Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 March 1972.
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Common wealth Affairs if, in view of the civil disorders in Spain, he will now cancel his invitation for the Spanish Foreign Minister to visit the United Kingdom for further talks.
Did the right hon. Gentleman read in yesterday's Sunday Timesthe details of the struggle by miners in Northern Spain to obtain the elementary rights of free trade unionism? Is the right hon. Gentleman content to continue his discussions with the Spanish Government with a view to handing over free Gibraltar—where the people already enjoy the benefits of free trade unionism—to the tender mercies of the Spanish Government?
I cannot comment on the internal affairs of Spain. What I can say is that I have made clear to the Spanish Government that the pledges contained in the Preamble to the Act of Parliament governing the constitution of Gibraltar stand.