Yesterday, the Supreme Court in London ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to call a new independence referendum without the consent of the British government.
The president of the Catalan National Assembly, Dolors Feliu, lamented the court’s decision, which “has denied democracy to the Scottish people, making it clear that Britain is not truly a voluntary union of nations”. The Supreme Court ruling puts the principle of democracy in jeopardy by blocking the will of people to peacefully choose their future.
This ruling, together with the UK government’s previous refusal to allow Scotland to vote in a new independence referendum -as it was able to in 2014, with a referendum agreed with Westminster- has made it clear that the unilateral path is the only option.
“Despite the differences between Scotland and Catalonia, both countries are striving to achieve independence peacefully and democratically in the face of states that don’t even want to hear about it“, commented Dolors Feliu. “Faced with states like Spain and the UK, which do not want to allow the democratic exercise of voting in a referendum, the decision to use the next British legislative elections to turn them into plebiscitary elections presents itself as a realist, solid and feasible alternative. Scotland is now starting down a path that has been underway in Catalonia for some time now“.
Catalonia’s struggle for independence is part of a historical moment of change on the European continent and goes hand in hand with those struggles for national freedom experienced by other nations and peoples of Europe, as is the case of Scotland. Faced with this very important process that the Scottish people are starting, the president of the Catalan Assembly has reaffirmed the support of the Catalan independence movement with the people of Scotland. She has also made the experience and expertise of the entity available to the Scottish pro-independence civil and political agents, to accompany and support the campaigns and civic actions in support of the plebiscite that may be carried out.