The last days of Boris Johnson and what comes after? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 8 June 2022 Tory leadership votes of no confidence come around much more frequently nowadays. This is not a misperception, but rooted in the decline in the authority and quality of Tory leaders, the nature of the Tory tribe and the failures of Toryism to address the UK’s underlying issues. The current debacle and decline of is directly connected to the lack of any redeeming moral and positive qualities in him as a public figure. But this is about much more than ‘Partygate’, the lies he

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Goodbye to the Britain that we have all grown up with Gerry Hassan The National, 7 June 2022 Four days of Platinum Jubilee celebrations; wall-to-wall endless media coverage and sycophantic commentary on TV, radio and papers; and as the weekend concluded a Tory leadership vote of no confidence was finally triggered against Boris Johnson, beginning the slow end of his disastrous, chaotic Premiership. These are strange political times – of upheaval, disruption, chaos. But over the past few days we are witnessing - underneath all the fluffery and hype - something deep, profound, lasting and unnamed; effectively an elegy and

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The relevance of George Orwell today: Standing up for democracy and against fascism Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 1 June 2022 George Orwell’s influence as a writer has grown since his death in 1950 at the age of 46, particularly in recent decades. He was unashamedly a voice on the left - independent minded, an iconoclast and unafraid to stand against the hypocrisies and tyrannies of both his own side, as well as of the right. In today’s challenging world – from climate change to the war in Ukraine and rise of despotism, demagoguery and a nascent fascism from Russia

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What are we celebrating in the Queen’s Jubilee? Gerry Hassan The National, 31 May 2022 This is a watershed week for Britain and the monarchy at the marking of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It does however raise the question - what exactly are we celebrating? The Queen has been Head of State for the past seven decades so there is her long record of public office and linked to this her commitment to those vague words “service” and “duty”. But what has the Queen actually contributed during this period that has seen fourteen PMs from Churchill to Johnson? She has

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How do we put government and leadership back in Scotland and the UK? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 25 May 2022 UK government and politics are not in a good place. They have been traduced and trashed in ways once unimaginable. Boris Johnson has presided over an administration from top to bottom of unbelievable incompetence, serial lying and disdain for the law and due process, vandalising government, civil service and public standards. At the same time in Scotland fifteen years of SNP rule do not find things here in a good place. All across society and public life there are questions

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Progressive politics has to talk about class and race, and challenge the false divisions of the right Gerry Hassan The National, 24 May 2022 These are divisive times in politics and public life; strident voices stoking division are all around. Many of them tell us that the age we live is shaped by “culture wars” and “cancel culture”. Cheap talk is everywhere - surrounded by noise, charge and counter-charge. New media platforms like Rupert Murdoch’s Talk TV assist loud men such as Piers Morgan to broadcast their ill-informed opinions to the world – even when there is next to no

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Ukraine’s fight is a fight for all of us and for democracy and security Gerry Hassan The National, 1 March 2022 There is only one story at the moment - the Russia invasion of the Ukraine and how we respond to it. This comes after years of Western misjudgement and appeasement of Putin and Russian aggression in Chechnya, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Crimea and invasion of Donbass region of the Ukraine in 2014, leading to full-scale invasion last week. How often do we have to learn the same lessons? The need to stand

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Sarah Smith and why inaction is not an option with the politics of hatred Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 23 February 2022 For many years now we have been witnessing a rising tide of intolerance, abuse and threats of intimidation in politics and public life – in Scotland and the UK - with sometimes violence occurring -witness the murder in recent times of the Labour MP Jo Cox and Tory MP David Amess. This is often just associated with social media, although it is more serious than that, and undoubtedly such platforms have released and amplified voices previously unheard, mediated

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The British establishment is now broken beyond repair. But Scotland needs more than a ‘not Westminster’ attitude Gerry Hassan The National, 22 February 2022 Sixty years ago, the British establishment was losing its authority, moral compass and in deep decay. The Tory Party was mired by scandal and misconduct by senior ministers, with an out of touch PM Harold Macmillan failing to grasp the scale of crisis and decay. Meanwhile organised religion and traditional authority were characterised by hypocrisy and double standards, with repressive attitudes holding back progress. In this climate people were indignant, filled with anger and rage at

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What is missing from Scottish politics, the SNP and independence and can we rectify it? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 16 February 2022 What are the main characteristics of Scottish politics? Fifteen years into SNP Government the party is still popular; the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has ratings any incumbent could only dream of having. Yet underneath this, things don’t quite seem right. There is a stillness across Scottish politics and public life. For a start there is no credible opposition to the SNP. The Tories under Douglas Ross just don’t cut it; while Labour under Anas Sarwar might have a

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