In defence of referendums

Referendums seem to be everywhere at the moment, Kurdish people voting on independence: the Irish getting a say on abortion, and there are still calls for another vote on the EU and Scottish independence. But do such binary choices ever result in anything more than discord?

When I moved to Barcelona I thought I’d had a lucky escape from such divisive political battles at home. How wrong I was. As I sit writing this, the taps of my keyboard and howls of my dog are drowned out by a cacophony of pans being banged together. It’s 10pm and thousands of people are leaning out of their windows, drumming their cookware to take part in a traditional caceroladaprotest to object to attempts by the Spanish state to block an unauthorised independence referendum which is due to take place on Sunday.

Catalonia’s attempt has forced me to look very differently at the importance of the recent referendums in Britain – and the very concept of such plebiscites. In recent days, as political tensions have escalated here, a sense has grown that rather than damaging and dividing our democracy – as seems to be the prevailing wisdom – the referendums of 2014 and 2016 will only serve to strengthen British democracy in the long run.

The multifaceted intersections of ideologies, politics and history in a new place are almost impossible to get your head around as an outsider. As I learn more about Catalonia’s history, from the Spanish civil war, to Spain’s “neutrality” during world war two to the General Franco dictatorship as a whole, the relatively neat ideas I previously had about the left-right axis, nationalism and the role of the state just doesn’t seem sufficient. It is striking how little knowledge I – and I suspect many British people – have of this country. Do people know that MI6 bribed Spanish generals in an effort to keep Spain out of world war two? Do people know that after the death of Franco in 1975 there was an attempted rightwing coup in 1981?

Things like this play a huge role in shaping national identity. You need only listen to Spain’s national anthem – it has no words, in common with only one other European state, Kosovo – to see how deeply fragmented and complicated Spain’s national identity is. Even a common language is a challenge. The shockwaves from this tussle between Madrid and Barcelona will be felt for many years to come, it will shape the future of how people see themselves in the region, but also the rest of Spain.

There is little middle ground in these discussions. So much of Spanish politics seems intensely tribal and regional, which only adds to the distrust and disdain with which people talk about politicians. With politicians in Madrid and Barcelona regularly accused and convicted of corruption, the current turmoil will only exacerbate the problem.

It all makes the British experience feel rather tame. The consequences of Brexit will of course be severe for the country – but the effect on our institutions will be not be as grave as what is currently happening in Spain. Whatever the political calculations were for calling the referendums in Britain, what is certain is that in both instances the parties people voted for in national elections proved that there was an appetite for a such a vote.

The campaigns, and results, were undoubtedly divisive – the binary nature of a plebiscite forces the abandonment of nuance and doubt from the debate – but as difficult as that has been, it was likely a necessary evil, to lance the boil and move on. Without those votes the split in public discourse may well have become more polarised, and more entrenched.

The campaigns, and results, were undoubtedly divisive – the binary nature of a plebiscite forces the abandonment of nuance and doubt from the debate – but as difficult as that has been, it was likely a necessary evil, to lance the boil and move on. Without those votes the split in public discourse may well have become more polarised, and more entrenched. Ripping off the referendum plaster has left Britain, and the entire EU, with a huge task, which is not to be trivialised – as a British citizen living in Spain I’m at the sharp end of this – but it’s unlikely that not having the vote at all would have been any better.

While the terms of Brexit are being negotiated, many of the wounds will remain open. But, while it doesn’t always feel like it, there are signs that – unlike here in Catalonia – British politics is beginning to move forward. This year’s general elections saw safe seats become marginal, thousands voting for the first time in their lives and the vote share of nationalist parties dramatically falling in both England and Scotland. The politics of identity rages on in much of the online abuse, but if it has been exacerbated by the referendums then that is only in the short term. Without that vote there would be no space to move forward, resentment would just be bottled up, primed to boil over.

This was already evident in the run-up to the last general election, which was about nationalising public services and ending austerity, not immigration mugs and matching spending cuts. That could not have happened if we had not had the referendums of 2014 and 2016. Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto – one of the most radical in a generation – could not have prospered unless the path had been cleared, allowing people to move away from their entrenched positions on the EU and Scottish independence.

The same cannot be said in Spain. The prime minister, Mariono Rajoy, recently told the Catalan leaders to “give up on this escalation of radicalism and disobedience. You still have time to prevent worse evils.” In response, the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has denounced the “totalitarian and undemocratic attitude of the Spanish state”. Now the police might be sent in to stop the vote.

Perhaps it’s rose-tinted glasses, but I cannot imagine this almost Trumpian level of rhetoric being traded between senior politicians in the different regions of Britain. Maybe, just maybe, British politics won’t always be quite the divisive embarrassment that we worry it is.

The Article First Appeared In Guardian 

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