Stephen, What Difference Does It Make? The World of Twittergate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 4th 2009 The big issue facing the planet these last few days has not been Tony Blair trying to become Euro President, the on-off Afghan elections, or MP expenses. That’s so old thinking and square! The only issue in town has been Stephen Fry throwing a hissy fit on Twitter and taking umbrage at being called by a fellow Twitter ‘boring’ to which Fry announced his ‘retirement’ from the site. Fry has 945,295 followers on the site, and has been ranked the third most influential

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No More Heroes Anymore? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 31st 2009 Britain is not a happy land. It is a place filled with disgruntlement, anger and resentment. This is about more than anxieties caused by recession. Instead, people have a sense that greedy bankers, politicians, BBC bosses and many others are just looking after themselves and that something profound has changed. That the civic code governing society has fundamentally altered. This is tinged with an air of who do we believe in anymore? Thirty years ago the Stranglers sang ‘No More Heroes’ and it has come to pass. Who,

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Reimagining ‘the English Question(s)’: English Voices, Spaces and Institution Building Gerry Hassan Public Policy Research, Volume 16 Number 2 Introduction It is a decade since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly and just over thirty years since the Scots and Welsh first voted on devolution in the ill-fated 1979 referendums. While the Scots and Welsh, along with the Northern Irish have each voted twice on their constitutional status or devolution, one part of the UK – namely England - has not voted once. Some commentators and observers now talk about the emergence of ‘the English

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After Nick Griffin and Question Time Gerry Hassan October 23rd 2009 The evening after the day after. It still feels that something has shifted. That we have passed through some as yet unidentifiable watershed. One which affects our politics, the media, the nature of their relationship, and how our political system lives, breathes and operates. Like a large part of the British population I tuned into BBC One’s ‘Question Time’, but unlike most I watch it most Thursdays. I listened to the post-programme discussions, read the papers, and scanned the blogs. It felt like this was part of a

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The Referendum Question, ‘the Scottish Dimension’ and the Future of Britain Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 22nd 2009 Talk of independence referendums are in the air; the question, the number of questions, who calls it and most recently the number of referendums. In the last few days, Jo Eric Murkens, a former Researcher at the academic Constitution Unit has revisited the argument of their book, ‘Scottish Independence’ of a few years ago which made the case that Scotland needed to have not just one, but two votes on independence. This argument states that the first vote would be ‘in principle’

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The Next Wave of Scottish Nationalism and the Campaign for Self-Government Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 19^th 2009 Scottish politics seem to be at a key moment, attracting interest from across the UK and internationally, even winning the accolade of an editorial from the famously Londoncentric ‘Guardian’ and columns from Jackie Ashley and Martin Kettle. The SNP, according to ‘The Guardian’, is a party which is ‘a far cry from the era of Winnie Ewing and Margo MacDonald’ and ‘today’s SNP is now a professional political party of a recognisably modern kind’ (1). If the party’s metamorphosis has

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The Rise of the Scottish Nationalists, the Scottish Dimension and What Happens to England and the UK: A Symposium Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 15^th 2009 In a series of newly commissioned essays to mark the opening of the SNP’s Annual Conference in Inverness, the party’s 75^th anniversary and the publication of the first ever study of the contemporary party, ‘The Modern SNP: From Protest to Power’ this week, Our Kingdom brings together four commentators on the changing nature of the politics of Scotland and the UK (1). In an introductory essay, Gerry Hassan, editor of ‘The Modern

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The Changing Faces of the Scottish Nationalists Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 14^th 2009 The SNP Annual Conference opens in Inverness on Thursday with the party in good mood: two and a half years into the first SNP administration, seen by most as competent and successful. The party has a sense of purpose. Alex Salmond is a popular First Minister, leading a talented ministerial team - Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, Fiona Hyslop, Kenny MacAskill, Mike Russell and others. Underneath this sense of success and progress what has the SNP achieved, what has it not achieved, and what future challenges await

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Why it is a Real Time for Change! Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 10th 2009 The three UK party conferences have now passed and the parties laid out their stalls. The countdown to the election has begun with only seven months to the start of the formal campaign next spring. Cameron, Brown and Clegg all stressed their character, vision and engaged in the sort of political cross-dressing that has become the fashion following on from Tony Blair. What was more revealing than what they said was what they didn’t say. We know Gordon Brown can’t say ‘sorry’, but Tony Blair

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This Charming Man Named Dave Gerry Hassan October 9th 2009 Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think "Invisible Touch" was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins

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