UK GOVERNMENT SHAME ON CATALONIA

The Spanish Supreme Court has imprisoned 12 Catalan political and civic leaders on charges of sedition, the embezzlement of public funds and disobedience in relation to the 2017 referendum on Catalan independence.

This includes the Speaker of the Catalan Parliament, who was sentenced to eleven and a half years just for allowing the Parliament to debate the issue.

Clearly, the sentences that were passed down in Madrid this week were an act of vengeance, not an act of justice. This is not about independence for Catalonia; this is about the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights.

Shamefully, despite being quite comfortable questioning the impartiality of the UK Supreme Court when they found the Prime Minister had shut down Parliament unlawfully, the UK Government cannot bring themselves to condemn Spain for locking up its political opponents.

I and my SNP colleagues stand with Catalonia. This act of repression demands international condemnation.