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Changin Scotland No. 12: November 21st-23rd 2008
Changin’ Scotland No. 12 November 21-23rd 2008 Iain Hamilton on the Stone of Destiny (and ‘stealing it’ in his words), Chris Carmen on Obama and what happened in the US Presidential Elections, John McLaren, Barbara MacLennan and Alex Bell on making sense of the economic meltdown, Gerry Hassan and Iain Macwhirter talk about Scottish politics after Glasgow East and Glenrothes, Neil Mulholland on creativity, independents and the Scots, Murray Pittock on tartan from past to present and Nick Higgins presents his film ‘The Ten Commandments’. Plus the presentation of the first ever Changin’ Scotland Somhairle Award – for being
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After Glenrothes: The Continuing Struggle for Scotland’s Soul
After Glenrothes: The Continuing Struggle for Scotland’s Soul Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, November 8th 2008 Labour's surprise victory in the Glenrothes by-election bespeaks a new fluidity in Scottish politics, argues Gerry Hassan. The Glenrothes by-election has shown that Scottish and British politics are on the move. Gordon Brown is clearly back from the dead; David Cameron and George Osborne have been wrong-footed, while Alex Salmond, that other thorn in Labour’s flesh, has seemingly misjudged the economic and political moment, and the SNP honeymoon is over. Has ‘the Brown bounce’ led to ‘the Salmond trounce’? Continue Reading After Glenrothes: The Continuing Struggle for Scotland’s Soul
A Tale of Two Nations: How the UK is Influenced and Shaped by US Presidential Elections
A Tale of Two Nations: How the UK is Influenced and Shaped by US Presidential Elections Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, November 4th 2008 Gerry Hassan looks at how past presidential elections have played out on this side of the Atlantic. This is a momentous week for democracy, the future of America and the world, but it is also a week which yet again shows the inter-connections and differences between US and UK politics. (more…)
The City of Hope: The first step to a better future is imagining one
The City of Hope: The first step to a better future is imagining one Gerry Hassan The Point, November 2nd 2008 Hope is not ignoring … the challenges that stand between you and your dreams. Hope is imagining, and then fighting for, and then working for, struggling for what did not seem possible before. Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope Thinking of the future is one of the characteristics of being human. It can be seen in the visions of the future of H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and films such as Tom Cruise’s
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The Next Left: Life After the Labour Party
The Next Left: Life After the Labour Party Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, September 21st 2008 He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself: and if thou gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into thee. Friedrich von Nietzsche, quoted in George Orwell, ‘As I Please', September 8th 1944 The Labour Party to put it mildly is in crisis. It does not know what it stands for, who it represents or what vision of society it has. Many now pore opprobrium onto the shoulders of Gordon Brown, while others blame ‘the legacy' of Tony
Scottish Labour, Where’s the Coffee?
Scottish Labour, Where's the Coffee? Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, September 15th 2008 Iain Gray faces a daunting set of challenges as the new leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament. In this essay, Gerry Hassan asks whether the party could yet find a way forward, in Scotland and beyond, in challenging an unravelling global order. As one Scottish born leader’s hold on power diminishes, his prospects now hanging on an ever-weakening thread, another, a young pretender, enters the gladiatorial ring. We are talking about the fate of Gordon Brown and the new leader of ‘Scottish Labour’ (more
The Limits of the ‘Think Tank’ Revolution
The Limits of the ‘Think Tank’ Revolution Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, September 8th 2008 Gerry Hassan has worked extensively with several UK think tanks. In this comprehensive essay, he argues that, in Britain as in America, the think tank model has worked better for the right than for the left, and calls for new thinking about the kind of institutions that can nurture progressive ideas. ‘Think By Doing: From Local to Global’, ‘Giving Communities More Power to Run Themselves’, ‘Diverse Communities Bring Benefits For All’, ‘Free the Radicals’, ‘Make Life Chances Depend Less on the Lottery of Birth’. These soundbites
Thatcher’s Shadow Falls over Alex Salmond
Thatcher's Shadow Falls over Alex Salmond Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 26th 2008 Alex Salmond's remark to Iain Dale that Scots 'didn't mind the economic side' of Thatcherism, created a storm of hypocrisy and exposed a fundamental truth about Scottish politics, argues Gerry Hassan, in this extensive essay. Mainstream politicians are as united in tacitly accepting Thatcher's legacy as in publicly abominating her policies. British politics have for the last thirty years been shaped by Margaret Thatcher, Thatcherism and the legacy of Thatcher’s period in office. All of the mainstream politicians who have followed her – John Major, Tony Blair,
After the Conservative Nation: The State of the Union and Post-Unionist Politics
After The Conservative Nation: The State of the Union and Post-Unionist Politics Gerry Hassan Chapter in Jonathan Rutherford and Jon Cruddas (eds), Is the Future Conservative, Lawrence and Wishart in association with Compass 2008 We should not forget that Alex Salmond couldn’t ask for more effective allies in his campaign to break up the Union than sour Little Englanders who cry ‘good riddance’ when independence for Scotland is suggested. I’ll fight them all the way. No one is prouder of being English than I am. But I am also passionately attached to the idea of Britain. David Cameron, Speech at
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What is Labour’s British Story?
What is Labour's British Story? Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 5th 2008 The recent salvo across Gordon Brown's bow by David Miliband shows that there is still some life in the top echelons of Labour. However, Milband's prognosis, along with the delicate decoding and musings of Sunder Katwala, embody the problems and limitations of thinking in London's Labour circles. (more…)
