Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 22nd 2020 Thirty years ago today Margaret Thatcher resigned as UK Prime Minister and yet still casts a shadow over British politics and the Tories. Fast forward to this week, with Boris Johnson revealing his true feelings about Scotland and devolution – saying that ‘devolution has been a disaster north of the border’ and that it was ‘Tony Blair’s biggest mistake’ - a bit of a tall statement given the Iraq war over which Johnson called for Blair’s impeachment. Cue lots of

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The battle for Scotland and the language of apocalypse from Andrew Neil and the right Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, November 20th 2020 One of the recurring themes of Scottish politics, from those of a pro-union disposition who are trying to find ammunition to attack the SNP and independence, is the propensity to dismiss the record of the Nationalists in office in language which borders on the apocalyptic. This entails talking of Scotland as some kind of disaster, basket case – while ignoring where such logic would take descriptions of Boris Johnson’s government. Some of this overblown rhetoric is a sign

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The Importance of ‘The Crown’ in understanding Post-War Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 18th 2020 The British Royal Family sit at the centre of the British establishment and at the heart of British national identity and history. ‘The Crown’ series thus has an importance unlike most TV series, with the new season just released on Netflix and already creating waves. Previous episodes have caused significant ripples and comment. But this series has seen the Palace and its acolytes go into hyper-drive, taking issue with its overall portrayal of the Royal Family and disputing some of the details. Season Four

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The Pressures of Success: What Independence has to do to win Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 15th 2020 It has been a historic week, and we are only half way through the month. Trump defeated, Dominic Cummings leaving Downing Street, a COVID-19 vaccine, fourteen polls in a row for independence, and - to top it all - the Scottish men’s football team qualifying for the Euros. Things are looking up. Being in a winning position changes everything. It brings fresh questions, expectations and pressures. There is the cumulative effect of the SNP being in office by 2021 for fourteen years

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We need to know our history: The rise and fall of the British Prime Minister Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 11th 2020 Leadership is one of the mantras of the modern age, and no more so than in politics. National leadership - and success (and conversely failure) - is endlessly analysed. Is Boris Johnson in irretrievable decline and was he ever right for the job? Can Nicola Sturgeon maintain the level of popularity of herself and the SNP to the 2021 elections? And does anyone remember the Lib Dems and who their leader is? (answer: Ed Davey). The new book

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The future for centre-left politics after the Trump disaster Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 8th 2020 The most dramatic US Presidential election in recent times has caused the emergence of a host of issues about power, democracy and power. The election of Joe Biden and defeat of Donald Trump throws up questions about politics beyond the US - including how progressive politics can refashion what they stand for in a world of continual change and turmoil. Centre-left parties used to be anchored in organised labour and the politics of class. In Western Europe this grounded the appeal and rationale of

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Will today mark the beginning of the era after Trump? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 4th 2020 Today the debris and damage that Trump has inflicted on the US will become a little clearer. There can be no return to the world pre-Trump and the supposedly more genteel, polite era of Barack Obama as if it were some golden age. The tensions, turmoil and evasions of those recent times laid the ground for and created the likes of Trump, Farage and others. Today may mark the beginning of the end of the Trump spectacle but the world and politics will

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The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 1st 2020 We live in divisive, contentious times where the noise and claims and counter-claims in public life seem to never stop. Many people yearn for this age of rage and hatred to stop, and for a return to supposedly calmer, more enlightened times. This can be seen in part of the logic of support for Democrat Joe Biden against Donald Trump in next week’s US Presidential election. However, there will be no return to a so-called ‘normal’

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Robert Owen and New Lanark: A vision of society relevant to Scotland 2020 Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 28th 2020 It's hard to be hopeful in these stressful times. It is not unreasonable to suggest that there is a widespread and corrosive sentiment at large in the UK - and much of the West - that the current unsatisfactory state of the world is the best we can do (minus a tweak or two) - and that fundamental change for the betterment of humanity and the world isn’t really possible. Our collective past should teach us not to listen to

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The UK is increasingly run by corporate insiders. And Scotland is, too Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 27^th 2020 Politics has always been about power – who has it, how they exercise it, in whose interests they use it. Yet, increasingly politics has become associated with a professional elite who live, breathe (and have only ever worked in) politics and are, in how they see the world, divorced from the vast majority of the population. This group operate as a self-serving selectorate, sometimes described in the UK as a ‘chumocracy’. As we’ve seen with Boris Johnson, the corporate class and

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