UK set to cave into Brussels over proposed post-Brexit rules

Britain looks set to cave into Brussels over proposed new post-Brexit rules governing Gibraltar in a ‘serious diminution of UK sovereignty’, MPs warned yesterday.

A letter to ministers from the Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee raised ‘serious concerns’ that British negotiators have failed to stand up to Eurocrats during talks.

Of particular concern is apparent plans to carry out Schengen border checks required by the EU on British soil at the peninsula’s airport rather than at the border with Spain.

It means Britons face intrusive checks to enter their own territory, which the committee branded ‘seismic’ and a move which would render ‘Gibraltar’s frontier British in all but name’. MPs fear the agreement about to be struck could even mean some Britons being turned away.

Britons face intrusive checks to enter their own territory, which the committee branded ‘seismic’ and a move which would render ‘Gibraltar’s frontier British in all but name’ (stock image)

Committee chairman Sir Bill Cash (pictured) wrote: ‘If agreed as you outlined to us, allowing current Schengen checks to be administered by [EU] Frontex border guards at the airport would erode UK sovereignty to the point of meaninglessness’ (stock image)

New rules for arrivals from non-member countries being introduced by the EU across the bloc in October mean Britons returning to Gibraltar or travelling there for work could be forced to undergo further biometric checks, supplying fingerprints and a photograph.

In a letter to Foreign Office minister David Rutley, committee chairman Sir Bill Cash wrote: ‘If agreed as you outlined to us, allowing current Schengen checks to be administered by [EU] Frontex border guards at the airport would erode UK sovereignty to the point of meaninglessness.

‘From your evidence, we suspect that the UK Government is prepared to concede an arrangement that will leave Gibraltar’s frontier British in all but name.

‘The practical implications of this are seismic. You were unable to reassure us that UK nationals and Gibraltarians, wishing only to enter Gibraltar, would not have to undergo Schengen checks.’

Mr Rutley appeared before the committee last week, where he admitted that the Rock territory had to follow some EU rules in return for a more open border with Spain.

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