No Pasarán

Some people who went to Spain almost three-quarters of a century ago, in order to participate in acts of terrorism against some staunchly Catholic law-and-order enthusiasts, have had their Britishness diluted at the Spanish embassy, where the ambassador has been handing out passports as if border controls were things of the past. The International Brigade veterans are all well into their nineties, so the Spanish government will have only itself to blame for whatever health tourism results. Apparently the Spaniards offered the passports some years ago, but on condition that the veterans gave up their Britishness - a somewhat mean-spirited gesture which, not being part of New Labour, the Spanish government has now retracted rather than making a meaner one still.

As holders of foreign passports, with a record of armed struggle against everything our own parliamentarians hold dear, we must hope that the veterans were not allowed back onto British territory once the ceremonies were concluded.