Fabian Picardo criticises Jacob Rees Mogg for ‘not even beginning to understand’ Brexit impact on Gibraltar

First Minister Fabian Picardo has harshly criticised right-wing Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after the senior Tory MP accused Gibraltar’s leaders on social media of wanting Gibraltar to “become Spain’s”.

The war of words began when Rees-Mogg, a 54-year-old Brexit supporter, tweeted a link to Daily Mail An article describing the progress of post-Brexit treaty negotiations between the European Union and Gibraltar claims that the EU has the right to block British tourists from entering the small enclave on the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Rees-Mogg, one of the leading advocates of Brexit in 2016, said: “Obviously, First Minister Fabian Picardo no longer wants to inconvenience Gibraltar by making it a British territory, so he must want it to be Spanish.”

Mr Picado, who has been representing Gibraltar’s interests in the crucial negotiations, sharply criticised the Tory bigwig’s comments, adding that “if Mr Rees-Mogg did have the slightest interest he would be happy to report back to him”.

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The First Minister responded on Twitter: “I am sorry to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg has clearly not begun to understand the complexity of the problems that Brexit presents to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is and always will be British. I and all my fellow Gibraltarians are and always will be British.”

He added: “It is cheap and wrong to suggest that we would consider British nationality, traditions and birthrights ‘a nuisance’. We negotiated fluid travel, immigration and trade arrangements, not sovereignty.”

Following Picardo’s rebuttal, a community note appeared on Rees-Mogg’s original tweet, saying: “First Minister Fabian Picardo has made it clear that Gibraltar is British and should remain British”.

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Rees-Mogg then invited Picardo to his GB News show – an invitation the First Minister accepted, but added that today would have to be another day as he was responding to Rishi Sunak’s dissolution of Parliament on GBC (England’s national broadcaster).

The row on social media came after the latest round of talks on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status ended without a deal.

Earlier this week, Picardo spent six hours meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez and European Commission Executive Vice President Maroš Šefčović.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to hold a general election on July 4 also sounded alarm bells, but Picardo assured the public that treaty negotiations could continue during the campaign and after a new government is formed.

Intense negotiations over the future of the tiny overseas territory have been ongoing since 2020 and will be briefly paused ahead of next month’s European elections.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 95.9% of Gibraltar voted in favor of Britain remaining in the European Union.