Rock Solid

Congratulations to Michael Ancram and Andrew Mackinlay:

They might come from opposite political camps but staunch Conservative Michael Ancram and outspoken Labour man Andrew Mackinlay were simultaneously awarded Gibraltar’s highest honour, the Freedom of the City, by a unanimous vote from Parliament.

Chief Minister Peter Caruana brought the motion to the Gibraltar Parliament recognising that the two politicians are no longer active in the UK parliament but had a pedigree of service to the Rock. He applauded “their sustained and consistent support over many years to the aspirations and interests of Gibraltar and its people.”

The motion also recognised their defence of these values inside and outside the House of Commons.

Mr Ancram has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary and Chairman of the Conservative party as well as being Minister for State of Northern Ireland during the Major government.

“It was perhaps during the ill-fated joint-sovereignty proposal of the Labour government that Michael Ancram as Shadow Foreign Secretary may be best rememberd,” said Mr Caruana. He recalled that with the support of Iain Duncan Smith and later Michael Howard, Mr Ancram had championed the Gibraltar cause. They instigated many debates in Parliament and supported Gibraltar’s efforts through that period.

They also made a point of flying out to Gibraltar for the 2001 National Day celebration to show solidarity. It was Mr Ancram’s initiative to organise an appearance by Mr Caruana before the plenary of the Conservative Conference during that campaign.

“He has never missed an opportunity to defend the rights of the people of Gibraltar and his support continues to this day,” said Mr Caruana.

Andrew Mackinlay received similar warm words for his long interest in Gibraltar’s people and their rights. He was chairman of Parliamentary all party Gibraltar Group succeeding the late Michael Colvin MP, and held this for some years.

His dedication to all things Gibraltar continued after he had relinquished the chairmanship and, said Mr Caruana he was instrumental in supporting the Gibraltar Services Police in Parliament. Mr Caruana said that Mr Mackinlay was one of the many Labour MPs during the joint sovereignty period who dared to raise his head above the party parapet wall in defence of the rights of the people of Gibraltar.” An action, said Mr Caruana, which many believed had been taken by him at the expense of a ministerial career in the Blair government.

Opposition Leader Joe Bossano expressed full support for the motion. He recalled their many years of support for Gibraltar and in particular Mr Mackinlay who had been “willing to take on anybody” even when his party was in power.

“I think as new members come into Parliament I think we have to find ways of cultivating a similar allegiance and support for Gibraltar but it is right that we should not forget those that stood us well for so long and defended us for so long.”

They are both practising Catholics.

Ancram briefly ran with the wrong dogs in his time, he has come round to the expression of sensible, classically Tory views on Trident, Afghanistan and the Middle East. It is notable that, unless I am very much mistaken, both of the hereditary peers (one Tory and one Lib Dem) in the House of Commons at the time of Iraq vote opposed the war, as did two of the three baronets (one Tory, one Lib Dem and one Labour). The succession of the 13th Marquess of Lothian was followed fairly quickly by his conversion to sanity.

And Mackinlay voted against Third Reading of the Human-Animal Crossbreeding (Legalisation), Babies (Spare Parts) and Fatherhood (Abolition) Bill, as well as campaigning to require Ministers to appear and answer question in both Houses, voting to require employers to pass on to unions the details of those employees who had chosen to join them, voting for a review of the current extradition arrangements between the United Kingdom and the United States, and successfully preventing the payment of an “extra” (yes, to MPs this is just a little bit extra) £14,000 to the Chairmen of regional committees. He, too, recanted his support for the Iraq War and became, like Ancram, an outspoken critic of the occupation.

That Gibraltar is a High Tory cause will come as no surprise to anyone. Nor should anyone be surprised that Gibraltar is also an Old Labour cause: the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party was founded out of the trade union movement, and specifically out of the T&G, in order to secure for the British workers of Gibraltar the same pay and conditions enjoyed by other British workers. Under Joe Bossano, first elected for the Integration With Britain Party, it won the 1992 Election with seventy-two per cent of the vote under the slogan, “Give Spain No Hope”, which was not at all what the Major Government wanted to hear. Not a lot of people know that. But they should.