As Catalonia today fights for its freedom, it should not be forgotten that the current government of Spain are the direct political heirs of Franco and that many of their ministers have personal and family connections to his rule. Rajoy, Spain’s current Prime Minister, started his political career in 1981 by joining the People’s Alliance, a party founded in 1979 and led by 7 of Franco’s ministers to carry on the Francoist legacy. The People’s Alliance became the major component in the now governing People’s Party.
That is the essential background to the extreme Spanish nationalist dislike of freedom for Catalonia, and far right nationalist moves to declare the Catalan referendum illegal.
This is a good day to think of Euan MacColl’s updating of Jamie Foyers, to remember those Scots who fought alongside the Catalans against fascism at the Battle of the Ebro.
Faur distant, faur distant, lies Foyers the brave
Nae tombstone memorial shall hallow his grave
For his bones they lie scattered on the rude soil o Spain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle wis slain
He’s gane frae the shipyaird that stauns on the Clyde
His haimmer lies idle, his tools laid aside
Tae the wide Ebro river young Foyers has gane
Tae fight by the side o the people o Spain
Thair wisnae his equal at wark or at play
He wis strang in the Union till his dying day
He wis grand at the fitbaa, at the dance he wis braw
Young Jamie Foyers wis the flouer o thaim aa
He cam hame frae the shipyaird, took aff his warkin claes
O, A mind the time weill in the lang simmer’s days
He said, “Thinknae lang, lassie, A’ll come back again”
But young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain
In the fight for Belcite, he was aye tae the fore
An he focht at Gandesa till he couldnae fight more
For he lay owre his machine gun wi a bullet in his brain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain
Faur distant, faur distant, lies Foyers the brave
Nae tombstone memorial shall hallow his grave
For his bones they lie scattered on the rude soil o Spain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain
When the BBC was smugly quoting the current Francoist government of Spain as the bar to Scotland’s entry into the EU, I was longing for somebody to give just a little of this historic perspective. But of course, the mainstream media never did.
Oh No! Abbott’s going to be lording it in Brisbane next Saturday.
G20 Brisbane 2014: What you can and can’t do in Brisbane this week http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/economy/g20-brisbane-2014-what-you-can-and-cant-do-in-brisbane-this-week/story-fnkjjoue-1227118551675
About time these junkets were abandoned.
MODS
only One Poster Quote’s possibly Real names..Over and Over again….I Know they show themselves up ..But Mods Get a Grip…
It is a fallacy to compare the union and Scotlands reasoning for Independence with that of Catalonia.
Spains economic power does reside with the Catalans, some 20% of GDP I think and it is down to Spain’s Government to change the failed economics of the south.
As for England, has it got a poor south? as argued by canspeccy, there are completely different economic circumstances here, its a dominant rich south that dictates to Scotland, that’s just about the only comparison there is.
If England wants out of the EU, then Scotland can stay in, if it so wishes, that’s the rub of the nub. Nobody can force Ireland, Wales or Scotland out of the EU.
That said, I totally agree with Silvio’s post, the EU in its current conception has failed, the reasons are clear to see for all, unaccountable and unelected commissioners, lobbied by some 30.000 plus companies, are not inclined to make this EU work for its voters, they work for those companies and the countries which appointed them.
Our MEP’s get to vote on what commissioners prepare, mostly, not on what is best for us. The EU budget has been defrauded in agriculture and most likely in other portfolios, the accounts have not been audited, in short, we the voters, have let them get away with it.
And guess what, it is our party political system, malleable politicians who have enabled them to do this to the EU, nobody else.
If people vote for lazy frauds such as Farrage, vote for parties rather than individuals with principles, they seem to die at a very young age here, then that is what will happen with a great unwieldy bureaucratic institution.
So we run away from it, do we? Leave it all as long as we are alright Jack? hmmm is that not what the Catalans want?
NO,as far as I know they want to stay in the EU and work within, as an integral part.
If England oh so educated voters want to leave the EU because of some knuckle dragging alcoholic whippet with a chip on his shoulder, who has been promoted as a fall back position, an establishment guy, then that is their prerogative, just don’t speak for others in the Union, they have their own representation.
@esteban, phil, others
Yes the current nationalist trend in Catalonia is motivated by economic factors, but the ‘leaving with all their money’ narrative is false and misleading. Before the crisis Catalonia (like countless other places) was overextended financially. You can criticise, but many people/businesses/regions calculated on the principle that at least if we’re paid what we’re owed we should be ok.
The reason the crisis hit so hard in Spain according to JP Morgan, and the reason there’s so much unemployment was due to everyone – businesses, individuals, town halls, local government, central government – deleveraging at the same time. You can criticise the borrowing, but most people and businesses who went broke were owed money.
Despite being one of the regions hardest hit by the crisis especially in terms of unemployment, Catalonia has to keep paying more money than it receives, while rebates have been witheld due to the crisis. In order to pay the shortfall at regional level, the regional govt has to borrow from central govt at a higher rate of interest than it borrows at. Less well-off regions who were not overextended are now using our contributions to hand out tax-breaks. All of the cutbacks are then ordered in health and education (controlled by the regions) rather than in defence spending or central administration or other areas of under central control.
The problems of the crisis may have been self-inflicted, but the ‘solutions’ have been grossly penal to net-contributing regions like Catalonia and Madrid (they’ve obviously responded in a different way, see: Podemos). Being a so-called richer region means three things: a sharper rise in unemployment, an even greater loss of health and education services and a growing regional debt.
Anyone who thinks we just want to fuck off with the money needs to look again at the facts. Anyone who thinks we should just change the constitution should probably ask the same question to Arab-Israelis: ‘You have all the mechanisms, what’s stopping you?’
Thank you WillyRobinson, your account is much clearer than my argument could ever be.
The rigid Constitution Spain so relies on is long overdue for reform.
Sorry O/T
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis
which apparently means ‘helpers of Jerusalem’ a group founded in Egypt and which was/is active in the Sinai, after Mursi was convicted of being a Muslim president, have now declared that they will help their zionist friends in Israel to get rid of Assad by joining IS.
ahhhh, how it fits. IS seems to be the only islamist group that kills only islamists, that has never had any designs of saving the Al Aqsa mosque or helping their fellow Palestinians.
Quatar and Turkey and saudi’s are behind this, as is the artificially low oil price, their strongest ally of all, designed to make life hard for Assad and his mate Putin.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/islamischer-staat-terrorgruppe-in-aegypten-schwoert-baghdadi-treue-a-1001965.html
Yes Brian Haw PBUH – a personal friend. Now we have the PRASRA law. I was told to “f off” at Woburn Sands memorial for giving a speech on glorifying war. Who are these humans?
http://indyrikki.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/then-and-now-parliament-square-democracy-and-repression/
O/T So the family was unlawfully killed, but who killed them?
Saad Al-Hilli murder: coroners finds family was unlawfully killed http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/saad-al-hilli-murder-coroners-finds-8072965
Mods
From Fujisan:
“MODS
only One Poster Quote’s possibly Real names..Over and Over again….I Know they show themselves up ..But Mods Get a Grip…”
_________________
Grateful to have your ruling on the above. I understood that Nevermind’s first name is Ingo not through guesswork or investigation but because at least one other contributor has referred to him like that in the past (which reference did not give rise to protests from Fujisan or anyone else if memory serves).
@ Nevermind (10h01)
Your post calls for a little clarification, as follows:
1. “Our MEP’s get to vote on what commissioners prepare, mostly, not on what is best for us.”
Most EU legislation is now decided by “co-decision”, meaning that the Council and European Parliament are co-legislators. (In fact, “co-decision” is a bit of a misnomer beacause in reality it is the EP which has the last word in case of disagreement). Your comment is only correct in the strictly limoted sense that it is the Commission which kicks off the legislative process through the submission of proposals to the co-legislators. And if you follow EU affairs attentively you will see that amendments voted by the EP often go substantially against the grain of what the Commission originally proposed.
2/. “The EU budget has been defrauded in agriculture”
That is not incorrect. However, you must know that every Meember State has so-called “paying agencies” which actually disburse the agricultural funding supplied by the Commission. Moreover, the mechanisms in place to prevent fraud and ensure proper payment are very largely in the hands of, and under the control of the Member States themselves, and not the Commission. Indeed, Member States have always shown great reluctance to hand over greater powers of control and verification to the Commission. Hence, if there is fraus, it is very largely due to the Memver States themselves and not the “EU”.
3/. “unaccountable and unelected commissioners”
It is sad that I have to keep repeating myself on this point. Commissioners are indeed not elected? This is because they are civil servants and not politicians and are therefore – as in every country – appointed; moreover – again as in every country – they act under political control (in this case, by the Council and the EP). Neither are Commissioners unaccountable; they are individually accountable both to the President of the Commission and to the Commission’s political masters (through the medium of Council and EP control of the legislative process) and they are accountable, collectively, to the European Parliament, which has the power to dismiss the Commission.
Hope that clarifies.
@ Willy Robinson (10h09)
Quite a persuasive commentary, but one which overlooks a small but nevertheless significant fact.
Namely that certain Catalans have been agitating for independence since well before the crisis (2008 onwards) you use as the linch-pin of your argument.
@Mark: “Forgive them O Lord, for they know not what they do”.
Nevermind
“Thank you WillyRobinson, your account is much clearer than my argument could ever be.
The rigid Constitution Spain so relies on is long overdue for reform.”
___________________
God, you are a dull dog aren’t you, Ingo.
Firstly, Willy Robinson’s comments have precious little to do with the Spanish Constitution per se; they are primarily an economic argument.
Secondly, you now call the Spanish Constitution “rigid”. Yesterday you called it a “fascist leftover”.
You have of course not had the balls (or the knowledge) to reply to my question about in which way is the Spanish Constitution is a “fascist leftover” and my request to point us to the Articles of that Constitution which could be considered “fascist”, but I will treat your more recent description (“rigid”) as acknowledgment on your part that you were talking garbage.
So the Catalonian’s in their mock poll voted overwhelmingly for independence, good on them.
However it just reinforces to me anyway that the 55% of Scottish residents who voted no, don’t have the confidence nor courage, to make a go of it.
will the Catalan People require a Monarch/Count should they gain Independence?
is the Count of Barcelona still Pretending?
The Moors were the invaders donchaknow?
Who you think the five million foreign Jews occupying historic Muslim Palestine are Mose Ben?
On October 12, 2012, Soeren Kern, posted an article at Israeli think tank Gatestone Institute, entitled ‘The Islamic Republic of Catalonia’, in which he try to scare the hell out of western Islamophobes. “A successful push for independence in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia with its capital in Barcelona would lead to the establishment of a country with the third-largest percentage of Muslims in Western Europe, just behind France and Belgium, and far ahead of Britain and Germany,” Kern said.
http://rehmat1.com/2014/11/10/jewish-lobby-opposes-catalonias-statehood/
The former deputy director of MI6 Peter Hayman sexually abused young boys at an apartment complex near Parliament, an alleged victim has claimed.
Hayman, who died in 1992, was investigated by police in 1978 for possessing inappropriate literature, but was not prosecuted.
He has been named as one of a number of paedophiles by a man, now in his forties, who claims to have been abused over a period of three years at Dolphin Square.
______________________________________________
How convenient that, Mr Hayman, is dead, after all dead men tell no tales.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2827378/Ex-MI6-chief-Peter-Hayman-named-VIP-sexually-abused-boys-Dolphin-Square-apartment-complex-near-Parliament.html
British taxpayers are forking out £13.5million a year to pay for EU subsidies for bullfighting in Spain, it has been revealed.
Spanish farmers receive the handouts for breeding the animals killed in the controversial sport as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Politicians are calling for Prime Minister David Cameron to refuse to make the payments immediately.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2827619/British-taxpayers-fork-13-5m-pay-EU-subsidies-bullfighting.html
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Time to stop funding in part, an arcane and horrific, practice, bull murdering has no place in a modern world.
A terrorist attack in the UK linked to Islamic extremism is ‘almost inevitable’ in coming months, security chiefs have warned.
Ministers are reportedly being briefed daily by security officials who have warned of a ‘step change’ in the threat posed by terrorism since the rise of the so-called Islamic State insurgency.
Scotland Yard and MI5 believe they have foiled three plots in London in the past few months, two of which were said to have been urgent interventions to stop terrorists ready to strike.
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Sniff sniff, I smell BS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828191/Terror-attack-inevitable-warn-security-chiefs-police-MI5-reveal-ve-foiled-three-plots-recent-months.html
Heavyweight Cabinet minister Eric Pickles has spent more than £500,000 on luxury limos.
Labour number crunchers have added up payments Mr Pickles made to the Government Car & Despatch Agency which supplies the vehicles.
And they found the Communities Secretary spent £247,775 on two ministerial cars in 2012 and £185,935 in 2013.
But in the first six months of this year he had already shelled out £103,091, an almost 11% increase.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Ashworth said: “This looks like seriously wasteful activity.
“Mr Pickles should be cutting costs, not driving around in luxury courtesy of the taxpayer.”
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Half a million quid spent on luxury limo’s for a Tory minister, it really does beggar belief.
Thanks to all you No voters Scots taxpayers will help to pick up the tab, for a long time yet.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-minister-eric-pickles-spends-4600153
@Habbabkuk
‘…certain Catalans have been agitating for independence since well before the crisis (2008 onwards) you use as the linch-pin of your argument.’
Sure, there’s been pro-Independence parties since the 70s. You could say though, that the whole political landscape changed here in september 2012, and that many of todays independentists were surprised bystanders – normal people – as little as 2 years ago.
**************** STOP PRESS ****************
Likelihood of ebola being a scam rises on news that Bob Geldhof is reforming Live Aid for Ebola single.
I should say they’re still normal people!
@Esteban
“They are richer than the rest of Spain and thus want all that money to themselves.
Change Spain to UK and there you have the prime reason for Scotch independence, don’t you? Plus Anglophobia.”
Canspeccy
No, change it to “They are richer than the rest of the UK and wish for some of it instead of, at present, ALL benefits from taxation going in the first instance to london, where they ALWAYS have first call on the revenues gained. Whats left will be permitted to be doled out upon the poor plebs in the rest of the country.”
Anglophobia, Canspeccy?? Dont flatter yourself matey! We have more important things to occupy our lives than going about muttering “damned foreigners” under our breaths. (although this explanation probably suits your mind set, rather than exposing the bare naked truth of your nationalistic prejudices)
“Likelihood of ebola being a scam”
Yes, there are a few things about the current ebola thing that don’t ring quite true.
A Pittsburgh takeout restaurant that serves food from countries at odds with the United States has temporarily closed following a threatening letter.
It comes after Conflict Kitchen launched a Palestinian menu, sparking outrage in the city’s Jewish community and drawing criticism from many who said America is not in conflict with Palestine.
The takeout cafe, which was designed and run by artists hoping to start conversations with customers about countries in conflict with the United States, has served food from Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela from a kiosk in the city’s Schenley Plaza
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It shows you how small minded pathetic and insecure that lot are, that they’ve got to attack a restaurant for selling Palestinian food.
As for American’s not realising that they’re aiding and abetting that lot, I can only say ignorance is no excuse.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2827100/Conflict-Kitchen-restaurant-serves-food-countries-odds-closes-receiving-threatening-letter.html
25 years ago, Hungary was being toasted in the West for opening its border with Austria to East Germans, in a move which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now the Western elites are not happy with Budapest which they consider far too independent.
The refusal of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling Fidesz party to join the new US and EU Cold War against Russia, which has seen the Hungarian parliament approving a law to build the South Stream gas pipeline without the approval of the European Union, in addition to the populist economic policies Fidesz has adopted against the largely foreign owned banks and energy companies, has been met with an angry response from Washington and Brussels.
Hungarian officials have been banned from entering the US, while the European Commission has demanded that the Hungarians explain their decision to go ahead with South Stream. That’s on top of the European Commission launching legal action against the Hungarian government for its law restricting the rights of foreigners to buy agricultural land.
The bullying of Hungary hasn’t made many headlines because it’s so-called “democrats” from the West who have been doing the bullying.
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I tend to agree that the EU carries far to much power, over other countries domestic affairs, and it looks like Hungary has had enough.
http://rt.com/op-edge/203151-hungary-independent-politics-west/
It is astonishing that the reconstruction of Gaza, bombed into the Stone Age according to the explicit goals of an Israeli military doctrine known as “Dahiya”, has tentatively only just begun two months after the end of the fighting.
According to the United Nations, 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, leaving 600,000 Palestinians – nearly one in three of Gaza’s population – homeless or in urgent need of humanitarian help.
Roads, schools and the electricity plant to power water and sewerage systems are in ruins. The cold and wet of winter are approaching. Aid agency Oxfam warns that at the current rate of progress it may take 50 years to rebuild Gaza.
Where else in the world apart from the Palestinian territories would the international community stand by idly as so many people suffer – and not from a random act of God but willed by fellow humans?
The reason for the hold-up is, as ever, Israel’s “security needs”. Gaza can be rebuilt but only to the precise specifications laid down by Israeli officials.
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As the UN waxes lyrical, about saving millions from Ebola, the forgotten women and children of Palestine, will surely suffer this coming winter, the UN has no credibility but plenty of hypocrisy.
http://www.alternet.org/world/how-israel-turning-gaza-super-max-prison
As America’s efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamic State militants extent into Syria, Iraq War III has seamlessly morphed into Greater Middle East Battlefield XIV. That is, Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that’s just since 1980.
Let’s tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria.
They really are akin to having a neighbor down the street who constantly murders, steals and pillages, and then spends his spare time flamboyantly denouncing people who live thousands of miles away for their bad acts.
Such a person would be regarded as pathologically self-deluded, a term that also describes those political and intellectual factions which replicate that behaviour.
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I wonder how the average American feels about the countless wars, that the US government has dragged them through.
http://www.alternet.org/world/staggeringly-high-number-muslim-countries-us-has-bombed-or-invaded-1980