Nats’ backing for Catalan vote

SNP ministers have given their support to Catalonian separatists who are banned from holding an independence referendum.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has rejected calls by Catalan officials for negotiations on a vote.

Officials in Catalonia and the north-eastern region’s capital, Barcelona, asked in a letter released on Friday for fresh dialogue on holding the vote with the government’s permission.

“The prime minister can’t make something illegal into something legal,” said Inigo Mendez de Vigo, the minister of culture.

Madrid has rejected the unilateral vote planned for October 1, but separatist politicians launched the Yes campaign on Thursday as they press ahead with the vote despite a court ban and a criminal probe into three out of four Catalan mayors actively supporting it.

Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “All peoples have the right to self-determination and to choose the form of government best suited to their needs, a principle which is enshrined in the UN Charter.”