“There was no agreed referendum in Scotland” says Spanish vice president

The Spanish vice president, Carmen Calvo, believes “there was no agreed referendum in Scotland.” In an interview with the Catalan radio station RAC1, she did not give any more details on why she believes this to be so, but criticized the former UK prime minister, David Cameron, for allowing a vote on independence in Scotland.

“For Cameron, who will probably not go down in history as one of the best European leaders, not only did this situation get out of hand, but so did a bigger one” she said referring to the Brexit referendum and its outcome.

Edinburgh agreement

On October 15, 2012, the Scottish government and the UK government signed the so-called ‘Edinburgh Agreement’ that specified the terms of the Scottish independence referendum. The agreement was signed by the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and his then-deputy, Nicola Sturgeon. The vote on Scottish independence was held on September 18, 2014.

Back then, Cameron said: “I always wanted to show respect to the people of Scotland. They voted for a party that wanted to have a referendum. I’ve made that referendum possible and made sure it’s decisive, it’s legal and it’s fair.”

No to Catalan referendum

During the interview, Calvo went on to reject once more the possibility for Catalonia to hold an independence vote claiming that it is not possible either in Spain or in other “comparable democracies.”

“There is no possibility to hold a referendum for a breakup of the territory,” she added.

Calvo also sent a message to the 2 million people who voted for pro-independence parties in the past Catalan election. “In democracy, even above any decision we can take, there is the legal security and the rules of the game, which citizens directly decided,” she said referring to the Spanish Constitution, passed in a referendum 40 years ago with the support of an overwhelming majority of Catalans.

Pre-trial jail of Catalan leaders “makes no sense”

Pedro Sánchez’s number 2 also insisted that “it makes no sense that the precautionary imprisonment [of nine jailed leaders] stretches on.” According to her, they should be home to prepare their trial but at the same time she rejected calling them “political prisoners.”

She also said that “ultimatums” such as the one set last week by the Catalan president, Quim Torra, do not contribute to dialogue and to finding a way out of the conflict.