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Scottish Independence has to move with the times
Scottish Independence has to move with the times Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 1st 2017 Scotland has in recent times liked to see itself as progressive, democratic and European. What’s so special about that you might think? A bit like apple pie and being kind to animals. But these undoubtedly mainstream values were rightly seen as increasingly at odds with the direction of the UK in the last few decades. The UK wasn’t any of these things and this has become even more pronounced and obvious post-Brexit vote. The Scottish case for these three qualities in 2014 was about something
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Despite Trump and Brexit there are still Reasons to be Cheerful
Despite Trump and Brexit there are still Reasons to be Cheerful Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 26th 2017 A haunting refrain echoes around the globe. The world, many emphatically say, has gone to pot what with Trump, Brexit, terrorism, ISIS, the march of the far right, fake news, alternative facts and more. This miserablist take on modern times has a familiar refrain in Britain. It states that the country has gone in entirely the wrong direction these last 30 to 40 years. ‘Margaret Thatcher / poll tax / Tony Blair / Iraq war’ has become a spellbinding, intoxicating description
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Could Scotland really be reduced to the status of a region?
Could Scotland really be reduced to the status of a region? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 18th 2017 When did present day Scotland begin? Not the ‘modern’ Scotland of post-war times, or the upside and then downside of Labour Scotland. But the land that we visibly live in today – shaped by the ghosts of industries long gone and the sins and excesses of Thatcher and Blair. The conventional answer is 1979: the ‘Year Zero’ of Scottish sensibilities when, for many, the world was turned upside down with election of the Thatcher Government and the stalled first devolution referendum. However,
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The Continuing Scottish Revolution: Time to Tell New Stories of Scotland
The Continuing Scottish Revolution: Time to Tell New Stories of Scotland Scottish Review, January 10th 2017 Gerry Hassan It has been an unprecedented political year, and 2017 will also be full of high drama - globally, across Europe, in the UK, and nearer to home in Scotland. Politics isn’t everything. Just as important is culture - a word used and over-used, seemingly about everything and everywhere, but difficult, and sometimes impossible to pin down and define. Culture when we forensically examine it can mean so many things. It can describe individual growth and enrichment. It can be about a
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My Favourite Books of 2016
MY FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2016 December 19th 2016 The political upheavals of 2016 will be captured for many years to come through books and publishing. I enjoyed my wide reading over the year, while still feeling that events and crises were racing ahead of publishers and writers. I revelled in researching and writing my own book - Scotland the Bold – on the country, its politics, culture and ideas and prospects for change. Writing at book length always gives you permission and discipline to read widely – and beyond narrow subject categorisation – which is a joy. Anyway, without further
My Year in Music 2016
MY YEAR IN MUSIC 2016 December 16th 2016 2016 will be certainly be remembered as a year and for more important things than music. But it was also a year of musical genius and of great losses – which words are not adequate to describe. Without further to do my musical highs: MY BEST ALBUMS
- David Bowie – Black Star
- Nino Katamadze and Insight – Yellow
Scotland’s Radical Tradition is richer and more diverse than ‘Red Clydeside’
Scotland’s Radical Tradition is richer and more diverse than ‘Red Clydeside’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 14th 2016 The 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution will be in 2017. The seizure of power by Lenin and Trotsky in October 1917 was one of the central events of the twentieth century, took Russia out of the imperial quagmire that was the First World War, and led to revolutionary uprisings across Europe – from Berlin and Bavaria to Budapest. Scotland had its own mini-version of this in ‘Red Clydeside’ and the series of events between 1911-19 – which saw agitation, protest and
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As Britain crashes and burns can Scottish politics embrace more humanity and substance?
As Britain crashes and burns can Scottish politics embrace more humanity and substance? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 8th 2016 Britain is falling apart by the day. ‘British politics’ no longer exist in any form outside the House of Commons; ‘Brexit Britain’ is an inaccurate term considering the divided vote and kingdom; while the UK Government wastes our resources going to the Supreme Court to prevent a parliamentary vote actioning a referendum decision that was supposedly about parliamentary sovereignty. It’s confusing isn’t it? Meanwhile Tory politicians and newspapers rail against judges as ‘Enemies of the People’, and the influence of
Time for a Bolder Scotland: The Seven Stories of Scottish Independence
Time for a Bolder Scotland: The Seven Stories of Scottish Independence Gerry Hassan The National, November 30th 2016 We are living through unprecedented times of change and uncertainty. The words and phrases we use can barely keep up - ‘post-truth politics’, 'fake news', ‘alt-right’, the vacuity of ‘Brexit means Brexit’, and the debate on whether Trump is a ‘fascist’ or not. Language itself is struggling to convey and understand these times. This is true in Britain and Scotland. ‘The Economist’ magazine, in its review of the year and assessments of next year, when talking of Brexit observed that ‘When
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Tom Nairn’s Break-up of Britain turns 40 and is as relevant as ever
Tom Nairn’s Break-up of Britain turns 40 and is as relevant as ever Gerry Hassan The National, November 24th 2016 Few books about politics stand the test of time like Tom Nairn’s The Break-up of Britain. Next year will see its 40th anniversary. Originally published during the Queen’s Jubilee of 1977, the book offered a blistering counterblast to the then official commemorations – and self-congratulation of political and media elites who used the occasion to reflect on the wonders of the British way of doing things. The UK has undergone dramatic change since then. Superficially in form and appearance it
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