Images that will never be forgotten
SPAIN is now in the throes of a political crisis and the images of violence will have horrified people who until yesterday paid little attention to this constitutional stand-off.
Footage of security personnel seizing ballot boxes in a western European country are disturbing; the sight of people being hit with batons is as alarming as it is unforgettable.
By any measure, Spain has suffered a public relations disaster. Intelligent and reasonable academics, lawyers, politicians and citizens could hold different positions on the validity of the referendum; there are ministers across the European Union who would shudder at the thought of similar referendums taking place and dread the instability that the fragmentation of states would trigger.
However, the attempts to stop the referendum will have deepened the convictions of pro-independence Catalonians that for the sake of their nation and their children they should try and break from Spain.
The images captured on phones and by the world’s media will be burnt into the memories of a generation who will push for full autonomy with a new urgency.
The likes of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats’ Sir Vince Cable have called on the UK Government to express its concern to Spain.
Sir Vince said: “Police in a democracy should never drag people violently out of polling stations, whatever the arguments for or against holding a referendum.”
Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price condemned the “biggest threat we have seen to the values of democracy and human rights on this continent of Europe since the dark days of fascism”.
One of the most significant narratives in the 20th century was the collapse of empire; a key development was the recognition of the right of people living in colonies to self-determination. The Spanish Government – among others – will not want the principle established that people living in regions within an existing country can form independent nation states.
The UK Government took a radically different approach to demands for an independence referendum in Scotland, having previously facilitated a border poll in Northern Ireland. But the Foreign Office will have provided little comfort to pro-breakaway Catalonians with its statement that it wants “to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected”.
Whitehall officials will not want Spain to make life difficult for people living in Gibraltar – or for expat Brits who have moved to Spain for work or retirement. But the heavyhandedness of the efforts to thwart the referendum has troubled people in different parties.
Rightly, democracies are held to a high standard when it comes to human rights and the use of state force. That standard should not be lowered.
Arguments about self-government will continue in Europe for decades to come. It would be a tragedy for our continent if the type of scenes we have just witnessed become commonplace.