Scotland:
If the Spanish press is anything to go by, the sigh of relief here
and in the EU at large has been even greater than in the UK. There
seems to be a belief that the result has holed all secessionist
aspirations below the water line. And here in Spain there's great
admiration for a truly democratic process executed without tribalism
and rancour. Above all, though, there's slack-jawed astonishment -
and envy - that a politician could resign in the wake of failure.
This is unheard of in this self-professed young democracy. Which now
waits to see whether the Spanish Cabinet will this week announce something that resembles a real strategy in respect of
Catalan plans for independence, starting with their "illegal"
referendum in November.
UKIP's
Nigel Farage is a man of contentious statements. During the
referendum run-up, he claimed that 54% of Scots were on benefits.
Astonishingly, this turns out to be true. But, as this figure
includes state pensions, it's 53% in England and much the same in
Wales. As my old Contract Law professor used to say: 'There's nothing
as deceptive as a half-truth'.
Spain
is a country of regular surprises. The Godfather of Catalan politics
was recently found - courtesy of an angry daughter-in-law - to have
many millions in secret accounts around the world. This week the
country's Anti-Corruption body announced that it didn't believe his
claim he'd acquired this via an inheritance from his father.
Meanwhile, his son has pleaded not guilty to obtaining his own fortune
via corrupt practices. How embarrassing would it be to be an honest
member of this family?
Which
reminds me . . . If I said I doubted there was a single honest
politician in, say, India, I guess you wouldn't be terribly
surprised. But Spain? Perhaps the Podemos new kids on the
block. But we will see.
Noise
again: There was a heartfelt letter in today's El País from a
woman who'd suffered nights of poor sleep from happy folk out in the
street all night. If they'd just been playing ludo or chess, she
might have been able to get the police to do something. But, as it
was, it was one of her town's annual fiestas, when the keynote is fun
and so anything goes. Except the law. Or especially the law.
Finally
. . . I had another call from the "Windows Service Department"
today. It went like this:
[Chinese
accent, female] Hello. This is the Windows Service Department.
Yes.
We've
had a lot of reports of problems with your computer.
Yes?
Is
your computer switched on?
No.
Could
you switch it on.
OK.
Is
it on?
Yes.
Do
you see a CNTRL key in the bottom left corner?
Yes.
Do
you see a Windows key next to it?
Yes.
OK.
Please press this together with the R key.
OK.
What
do you see on your screen?
Nothing.
OK.
Please try again.
OK.
What
do you see now?
Nothing.
. . . Perhaps it's because I don't have Windows.
[Unfazed
by the fact she's told me she's calling from Windows]. Do you have a
Mac?
Yes.
Please
wait a moment.
At
which point I feel I can't string her along any further and hang up.
The phone rings a minute or two later but I ignore it. I feel
disappointed I haven't been able to get more of her criminal spiel.
Perhaps next time. Meanwhile, I'll try and get details of the Windows
expert who managed to keep them on the line for a lot longer than I
did.
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