Gibraltar calls on Queen to “visit her rock”

THE Chief Minister, Mr Fabian Picardo has called on Queen Elizabeth II to come and visit her rock.

As he addressed thousands of Gibraltarians on National Day, dressed in the traditional colours of red and white, Mr Picard said, “60 years ago we were last visited by Her Majesty the Queen on her first tour of her kingdom.”

He continued, “And that visit by the Queen led to a six decade tantrum by some people that we still feel the effects of today. Her Majesty the Queen has not been back to see us since then.” As the crowds began to cheer and applaud, he ended his speech, “Well, as proudly British Gibraltarians that we are, I want you to make clear to Her Majesty the warmth of our invitation to her to come back to Gibraltar.”

 “She doesn’t need an invitation to come back to her Rock but do you want to see the Queen back in Gibraltar?” he asked, as the crowd gave a huge round of applause.

 “If I can’t hear you they can’t hear you in Buckingham Palace, Gibraltar, do you want the Queen to come back to the Rock?”

“Yes” they told him. “Now there’s a message and a half,” Mr Picardo said.

After singing the National Anthem, the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, labelled the Spanish “bullies” and told the people of Gibraltar, “Let the message go out that the people of Gibraltar and the people of the Great British family we will stand up to Madrid.” He also stated that the Foreign Office should end their block on the Queen visiting Gibraltar.

The Queen has not been back to Gibraltar since 1954, when the Gibraltarians voted to remain British and Franco consequently shut the border for over a decade.