It was an almighty mistake on the part of the Spanish Government to order the police to crush Sunday’s unlawful referendum on Catalan independence. Their outrageous behaviour will have fuelled violent passions for decades to come. Over 800 citizens were injured, though mercifully no one appears to have been killed, as the police raided or cordoned off polling stations and carried away ballot boxes to prevent what would otherwise have been a peaceful demonstration of public feeling. Everyone knew a result in favour of independence could not have been binding.