Wednesday 7 August 2013

Gibraltar: a mutually beneficial stand-off

The stand-off over Gibraltar has been portrayed in much of the press as a battle between the needlessly aggressive Spanish government and the reasonable and principled British government. In reality, the skirmish over the Rock is a godsend for two unpopular and directionless prime ministers.

The Germans have a wonderful word for 'the silly season'. When Parliament is in summer recess, many journalists are away on holiday, and the newspapers fill up with non-stories, it's "Sauregurkenzeit" - pickled gherkin time. It seems like it's been pickled gherkin time for Cameron's coalition government for a while now. With one u-turn after another, policies are announced and scrapped without much conviction. Cameron's recent statements announcing a tougher stance on online pornography were clearly an attempt to reclaim the moral highground and to appear concerned about children and families, rather than a real intention to do anything.

Meanwhile Spain is still reeling under the austerity measures brought in by the unpopular government of Mariano Rajoy with a lot of pressure from the European Union. The unemployment rate is 26.3% and much higher among the youth, and there have been major demonstrations and protests across the country. So it must have been a relief for both Cameron and Rajoy when Gibraltarian boats began dropping blocks of concrete into the sea, ostensibly to improve the catch of its fishermen.

Spanish foreign minister Jose Garcia Margallo condemned the act as endangering the livelihoods of Spanish fishermen, and seized the opportunity to threaten punitive measures including closing Spanish airspace to planes bound for Gibraltar, and bringing in a €50 fee for cars crossing the border into Spain. No matter that Spain still clings on to its enclaves Melilla and Ceuta - at last, a chance to do something decisive and popular!

Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo retaliated magnificently, also recognising the potential to make political capital out of the incident. He said that "hell would freeze over" before the artifical reef was removed. He went on to claim that Margallo's comments were "reminiscent of North Korea," and that "we've seen it before during Franco's time in the 1960s."

Picardo came under fire from Ed Milliband in 2011 over Gibraltar's role as a tax haven that damages the British economy. Gibraltar has a flat rate 10% corporations tax, and companies can incorporate themselves in Gibraltar in less than a week. Offshore bank accounts for businesses and individuals can be opened easily, and Gibraltar provides them with banking secrecy, refusing to provide the names of company owners and rejecting any information exchange treaty. This system allows the super-rich and transnational corporations to avoid paying tax in the UK and other countries, and to pass the government bill to the taxpayer. Here was a chance for Picardo to bury that story, and to present himself as the gallant defender of the 30 000 Gibraltarians under attack from belligerent Spain.

The Gibraltar crisis has been a gift to the British government too. Foreign secretary William Hague vowed he would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the citizens of Gibraltar. According to a statement from the foreign office, "the Prime Minister has made clear that the UK government will meet its constitutional commitments to the people of Gibraltar and will not compromise on sovereignty." David Cameron stepped into the breach, speaking with Mariano Rajoy today and urging him to deescalate the situation. The British government continues to blindly follow the Americans in the so-called war on terror, with several thousand troops still bogged down in a senseless war in Afghanistan, and no courage to speak out against the use of drones. At home austerity measures haven't brought the promised economic recovery and the coalition government is limping pathetically towards the next election.

The flare up over Gibraltar will almost certainly blow over within days. The escalation of the situation, dramatic statements and moral posturing are symptomatic of governments desperately seeking legitimacy through an international stand-off, in an attempt to deflect attention away from their policies at home. It'll soon be back to pickled gherkin time but for a short while, Cameron, Margallo and Picardo can portray themselves as leaders of principle.








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