A grassroots leader from Catalonia will deliver the keynote address at a gathering of the Scottish independence convention in Edinburgh.

Anna Arqué’s presence this Saturday at the largest meeting of the wider yes movement since the general election, 48 hours after the jailing of Catalan government ministers by the Spanish courts, speaks to the obvious fellow feeling between Scottish and Catalan independence activists.

But for supporters of Scottish self-determination, escalating tensions in Spain have also raised questions about the SNP government’s apparently circumspect position on Catalonian independence.

“Many independence supporters do feel that the SNP and the Scottish government could do more,” says Jonathon Shafi, cofounder of the leftwing alliance Rise and veteran yes campaigner. Shafi last week launched the Catalan Defence Committee in an attempt to build broader support for the Catalan cause in Scotland.

It is widely accepted that Nicola Sturgeon’s threat to hold a second independence referendum before the UK’s exit from the EU lost the SNP significant support in June. With a second vote now on the back burner, the focus of Saturday’s conference is on practical campaigning as the Scottish movement hunkers down for the long haul.

Following Spain’s imprisonment of elected officials, Shafi believes much of Saturday’s debate will centre on the continuing silence of the European Union. “There’s a huge change of mood in the independence movement about that and it calls into question the SNP strategy of linking independence with EU membership.”

Although senior SNP figures, including Sturgeon herself, tweeted their dismay at the arrests on Thursday night, there has not been any official Scottish government statement on Catalonia since 27 October.

Fiona Hyslop, the external affairs secretary, offered some fairly circumspect remarks stating that “we understand and respect the position of the Catalan government”, and that the people of Catalonia “must have the ability to determine their own future” – but stopped short of recognising it as an independent state.

While foreign policy remains reserved to Westminster, critics point to the SNP government’s call for recognition of Palestine in October 2014 as ample precedent for a symbolic statement.



Earlier this week the Times revealed that senior Scottish ministers, including Sturgeon, did not respond to emails from the the Catalan government sent before the October referendum, despite being contacted on three occasions.

While SNP activists may feel frustration at their government’s perceived fence-sitting, the Guardian understands that Sturgeon remains reluctant to set a precedent for other governments to interfere with Scottish independence and is keen to adhere to the principle of not meddling in another country’s internal affairs.

Certainly the current crisis puts under pressure the SNP’s historic reluctance to promote or endorse other independence movements. One senior figure points out that the Scottish government’s position becomes clearer the more dictatorial Spain becomes, while another believes the SNP may be seen to prioritise its post-Brexit relationship with the EU over Catalonia.

Tricia Marwick, former presiding officer of the Scottish parliament, says this analysis assumes too much calculation. “In my opinion, the Scottish government are getting it right,” she says, “and Nicola Sturgeon is concentrating on democracy because she, as a democrat, will like me be outraged by the behaviour of the Spanish government and find it abhorrent that in 2017 a European democracy is jailing politicians.”

Calling on the EU to consider expelling Spain should the crackdown in Catalonia continue to worsen, Marwick says: “None of the EU institutions condemned the violence [of 1 October] and because they did not they have enabled Spain to go forward with impunity.”

“I think there is an understanding of the first minister’s dilemma,” says SNP MSP Christina McKelvie, who on Tuesday submitted a motion to Holyrood calling on the international community to recognise an independent Catalan republic. “However, I do believe that it is appropriate for members of the Scottish parliament to have the opportunity to stand up for human rights and the right to self-determination.”

It is a view shared by SNP MP Douglas Chapman, who joined a delegation of international politicians to act as observers during last month’s referendum. He says the arrest of legitimately elected representatives should “send a shiver down everyone’s spine”.

Chapman says: “At a point when the EU is seen to be weak and ineffectual from a UK perspective, they are not doing themselves any favours by hiding away from what is happening in one of its member states.”

He says the overwhelming concern must now be the support of democratic processes. “Any links with arguments about independence are on the periphery now. This is a fight for democracy now and everyone should be worried, regardless of their views on independence,” he says.