MR PICARDO LIES ON ANDORRA

Mr Picardo has lied to the people of Gibraltar on Andorra and the people are entitled to know the truth. He has also tried to distract from the real issues of the day and we now need to get back to the issues of concern to people and leave behind Mr Picardo’s fake news.

For a good couple of weeks Mr Picardo has been spinning a false narrative going to the lengths of a meme suggesting that Mr Azopardi supported an Andorra Model for Gibraltar. We have been saying this was untrue and an attempt to distract from the real issues. We have also said that this was just a desperate attempt by Mr Picardo to manufacture a basis to turn down an invite by a future GSD Government to work jointly in a united delegation on Brexit. The GSLP have even put out a video with excerpts from the 2011 election debate to justify the false political assault saying in their video “Keith Azopardi thinks Andorra is an acceptable solution for Gibraltar.” This is false.

What is stark about that latest development is that what Mr Picardo has not shown the public is that seconds after the excerpt the GSLP used from the 2011 debate Mr Azopardi specifically ruled out an Andorra model saying: “My view is very specific on Andorra. It is not a solution for Gibraltar….the Andorra solution is never going to be a model for Gibraltar. Let me make that very very clear.”

Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi said:

“Mr Picardo knows all that. He knows what he has been suggesting is false. He was there when I said it. He can even be seen nodding when I am saying it.

What I said in 2011 was not new as I had said the same thing publicly before then and when the political issue arose in 2010. What is frankly outrageous is the downright manipulation of the truth because the GSLP put out a video just the other day with an excerpt from the same programme. When I ruled out the Andorra model as a solution for Gibraltar in the 2011 debate I did so seconds after the excerpt they used in their own political video. It is a disgrace that they have sought to be dishonest with the people of Gibraltar by misrepresenting that and suggesting that I stand for something that I had specifically ruled out in Mr Picardo’s own presence.

This is not just about the past. It is symptomatic of the issues people are suffering now. Gibraltar deserves much better than a GSLP Government that brazenly lies. This has been a false debate for a couple of weeks. Let’s get back to the real issues of concern to people. The attempt by Mr Picardo to distract from those issues has failed. Let’s now get back to talking about the issues that matter to people now.”