The Scotsman

Snparrogan­ce

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It was upsetting to hear one SNP spokespers­on’s comments on the Catalonian situation over the weekend. With the nationalis­t party’s trademark arrogance we were informed about how they won a referendum for Scotland and got their preferred wording and fixed the date and so on, through negotiatio­ns with David Cameron in the Edinburgh Agreement. All perfectly true.

What they did not say, however, and this remains in the elephant in the room, was that the Edinburgh Agreement stipulated that the result of the referendum would be respected by all parties. This it was decidedly not.

Since the day following the defeat they have campaigned endlessly for another, as many forecast. If it had not been Brexit, it would have been a factory closure somewhere or some defence matter – the “cause’’ to them is immaterial.

The fact is they did not accept the result and will not ever. Their behaviour has been a mockery of democracy and the will of the people.

A referendum can only solve a constituti­onal problem if the result is accepted – otherwise it merely exacerbate­s the problem – and that is what they should be telling the Catalonian separatist­s.

ALEXANDER MCKAY New Cut Rigg, Edinburgh

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