The Afghan War and the Problem that is the West Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 18 August 2021 The Afghan War has ended in abject failure. A failure whose shape, consequences and brutality will only be fully clear as it is played out in the coming weeks, months and years. In response the UK Government has recalled Parliament to sit on Wednesday, confirming the impotence of the UK. Events on the ground have overtaken the US and UK authorities and other Western capitals. In places there appears a dereliction of duty with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab caught AWOL on holiday

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The Scottish Greens are a political force for good Gerry Hassan The National, 17 August 2021 The Scottish Greens matter. They are the fourth most popular political party in Scotland, won eight seats in the recent elections, and have been in the Scottish Parliament since its inception. Not only that they were an important part of the independence debate, while challenging all the other parties on the environmental and climate crisis. In the Scottish Parliament, they have had influence, impact and brought about change. Since 2016 the SNP have governed without an overall majority (confirmed again in 2021) and the

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‘All Things Must Pass’, 'Sgt. Pepper' and what happens after the human race? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 11th 2021 Just over a week ago I was immersing myself in the Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’. I have never been its biggest admirer, preferring the experimentation of the later works and the sheer exuberance and pop brilliance of the early singles and albums. But the various reissues of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and in particularly the 50^th anniversary reissue which came out a few years ago has finally allowed me to appreciate the staggering kaleidoscope of its sound and range of songs. As I

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What are we talking about when we talk about Thatcherism? Gerry Hassan The National, August 10th 2021 Boris Johnson was at it last week. Upon visiting Scotland he was yet again causing mischief and being offensive, becoming the story in a way which did not do him any favours, nor the cause of the Tory Party and union, or indeed, the office of Prime Minister of the UK. This was, in this case, his remarks celebrating and making light of Thatcher’s closure of numerous coal mines in the 1980s – which resulted in a great big stushie across Scotland and

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Wake Up Scotland: 1,339 and counting …. Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 4th 2021 Last week the tragic milestone that is Scotland’s drug death total for the year ending 2020 came out. The figures showed that 1,339 people died, a rise of 5.9% on the previous year’s bad enough total of 1,264. This is up from 455 in 2007, the year the SNP came to power- a staggering increase of 194% in the drug-related mortality rate over their time in office. This is the highest annual number of drug deaths recorded in Scotland since records began in 1996, and the

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Westminster, the SNP and independence: How SNP MPs can stand up for Scotland’s right to decide Gerry Hassan The National, August 3rd 2021 The recent Scottish Parliament elections of May 2021 are a mere three months old, yet for some people who grow easily impatient at the pace of our politics seem to have been already written off. At the same time our politics and society face numerous challenges: COVID-19, the escalating chaos of Brexit, the daily incompetence of Boris Johnson and his Tory Government, the scale of Scotland’s drug deaths, and more. Yet, in parts of the independence movement

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The Olympian dream has sadly turned sour and urgently needs a reset Gerry Hassan The National, July 28th 2021 The Summer Olympics are a global festival of the best of most professional sports, the only equivalent in scale and spectacle is the football World Cup – a sport which is marginal in the Olympics. The modern games began in Athens in 1896 and has taken place every four years since, with the exception of the interruptions caused by World War One and World War Two - until now. The Tokyo Games - the Games of the XXXII (32^nd) Olympiad –

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Toryism is bad for your health. Literally it kills Gerry Hassan The National, July 20th 2021 Boris Johnson and his administration have presided over the biggest domestic disaster to befell a UK Government in living memory - arguably since the UK began. There have been terrible calamities before such as Blair and the Iraq war, Eden and Suez, Chamberlain and appeasement, Salisbury and the Boer war. But these are all foreign policy disasters which cost the UK’s reputation severely – and all saw military conflict in which many died including UK citizens. The current Tory Government’s miscalculations, mistakes and arrogances

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A new England is emerging – modern, hopeful and not about the past Gerry Hassan Sunday National, July 11th 2021 England’s success in getting to the European Championship final today at Wembley is a major football moment – and a lot more. This is the first time England have ever reached the final of this tournament and only the second time they have ever reached a major competition final – the other being 1966 and victory over West Germany. Football has long provided a means by which people have found enjoyment, release, exhilaration and disappointment. But it is also

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How do we hold power to account in Scotland? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, July 7th 2021 Scotland has a rich tradition of celebrating its difference and distinctiveness, seeing in its autonomy a kind of semi-independence that is exhibited in civil society, the public sphere and public life. Scotland’s public sphere is one of the main ways we communicate, define ourselves, relate to others in public, and hold power and institutions to account - hence contributing to the democratic and political process. This contributes to an ‘independence of the Scottish mind’ – a distinctive outlook which has evolved and separated from

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