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But in this instance it's not 'bull'. Sadly, for much of the past few decades, the UK government hasn't really cared much for Gibraltar, after scaling back its global spread. Its contemporary value is much diminished and if were to go solo or partly/wholly into Spanish hands it would do so with certain military guarantees pertaining to naval access, etc. The population of Gibraltar is one made up mostly of Mediterranean peoples from Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal, etc etc - the actual number of 'Paleface Brits' there is small, especially after military scaling back since the mid 90s. I'm sorry about what's happened in Northern Ireland - as a pseudo Celt myself, it's not a situation I look at and think "Hey, that's wonderful" - but it's not at all comparable to Gibraltar, which has an almost indigenous population - evolved, not transplanted - that happens to want to remain British. How you feel about that is up to you - and them too, as is their right. - ed. Ah, I wished I'd checked your previous responses prior to responding. I had it in mind you might be Irish, so was responding with that in mind. I suspect you might hail from a bit further East than Ireland... . You mention that Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU. As did Gibraltar. Gibraltar was the first result through and was something like 98% in favour of remaining. 'Unfortunately' in a democracy, majority rules dictate overall policy, and when the question is something as polarised and absolute as involvement in a supra-Governmental union, there's not much scope for picking and choosing where favourable. It's shit when it's not 'in my favour' but that's democracy for you. Perhaps if Britain were more authoritarian things would be easier, but that would only lend itself more to the form of criticism you're levelling at it already. As the great philosopher Bart Simpson once said - "Damned if you do, damned if you don't". |