How the Scottish National Party risks turning Caledonia into Catalonia
The independence battle looks like turning into an ugly stalemate
THE INDEPENDENCE marches which occasionally wind through grey Scottish cities are colourful affairs. The blue and white of the Saltire jostle with the red and yellow of the Estelada, the banner of Catalonia’s separatist movement.
The struggle for Catalan independence from Spain has been an inspiration not just for Scotland’s nationalists: it also influenced David Cameron, the Conservative prime minister who permitted and then won the referendum on independence in 2014. If he had not, he wrote in his memoirs, the question of Scotland’s future would have festered and the case for independence grown stronger. Catalonia held an illegal referendum in 2017, which was followed by arrests and riots. It was, wrote Mr Cameron, a lesson in the perils of mishandling separatists.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Is Caledonia Catalonia?"
Britain August 8th 2020
- How the Scottish National Party risks turning Caledonia into Catalonia
- How coronavirus strengthened Scottish independence
- Why food blocks a British-American trade deal
- Boris Johnson’s grand planning reform has weak foundations
- John Hume’s vision of peace in Northern Ireland is only half-fulfilled
- With face-masks, Britain imported an American culture war
- Boris Johnson’s horrible House of Lords list
From the August 8th 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Britain
A growing number of Britons are on disability benefits
The government’s attempts to cut the welfare bill miss the bigger picture
British farmers shunned green schemes. Then the rain came
A rare Brexit dividend
Questions grow over the future of the London stockmarket
More than 20 listed companies are facing bids. Others are mulling their options