As Brexit Britain heads for the rocks what does Corbyn’s Labour stand for? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, March 14th 2018 The diminished global status of Britain and our future post-Brexit has been on display in the last few days. The attempted murder of Sergei Skripa and his daughter Yulia and the possible role of Russian authorities; the visit of the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, and the continued saga of Donald Trump’s unpredictable, erratic Presidency from trade wars to his state visit, all illustrate the challenges a diminished UK will face in the aftermath of Brexit. Twenty-one months on from the

Continue Reading As Brexit Britain heads for the rocks what does Corbyn’s Labour stand for?

The Revolution has not been televised: And why mainstream politics and media prefers not to talk about it Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, March 7th 2018 Switch on your TV news these days and you will find, when they get past the poor weather and Royal Family announcements, that the world doesn’t exactly feel a happy place. There is disorder, division and disaster seemingly everywhere, but also very little attempt to make sense of why much of this happening. Last week the BBC news and current affairs programme ‘This Week’ hosted by Andrew Neil began with a film and discussion

Continue Reading The Revolution has not been televised: And why mainstream politics and media prefers not to talk about it

After the Oxfam and Save the Children scandals what does it take to be a good organisation? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 28th 2018 The last few weeks have seen huge controversies surround the charity organisations Oxfam and Save the Children. In both senior men have been accused of acting inappropriately; in the case of Oxfam, involving the grotesque spectacle of Haitian disaster survivors being sexually exploited. It didn’t take long for this to become a political football. Elements of the right, such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, called for the UK international aid budget to be revisited, while former International Aid

Continue Reading After the Oxfam and Save the Children scandals what does it take to be a good organisation?

2018 will be the Year of Dundee but whose Dundee will it be? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 20th 2018 2018 will be the Year of Dundee. There is excitement and expectation in the city. After years in the doldrums, Dundee has now been punching above its weight for over a decade. It is not just the anticipation of the V&A’s public opening on September 15^th. The city has been picking up international attention and plaudits as variously ‘Scotland’s coolest city’ (Wall Street Journal), the ‘coolest in Scotland’ and undergoing a ‘renaissance’ (Condé Nast Traveller), ‘Britain’s coolest city’ (GQ magazine),

Continue Reading 2018 will be the Year of Dundee but whose Dundee will it be?

A Warning from the Past: What happened to Scottish Labour could happen to the SNP Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 14th 2018 What goes up must come down is a truism worth remembering in relation to politics - as well as to economics and every kind of asset or property bubble. There once was a political party in Scotland which saw itself as the embodiment of the radical tradition, in touch with voters, and embodying social justice. It became more and more complacent, self-congratulatory, and out of touch – eventually morphing into the Scottish establishment. That party was the Scottish

Continue Reading A Warning from the Past: What happened to Scottish Labour could happen to the SNP

Time to Put the Culture into Creative Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 7th 2018 Creative Scotland’s latest stramash has again brought arts funding, decision-making and the role of the organisation centrestage. It is a recurring problem. After the good news story before Christmas, of Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop announcing - against expectations - a real terms increase in the funding of Creative Scotland, all seemed for a brief period sweetness and light. Then came the announcement on 25 January for Regularly Funding Organisations (RFOs), who have a three-year funding cycle, of significant cuts in a host of success stories

Continue Reading Time to Put the Culture into Creative Scotland

The Football Club That Refused to Die: The Tragedy and Beauty of Third Lanark Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 31st 2018 Glasgow’s history has long been the stuff of legend – the stories of Red Clydeside, rent strikes, the power of shipbuilding, the scale of slum clearance - and of course, football. In Scotland we seem to get too much football and too much bad football coverage. We get a narrow bandwidth of football which results in numerous stories, triumphs, tragedies, and moments becoming forgotten, as we surfeit on a diet of the stale Old Firm (cue a chorus from

Continue Reading The Football Club That Refused to Die: The Tragedy and Beauty of Third Lanark

The World Has Been Turned Upside Down: The End of the Era of Robber Baron Capitalism Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 24th 2018 The world has been turned upside down in the last few weeks. Ten years after the banking crash showed that the economic assumptions which shaped most of our lives were bogus, along has come the collapse of Carillion, the biggest outsourcing company in the UK. The taking of the public out of public services has been a long war of attrition which has been waged by all the mainstream Westminster parties. It hasn’t improved public services

Continue Reading The World Has Been Turned Upside Down: The End of the Era of Robber Baron Capitalism

Time to Wake Up and Ask Some Difficult Questions abut the SNP and Independence Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, January 23rd 2018 ‘What Do You Do When A Society Lies to Itself?’ So said writer Umair Haque this week in the context of the constitutional standoff in Trump’s America. But it is true of most nations most of the time; certainly it is true of today’s UK - and also of modern Scotland. Scottish politics are currently in what can only be described as a phoney war - a becalmed period of inertia and inactivity in-between the storms that buffet politics.

Continue Reading Time to Wake Up and Ask Some Difficult Questions about the SNP and Independence

Winston Churchill: The Man, the Myth, 1940 and Who can speak for Britain? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 16th 2018 Winston Churchill is everywhere at the moment. It is as if there are only two narratives about Britain’s past: the Second World War and dramas about people of privilege, class and money. The Churchill industry can cover both strands, and for some his is the last uncontested great story of Britain. To others he is the last statesman who unreservedly represented the moral case for Britain; whereas for many on the left he has long been a problem figure. And

Continue Reading Winston Churchill: The Man, the Myth, 1940 and Who can speak for Britain?