On Tuesday, Gibraltar's government published a video on Twitter of the Spanish Navy patrol ship Infanta Cristina in the sea off the territory and accused it of carrying out an "illegal incursion" into its territorial waters.
This prompted Lord Howard to say he believed Mrs May would defend the Rock as Margaret Thatcher did the Falklands.
Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis has met with Britain's Brexit secretary amid simmering tension over the future of Gibraltar following Britain's departure from the European Union.
"We're going to be talking to them about getting the best possible deal for the United Kingdom and for those countries, Spain included".
A Spanish gunboat has been chased off by Royal Navy vessels after entering British waters off Gibraltar following days of growing tensions.
He said the British Overseas Territory would not allow itself to become a bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations.
After 24 hours of increasingly aggressive rhetoric following publication of the European Union council's draft guidelines, which said Spain would be given a veto over any arrangements concerning a future relationship with the territory, the prime minister was asked directly by reporters onboard her plane to Jordan whether the United Kingdom was prepared to declare war on Spain, which was met with laughter.
Last October, the conservative executive of Mariano Rajoy proposed to share sovereignty so the Rock can continue to be under the control of the European Union after the Brexit, but the offer was rejected by Gibraltar citizens.
Some of the highlights from Thursday's suite of Liberal pot-legalization bills
It makes Canada "the largest federal jurisdiction in the world to legalize cannabis consumption", according to The Toronto Star . Each country sets its own rules, said Goodale, but he suggested Canada might get on the phone if it became a big deal.
"Mr Tusk, who has been given to using the analogies of the divorce and divorce petition, is behaving like a cuckolded husband who is taking it out on the children", Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said in an interview. "We want to negotiate the best possible deal for the United Kingdom and the best possible deal for Gibraltar", she said.
Spain has a long-standing territorial claim on Gibraltar, which has been held by the United Kingdom since 1713 and has the status of a British overseas territory.
Currently, Gibraltar is mostly self-governing, and its chief minister said living under Spanish rule would be "absolutely very bad".
Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, speaking to reporters this morning, repeated the UK's sovereignty commitment to Gibraltar.
"I'm absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar".
Spain, which has persistently claimed sovereignty over Gibraltar, says the EU's clause is reasonable.
British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the formal divorce process last week, nine months after Britons voted in a referendum to leave the EU.
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