Tony Blair agreed to a secret deal to hand joint sovereignty of Gibraltar to Spain, according to explosive claims by a former Labour cabinet minister.

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Peter Hain reveals in his memoirs that he struck the deal with the Spanish government in 2002 to end the UK's 300-year control of the vital strategic outpost.

He makes clear that he and Mr Blair were both prepared to ride roughshod over the objections of the people of Gibraltar in order to get their way, describing Mr Blair's attitude to the inhabitants as 'contemptuous'.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) was prepared to ride roughshod over the objections of the people of Gibraltar in order to get his way, Peter Hain (right) has revealed

Deal: Gibraltar has been a British overseas territory since 1704

The former Europe Minister revealed Mr Blair sanctioned the deal because he wanted to win the backing of the Spanish government – then led by Jose Maria Aznar – to help Britain take on France and Germany in EU negotiations.

The agreement was only shelved when what he called 'hardliners' in the Spanish government – who wanted only full sovereignty – objected.