Michael Cuby

Starlink's high-speed, low-latency internet is now available in Gibraltar! 🛰️🇬🇮❤️ → starlink.com/gibraltar

We are investigating an antisemitic arson attack on Jewish ambulances in Golders Green. We know this will cause significant concern in the local community and are stepping up patrols and engaging with faith leaders. Read more here: mynewsdesk.com/uk/metpoliceuk…

The UK government has finally broken its silence on the sinister events which happened under the UK’s watch in a British Overseas Territory. You might think that, given the Mandelson scandal, the UK government would be keen to distance itself from a politician who has been found by a judicial process to have acted in a “grossly improper” and “sinister” way. Or perhaps not. To recap, over six weeks ago a public inquiry chaired by a retired High Court Judge found former Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police, Ian McGrail (my client), was forced out after Gibraltar's Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, made “grossly improper” and “sinister” interventions in a police investigation into the alleged hacking of Gibraltar’s national security system, all to protect his friend and business partner. He also “deliberately and cynically” misled Gibraltar’s Police Authority to engineer Mr McGrail’s removal. In Gibraltar, the British government, through the Governor, is responsible for “peace, order and good governance”. The then-Governor, FCDO diplomat Nick Pyle, oversaw a completely unfair process leading to Mr McGrail being “forced out”, as the report found. The British Government have, until now, said nothing about the findings nor have they accepted responsible for what happened to Mr McGrail. Yesterday, Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty broke this silence, saying the findings were “extremely serious” and “deeply concerning” and “must be urgently addressed”. The UK government “takes its constitutional responsibilities very seriously and expects the highest standards of good governance to be upheld in all our Overseas Territories, including in Gibraltar”. However, the “Inquiry and the report's findings are firstly the responsibility of the Government of Gibraltar, the Gibraltar Parliament, Judiciary and other local accountability mechanisms and authorities.” The report’s governance recommendations are useful - we proposed many of them. But the person charged with implementing them, the Chief Minister, is the very person Sir Peter Openshaw found attempted repeatedly to interfere with a criminal investigation, and misled Gibraltar’s Police Authority to force out Mr McGrail. Mr Picardo now claims the report "vindicated" him but is also suing the Inquiry (go figure!). As Transparency International said: "Though the inquiry makes several important recommendations, it is hard to see how these can be implemented effectively by those implicated in serious wrongdoing.” Unfortunately, the UK government’s statement fails to grapple with this and takes no responsibility for the UK’s own serious failings which allowed it all to happen in the first place. And so, this may be another case of UK ministers looking the other way because of a misguided idea of what is in the “national interest”. As with other scandals, the chickens will eventually come home to roost. questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questi…

@KaelanJoyce I wonder why you don't run for parliament as I think you would do a good job. You obviously care about this community by the way you act and comments made. Gibraltar would be well served by yourself.Your not alone as there are others who have your positive attitude would do well

@KaelanJoyce ‘Bad idea’ to have the data centre? I’m open ..I mean there would be plenty of caveats …but Gib lives beyond its means and lots of those revenue streams are narrowing …so I’m open

@KaelanJoyce I don’t know enough about this Pelagos idea to have a thoughtful opinion on it …but that article I just read was all over the place and had no coherency at all.

Pelagos data centre must meet Gibraltar’s economic, environmental and EU-alignment priorities chronicle.gi/pelagos-data-c…

The Government has integrated the promotion of plant-based diets into its Climate Change Strategy, stating that "the consumption of meat is particularly impacting on the environment". gbc.gi/news/veganuary…