{{Short description|Political party in Gibraltar (1967–1976)}} {{Infobox Political Party |name = Integration with Britain Party |logo = |leader = Robert Peliza<br/>Maurice Xiberras |foundation = {{start date and age|1967}} |dissolution = {{end date and age|1976}} |ideology = Workers' rights<br />British integrationism<br />Gibraltarian-British unionism |position = Big tent |international = |european = |europarl = |colours = |headquarters = |website = |colorcode = {{party color|Integration with Britain Party}} |country = Gibraltar }} {{Politics of Gibraltar}}
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== [[File:Robert Peliza.jpg|thumb|left|Robert Peliza, leader of the IWBP.]]
The party was established in February 1967 by Robert Peliza, a former member of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR), calling for full integration with the United Kingdom, including direct parliamentary representation in Westminster.<ref name=VM/>
In the 1969 elections, the AACR emerged as the largest party with seven of the fifteen seats in the House of Assembly, with the IWBP winning five and the Isola Group of independents winning three. The AACR, led by Joshua Hassan, was unable to form a coalition government with the Isola Group, who instead supported Peliza and formed a government with him.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xMGHAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Integration%20with%20Britain%20Party%22%20Isola&pg=PA49 ''Britain, Spain and Gibraltar 1945-1990: The Eternal Triangle''], R. H. Haigh, D. S. Morris, Routledge, 2002, page 49</ref>
After Alfred Gache, a member of the Isola Group, defected to the AACR on 1 June 1972, the IWBP could no longer command a majority, and thus could not form a government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. - United Nations Digital Library System |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/731208/files/A_8723_Rev-1%255EVol-IV%255E-EN.pdf |access-date=2026-02-12 |website=digitallibrary.un.org |page=39 |quote=On 1 June 1972, Major Alfred Gache, Gibraltar's Minister for Commercial and Economic Development, resigned his post in the Government; he called on Major Peliza "to acknowledge the collapse of the caretaker Government" and suggested that the Chief Minister, lacking the necessary confidence of the majority in the House, should have rather resigned than dissolve the House.}}</ref> Peliza dissolved the House of Assembly and called early elections on 23 June.<ref name=VM>Vincent E McHale (1983) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=nqCGAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Integration+with+Britain+Party%22 Political parties of Europe]'', Greenwood Press, p325 {{ISBN|0-313-23804-9}}</ref> Although the IWBP won seven seats, it was defeated by the AACR, which obtained eight seats and 52% of the vote, while the Isola Group disbanded with both Peter and William Isola joining the IWBP. The results returned Joshua Hassan to power, leaving Peliza as Leader of the Opposition. In October 1972, Maurice Xiberras took over as party and opposition leader.<ref name="VM" />
The party had two main political goals, namely achieving parity of wages between the labour force in Gibraltar and that in the United Kingdom and integrating with the United Kingdom. Although they were successful with the first of these objectives, with Gibraltar workers gaining parity of wages in July 1978, the party's main aim of union with the UK was dealt a severe blow in 1975, when Roy Hattersley, at the time a junior minister in the British Foreign Office, stated that integration was not acceptable to the British Government.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hmdpAAAAMAAJ&q=emphatically ''Gibraltar''], Maurice Harvey, Spellmount, 1996, page 164</ref> Despite this, in early 1976 a cross-party Constitution Committee was established in Gibraltar to discuss and plan for constitutional changes involving the further integration of Gibraltar with the United Kingdom. Joshua Hassan and Maurice Xiberras visited London in June 1976 as delegates of the Constitution Committee, but were unable to convince the British Government to support their proposals, leading Hattersley to issue a memorandum rejecting the proposals on behalf of the Government.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1976/aug/03/gibraltar Written answer of Mr. Hattersley to Mrs. Hart], HC Deb 3 August 1976 vol 916 cc726-7W.</ref>
As a result of the British Government's clear repudiation of their entire ''raison d'être'', the IWBP was dissolved shortly before the 1976 elections.<ref name=VM/> The AACR won eight seats (with a personal vote of 75.3% for its leader Hassan) and returned to power, although Xiberras was elected as an independent.<ref name=VM/>
==Other former IWBP members== Another Chief Minister, Joe Bossano, began his political career in the IWBP, and was elected to the House of Assembly in 1972. However, he left the party in 1975 and formed the Gibraltar Democratic Movement after the IWBP was dissolved.<ref>McHale, p324</ref>
Lloyd Devincenzi Sr. was an IWBP member, who served as Minister for Education and Recreation from 1969 to 1972, and as shadow Minister from 1972 to 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Composition of Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.gi/history/composition-of-parliament |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=Gibraltar Parliament |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Sources== *{{cite book | first = William | last = Jackson | year = 1990 | title = The Rock of the Gibraltarians. A History of Gibraltar | publisher = Gibraltar Books | edition = 2nd | location = Grendon, Northamptonshire, UK | isbn = 0-948466-14-6 | pages = 323–324}}
{{Gibraltar political parties}}
Category:Defunct political parties in Gibraltar Category:Political parties established in 1967 Category:1967 establishments in Gibraltar Category:Political parties disestablished in 1976