This month, in a plebiscite on Catalan independence, four out of five voters opted to secede from Spain. The vote was symbolic: Madrid does not recognise Catalans’ sovereignty or their legal right to leave the Spanish state. Artur Mas, the Catalan president, is under criminal investigation for holding the poll. The Spanish government says his plan for independence in 2016 is “a road to nowhere”.
We do things differently in Britain. We have real referendums on independence, where even the defeated parties end up as winners. On September 18, 55 per cent of Scots voted against seceding from the UK in a referendum whose question, timing and franchise were shaped by the Scottish government. By then, dizzied by the yeasty nationalists, the leaders of the main UK parties had vowed that a No vote would still lead to devolution of “extensive new powers” to Edinburgh. This week, a cross-party group tasked with turning that vague promise into reality issued its recommendations. The conclusion of the commission led by Lord Smith of Kelvinmeans that Scotland should soon become one of the most powerful devolved nations in the world.
After a rushed process described by close observers as “ghastly”, “awful” and nearly ruined by “halfwits”, the group has proposed sweeping reforms. Most important are those to do with tax and spending. Under the Smith deal, Scotland would raise almost 40 per cent of its own taxes (up from less than 10 per cent) and control about half of the spending in the country. These changes are substantial. But it is naive to think they form Scotland’s final settlement.