Explainers
What happened and why it mattered: referendums, parliamentary votes, court rulings and the Catalan crisis of 2017.
- After Brexit: why Scotland's independence campaign groups came back in 2017
Scotland voted 62% Remain in June 2016. How the EU referendum revived the independence question, from the Holyrood mandate of 28 June 2016 to the Section 30 request of March 2017, and what restarting a campaign group involves.
- Observing Catalonia's 1 October 2017 referendum: what happened, and what observers reported
A factual account of the Catalan independence referendum of 1 October 2017: its legal status, the police operation, the results announced, and the international visitors and observer teams who reported on it, from preliminary statements to final reports.
- The Catalan declaration of independence of 27 October 2017, and why no state recognised it
On 27 October 2017 the Parliament of Catalonia voted to declare an independent republic, and Spain imposed direct rule the same day. How the vote happened, how governments in London, Edinburgh and Brussels responded, and what international law says about recognition.
- When Holyrood said no: the 2018 dispute over legislative consent and the EU Withdrawal Bill
In May 2018 the Scottish Parliament refused consent to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill by 93 votes to 30. In June, Westminster passed it anyway. How the Sewel convention works, what the courts said, and why the episode still matters.
