chronicle.gi GSD tells CM to ‘stop digging’ over GPA appointment

The GSD said its concerns about the appointment of the new chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority related to the Chief Minister’s “inability to ringfence his conflicts of interest”, and be seen to do so. It was reacting to the latest st...

The GSD said its concerns about the appointment of the new chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority related to the Chief Minister’s “inability to ringfence his conflicts of interest”, and be seen to do so.

It was reacting to the latest statement from the Government in the row over the appointment of Peter Montegriffo as GPA chairman, calling on the Chief Minister to “stop digging”.

The GSD had described as “surprising and inappropriate” the appointment of Mr Montegriffo, a former partner and now consultant at Hassans, given the Chief Minister’s links to the firm.

It said that while Mr Montegriffo’s reputation was “unimpeachable”, the appointment “simply does not look good” and could undermine public confidence.

Earlier this week, the Gibraltar Government said the “excellent appointment” had been proposed by former Governor Vice Admiral Sir David Steel – not the Chief Minister as the GSD had claimed - and accused the Opposition of “clutching at populist straws”.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said GSD members “would swap Mr Montegriffo for Mr Azopardi as their leader in the blink of an eye”.

The exchanges drew another salvo from the GSD on Tuesday.

“Mr Picardo repeatedly saying that Mr Montegriffo was the GSD founder is not a defence to his actions in the same way as hiring Peter Caruana who once described Mr Picardo as ‘unfit’ to be Chief Minister will not provide him with blanket of immunity or absolution,” the Opposition said in a statement.

It said that for the Chief Minister to say the former Governor had approached Mr Montegriffo “hardly absolves Mr Picardo of responsibility” even if it did happen that way.

The GSD said Gibraltar was accustomed to Mr Picardo’s “spin and twist of the facts” and would be “sceptical about his explanations”.

“In any event it should have been plain to the Chief Minister as well as the former Governor how inappropriate it was to appoint a senior lawyer at Hassans as GPA Chair in the context of evidence being heard in the McGrail Inquiry,” the GSD added.

“Indeed, it is a brazen act in the face of the ongoing inquiry disregarding everything said in it.”

Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition, added: “The McGrail Inquiry has heard plenty of evidence of the interwoven commercial and ongoing business interests between Mr Picardo and his law firm who have even via corporate vehicles been vying for public contracts from his own Government.”

“It has also heard evidence as to how Mr Picardo then sought to use his influence to impact on decision-making of the GPA.”

“Any reasonable observer would think it would be inappropriate to have a senior lawyer from his law firm in that role.”

“That is because the perception of independence of the GPA Chair is as important as substantive independence.”

“Under the law the Chief Minister and former Governor had power to ensure that the panel of persons from whom the GPA Chair was chosen did not include a member of his law firm.”

“People will find it hard to believe no one else could have been appointed to that role.”

“Mr Picardo has taken to surrounding himself with former GSD ministers in the hope this gives him a better appearance.”

“It’s not working and all it looks like is that he is so desperately clutching at straws that he has to wheel out Sir Peter Caruana and Mr Montegriffo to make him look better.”

“He needs to stop digging in his hole.”

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chronicle.gi As McGrail Inquiry hears closing submissions, chairman urged to ensure...

The McGrail Inquiry reconvened on Tuesday to hear closing submissions from lawyers representing core parties, in the first sitting of a two-day session in the Garrison Library that will bring the public hearing to a close. Inquiry chairman Sir...

The McGrail Inquiry reconvened on Tuesday to hear closing submissions from lawyers representing core parties, in the first sitting of a two-day session in the Garrison Library that will bring the public hearing to a close.

Inquiry chairman Sir Peter Openshaw, a retired UK High Court judge, is tasked with looking into the reasons and circumstances leading to the early retirement of former police Commissioner Ian McGrail in June 2020, after a 36-year career and halfway through his term in the top post at the Royal Gibraltar Police.

Mr McGrail has alleged “misconduct and corruption” at the highest levels of government, insisting he was “muscled out” after being placed under huge pressure over the conduct of a live criminal investigation.

Those allegations have been “denied and roundly rejected” by the Government parties, who said Mr McGrail retired because he knew he had lost the confidence not just of the Chief Minister but of the then interim Governor, Nick Pyle, who was the only person with the power to ask him to resign.

The first closing submission came from Nick Cruz, the lawyer representing the Royal Gibraltar Police, who urged Sir Peter Openshaw to make recommendations to ensure “lessons are learned, that they translate into actual steps, and particularly practical actions and measures that would go a long way… to guarantee the rule of law prevails in Gibraltar and, importantly, that the independence of the RGP can never, never, never be compromised.”

Mr Cruz said the evidence showed that the RGP and individual officers had acted throughout the Inquiry and the events it was probing in accordance with policing obligations and code of ethics, including when reacting to errors or omissions.

He said the RGP believed a “wrongful process and procedure” had been engaged to bring about the removal of a serving Commissioner of Police “in an unlawful manner” and in breach of the Constitution, the Police Act and rules of natural justice or fairness.

The process, he said, “was unlawful” irrespective of whether the Chief Minister and the then interim Governor had lost confidence in Mr McGrail.

And he added that those tasked with the constitutional responsibility to act as a check and balance on the executive and uphold the rule of law by safeguarding the independence of the RGP had “failed to do so adequately or arguably at all”.

The Gibraltar Police Authority [GPA], Mr Cruz said, had never lost confidence in Mr McGrail and had failed to investigate the substance of the concerns raised by the Chief Minister and Mr Pyle.

“They simply concluded that his position was untenable because the Chief Minister and the interim Governor had indicated that they had lost confidence in Mr McGrail as the serving Commissioner of Police,” he said.

“The GPA therefore, whilst acting in good faith, failed to uphold the rule of law by safeguarding its own independence and the independence of the RGP.”

“It did so by failing to properly resist attempts by the Executive to wrongly exercise powers or perceived powers without adherence to the provisions of the Constitution, the Police Act and rules of natural justice or fairness, namely, fundamentally, by failing to have a proper or fair process.”

On behalf of the RGP, Mr Cruz set out a number of possible recommendations for Sir Peter Openshaw to consider in his report, with the aim of strengthening GPA oversight capacity and ensure both its independence and that of the RGP.

“The RGP recognises that this inquiry has come at huge expense for Gibraltar taxpayers in a small jurisdiction,” Mr Cruz said.

“The report that flows from you, Mr Chairman, so long as it's made public in its entirety, will go a long way to allow all stakeholders, including the RGP and the public, to express a view on whether such an inquiry has served a useful purpose for Gibraltar.”

“Mr Chairman, the RGP would encourage you to be bold, brave, ambitious, not just with the questions of factual inquiry and determination of possible culpability, but importantly, recommendations.”

“Lessons must be learned, and the outcome must benefit all of us.”

“We, the [core parties], to make it worthwhile to the public that we serve, must have broad shoulders, a tough chin and the humility to take responsibility.”

“As we said earlier, above all else, it must serve a purpose of being a very important, we say inquisitorial guide, an instrument to make way for measures that ensure the rule of law always prevails in Gibraltar.”

PATRICK GIBBS KC

Next up was Patrick Gibbs, KC, the lawyer for retired police Superintendent Paul Richardson, who at one point led the police investigation known as Operation Delhi into the alleged “hacking and sabotage” of the National Centralised Security Intelligence System [NSCIS], and into an alleged conspiracy to defraud Bland, the private company that operates the system.

In common with Mr Cruz, Mr Gibbs urged Sir Peter Openshaw to include in his final report whatever findings and recommendations “… may best defend Gibraltar against the structural dangers which have been laid bare in this room, however disturbing that may be to the status quo.”

“Of course, if you judge that the important lessons have already been learned and the obvious conflicts of interest have already been acknowledged and the red line breaches have been recognised and rectified, if you find that that's the evidence that you've heard, then little will need to be said,” Mr Gibbs said.

“But if they haven't, and if a decision has instead been made to carry on as though nothing untoward has come to light, then what is to happen here in Gibraltar when you leave and there's no higher or independent authority capable of speaking truth to power?”

“Will it simply be business as usual?”

“Unless you have been – and I recognise it's a big request - unless you have been so clear in your findings and in your recommendations that your report will itself be that authority.”

Mr Gibbs highlighted four “absences” which he said were evident during the public hearing earlier this year, including missing messages and records of meetings between the Chief Minister and Hassans senior partner James Levy, KC, and his legal team after the RGP attempted to execute search warrants at the law firm’s offices.

The law firm indirectly held a stake in 36 North, the company at the heart of the police investigation, and Mr McGrail’s lawyers have alleged that both Mr Levy and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, as partners of Hassans, the latter on sabbatical, stood to gain financially from the alleged fraud.

Mr Gibbs said too that the Inquiry had not received “a straight answer” from the Chief Minister as to whether he had known Mr Levy was a suspect in Operation Delhi, although he was ultimately never arrested or charged.

He reflected too on the sense among police officers who at the time, even without the benefit of hindsight and the vast amount of information now available to the Inquiry, had felt “something was amiss” in the immediate wake of the attempt to execute the search warrants.

Mr Gibbs highlighted evidence to the Inquiry from former Solicitor General Lloyd DeVincenzi, who he described as “intelligent, informed, disinterested and disturbed by what he saw”.

“And his attempts to prompt the consciences of others, I submit, tell their own story,” he added, noting that Mr DeVincenzi had since left public service.

“They tell a story about him, about what he is. He is the conscience in the piece.”

“And it tells a story about them, the people to whom he should have been a conscience.”

“Because he saw the conflict of interests created around him by the 36 North, Levy, Hassan's investigation, and he saw that conflict play out…”

And he added of Mr DeVincenzi: “He's conspicuous, isn't he, for having identified both the existence and the location of red lines to which others seem to have been oblivious.”

As for his client, Mr Gibbs described Mr Richardson as a dedicated and professional police officer with Gibraltar’s best interests at heart, who had followed the evidence without fear or favour.

Mr Richardson, he added, “… did a brave thing in following the evidence without fear or favour wherever it led, because where the rule of law runs, some are not more equal than others, or at least they're not supposed to be.”

JAMES NEISH KC

James Neish, KC, the lawyer representing the Gibraltar Police Authority, said the GPA had been “plunged” into “uncharted territory” with “an air of crisis, a short deadline and no independent legal advice” when its chairman, Dr Joseph Britto, was called to a meeting with the Chief Minister and then interim Governor, Nick Pyle, and told they had lost confidence in Mr McGrail as Commissioner.

During the hearing, the Inquiry heard evidence as to whether the GPA acted independently in its decision to invite Mr McGrail to retire late May, 2020.

Mr McGrail’s lawyers have told the Inquiry the former Commisioner had been subjected to an “unfair, frankly shambolic and sham” process “stage-managed” by the Chief Minister, a claim the Government parties firmly deny.

The GPA invited the then Commissioner to retire after being told by Mr Pyle and Mr Picardo that they had lost confidence in Mr McGrail.

The two had cited reasons relating to the fatal collision at sea and Mr McGrail’s response to an audit report prepared by UK police inspectors, although these concerns had not been flagged previously.

But the GPA later withdrew that invitation after recognising when challenged by Mr McGrail’s lawyers that the decision had been taken without the necessary quorum and that it had failed to first seek feedback from Mr McGrail.

Mr Neish rejected criticism that the GPA had “abdicated its independence” and allowed itself to be “proxified”, citing its decision to withdraw the letter as proof of that independence.

“The GPA made a serious error in the process which it applied under section 34,” Mr Neish said.

“It recognised its error and it rectified its error by withdrawing the invitation to Mr McGrail to retire.”

“The GPA has not sought to obfuscate or defend the indefensible.”

“It has held its hands up, admitted its faults, tried to correct it and tried to move on and hope that the matter changes and recommendations are made.”

Mr Neish said the GPA had invited Mr McGrail to retire because the interim Governor and the Chief Minister had lost confidence in him, “which would make it very difficult for him to continue working with them”.

He said the fatal collision at sea involving a police launch and a speedboat – in which two Spanish nationals died - had been “the more influential factor” in the GPA’s decision. Mr Pyle alleges Mr McGrail withheld timely information in the immediate aftermath on the location of the collision in Spanish waters.

Additionally, the GPA was “very aware” that Mr Pyle would consider using powers to terminate Mr McGrail’s employment if the GPA did not invite him to retire. The Authority wished to make the termination “as palatable as possible”.

“Dr Britto has readily accepted in evidence that the GPA did not carry out an independent inquiry into the reasons alleged by the interim Governor and the Chief Minister for inviting Mr McGrail to retire,” Mr Neish said.

“However, the failure to investigate certain facts does not automatically translate into the GPA not being independent, generally or institutionally.”

Mr Neish said the GPA had “very little information” about Operation Delhi and that this “played no part” in its decision.

“If the GPA had given Mr McGrail the opportunity to be heard before inviting him to retire, the likelihood is that it would at least have been on further inquiry as to the Operation Delhi issues and whether it was a driving factor behind the interim Governor’s and Chief Minister’s decision that Mr McGrail should retire,” he said.

But he pointed out that for the GPA to have embarked on an inquiry into the “real reasons” behind the interim Governor’s and Chief Minister’s “wish” that McGrail be asked to retire “…would have entailed a daunting exercise similar to this Inquiry in which it did not have the expertise, resources or statutory power possessed by this Inquiry.”

Mr Neish said the situation faced by the GPA had been “unprecedented” and illustrated “how ill-equipped” the GPA was to deal with a situation of such gravity, and the lack of legislative or other guidelines the GPA could rely on to follow a proper process.

“What emerges with clarity is that the GPA considered it had no option but to invite Mr McGrail to retire given the loss of confidence in him by the interim Governor and the Chief Minister, which rendered his position untenable,” Mr Neish said.

Mr Neish echoed many of the recommendations made by Mr Cruz and agreed the GPA’s resources needed “beefing up”, noting that at present the Authority was made up of unpaid volunteers supported only by two part-time administrators, despite the Authority’s wide-ranging and onerous responsibilities.

BEN COOPER KC

The last closing statement on Tuesday came from Ben Cooper, KC, the lawyer representing three men - Thomas Cornelio, John Perez and Caine Sanchez - who were charged in the investigation and who the Inquiry refers to collectively as the former “Operation Delhi defendants”.

The case against the three men was ended by the Attorney General, Michael Llamas, KC, for public interest reasons that have never been openly revealed.

But Mr Cooper said the evidence showed the police investigation and prosecution case against his clients had been flawed from the outset and that this had an adverse impact on the three men.

“They have had to live with being the subject of unjustified rumour for more than five years, and it is exceptional and unfortunate that anyone should have to endure the public repetition of failed charges all over again in this way,” he said.

Mr Cooper said even the prosecution’s expert witness did not support the allegation that the NSCIS had been sabotaged, adding that Operation Delhi stemmed from “a classic commercial dispute that, if necessary, a commercial court should resolve”.

He described the relationship between Mr McGrail and the chairman of Bland, James Gaggero, as “too cozy” and lacking “professional distance” to ensure the allegations against his clients were properly scrutinised, including “reasonable lines of inquiry that pointed away from the prosecution as well as towards it”.

He said that at the heart of the allegations against his clients was a dispute about ownership of the intellectual property of the NSCIS software, and that Mr Gaggero had initially supported the transition of the maintenance of the system from Bland to 36 North but had then gone cold on the idea.

The RGP’s decision to pursue the investigation was “fundamentally misconceived”, in part because officers had lacked adequate legal support in their decision-making.

“The problem, the Inquiry may conclude, is systemic and lies in a failure to define the relationship between the police and the prosecutors so as to promote reliable, dependable decision-making to ensure public resources are not wasted,” Mr Cooper said.

The decision to obtain the search warrants against Mr Levy was “a monumental blunder”, the Inquiry was told, a statement that jarred with Mr Cruz’s submissions earlier on this point.

Mr Cruz said the RGP had been “well aware” of the sensitivities of the investigation and had consulted the Director of Public Prosecutions and his team before applying to the Stipendiary Magistrate for the warrants, which were granted after a two-day hearing before the judge.

The RGP had also expected Hassans to challenge the warrant through judicial review, though in the event this step was never taken by the firm.

“At no time prior to the 12th May did the Director of Public Prosecutions or the [Office of Criminal Prosecutions and Litigation] indicate that the RGP should not take these steps,” Mr Cruz said.

“The Attorney General accepted that this information was all before the DPP and no alternative was suggested by them.”

But Mr Cooper countered that submission and said alternative steps should have been considered given the implications of executing warrants at Gibraltar’s largest law firm, not least because of the complex workload this would create in order to protect unrelated legally privileged information.

“This was not just about James Levy’s mobile phone. It was about Hassans’ computers. It was about their mail servers, their file servers,” Mr Cooper said.

“What would have happened if the powers granted by this warrant had been exercised in full in practice?”

“We sometimes see this on the television news. The Enron scandal comes to mind.”

“Scores of officers trooping out of the Madison Building carrying documents, laptops. desktops, servers, and many boxes of materials, terabytes of data coming into the hands of the RGP, much of it, most of it perhaps, subject to legal professional privilege.”

“So what were they thinking of? What plan did the RGP have to deal with all of that?”

And he added: “Had the Director of Public Prosecutions been asked for his written advice on the merits of an application for a search warrant, he would clearly have said ‘don't do it’.”

“The train of events that has led us here would not have left the station.”

The Inquiry continues on Wednesday with closing statements from Mr McGrail’s lawyers and lawyers for the Government parties.

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chronicle.gi McGrail Inquiry closes with two conflicting stances: ‘Corruption’, or ‘wild...

The last day of the McGrail Inquiry heard starkly opposed conclusions from lawyers representing former police Commissioner Ian McGrail and those for the Government parties. For the former, the Inquiry had uncovered incontrovertible evidence of...

26th June 2024

The last day of the McGrail Inquiry heard starkly opposed conclusions from lawyers representing former police Commissioner Ian McGrail and those for the Government parties.

For the former, the Inquiry had uncovered incontrovertible evidence of corruption at the highest level of government in a sequence of events that had destroyed the career of a long-serving police officer with an unblemished record.

For the latter, the Inquiry had shown that allegations of corruption and interference in a police operation were “wild and irresponsible” and that Mr McGrail had retired because of a genuine loss of confidence in him by the then interim Governor and the Chief Minister.

The closing submissions brought to an end the public hearing of the McGrail Inquiry, which was tasked with looking into the reasons and circumstances leading to Mr McGrail’s early retirement in June 2020, after a 36-year career and halfway through his term in the top post at the Royal Gibraltar Police.

On Wednesday, Inquiry chairman Sir Peter Openshaw, a retired UK High Court judge, said he had already started writing his report and aimed to have a first draft ready by early autumn.

But he indicated too that it will take some time beyond that before the report is published and that other steps must be completed first.

Once the first draft is reviewed by the Inquiry’s legal team “for accuracy and completeness”, any person or body facing “significant criticism” in the report will be allowed to make further representations.

The chairman will then make any amendments he considers appropriate.

“To undertake that process thoroughly and fairly necessarily takes a good deal of time and it will be unwise to estimate when that will be finished,” Sir Peter Openshaw said.

Once the report is finalised, it will be sent to the Gibraltar Government whose “duty” it will be to publish it in full, subject only to narrow restrictions set out in law.

“They can't therefore edit out the bits of the report of which they disapprove or do not agree,” Sir Peter Openshaw said.

The chairman thanked all the participants in the Inquiry process, which he said had enjoyed “strong public engagement as a result of the live streaming and catch-up facility provided by the GBC and the detailed daily reporting of the Inquiry’s proceedings in the Gibraltar Chronicle”.

ADAM WAGNER

First up in the final session on Wednesday was Adam Wagner, the lead lawyer for Mr McGrail.

The bulk of Mr Wagner’s submissions focused on events around the RGP’s decision to attempt to execute search warrants on May 12, 2020, on James Levy, KC, the senior partner at Hassans and a mentor to the Chief Minister, who is also a sabbatical partner of the law firm.

The warrants related to Operation Delhi, an investigation into the alleged “hacking and sabotage” of the National Security Centralised Intelligence System [NSCIS], and into an alleged conspiracy to defraud Bland, the private company that operates the system.

The Inquiry had previously heard that Hassans held a stake in 36 North, the company at the heart of the police investigation, and Mr McGrail’s lawyers have alleged that both Mr Levy and Mr Picardo, as partners of Hassans, stood to gain financially from the alleged fraud.

At the time of the search warrants Mr Levy was a suspect in the investigation, though he was never arrested or charged.

In his closing statement, Mr Wagner said the Chief Minister did “everything within, and sometimes without” his power to stop Mr Levy from being investigated and to oust Mr McGrail from office.

He said the Chief Minister was “aided” by the Attorney General, Michael Llamas, KC, the then interim Governor Nick Pyle and the chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority, Dr Joseph Britto, who for different reasons failed to take the necessary steps to ensure red lines on conflicts of interest were not crossed.

Mr Wagner was blunt in his assessment as he appealed to the Inquiry chairman, Sir Peter Openshaw, to make robust findings and recommendations in his report to address what he termed as “corruption”.

“When a politician uses their power to undermine a police investigation into their close friend, that's corruption,” Mr Wagner said.

“When the leader of the police force is hounded from office because the police investigated a powerful individual who is a close friend of a political leader, that is corruption.”

“When witnesses are given financial incentives by a politician as part of giving critical evidence which helps that politician, that is corruption.”

“What happens next, sir, will determine whether that corruption is allowed to fester again.”

Mr Wagner said Mr Picardo had “pulled out every stop” to protect Mr Levy, even sharing with Mr Levy and his lawyers confidential information about the warrants received from the Attorney General.

It was “improper and absurd” for Mr Picardo to have suggested that he had the right to share that confidential information, he added.

“Mr Picardo's theory demonstrates…Mr Picardo does not understand the core responsibilities of public office,” Mr Wagner said.

“Or he knows them very well but chose to ignore them.”

Sir Peter Openshaw, he added, was entitled to conclude that the Chief Minister’s position was “so absurd that it's likely to be a lie”.

The interim Governor, the Attorney General and the GPA chairman should have acted as “institutional guardrails” to prevent the Chief Minister from “doing what he did”, the Inquiry was told.

“Each in their own way, failed to be those guardrails, whether deliberately, inadvertently or recklessly,” Mr Wagner said.

“The guardrails were left broken, as was Ian McGrail.”

“He was treated disgracefully by senior lawyers and officials.”

“The process he was subjected to was both a shambles and a sham.”

“He had his good name dragged through the mud over and over again, and it continues to this day.”

Mr Wagner said witnesses in oral hearings had expressed their “discomfort and shock” at the way the Chief Minister behaved, though in most cases it was the first time in four years that they had done so.

“Better late than never,” he added.

He noted that the former Solicitor General, Lloyd DeVincenzi, had been the only government lawyer to raise the alarm at the time.

“Unfortunately, nobody listened to him,” Mr Wagner said.

And he said that in oral evidence, key witnesses had acknowledged that the way Mr McGrail was treated was a breach of natural justice, and that the only witness left defending Mr Picardo was Mr Picardo himself.

He recalled the Chief Minister’s angry reaction in a meeting with Mr McGrail and Mr Llamas on learning of the warrants – “distorted face and flared nostrils” – and said it was ironic that the Attorney General had described Mr McGrail in evidence as “a bull in a china shop”.

“Because the fact that we say is unavoidable from the evidence is that the bull in the china shop was Fabian Picardo,” Mr Wagner added.

“The Attorney General, the Governor, the chair of the Gibraltar Police Authority should have been the matadors, standing up for the rule of law against the bull who was trying to charge through it.”

“But instead of red cloths, they held up white flags.”

Mr Picardo, the lawyer said, was a “consummate politician” with undoubted oratory skills.

“He's hardly the first political leader with a gift for the gab and a worrying tendency to protect his friends at the expense of the public interest,” Mr Wagner told the Inquiry.

“But that is what the Constitution is meant to protect against.”

“That is why Gibraltar has the guardrails, the red lines.”

Mr Wagner highlighted a “black hole” in evidence before the Inquiry that included messages between Mr Picardo and Mr Levy, and the lack of written records of meetings and conversations between them after May 12.

And he dismissed Mr Picardo’s position that his primary concern had been to protect the jurisdiction from reputational damage.

“We submit this excuse is really an attempt by Mr Picardo to give himself license to circumvent constitutional red lines, and the license was only for one investigation,” Mr Wagner said.

And he later added: “We say Mr Picardo's fatal flaw was being unable to separate his, Mr Levy’s and his firm’s interests from those of Gibraltar, and it's a complete nonsense that he would have acted the same or has acted the same with any other prominent lawyers.”

“Mr Levy got the Chief Minister's gold-plated protection package reserved for him alone.”

Elsewhere in his closing address, Mr Wagner dismissed evidence from Mr Pyle that the central reason for his loss of confidence in Mr McGrail related to the fatal collision at sea in March 2020.

Mr Pyle believes Mr McGrail withheld from him timely information he had already shared with others on the location of the collision in Spanish waters, in which two Spanish nationals died when their speedboat was hit by a police vessel during a nighttime chase.

But Mr Wagner said this was down to a misunderstanding over the word “incident” – for Mr Pyle it meant the collision, whereas for Mr McGrail it meant the collision and the preceding chase – and that Mr Pyle had never raised his concerns until after he was approached by Mr Picardo two days after the RGP attempted to execute the search warrants at Hassans.

There was “no evasion, no misleading”, Mr Wagner told the Inquiry, adding there had been “an unseemly rush for judgement” by Mr Pyle and that the collision was being used “as a peg on which to hang Mr McGrail”.

The former Commissioner, he added, had always invited external scrutiny of the RGP, including commissioning an independent investigation by the Metropolitan Police into the collision at sea.

On the flawed GPA process inviting Mr McGrail to retire, Mr Wagner said “it should have been blindingly obvious” that “basic principles of fairness” were not being followed.

And he added: “Mr Pyle and Mr Picardo placed enormous and intolerable pressure on Mr McGrail.”

“That pressure was so much that it caused a breach of natural justice in and of itself, and left Mr McGrail with no choice but to fall on his sword.”

Mr Wagner said his client was to this day being subjected to “a campaign of persecution”, some of it “government sponsored”.

He referred to Government press releases as recently as this week in which the Government had made statements about evidence heard by the Inquiry relating to Mr McGrail that were “not true”.

He mentioned too “vicious and defamatory” articles “systematically” published by the New People, a newspaper whose ultimate beneficial owner was Mr Picardo and whose shares were held by “a web of companies” that led to Mr Picardo and Hassans.

Those articles attacked Mr McGrail and others “who punctured the Government’s narrative”, while other articles appeared to back the Government position.

Mr Wagner, whose detailed closing submissions are published in full on the Inquiry website alongside those of other lawyers, proposed four recommendations he hoped Sir Peter Openshaw would take on board in writing his report.

He proposed a Conflict of Interest Act modelled on Canadian legislation to give a legal footing to rules on conflicts of interest.

He proposed too training and protocols for the Attorney General to assist in dealing with conflicts of interest, and training and protocols for people serving on the GPA.

Lastly, he called for “some kind of redress” for Mr McGrail, “an honest man and a dedicated public servant who has been treated disgracefully”.

That redress should be independently administered, he added.

SIR PETER CARUANA KC

Next up was Sir Peter Caruana, KC, the lawyer representing the Government parties, namely Mr Picardo, Mr Pyle and Mr Llamas.

Sir Peter Caruana said the process that led to the Chief Minister and interim Governor losing confidence in Mr McGrail as Commissioner had been “incremental” until the issues accumulated and “caused the proverbial glass to overflow”.

In the case of Mr Pyle, the tipping point was the fatal collision at sea and his belief that Mr McGrail withheld from him timely information on the location of the incident that he had nonetheless shared with the Chief Minister and the Attorney General.

In the case of the Chief Minister, it was his belief that Mr McGrail had lied to him over the warrants in a meeting on May 12, 2020.

“These were the immediate catalysts for their decision,” Sir Peter Caruana said.

“The other loss-of-confidence issues were matters, some very historical, that were brought to mind by them and contributed in different measure, if at all…to the final joint assessment in May 2020 that each of them had lost confidence in him, [and] that taking into account also the more historical matters, the threshold for action had been reached, leading them to their joint decision to seek his removal by the Gibraltar Police Authority.”

Sir Peter Caruana said the fact that neither the interim Governor or the Chief Minister had previously raised concerns about historical matters such as the airport incident or the HMICFRS report made them “no less true or genuine”.

He said the two men were entitled to lose confidence in the Commissioner and bring that loss of confidence to the Gibraltar Police Authority, “and that is what they did”.

Sir Peter Caruana dismissed the suggestion that the GPA chairman had been manipulated or pressured by the Chief Minister or Mr Pyle, reminding the Inquiry that the decision had been taken unanimously by Authority members.

The GPA “…decided collectively and unanimously, without further intervention of the Governor or the Chief Minister, to invite Mr McGrail to retire, and it did so principally because they took the view that having lost the confidence of both the Governor and the Chief Minister, his position had become untenable.”

Sir Peter Caruana said that while the GPA did not consider in detail the reasons put forward by Mr Picardo and Mr Pyle for their loss of confidence, it had acknowledged “a practical reality” that such a loss of confidence would impact the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in Gibraltar.

The GPA later withdrew its invitation to Mr McGrail after his lawyers pointed out procedural flaws which the Authority accepted, including a failure to provide detail of the allegations against Mr McGrail and afford him a chance to respond.

But Sir Peter Caruana said it was “wholly phoney and unwarranted” to blame either the interim Governor or the Chief Minister for those flaws.

Mr Pyle had been ready to consider using powers to ask Mr McGrail to step down but before that happened, the former Commissioner took early retirement, he says because of unbearable pressure.

“The real reasons why Mr McGrail sought early retirement was that he knew that he had lost the confidence of both the Governor and the Chief Minister and that, in consequence of that, the GPA thought that his position was untenable,” Sir Peter Caruana said, adding it had nothing to do with allegations of interference in Operation Delhi.

He dismissed too claims that Mr Pyle had been “an unwitting instrument” of the Chief Minister, adding that “whatever may have been the coincidence of their objectives”, the interim Governor acted with Foreign Office advice “in a manner that reflected his own views”.

“All of this apparently is lending himself to being manipulated by the Gibraltarian Chief Minister in full view of the Foreign Office in London, the same Foreign Office that has the constitutional responsibility for ensuring good governance in Gibraltar,” Sir Peter Cauana said of Mr McGrail’s allegations.

“With the greatest of respect, to anyone who understands the dynamics of the relationship between the Foreign Office and the Government of Gibraltar, it's not a plausible narrative.”

Sir Peter Caruana also firmly rejected allegations of interference in Operation Delhi and corruption.

“It is a wild and irresponsible allegation unsupported by evidence and sustained only by the speculative innuendo and hyperbole used to construct [Mr McGrail’s] own self-serving case narrative,” he said.

He said it was “implausible” to suggest the Chief Minister had intervened in the police operation to protect his financial interest, given Mr Picardo had taken steps to ensure the contract remained with Bland some 18 months before the issue with the Hassans search warrants.

The RGP had been free to proceed as it wished with Operation Delhi and did so, Sir Peter Caruana said, adding that the investigation was in any event not led by Mr McGrail.

While the Chief Minister had been critical of the RGP’s handling of Operation Delhi, he had a right to express that criticism and this did not amount to interference, either by him or other key office holders such as the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“Nothing that amounts to interference, still less improper interference, was done by any of them,” Sir Peter Caruana said.

And he later added: “Mr McGrail appears not to distinguish between interference in a police investigation and criticism of police decision and actions.”

“He wrongly equates them both and appears to have a misplaced sense of police immunity from criticism and comment about their decisions and actions.”

Mr Picardo “…was entitled to that critical view and to express it forcibly and privately to the Commissioner of Police, whether as Chief Minister or not, and regardless of the merit of the view.”

Sir Peter Caruana said Mr Picardo was also entitled to communicate with Mr Levy and his lawyers “and did so frequently”.

“He was equally free - and why this should be thought to be an interference with the investigation, I don't know - to adopt a supportive and sympathetic position towards a suspect, not least if that the suspect is his friend,” he added.

“People are innocent until proven guilty, and the fact that somebody is merely a suspect under investigation does not require him to be put in Coventry, even by the Chief Minister.”

Sir Peter Caruana said the Attorney General had given evidence that he was satisfied the Chief Minister “did not cross any line of legal propriety”.

And he said too that Mr De Vincenzi, the former Solicitor General who had been praised by other lawyers as the only person to signal potential conflicts of interest at the time of the events, had also said in evidence he did not believe the Attorney General had acted improperly in any way.

He urged Sir Peter Openshaw to take a holistic view of the evidence and claims before the Inquiry.

“I would urge you just to step back and, however unusual you think the governance in Gibraltar might be, is it really likely that all of these people would have engaged in this unlawful activity for the purposes and in the manner that Mr McGrail requires it to mean to justify his decision to opt for early retirement, which he says he did - even though it's clearly not the case on the evidence - because of this interference by all these important people?” Sir Peter Caruana asked.

“I say, sir, that if you take a holistic view, it is not plausible that that should be so.”

Elsewhere, Sir Peter noted that the new Inquiries Act, despite the controversy around it ahead of the public hearing, had not shackled the Inquiry as many had feared.

“There has been no curtailment of the Inquiry's ability to investigate anything it has wanted to investigate, and the domestically and internationally damaging comment and criticism levelled against these measures have therefore proved to be entirely unwarranted and unjustified,” he said.

He also urged caution on the calls for recommendations made by some of the other lawyers.

“The Government parties do not accept the basis of the somewhat exaggerated refrains on which these submissions are based, namely, that there has been an assault on or violation of the RGP's operational independence and still less of the rule of law, and that without bold, courageous and ambitious recommendations from yourself, the operational independence of the RGP and the rule of law in Gibraltar is not assured in the future,” Sir Peter Caruana said.

“None of which should be thought to mean that valuable lessons cannot be learnt and valuable recommendations cannot emerge from this inquiry. They can and no doubt will.”

Sir Peter Caruana reminded the Inquiry chairman that it had been the Chief Minister who decided to convene the Inquiry, even if Mr McGrail “may want to take credit” for calling for it.

“And having no obligation to have called this Inquiry, would [the Chief Minister] have done so with such broad terms of reference, or at all, and appoint an experienced criminal judge such as yourself to conduct the Inquiry if he had behaved corruptly, as Mr McGrail alleges, and had not, in fact, been lied to by Mr McGrail, upon which he based the very decision that he appointed you to inquire into?” he asked.

“These are not the actions of somebody who thinks he has anything improper to hide.”

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"What we have already is to outline the solutions, but it seems that there are certain points of understanding," said Juan Franco in an interview on Canal Sur Radio, collected by Europa Press.

Franco has conveyed his "tranquility" about the negotiations and in view of the next British elections, knowing that the technical negotiating team that is in the British delegation "is the same since it began" so, in the event of a political change, this staff would remain the same and "we would not have to be again explaining what has already been said ad nauseam".

Regarding the meetings held with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, and with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the mayor of La Línea reiterated that he was "calmer" in being convinced that there is "a fairly significant degree of knowledge and sensitivity to the problem" regarding the Rock.

Regarding the use of the Gibraltar airport, he has proposed that it "could have a physical projection on the municipality of La Línea and therefore in Spain" and that with the space there "possible more or less creative solutions to the problem of passport control could be proposed", making it clear on this, that to him, As mayor, "it is not his turn to talk" about these issues.

However, he has assured that "the possible solutions" on Gibrlatar involve "certain facilities" being installed in this municipality of Cadiz, in such a way that the City Council is "willing to sit down" with the competent Spanish authorities to see "the possible spaces that will be needed and from there begin to look for solutions".

In this regard, he has detailed that next to the customs area, implemented in the municipality, is the fairgrounds and on the other side, the Gibraltar airport. Thus, he has delved into the fact that "there would be the possibility" that on the façade of the airport terminal "a building would be carried out in our municipality" that would accommodate "some controls" of those that have been raised in the course of the negotiations.

The mayor has clarified on this that it is limited "only to issues of land, urban planning, licenses, investment and others".

(from MSN)

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Morocco and Gibraltar have a good relationship. Given that it is across the Med, this may be interesting, as some Gibraltarians have their roots from Morocco.

Morocco: pro-Palestine activists to protest Israeli warship 'docking' in Tangier port

The New Arab – 25 Jun 24 Morocco: activists protest Israeli warship 'docking' in Tangier

In January, the Moroccan government declined to receive a petition, endorsed by over 10,000 signatures, urging the reversal of normalisation with Israel.

In Morocco, pro-Palestine activists are set to take to the streets in protest of the alleged docking of an Israeli ship in Tangier port amid Tel Aviv's war on Gaza.

"The new Israeli Navy landing ship INS Komemiyut docked at the port of Tangier, Morocco, for supplies while sailing from the United States to Israel," revealed the Israeli newspaper Globes last week.

In early June, Israel's INS Komemiyut made a technical stop at the Tangier Med port during its journey from Pascagoula, Mississippi, in the United States to the naval base in Haifa, according to Israeli media. "At this stage in the voyage, the vessel turned off its position transponder," added Globes' report.

"Allowing the Israeli warship to dock is, unfortunately, a participation in the genocide of the Palestinian people, and support to the Israeli aggression on Gaza," said Mohamed El-Ghafry, coordinator of the Moroccan Front Against Normalisation.

In May, Spanish authorities refused a ship carrying weapons for Israel permission to dock at one of the country's ports.

The distance between Tangier Port and the closest port in Spain, which is Algeciras (In The Campo), is approximately 14 kilometres (about 9 miles) across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Late on Tuesday, 25 June, hundreds of pro-Palestine activists are set to gather in front of the parliament to protest.

Read entire article.

also - Morocco’s Foreign Minister questioned by PJD on Israeli warship docking in Tangier

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SCOTT RITTER : PUTIN OUTFOXES BLINKEN AND MORE NEWS | JUDGING FREEDOM bitchute.com Bitchute

BitChute is a video service that prioritizes creators and champions users' freedoms and privacy.

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gbc.gi Current phase of waste water treatment plant expected to complete 'in coming...

Gibraltar News, GBC News, Latest Gibraltar News

The current phase of the waste water treatment plant project is expected to be completed in the next few months.

In answers to questions from the Leader of the Opposition, Environment Minister John Cortes explained Eco Waters Ltd were the preferred bidders, and were expected to receive a full advance works contract.

Dr Cortes said a multi-disciplinary team was working with preferred bidders to clarify technical and commercial details.

He said considerable progress had been made but it was impossible to set a time-frame for the final completion of the project.

Current phase of waste water treatment plant expected to complete 'in coming months'

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gbc.gi Brexit 8 years on: 'We are in a much better place than anyone could have...

Gibraltar News, GBC News, Latest Gibraltar News

Published by GBC News

The Chief Minister says that eight years on from the Brexit referendum, we are in a much better place than anyone could have predicted.

Fabian Picardo says the fact negotiations continue and that no-one has got up from the table, is a "demonstrable success" and shows the will to find a solution and to close a treaty.

The Chief Minister hosted the Mayor of La Linea, Juan Franco.

The purpose of the meeting was to cross-brief on the ongoing negotiations.

Juan Franco says that in recent months, he has sat in up to eight meetings with different layers of the political set-up, ranging from the regional Mancomunidad de Municipios to high level briefings from the Spanish Foreign Minister and the EU's Secretary of State.

The Mayor of La Linea says he is satisfied with the level of communication and involvement - but he points out that there are issues which could need addressing - remarking on the possible changes at the frontier. Juan Franco says that issue in particular would require the involvement of La Linea in technical talks.

Brexit: "we are in a much better place than anyone could have predicted." says Chief MInister

Mayor of La Linea says removal of frontier would require direct input from La Linea at meetings

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Gibraltar Messenger – 24 Jun 24 Amicus Curiae Brief For The McGrail Inquiry

My amicus letter is to explain that, if McGrail had kept God's Law, the focus would always have been on the wrongful deeds of Picardo and others.

Est. reading time: 3 minutes

Please read and share this letter using its direct link on Gibraltar Messenger. Thank you.

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gbc.gi ​HMS Triumph arrived in Gibraltar on Friday

Gibraltar News, GBC News, Latest Gibraltar News

HMS Triumph is in Gibraltar after arriving on Friday to restock supplies and munitions.

The vessel is berthed at the Naval base.

Triumph is the last remaining Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine in the Royal Navy fleet.

The 23 year old sub was involved in military operations in Afghanistan and Libya, and described as having a varied role that includes fleet protection and intelligence gathering.

She is equipped with cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes and is understood to have taken on munitions while on the Rock.

The MOD does not comment on submarine movements in Gibraltar waters.

HMS Triumph can stay at sea unsupported for up to three months, and in 1993 sailed to Australia, travelling 41,000 miles unsupported – the longest solo deployment ever completed by a Royal Navy submarine.

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Olive Press News Spain – 12 Jun 24 EXCLUSIVE: Explosive allegations against gaming firm Mansion shake Gibraltar...

A GIBRALTAR gaming firm whose name was emblazoned on various Premier League shirts has been accused of operating illegal online gambling in over a dozen

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Excerpts:

This involves illegally trading in various countries and led to the alleged defrauding of various governments...

The alarming list of alleged unlawful acts includes operating without appropriate licences, circumventing regulations, dodging taxes, and online gambling in countries where it is illegal.

Mansion Group, which was the European offshoot of Asian brand M88, operated the recognisable names of Casino(dot)com, Mansion Casino and Slots Heaven from their Gibraltar head office.

The Olive Press can also reveal that during the period of alleged wrongdoing, from 2011 to 2021, Mansion Group had links to Gibraltar’s then-Finance and Gaming Minister, Albert Isola CBE.

Meanwhile, an Isolas sister company called Fiduciary was even more closely involved with Mansion Group, helping its opaque ownership behind the scenes with trust management services.

Read entire in-depth article on Olive Press

The Koran condemns gambling and alcohol, recognizing both as a social disease which is addictive and destroys personal and family lives.

Sura 2:219. They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask thee how much they are to spend (in charity). Say: "What is surplus to your needs." Thus doth God make clear to you His Signs: in order that ye may consider-

Sura 5:93. O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handiwork: shun such (abomination), that ye may prosper.

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UK Defence Journal – 19 Jun 24 American destroyer completes patrol of Europe

The ship completed its patrol on May 29, 2024, after departing Rota in November 2023 following extensive repairs and upgrades.

The ship completed its patrol on May 29, 2024, after departing Rota in November 2023 following extensive repairs and upgrades.

During its comprehensive Surface Incremental Availability (SIA), $17.5 million worth of repairs, alterations, and installations were made to the ship’s engineering, weapons, and combat systems.

The ship began its patrol by completing a Mobility-Engineering (MOB-E) certification in the Bay of Cadiz, where it played a key role in the 2023 European Air-Missile Defense Exercise (EAMDEX).

This exercise involved the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Space Force, along with NATO allies.

The ship then transited the Strait of Gibraltar and joined the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG), participating in various operations and exercises. Following this, the Arleigh Burke returned to Rota for inter-patrol Training and Maintenance Availability (TRAV) before redeploying to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in January 2024.

Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota, is a Spanish-U.S. naval base commanded by a Spanish rear admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in Spain, housing U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel. There are also small U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force contingents on the base.

Gibraltar Messenger – 1 Feb 23 Spain's Put a Target on Its Back

With Spain's unwavering commitment to NATO's Satanic plan, how soon will it find itself on the receiving end of an attack from Russia. Will it survive?

Est. reading time: 12 minutes

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Another way the east is beating the west

"It’s theft at a scale so large that investigators are now calling it a mass transfer of wealth from middle-class Americans to criminal gangs. Last year, the FBI estimates, pig butchering scams stole nearly $4 billion from tens of thousands of American victims, a 53% increase from the year before."

CNN – 17 Jun 24 Killed by a scam: A father took his life after losing his savings to criminal...

Dennis was one of countless victims of a massive global criminal operation predominantly run by Chinese gangs who have built a multibillion-dollar scam industry in Southeast Asia.

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chronicle.gi Franco holds ‘dense and complex’ Brexit meeting with Madrid officials

La Línea's mayor, Juan Franco, held a

La Línea's mayor, Juan Franco, held a "dense and complex" meeting with Spain’s State Secretary for the European Union, Fernando Sampedro, and his team on Tuesday evening, analysing in depth the repercussions of Brexit on the Spanish city.

After the meeting, Mr Franco confirmed that the Spanish Givernment "is aware of all the issues that concern us in our city regarding Brexit”.

He said these include the impact on cross-border workers, pensions, businesses and the potential implications of removing the border and enhanced use of Gibraltar’s airport.

The mayor welcomed the focus on La Linea and the effort to address its concerns, adding: "We are now recognised [by Madrid] as the city mainly affected by Brexit in relation to Gibraltar."

"All the problems that concern us so much are on the agenda, they are being dealt with and solutions are being sought,” he said.

Mr Franco expressed his hope that agreement on a UK/EU treaty for Gibraltar would be reached soon and that "a viable future for our town will be guaranteed".

Mr Sampedro and his team from Spain’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs also met with the cross-border workers’ association Ascteg.

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Ban mRNA jabs now, demands top scientist

THE lead author of a study that revealed serious adverse events in the original trials of the mRNA covid vaccines has called for the products to be withdrawn, citing ‘multiple new pieces of evidence’ of the harm they are causing.

American clinical scientist and physician Dr Joseph Fraiman headed a peer-reviewed analysis of the Pfizer and Moderna clinical trial data which found that the jabs increased serious harms, particularly heart damage, at a rate of one in 800 recipients. The work, which challenged the ‘safe and effective’ claims, was published in the journal Vaccine in September 2022.

Although the risks had not been disclosed to the public, Fraiman and his co-authors did not believe at the time that an immediate ban was warranted, and called instead for the release of more data by the drug companies to enable more detailed analysis.

But in a short statement, featured here last week on Dr John Campbell’s video channel, Fraiman cites a British Medical Journal article about data gathered by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showing exactly the same serious adverse events, but not publicly disclosed.

He adds that many autopsy studies have found ‘essentially conclusive’ evidence that the vaccines are causing sudden cardiac deaths.

Because of official denial of the risks, no one knows the extent of the problem, but nations using the jabs have had significantly more people dying than would be expected from the records of past years.
Continued at link...

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gbc.gi Govt declines to answer questions on Rooke Home following multiple delays

Gibraltar News, GBC News, Latest Gibraltar News

The government has declined to answer questions on the Elderly Residential Home on the Rooke site, more than a year after its due completion date.

It says the building is “privately owned and will be privately operated”. It has not said who the owner is.

The works have been hit by multiple delays and have cost £38 million to date.

The Minister for Interior Development, Sir Joe Bossano, first announced the Rooke Care Home project in April 2020 saying it would provide 170 new residences which would then release Government Housing.

The original intention was to move some of the elderly out of Mount Alvernia into the new home, but in Parliament last year, Sir Joe said it was no longer the intention of the government to transfer residents or staff to the next facility.

In a first for Gibraltar, the home would be built using self-contained, prefabricated units shipped in from China which Sir Joe explained would mitigate any potential negative impact of Brexit at the border and that it would be a more cost-efficient way of constructing on the Rock, post-Brexit.

200 containers duly arrived in January 2023, with the minister having said in Parliament that he hoped it would be completed by May or June.

A joint venture company called GBIC Limited was formed between the Government and a Chinese company to construct the home, funded by Community Supplies and Services Limited (also delivering the new football stadium and other projects).

CSSL, of which Hassans Senior Partner, James Levi KC and Partner Anthony Provasoli are Directors, receives its money from the Gibraltar Savings Bank as part of Sir Joe’s National Economic Plan.

However, the Rooke Care Home is now a year behind schedule and the costs are rising.

Sir Joe told Parliament this was due to unforeseen complications

He said there were problems obtaining the supplies for the non-modular parts.

Sir Joe also revealed the construction setbacks have pushed up costs for the home, leading to cash flow problems for GBIC Limited, the company building the site. This reportedly resulted in sub-contractors not receiving payment for months.

This week, GBC asked the Government when the building is expected to be finished, but it declined to provide any answers, saying instead ‘it is privately owned and will be privately operated.’

Earlier on this year, Sir Joe said the intention was to sell the building with one customer willing to pay £50 million for it. He also said he expected it would be ready later this year.

Once the home is completed, the Government says it will take a decision on how it will access or use the facilities.

Government declines to answer questions on Rooke Elderly Residential Home

x.com Suzuki (@SuzukiVitaraGib) on X @SuzukiVitaraGib Sir Joe’s Economic Plan is to use Saver’s funds to give it to a company (CSSL) whose directors are two Hassans partners, which lends money to GBIC (a joint venture with China) to construct an elderly home. This is not safe use of Saver’s funds. Everything is rosy until it’s not.

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All Defending-Gibraltar users, please do everything you can to make this happen.

Gibraltar Messenger – 21 Jun 24 Act NOW or face your fate.

Reinstate and enforce God’s Law and keep The Covenant yourselves. It's the only way to survive what's coming.

Est. reading time: 3 minutes

Please read and share this letter using its direct link on Gibraltar Messenger. Thank you.

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Dear everyone,

Apologies (click to expand) (click for more details)

Work in progress

Defending Gibraltar

This thread was inspired to me by @Ayesa writing:-

" ...an opportunity to reflect on how things will be when we, as people from all over the world with different levels of English*, (hopefully) meet in Gibraltar one day. Do we want to dismiss everyone who can't express themselves perfectly?" (source)

And of course one of the main purposes of this forum;-

"...Early on we asked people politely to stick to things relating to, or affecting Gibraltar, and how to defend it,..."

"...Gibraltar needs defending, and the corruption ending by reinstating God's Perfect Law of Liberty, so please stick to doing that...."

Perhaps some pondering and discussions about how Je/Di could, and should influence Gibraltar positively and temper it's defences and strenghten it.

Is not the best, and in fact only defence that really works reinstating The Law?

How do we reinstate God's Perfect Laws of Libery?

How do we get the people to bring the politicians and pharmaceutical and medical people to justice, under The Law that empowers them to do so? Insread of being hamstrung by fraudulent legislation designed to disempower and enslave them.

How do we make the people make the RGP get off their backsides and start arresting these people and their accomplices who have harmed the entire population with their poisonous jabs and corruption?

Would a school where The Law is taught and the Blessings and cursings of The Law explained and witnessed be a good idea?

We start small here by co-operating harmoniously and lovingly (I love you all) like brothers and sisters of the same family, with Father and The Lord coordinating.

Please, let us forget our past differences and transgressions and become and focus on the same goal. If we all talk to Father and ask what should be done about this I believe things will start happening.

Perhaps this thread and how we interact should be more of a work document, a bit like a Wiki, to start with?

*Perhaps spiritual levels is a more important than the levels of English?

TWH 2:20 There would also be higher and lower spiritual levels, like in human schools, which go from nursery to university (Mark 12:32-34), with A-Z classes, and all grades in between. What humans call intelligence and levels of intelligence, or awareness, are really spiritual levels.
2:21 The upper levels were to help to teach the lower ones, by example and not words, whilst ALL levels are being taught by God (Head-teacher). All the students should be helping one another, and becoming less selfish (love your neighbour as much as yourself - Matt. 19:19), thereby earning more points and responsibilities, climbing higher up the spiritual ladder, until they become enough like God (like Jesus demonstrated), graduate and go home (John 8:32 / King of kings’ Bible, John 8:23)

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20 jun 2024 All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

(0:00) Bestie intros: Big house talk! (1:37) Economy: Regulation, taxes, tariffs, taming inflation, de-dollarization (12:02) Federal debt: growth, spend control, where to cut, role of energy, nuclear (20:22) Foreign policy: Ukraine/Russia (25:05) Foreign policy: Israel/Palestine (28:13) Abortion: Stance on a national ban (31:09) Foreign policy: China (32:33) COVID: Origins, Fauci relationship, deep state, bad deals (39:39) Border: Wall, immigration, H-1Bs, recruiting global talent (46:07) JFK Files: Full release, importance of transparency (48:06) Debate prediction (50:15) Post-interview debrief

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This year’s June solstice is the earliest in 228 years. The solstice arrives at 20:51 UTC on June 20, 2024. The last time the solstice arrived earlier than this was in 1796, when it occurred at 17:45 UTC on June 20. - June solstice in 2024: All you need to know

At the June solstice, no matter where you are on Earth, the sun rises and sets farthest north on your horizon. The sun is directly overhead at local noon as viewed from the Tropic of Cancer. Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is high in the sky and closest to being overhead at local noon.

In Ireland, the Summer Solstice is celebrated with a fervor that blends ancient traditions with modern-day revelry. One of the most iconic locations for solstice festivities is the Hill of Tara, steeped in mythological significance as the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland. At dawn on the longest day of the year, visitors and locals gather atop this sacred hill to witness the sunrise, a moment that marks the triumph of light over darkness.

Tara: Voices From Our Past (2009) BitChute Tara: Voices from Our Past - a recent discovery

To survive what is coming, read/study: https://thewayhomeorfacethefire.net For further research see the post/thread at Defending-Gibraltar that contains this video: Summer Solstice and The Hill of Tara https://defending-gibraltar.net/t/summer-solsti…

Discover the Biblical History and Significance of Tara:
History - THE STORY (in brief) of Tephi, queen of Tara and Gibraltar.
Future Significance - The Ark of The Covenant at The Hill of Tara

There's also an interesting article on Time to Think about the 2018 Summer Solstice - An Unforgettable Summer Solstice at the Hill of Tara

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