The Leader of the Opposition Joe Bossano left Gibraltar yesterday address the United Nations Committee of 24 in New York. Mr Bossano, who is accompanied by Opposition Member Fabian Picardo.

The Opposition condemn the fact that Gibraltar was unable to participate in the opening ceremony of the European Athletics Championships taking place in Barcelona because of political objections raised by Spain. This shows that Madrid continues to have no hesitation in mixing politics and sport as they have done for many years.

The Opposition have received complaints from tenants that one of the two lifts at Referendum House is again out of action. The tenants claim that the faulty lift has not been repaired despite various reports that have been made by them to the housing department in the last few days and they are understandably concerned that many people will be left stranded if the only remaining lift were to break down as well.

The decision of the Government to consider becoming a majority shareholder in the development of the first phase of the Mid Town project will only serve to further compound the way in which this development has been politically mishandled from the very outset. It was bad enough that the land for the project was undervalued and undersold five years ago. It now adds insult to injury that the taxpayer, who has been short-changed by this project, should now have to bail out the development because bank finance is unavailable.

It is regrettable, to say the least, that once again members of the public continue to complain to the Opposition as to cancelled operations.  In fact, the Opposition is concerned at the sharp increase in the number of operations that have been cancelled at St Bernard’s Hospital because of bed shortages. The flippant remark by Mr Caruana and Mrs del Agua that operations are cancelled even in the Houston Medical Centre will serve as scant consolation to the many people who continue to be affected by this problem.

The Mayor of La Linea Alejandro Sanchez has claimed that the measures that he wants to take at the frontier are not aimed against Gibraltar but against the central Government in Madrid. Even though this may be the intention, he must surely understand that the direct effect of the measures will be felt in Gibraltar alone and not in Madrid or anywhere else.

It is obvious that this Government lack both the conviction and the arguments with which to defend the policy decisions that they take. Their latest response to the Opposition statement regarding the case of a 14 year old girl who had to spend two nights in prison is a case in point.

The failure of the Government to provide berths for small boat owners whose boats are on land at Western Beach has once again created a severe parking problem for beach users in the area. The Opposition drew attention to this matter a year ago and berths have still not been provided for those affected.