Doubts Even Here: The Potential of Doubt in the Age of Certainty Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 26th 2019 The world at the moment is in a state of flux. Yet everywhere there is assertion and statements that imply certainty and do not allow for any doubt. Doubt is central to being human. Galileo once said, ‘Doubt is the father of invention’. There is the personal doubt many of us experience – the inner voice that measures yourself by impossible standards. And there is the wider collective, societal and social doubt that poses that true faith and blind belief might

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Where will the new ideas for Scotland’s public services come from? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 19th 2019 Scotland seems to be at an uneasy, calm place at the moment. The storm clouds are gathering on the horizon yet still seem distant - from the threat of Brexit and even worse the car crash of a No Deal Brexit - to the expected arrival of Boris Johnson as Tory leader and UK PM, while alongside this the Scottish Government demands that the UK Government listens to it on Brexit, so far to no avail, and considers how to progress a

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‘Seven Up’, Class and Modern Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 12th 2019 Last week saw a significant moment in TV programming when ITV broadcast the latest in the legendary series ‘Seven Up’, namely ’63 Up’. Michael Apted began first as a researcher then Director tracking fourteen seven year olds in 1964 and has subsequently returned to them every seven years since. Over the past 55 years one of the fourteen has died (Lynn) and two have withdrawn leaving us with eleven people who contributed to the current edition of this bold experiment in broadcasting and social history. ’63 Up’

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Jo Swinson, Govan and Social Justice Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 4th 2019 The Liberal Democrats have a spring in their step. After years of taking a kicking and coming to terms with the near-complete wipeout of 2015, they have stormed back into the reckoning winning second place in the European elections. They feel that with Labour and Tories in trouble, the wind is blowing in their favour, and that they can offer a pan-British voice for Remain. There is the hope of a fresh start with a leadership contest. This pitches Scottish MP Jo Swinson against Sir Ed Davey.

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Is there any hope for Scottish Labour? And does it matter to the rest of us? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, June 2nd 2019 Scottish Labour once carried all before it. They were admired by some, feared by others. They couldn’t be ignored, were taken seriously and mattered. Today the party is not only struggling to be taken seriously by anyone, but has to fight for attention, battling to avoid the ignominy of being seen as irrelevant by most voters. Many will say ‘hell mend them, they deserve their fate’ but the collapse of this once powerful party has consequences well

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The Story of Rose Reilly: A Scottish Football Pioneer Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 29th 2019 Scottish football is on the way up - at the international level, in quality, achievements and in its recognition by others. Our national team has just beaten the mighty Brazil for the first time ever, and if that were not enough, has qualified after a long fallow period for the World Cup finals taking place this summer in France. This is not some parallel universe or fantasy Scotland, but actually what is happening now in women’s football which is currently undergoing a renaissance,

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How do we tell the stories of the past from generation to generation? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 22nd 2019 A number of events happened in the last week that brought home t the passing of time and what really matters in life - and how we understand it (or not). First and foremost, I took my Auntie Betty, now aged 85, to the former fishing village of Auchmithie near Arbroath. Betty was the lifelong best friend of my mother, and not my natural auntie, but family in the best sense. She provides a major connection to my parents, gives

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The Death of Tory England and the Decline of The Spectator Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 15th 2019 For eighteen years I have subscribed to and enjoyed reading The Spectator magazine. But under Fraser Nelson’s editorship from 2009 the magazine has slowly and irrevocably gone downhill and into the gutter. Gone are the days when it was a civilised, gentle, iconoclastic read where an article could surprise and entertain from unusual angles. Good pieces still occasionally appear, but in the midst of a very different content. One that is often nasty, condemning, quick to judge people, and with a sense

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The coming of age of the Scottish Parliament … but has power shifted to the people? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, May 8th 2019 Twenty years ago last Monday Scotland went to the polls in the first democratic elections to the Scottish Parliament. This coming Sunday marks the anniversary of the first session of that Parliament which Winnie Ewing famously opened with the words: ‘The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on March 25^th 1707, is hereby reconvened.’ The new Parliament was elected with much goodwill, hope and energy, following the decisive 1997 devolution referendum. Polls showed that large majorities expected the Parliament

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Who postponed the future? Why the power of nostalgia can hurt us all Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 30th 2019 Last week I attended a talk about one of the seminal bands of late 1970s Britain - Joy Division - where the author and cultural commentator Jon Savage discussed at an event run by Monorail, a wonderful independent record shop in the centre of Glasgow, the band, their music, originality and enduring influence. It was a mesmerising talk about the power of music, importance of place and of Britain - both in the late 1970s and now. In one observation,

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