Sargon of Akkad - Carl Benjamin - Dispatches from #Gibraltar and a Response to Fabian Picardo Aired: 2019-04-26 Duration: 04:48 === Pragmatic Remainers in Gibraltar (03:57) === [00:00:00] Hello folks, welcome to what I guess is a dispatch from Gibraltar. [00:00:03] I've been here for a couple of days. [00:00:05] I've been canvassing and leafleting and talking to the people and I've honestly had a genuinely wonderful time. [00:00:10] What you can see behind me is Morocco. [00:00:12] Spain is just over there and the rock is just there. [00:00:15] I actually would have filmed Facing the Rock, but from where we're at at the moment, the university is just behind us and it's being renovated. [00:00:22] And so it didn't look as good as, I think, looking out to the sea. [00:00:25] But it's been very interesting and everyone here has been wonderful. [00:00:29] Nobody's had any kind of adverse reaction to us or the UKIP flag or any of the flyers have been giving out. [00:00:34] It's been amazing. [00:00:35] Because it seems that the people we've spoken to and we've asked them what they think is generally representative of the population at large. [00:00:44] The people we've spoken to seem to be remainers in not in principle, but for pragmatic reasons, because they're so closely connected to Spain, even though they do have a hard border here, of course. [00:00:55] In principle, they seem to agree with us that Britain should be a sovereign country. [00:00:59] Whether this means anything is obviously beside the point, who knows? [00:01:03] But it does seem that they're very concerned about the lack of patriotism in Britain, and they think that we should be patriotic, and they are particularly patriotic. [00:01:13] There are British flags everywhere, as well as Gibraltarian flags, which is fantastic. [00:01:17] So you've got the local and national representation. [00:01:20] And everyone is just very, very relaxed, very calm, and very welcome to very open to have a proper debate, which is why it was so surprising when Gibraltar's first minister, Fabian Picardo, decided to call me out on Twitter and virtue signal to those in Westminster. [00:01:38] Fabian, you socialist, I'll be in the town centre tomorrow, casemate square, 3 p.m., and I'll be taking questions and debating with literally anyone who comes by, because that's what I think a politician should do. [00:01:54] Actually represent the people. [00:01:56] Come down and talk to me, you moral and intellectual coward. [00:02:01] I did an interview with the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, which is the local branch of the state-funded media here. [00:02:08] And they were very surprised to hear what the media in London are doing. [00:02:13] They have a very strict and rigorous code of ethics and an overseeing regulator. [00:02:18] So by law, they have to remain as neutral and impartial as they possibly can. [00:02:23] And when I told them about some of the things that have been happening back in Blighty that they weren't aware of, they were rather concerned. [00:02:29] And I think that the interview they gave me was fair, and I hope to see as much of it reproduced as possible. [00:02:35] Because again, I think I was laying out my positions very, very clearly. [00:02:39] Overall, I've had an absolutely amazing time here. [00:02:42] This is just honestly incredible. [00:02:45] And it is with great annoyance that I discovered today that in 2015, the Independent reported that Jeremy Corbyn would simply give Gibraltar to Spain if he had half a chance, as well as the Falkland Islands, or as he termed it, Las Malvinas, to the Argentinians. [00:03:02] Now, I personally completely disagree with this in principle and for pragmatic reasons. [00:03:08] But what really bothers me about this is I was raised as a forces brat. [00:03:13] I was raised on military camps, and you can imagine that there were a few British flags around, and there was a great it was an unsaid amount of patriotism. [00:03:21] You didn't need to say that it was a good thing to be British, because obviously, why else would you have been fighting for Britain? [00:03:27] And to hear Jeremy Corbyn say that he would just give these away, I found personally morally reprehensible, absolutely disgraceful, because in 1967, Gibraltar voted against joining Spain at around 98%. [00:03:41] And then in 2002, they had another referendum to decide whether they were going to get independence, which again, they voted against by about 98%. === Gibraltar Never Spanish (01:06) === [00:03:49] Now, that is the kind of ringing endorsement for Gibraltar remaining British. [00:03:54] I can't even imagine how you could argue with this. [00:03:57] How you could say, in any way, shape, or form, that you were representing the opinions of the people who actually live here. [00:04:03] I can't see how you would say that you represent the opinions of the people here if you would just give it away at a moment's notice, casually, as if you had a duty to give this place back to Spain or to give the Falkland Islands back to Argentina. [00:04:16] And I just want to stress that the Argentinians have never owned the Falkland Islands. [00:04:20] It was an uninhabited island that was claimed by the Spanish Empire. [00:04:24] The only population that has only ever been British, and they want to remain British, just like the Gibraltars. [00:04:30] And we have a moral duty to ensure that their democratic wish is respected. [00:04:35] Gibraltar will never be Spanish, at least as long as you vote for UKIP. [00:04:39] I hope you've all enjoyed the campaign that we're running as much as I have. [00:04:42] And thanks to everyone who's taken part. [00:04:44] It's been amazing. [00:04:45] We'll see you all back in Blyse. [00:04:47] We're not going to stop winning.