note the Committee’s and the Chair’s strong interest in this, and her wider views about the CRaG process. I am intensely relaxed about scrutiny on this and Parliament discussing things, and debates can be applied for in the usual way. I will strongly convey the wishes of the Committee for a debate on this, if that is…”

“The European Commission and our EU partners as a whole—obviously Spain—have been very clear that they agree with this. There will always be dissenting voices; it is natural in any Parliament, and it is not for me to speculate on who those might come from or what they might say. We are confident that this should hopeful…”

“That obviously was not on the table during this process, but we are looking to deepen and strengthen our co-operation at every stage. Ultimately, that would be a matter between our defence ministries and other authorities. We are delighted with the co-operation we have with Spain at the moment. In fact, a Spanish vesse…”

“I think are you referring to some of the different administrative arrangements. I will bring in Hazel in a second on those and other arrangements. Again, this has been subject to extensive discussions, and there are a lot of practical issues about how these things physically happen, but that has been done in full co-op…”