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The Myth of ‘Red Scotland’
The Myth of ‘Red Scotland’ Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 6th 2010 This general election looks set to confirm some of the characteristics of modern Scotland, and in particular that this is a centre-left country, defined by parties of the centre-left, and in which the Tories only play a bit part. This is one of the many findings from the fascinating Scotsman/YouGov poll published yesterday. On policy issue after issue – unemployment, health, education – Labour easily leads the Conservatives by wide margins as the favoured party, the one exception being immigration. David Cameron is not yet unpopular in Scotland
Goodbye to Gordon Brown and All That
Goodbye to Gordon Brown and All That Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 6th 2010 The last act of Gordon Brown has surely arrived. A gruelling election campaign fighting on two fronts. Three years of leading a disunited, unpopular government. Thirteen years in office and a culmination of mistakes made and enemies created. Gordon Brown is as well as being the Prime Minister for the last three years and a senior Labour politician for more than two decades, a prolific writer who has ‘written’ and ‘produced’ more than a dozen books under his name. In the last few weeks, Brown has
The Forgotten Scotland
The Forgotten Scotland Gerry Hassan The Guardian Comment, May 4th 2010 Scotland prides itself on its difference, radicalism and egalitarian traditions. This is a nation which tells itself that it has never voted for the Tories since the 1950s, saw off the poll tax, and is more collectivist and less individualist than the rest of the UK. There is much in Scotland’s political and social traditions to be proud of, but much folklore, myth and self-congratulation. Moreover, while the Scottish Parliament has done many beneficial things, there is a general air of complacency and smugness at the heart of Scotland’s
The Third British Debate
The Third British Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 30th 2010 This was a combative, fascinating debate, starting slowly, which built up as each of the leaders reached for the elusive knock out blow. Cameron opened talking about the state of the nation and ‘the economy stuck in a rut’, Clegg, of ‘doing things differently’ (again), and Brown acknowledged that he sometimes ‘didn’t get things right’. Then it was on to an evening talking or not talking about cuts, tax cuts, inheritance tax, bankers and the economy. Cameron saw a country wrecked where he promised to ‘roll up his sleeves’,
Coming Up for Air North of the Border: The British Media, Scotland, the SNP and the Crises of Britain
Coming Up for Air North of the Border: The British Media, Scotland, the SNP and the Crises of Britain Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 29th 2010 The SNP are generally, a force for good in, and for, Scotland. They have been a decent, honest, mostly progressive government. They have, like all the mainstream Westminster parties, struggled to elucidate a vision about the economy and society post-crash, but they have continued to express a very different, mostly generous and outward-looking voice since then. The SNP have always been a problematic entity for the British media to understand, represent and reflect the
The Long Silence and Slow Emergence of England
The Long Silence and Slow Emergence of England Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 26th 2010 England has always been a sensitive subject at the heart of the United Kingdom. Most Scots bristle when ‘England’ is used when Britain’ is meant; others find it horrifying that at times ‘Britain’ is used when clearly ‘England’ is the intention. Once upon a time British politics used to throw around these terms with a sense of élan and confidence. Baldwin and Churchill often used to talk of ‘England’ and know that they meant ‘Britain’. Churchill, who seems even more to be the defining figure
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England’s Dreaming or Not: A View from North of the Border
England’s Dreaming or Not: A View from North of the Border Gerry Hassan The Guardian Comment, April 23rd 2010 England is the biggest part of the United Kingdom - a nation, and a set of identities and places that provides much of the meaning, power and purpose of the whole UK. ‘England’ is sometimes seen as synonymous with ‘Britain’, much to the chagrin of Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish and pedants everywhere. ‘Britain’ is regularly used as a term when, in reality, people are talking about ‘England’. It can be argued that England pays a penalty for its place and role
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The Second Big Debate
The Second Big Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 23rd 2010 The dynamics this week were very different: Clegg, the new favourite, Cameron, the previous frontrunner, and Brown, the supposed steady incumbent. Nick Clegg had to navigate difficult terrain between being an ‘outsider’ and emphasising his experience, including drawing on his work for EU Commissioner Leon Brittan. When we got to Afghanistan and nuclear weapons, the temperature changed, and Brown told Clegg to ‘get real’ and Cameron said ‘I agree with Gordon’. Brown was better than the previous week, avoiding mentioning no percentages or three point plans, and even cited
The British Election Debates, the Lib Dem Surge and the Americanisation of Our Politics
The British Election Debates, the Lib Dem Surge and the Americanisation of Our Politics Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 21st 2010 The British election campaign is shaking up many of the in-built assumptions and contours of British politics. Despite three decades of upheaval under Thatcherism and Blairism, the advocates of these approaches implemented their ideas, while keeping many of the traditional structures and assumptions of the British political system intact. These are now been exposed, questioned and put under scrutiny in a way they seldom have before. After all of this it is apt that we have witnessed so far
The British Big Debate
The Big British Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 16th 2010 It was history in the making supposedly. Whatever it was, politics will never be the same again - for good and bad. Gordon Brown showed himself as a master of facts - endless facts and numerous percentage figures about public services delivering and improving. He took half an hour before he mentioned a single human being and that was his father who only got a passing mention. David Cameron told a host of stories inhabited by individuals and their stories, of being victims of crime, of being an immigrant
