I do love the fact that Trump has painted this as his decision when there's a 1992 bill that forces release by the end of this month anyway. Trump's making a fuss purely as a diversion from something that he expects to fall out into the open soon (which could be one of a dozen scandals waiting to break). Vin
With Rajoy taking a leaf out of the Everton directors manual this weekend with Puigdemont getting the push, the Tories could do worse that recruit Puigdemont to lead them in their Brexit negotiations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41768017 National Action charges: Man accused of MP murder threat No matter what we think of some of them, it's scary being an MP sometimes.
So, Catalonia's parliament has voted in favour of a motion to unilaterally declare independence from Spain :: It has not yet formally declared independence - it remains unclear when/if it will do so. Meanwhile Spanish senate approves direct rule of Catalonia.
Which makes me realise that, no matter what we think of our MPs and our Parliament, maybe we have a few things to be grateful for.
And Theresa may says we will formally NOT recognise Catalonia as a separate sovereign state. What's good for the goose eh.? We have our own double standards here.
We can't exactly recognise Catalans illegal referendum while preventing the Scottish government from holding a second one. I would have preferred we stayed out if it though, or at least called on Spain to create a legal way for an independence vote.
I'm no fan of Theresa May, but on this she's quite right. Catalonia has not held a referendum of any legitimacy. It simply cannot be argued that the Catalan govt is fulfilling the will of it's people by declaring independence. Not that the Spanish government comes out of this well - Rajoy has messed this up horribly.
Then perhaps they ought to have a referendum. Then they could have their own resounding vote for leaving. And I think they'd probably manage a bigger majority than we did even on a bad day.
Perhaps the Catalan government ought to respect their own country's constitution, rather than illegally calling a referendum they knew would not be recognised (including by many Catalans, who would rather abstain than legitimise an illegal stunt). Opinion polls before this charade showed support for Catalan independence to be running at about 42% .
And from the Spanish government’s point of view, is there not an element of fear that by legitimising the Catalan independence movement, there might follow a resurgence of the Basque independence movement, which would tear Spain apart completely?
Absolutely, that would be in their minds. Both the Basque and Catalan regions have been afforded consuderable autonomy anyway. It is also worth recognising that these are the two wealthiest regions of the Spanish state. It's most unlikely that Andalucia, for example, which certainly has it's own culture and traditions , would ever seek to cause the break up of Spain - it would cripple their fragile economy.
I'm neither supporting or non-supporting Catalans. They will do their own thing. I'm mainly pointing out the odd absurdity of our own little Brexit disaster and the comparisons and contrasts to our outcome and attitudes. Goodness knows why we couldn't have all lived in a federal europe, enjoying our differences yet working together.