Government assesses Gibraltar future

The Government today delivered a renewed promise that there will be no sell-out of British citizens in Gibraltar.

At the same time, as Tony Blair met Spain's prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, ministers warned the colony could not remain "stuck in the past".

Mr Blair and Sr Aznar were meeting at Downing Street for the second time in a week, after Spain's premier was among those at the gathering of EU leaders last Sunday to discuss the campaign against terrorism. The focus today was expected to be on EU issues. But the future of Gibraltar remains the biggest sticking point.

Many of the 30,000 living on the Rock were alarmed by recent reports of renewed and "secret" talks between London and Madrid and suggestions that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was determined to end the long-running deadlock.

Suspicions were reinforced after Spain's foreign minister said there was now "a political will to look for a solution". Europe Minister Peter Hain today said the pledge that Gibraltarians would be given a referendum over any proposal to end their British citizenship remained. But he added: "I also have to say this: we cannot keep getting stuck in the past."

There had been huge changes across Europe, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Northern Ireland peace accord - words which looked like the clearest signal that Britain's colony, too, must be ready to adapt.