The Memorandum by Her Majesty's Government on the Report of the Constitution Committee, or the Hattersley Memorandum for short (by

Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Depu ...

, Minister of State,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

of the United Kingdom), dated 26 June 1976, was the answer of the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

British Government to proposed constitutional changes in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

ruling out the possibility of integration of Gibraltar with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In September 1975,

(a Minister in the

) had visited Gibraltar and made it clear that the integration with the United Kingdom was not an option for Gibraltar. However, during early 1976, a Gibraltarian inter-party Constitution Committee began to work on a proposal of constitutional changes that involved a closer integration of Gibraltar with the United Kingdom, including responsibility for its affairs being transferred to the Home Office. A delegation of the Constitution Committee visited

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in June 1976, but were unable to convince the United Kingdom Government which, as response, issued a memorandum dated 26 June 1976 rejecting the proposals on the grounds of "avoid innovations which might result in prolongation of the frontier restrictions imposed by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

". The memorandum ruled out the option of integration of Gibraltar with the United Kingdom. Apart for removing such an option from the constitutional and political development of Gibraltar, it effectively disbanded the

Integration with Britain Party The Integration with Britain Party (IWBP) was a political party in Gibraltar. Although it never won an election, it was briefly in power from 1969 to 1972 when Robert Peliza of the IWBP was Chief Minister. History The party was established in ...

, which had been in office from 1969 to 1972, and was the main supporter of the integration of Gibraltar into the United Kingdom.Obituary of former governor John Grandy
by Maurice Xiberras

References

History of Gibraltar 1976 in Gibraltar {{UK-gov-stub