Gibraltar gets ‘practical and lasting solution’ after UK and EU finally agree rules for its post-Brexit status
Gibraltar will remain British, but people will be able to travel freely across the land border with Spain, according to a post-Brexit agreement on the territory, the Press Association reports. Gibraltar was not included in the post-Brexit trade deal negotiated between the UK and the EU more than five years ago. But the two sides have now finally agreed what they call a “practical and lasting solution” that will settle the status of the British territory perched at the edge of Spain.
PA says:
The UK, alongside the government of Gibraltar, has published a draft treaty with the EU that outlines the arrangements for a “fluid border” for people and goods.
The deal will mean no routine passport checks at the Spain-Gibraltar border for the 15,000 people who cross it every day.
However, checks will apply to those arriving by air, so those flying into Gibraltar from the UK will face dual border controls: one check from Gibraltarian officials and another by the Spanish on behalf of the EU.
There will also be a tailored customs model to “eliminate burdensome goods checks”, the UK Government said.
The draft agreement does not affect sovereignty, stating that nothing signed “shall constitute the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty” over the Rock, and protects UK autonomy of key military facilities.
Gibraltar’s airport is run by the Ministry of Defence and hosts an RAF base. The overseas territory also has an important naval facility.
Chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said the treaty protects the “British way of life” on the Rock, while “unlocking new opportunities for growth”.
The treaty, published in draft form today, still needs to be signed, ratified an implemented.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said: “This treaty ensures that Gibraltar’s economy, people, and future are protected as an integral part of the British family.
“Working closely with the government of Gibraltar – and agreeing nothing without their consent – we have a treaty that preserves sovereignty and delivers certainty when Gibraltar’s way of life was threatened.
“The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar will never falter.”
Picardo said: “This is a safe and secure agreement we have negotiated alongside the UK and that unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need.
“It allows Gibraltar to look to the future with confidence, protecting our British way of life while unlocking new opportunities for growth and prosperity.
“It is an agreement that is very good for Gibraltar-based individuals and businesses that will deliver great growth for our economy.”
Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.
The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move.
Talks on rules governing the border have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020.
Key events
The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. It features John Harris and Kiran Stacey talking about the Send reforms, and about possible changes to student loans.
Ministers welcome figures showing 16-point rise since election in proportion saying it’s easy to access GP in England
Ministers have welcomed figures showing a big increase in the proportion of people in England saying it is easy to access a GP.
According to figures in the latest health insight survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics, in January 77% of people described contact with their GP as easy.
The previous month the figure was 75%. And in July 2024 the figure was 61%.
Stephen Kinnock, a health minister, said:
We’re fixing the front door of the NHS – and the public is noticing …
This progress is the result of the extra investment and modernisation this government has introduced, cutting red tape so GPs spend more time caring for patients, investing £100m in expanding GP practices, and recruiting 2,000 more GPs.
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Jersey approves bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults
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Sultana urges Your Party members to ‘work together’, as she calls for ‘greater transparency and accountability’ in party
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Sultana-backing Grassroots Left group calls for ‘no more witch-hunts’ in Your Party after Corbyn’s slate wins elections
Grassroots Left, the Your Party faction supporting Zara Sultana, has issued a statement following the leadership team elections won by the rival The Many slate, which backs Jeremy Corbyn. It says:
Our party is strongest when members have real power: over policy, finances, selections, and decision-making – through transparent, accountable structures. All Grassroots Left members will push for this on the CEC. We will push to make sure the branches are recognised immediately, fully supported and that members are put at the heart of the party.
Your Party must now work together to become a party of and for the whole left – with no more witch-hunts or stitch-ups. All those who have been expelled should be reinstated. We now need a culture of mutual respect, open debate, and a shared focus on the real issues facing us: inequality, insecure work, crumbling public services, fascism, and a political establishment that keeps letting working people down.
Grassroots Left will work with all those elected who are committed to rebuilding trust by putting the members first and fighting with the branches for accountable, transparent and democratic structures and strong socialist policies in Your Party.
John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue and a crossbench peer, has said today’s rough sleeping figures (see 12.01pm) show the government is failing to grasp the problem. In a statement he said:
It’s deeply concerning that the government cannot get a grasp on rough sleeping.
It’s clearly not enough to throw resources at pulling people out of homelessness, given the rate that people are falling victim to it.
To turn off the tap, it’s high time Westminster turned its attention to unpicking the causes of this great wave of homelessness that massed under successive governments. Namely kickstarting efforts to prevent and cure millions of the poverty that leaves them precariously close to losing their home.
We also need to end our overreliance on expensive and often unsuitable temporary accommodation, and invest in long-term prevention strategies, like bringing the 300,000 empty homes in England back into use as social and affordable housing.
Government and the third sector should focus on finding people a sustainable exit route from rough sleeping that keeps them off the streets – the very principle the Big Issue was founded on 35 years ago.
Home Office data shows 605 small boat migrants arrived in the UK yesterday – the most arrivals on a single day so far this year, the Press Association reports. PA says:
People in lifejackets and coats were pictured getting off Border Force and RNLI boats in Ramsgate, Kent, on what was the hottest day of the year so far.
Those who arrived made the crossing in 10 different boats.
French authorities rescued 119 people from three different dinghies during the night.
It brings the total number of arrivals this year to 2,209, 7% higher than this time last year.
The Conservative party is demanding full parliamentary scrutiny of the treaty with the EU over Gibraltar. (See 1.46pm.) Wendy Morton, a shadow Foreign Office minister, said:
This is a treaty of over 1,000 pages with profound constitutional changes that fundamentally reshapes how Gibraltar’s border, airport and legal framework will operate, yet parliament has not seen a single page of it.
Gibraltar is British. Its people have repeatedly and overwhelmingly chosen to remain under British sovereignty. Any treaty that hands Spain new powers over entry, residency, infrastructure or enforcement must be examined line by line by parliament before it takes effect.
Parliament cannot be expected to sign a blank cheque to the EU. We need the full treaty in front of us before a single provision is allowed to take effect.
Unfortunately for Morton, parliament only has very limited powers over treaties – under a law passed when Conservative party was last in government.
Calls to move England’s home insulation scheme into council workers’ hands
Councils should train up their own workers to install insulation in England’s draughty houses, and offer home upgrades street by street, beginning in the most deprived areas, according to proposals for cutting energy bills, a thinktank has said.
In a report, Common Wealth says the government’s warm homes plan is at risk of “missing those most in need”. It proposes a council-led approach instead. It says:
A neighbourhood-based retrofit strategy – which combines lowering energy bills with addressing homes in need of repair, protecting tenants and bringing empty homes back into use – can shift the narrative that climate policy has failed to improve daily life.
This report sets out a new model for neighbourhood transformation which learns from the place-based programmes that upgraded the nation’s housing stock over the 20th century. It proposes the establishment of around thirty home improvement corporations operating at county or combined authority scale. These public bodies would coordinate area-based retrofit, employ permanent direct labour organisations to build the workforce, and integrate repairs and wider improvements so homes in poor condition can benefit. Home improvement corporations would also hold powers to prevent tenant displacement and bring empty homes into use.
Fiona Harvey has more details here.
Gibraltar gets ‘practical and lasting solution’ after UK and EU finally agree rules for its post-Brexit status
Gibraltar will remain British, but people will be able to travel freely across the land border with Spain, according to a post-Brexit agreement on the territory, the Press Association reports. Gibraltar was not included in the post-Brexit trade deal negotiated between the UK and the EU more than five years ago. But the two sides have now finally agreed what they call a “practical and lasting solution” that will settle the status of the British territory perched at the edge of Spain.
PA says:
The UK, alongside the government of Gibraltar, has published a draft treaty with the EU that outlines the arrangements for a “fluid border” for people and goods.
The deal will mean no routine passport checks at the Spain-Gibraltar border for the 15,000 people who cross it every day.
However, checks will apply to those arriving by air, so those flying into Gibraltar from the UK will face dual border controls: one check from Gibraltarian officials and another by the Spanish on behalf of the EU.
There will also be a tailored customs model to “eliminate burdensome goods checks”, the UK Government said.
The draft agreement does not affect sovereignty, stating that nothing signed “shall constitute the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty” over the Rock, and protects UK autonomy of key military facilities.
Gibraltar’s airport is run by the Ministry of Defence and hosts an RAF base. The overseas territory also has an important naval facility.
Chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said the treaty protects the “British way of life” on the Rock, while “unlocking new opportunities for growth”.
The treaty, published in draft form today, still needs to be signed, ratified an implemented.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said: “This treaty ensures that Gibraltar’s economy, people, and future are protected as an integral part of the British family.
“Working closely with the government of Gibraltar – and agreeing nothing without their consent – we have a treaty that preserves sovereignty and delivers certainty when Gibraltar’s way of life was threatened.
“The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar will never falter.”
Picardo said: “This is a safe and secure agreement we have negotiated alongside the UK and that unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need.
“It allows Gibraltar to look to the future with confidence, protecting our British way of life while unlocking new opportunities for growth and prosperity.
“It is an agreement that is very good for Gibraltar-based individuals and businesses that will deliver great growth for our economy.”
Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.
The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move.
Talks on rules governing the border have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020.
Tommy Robinson visiting US state department should be ‘wake-up call’ for UK government, Lib Dems say
The Liberal Democrats have said that Tommy Robinson having an unofficial meeting at the US state department with an official working there should be a wake-up moment for the UK government.
Commenting on the story, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said:
The Trump administration hosting Tommy Robinson must be a wake-up call.
The government needs to include the US in their inquiry into foreign interference in UK politics.
We cannot stand by while the likes of Trump and Musk meddle in our democracy.
Met police apologise to lord speaker for wrongly saying he was source of tip about Mandelson being flight risk
The Metropolitan police has apologised to Michael Forsyth, the lord speaker, after mistakenly telling Peter Mandelson that he was the source of information suggesting Mandelson was about to flee the country. This led to Mandelson being arrested by the police, instead of being allowed to attend an interview voluntarily.
After Forsyth met the police earlier today (see 9.26am), the Met issued a statement saying:
The Met has also apologised to the speaker of the House of Lords, following the inadvertent revealing of information into allegations of misconduct in public office.
It was actually the Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, who tipped off the police. Yesterday he received his own apology from the Met.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/feb/26/gorton-and-denton-byelection-green-party-labour-reform-uk-politics-latest-news-updates
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