Gibraltar News Online

Looking back over 2005 I am delighted to say that for Gibraltar it has been for the most part a satisfactorily dull year.

It has had its highlights, of course, but they have mainly been opportunities to reflect with gratitude on those who helped build our city and its institutions - Nelson’s navy in October, the Loreto sisters last week. With a more enlightened approach from our Spanish neighbours, there have been less crises, and Gibraltar has continued to prosper. I have no doubt that there are storms as well as sunshine ahead, but I believe we can look to the future with some confidence.

I cannot, however, say that it has been a particularly good year for Europe, or for our planet. We have seen famine in Africa, natural disasters in Asia, tension and fighting in the Middle East. And closer to home young British men have felt enough desperation and hatred to blow themselves and dozens of their innocent fellow citizens to pieces, and riots in French cities have further highlighted the deep social and racial divisions in modern Europe.

In Gibraltar we have always prided ourselves on being not just a safe place to live, but a remarkably strong and united community, with a cohesion that cuts across religious, ethnic and economic divisions and is the envy of visitors. And so we are. When I ask people here why, some talk of Gibraltar’s history as a city under siege, and of the years of the closed frontier. But still more point to the strength of family ties, never more evident than at a traditional Gibraltar Christmas. I am sure that is right. But even here one sees these ties starting to weaken under the pressures of modern life - more divorce, more single parent families. And just as the melting of the polar ice cap threatens the world with floods and storms, the melting of the family brings with it social trouble - even here in Gibraltar. We see rising concern about anti-social behaviour; at Halloween we saw that we too have our alienated youth. We see respect for established institutions and values eroding. With us, these problems are much less acute than in other places. But we have them, and they are getting worse.

It is not for me to suggest answers to these problems - there are certainly no simple ones. What I would like to do is to thank those many people in Gibraltar who are giving their time and energy so generously to tackling them, and so keeping Gibraltar safe and happy. Some are active in voluntary organisations, as magistrates, or on housing estate committees. Others choose careers in education, social services or the police. Others contribute simply by observing the highest standards in their daily life and work. They need and deserve not just our gratitude but our active support.

This is the third Christmas my wife and I have spent in Gibraltar - and sadly it will be our last. We have hugely enjoyed being part of this community, and will always be grateful for the warmth and kindness we have met everywhere. We believe you have something very special here, something worth fighting to preserve, and something which you should never take for granted.

Indeed by gathering in your families to celebrate the birth of Christ, by renewing family ties and by everything you do to make sure that nobody is shut out from the warmth of Christmas, you are helping to preserve the best in Gibraltar. Gill and I wish you all a very happy Christmas, and a peaceful and prosperous year ahead.