24 October 2019
Homage to Catalonia
Defying the People.
By J R Thomas
Crazy name, crazy guy. Let-Win, or Letwin, or Oliver Letwin, to get to the nub of it. Perhaps, Let-Them-Not-Win. The cleverest idiot in the House of Commons, some call him; or, the most stupid genius. Neither seem particularly fitting; he does not seem to be an idiot, or stupid, nor a genius or especially clever. But he does seem to be a trifle out of touch with the mood of his constituents. According to The Sun, which some of our readers may have missed on Monday, his local voters expressed regret that he has decided to stand down as Tory candidate at the next election for his seat, West Dorset. Entirely because they wanted to vote against him and cause him to lose his job. Bit unsporting, but he does seem to have that effect on people. Oliver likes a clever stratagem, and he likes appearing on the television to brag about it, with a rather annoying little grin to underline just how clever this has been. His mother did not warn him when going off to big school (Eton, as it happens): “Nobody loves a smart-ass, darling”.
He seems to be slightly out of touch with the mood of much of the country, too. Who knows how many Brexit Leavers there are now, but there are a very large number of “For God’s Sake Just Let’s Go and Get It Over With’ers”, and just as it looked as though the FGSJLGGIOWith’ers were to have their wishes granted, up pops Oliver and stymies the whole thing. One must, of course, admire a man of principle, who sticks up for his beliefs, of course one must. But there comes a point when it is best to say, “the battle is done, and we have fought the good fight to our best ability, but to no avail. Let us surrender with grace and dignity”. Not all men of principle have taken this line, of course. Charles I in 1642 did not. He carried on, believing that God was on his side and in the divine right vested in any Stuart male occupant of the throne. Some of his supporters went along with the King’s view of his qualifications, others, perhaps equating Oliver Cromwell with Jeremy Corbyn, or maybe John Macdonnell (Cromwell being at that point the man behind the curtain and out in the field, to thoroughly mix our metaphors), were not so keen on divine rights but feared the alternatives.
The people of Catalonia know a Letwin or two as well. In their case the clever cloggies are sitting in the Cortes in Madrid, and they are busy blocking any chance, so they hope, of Catalonia achieving independence from the rest of Spain. This trouble blew up almost exactly two years ago when the Spanish government was of a rightist inclination, and was faced with a referendum by the leftist regional assembly in Catalonia, which the independence movement won, and accordingly so declared. The Madrid government was having none of that, sent in police and troops, arrested leading advocates of independence, and declared this unconstitutional. The European Union through its President, Donald Tusk, said that the EU recognised only Spain as its “interlocutor”. In 2018 there was a change of government in Madrid, to the left leaning coalition of Pedro Sanchez, but it too has refused any constitutional change in the position of Catalonia. The recent trials of the independence leaders found them guilty, with the national government refusing to intervene (and thus sparking off the recent strikes, rioting, and general civil disobedience in Barcelona).
Catalonia is of course a different case to the United Kingdom. The Catalonian leavers voted 90% to Leave. But on a turnout of 42% of eligible voters, most Remainers boycotting the referendum (probably not a good idea as it turned out, even if it was an illegal poll). There has never, according to opinion polls, being a majority of Catalans wanting independence, and the proportion of Leavers is declining as immigration from the rest of Spain increases. And, perhaps most significantly, the Catalan independence movement is strongly identified with the Left; it is a political as well as a nationalist cause.
But there are some similarities to the struggle for Brexit, in particular, as to how the Remain causes in both countries have fought. Both have relied heavily on the law as an instrument for squashing the secessionists, in both cases with some fairly inventive interpretations of legislation, and it must be said, on the willingness of judges to be persuaded that Leaving is not a good idea. In a democracy and a free country, the law must of course prevail if popular systems are to survive in the long term, but equally, the law has to consider the will of the people; and if the law has become out of touch, then it is the job of politicians to adjust it to reflect the times.
In Spain and in the UK the politicians with their hands currently on the tiller have perhaps lost sight of the necessity of retaining popular consent to the functioning of the state. Populism, much derided by the old political establishment, is a response to that failure to adjust to the popular will, and not just in Great Britain and Spain. In the USA the populists have seized power (in a most unlikely personage) and the Democratic Party is having a little struggle all of its own as to how it will respond to that. In France, the populists thought they had occupied the Elysee, in a much more palatable form, but now increasingly realise they have not. In Spain, whilst the central government opposes populism in Catalonia, the traditional parties in Madrid are all in a state of enormous change and instability. In Britain? There is no need to answer that.
Which is not to say that the populists are always right; and that conservatives, very much with a small “c”, are always wrong. Politics is about leadership as well as representation, and at times it is necessary to do very unpopular things to achieve longer term desirable results – as Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan showed in their early years in office. But the wise politician will be very careful about how they deploy the truncheon of high office, and will ensure that velvet gloves are deep and caressing. In Catalonia there has been a lot of the former and very little – indeed none, of the latter. Even in a region (or country, let’s not argue), which has perhaps no majority for independence that is a foolhardy approach. In Britain, where there was a clear majority for independence, one which may well have recently increased, it is asking for trouble to so treat the Leaver cause – especially when led by a Prime Minister of impeccably populist instincts and, it seems, considerable leadership skills. Even if almost as unlikely as his counterpart across the Atlantic.
Mr Letwin and his ally Mr Bercow – who does not have the Letwin intelligence or wit – are behaving with great imprudence in an atmosphere of increasing fury with politicians and political systems (and judges). They would all be well advised to take a fact-finding holiday immediately. Barcelona is very pleasant at this time of year, the climate mild, the food delicious, the flight time short, the rioting eye-opening. Go to it, chaps. You may find it clarifies your thinking.
