Picardo criticizes the ‘lies’ of the ‘ill-thought-out’ Brexit referendum as Gibraltar marks the day it leaves the EU

The GIBRALTAR leader lamented the day three years ago the British territory left the European Union thanks to ‘pernicious lies disguised as arguments’ in the ‘ill thought out’ referendum in 2016.

As negotiations continued in nearby Malaga, the Rock’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said Gibraltar was now “well on the way” towards an EU treaty.

In one of his most direct condemnations of the referendum that sparked Brexit, Picardo criticized “a decision that polls suggest, three years later, the majority of Britons believe was a bad thing for Britain.”

But the Gibraltar government once again said it was “optimistic” that the talks could lead Gibraltar “to a treaty that is safe and beneficial to Gibraltar.”

Picardo traveled to Malaga on Tuesday for the latest multi-level talks along with Senior Deputy Minister Joseph Garcia and Attorney General Michael Llamas.

“The UK and Gibraltar have also submitted proposals for your consideration which we are ready to sign tomorrow,” their government said.

But Spain and the EU seem to have other ideas, submitting their own draft proposals.

It made Picardo regret the Brexit vote that forced the Rock to come to the table.

“Our EU membership had not been perfect or smooth, but it had been positive in most respects,” he said.

“Therefore, we had a lot at stake in that poorly thought out referendum.

“We voted as part of the UK franchise and the majority, misled by pernicious lies disguised as arguments, voted out.

“So we left.”

Giving Spain a voice

Although Gibraltar voted 96% to remain in the EU, it now faces difficult negotiations that will remove the border and grant the Rock special Schengen status.

And despite years of confrontation with Spain, Gibraltar must now take its neighbor’s views into account in any future EU treaty.

“It will have to recognize that the interface for us with the rest of the EU is, geographically and physically, through Spain as our neighboring EU member state,” Picardo said.

“We have to be realistic and understand that the people they serve can ask politicians to do many things.

“But the one thing that cannot realistically be asked of us is to change the realities of geography!”

Although precise details about the talks have not been disclosed, Spain has repeatedly spoken of workers’ pensions, the surveillance of its borders and the joint use of the airport.

And while Picardo said signing a deal “gives us the chance to put Brexit behind us”, he has often expressed the need for the treaty to be “beneficial” for Gibraltar.

“Otherwise, we will have to live with the disadvantages of Brexit on a daily basis while we seek the benefits of leaving the EU, which the UK itself has found so elusive for now,” he said.

“But we’ll make it work, and make it work well, if necessary.”

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