It’s not just in the UK where politics happens. I read with interest, in The New European, about the situation in Spain where Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s acting Socialist prime minister and leader of the PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) has recently cemented his party’s position in the Congress of Deputies. He has achieved this, apparently, through a ‘last-minute deal’ with the Catalan separatists.
The New European says ‘The uneasy coalition cobbled together by the PSOE in order to win the vote shows that Spain’s regional parties, particularly Catalan separatists, now control the fate of any prospective national government.’ Armengol, leader of the Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya is clear that the vote “marks a path” to government.
The article ends with the sentence: ‘But herein lies the paradox of Spanish politics today: in order to form a national government, Sánchez will be forced to rely on separatist groups that don’t want to be part of Spain.’
Now back to our own country where it is exam results time, where ironically there has been an 11% rise in pupils studying GCSE Spanish compared to last year, putting it on track to overtake French as the most commonly studied foreign language. According to the BBC:
- The proportion of GCSEs marked at grade 4/C or above is 68.2% – down for a second consecutive year and much closer to the 67.3% seen in 2019, the year before the pandemic
- The drop in grades was less severe in Wales and Northern Ireland than in England, due to different approaches to post-Covid exams and grading
- Overall, 26.5% of this year’s GCSE grades in England were marked at 7/A or above, but the regional divide is growing – in London, it was 28.4%, while in the North East, it was 17.6%
Here is the real story. Once again the North East gets left behind and, in fact, things are getting worse. Time and time again, indicators show that the region fares worse than more affluent parts of the country. Levelling up has become leaving behind and I can understand anyone who feels angry about these things.
This took me back to Spain. When you feel let down by the central government thoughts of separation come to mind. Why would you want to be part of a country that allows parts to flourish and others to languish? Yes, addressing such issues are hard and complex but where is the effort? Surely we could do no worse by having our own determination. Who knows, we may even do better through self-government. Hopefully the soon to be elected North East Mayor will go some way to help.
I question though whether those who call for independence really want it or rather want to be taken seriously and share in the benefits that other parts of the nation enjoy? Wanting to be part of the European Union yet not wanting to be part of the United Kingdom may seem to be contradictory yet, it seems that at least in the EU, the smaller nations have some sway while in the UK, they appear to be nothing more than a nuisance. It could be argued that the United KIngdom is little more than a Greater England, if not a Greater South East. This is what hurts.
Until all parts of a nation can come together and be treated as equals there will always be separatist movements. Nobody wants to be in an abusive relationship.
You can read The New European article here.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 