GSLP-Liberals-Manifesto-2019

let’s talk about....Sir Joe
JOE BOSSANO HAS SERVED YOU AS MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SAVINGS BANK
AS WELL AS MINISTER FOR EFFICIENCIES. HE IS AN ECONOMIST AND THE FATHER OF COMMUNITY CARE TRUST. HE HOLDS
DEGREES FROM THE UNIVERSTIES OF LONDON, BRMINGHAM, NORTHUMBRIA AND THE OPEN UNIVERSITY. HE WAS FIRST
ELECTED TO THE THEN HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IN 1972 WITH THE INTEGRATION WITH BRITAIN PARTY. HE HAS SERVED AS CHIEF
MINISTER FROM 1988 TO 1996 AND AS LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION FROM 1984 TO 1988 AND FROM 1996 TO APRIL 2011. JOE
WAS BRANCH OFFICER OF THE TGWU UNTIL HE BECAME CHIEF MINISTER AND HIS ROOTS IN THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
GO BACK TO WHEN HE FIRST LEFT GIBRALTAR IN THE MERCHANT NAVY. JOE IS ALSO FLUENT IN ITALIAN. HE IS MARRIED TO
ROSE, THEY ARE GRANDPARENTS AND BETWEEN THEM THEY HAVE 7 CHILDREN.
I have served our country now for 47 years. This will be my 13th general election.
The first legislation that I voted on when I was elected in 1972 was the Act that made us members of the European Union,
or rather the European Economy Community as it was then. All the growth in our economy has been as member of the
European Union and this is about to end on the 31st October 2019. In 1988 when I became Chief Minister I set out to grow
our economy to replace the loss of the MOD presence that was being radically reduced. I set out to make Gibraltar selfsufficient
and economically independent and had a sceptical and not very helpful UK Government.
Six weeks after the elections Gibraltar’s new government will be facing the biggest challenge to the economic model that
was created by the GSLP after 1988. We are the only option with a Post Brexit National Economic Plan which we shall set
in motion in the first week of Government if you give us your support and we continue as your Government.
All indications are that the EU and the UK are likely to be entering into recession, as I predicted a year ago, but our economy
will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace. The National Economic Plan is not just to ensure economic growth, it is also
designed to make our economy Brexit proof. This is absolutely essential if we’re going to be able to afford our public services
and in particular essential areas like health and education and continue to provide affordable housing. The new economy
for Gibraltar will take us into a future outside the European Union if we leave on 31 October or we leave at the end of the
transition, in 2021, if there is an agreement. The post Brexit National Economic Plan will guarantee our economic growth
for the next four years and the targets I am setting, I am confident will be achieved, as has been the case with all my biggest
projections.
The estimate this year in fact is quite conservative and it is quite possible that over our four years the growth will be more
than the 15% we are targeting. The plan is set out in detail in the pages on the economy and I will start working to make it
happen within days of being sworn into government if I am re-elected. This year we are also able to develop apprenticeships
in new areas and the silver lining in the post Brexit situation is that we shall have better control of the labour market and
ensure that we train our people especially in the areas where we are now highly dependent on frontier workers, which
dependence may become a problem in the future.
The loss of our membership of the EU is a major challenge for the economy but it is also an opportunity to build a new
economic model so that we are much stronger and more secure as a result. We did it in 1988 when we had to cope with a
loss of MOD jobs and we can do it again. You know that I have always delivered on the economy and you can rely on me
to do it again after Brexit and give our Gibraltar a secure economic future, which is the only way we can also guarantee our
political future.
We are the only option with a solution to deal with the results of Brexit. Vote for us and help us make it happen.
...aspire to the best Gibraltar
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