Labour’s Taxing Problems: The Party is fighting for its very existence Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, February 7th 2016 This week Scottish Labour made a move on tax. Is it a daring or desperate move? It broke with the party’s position since the Scottish Parliament was set up in 1999 not to propose any tax increases. At the same time, as the SNP retained its stratospheric poll ratings for the May elections, the Tories drew level with Labour for second place, while Labour issued their regional list candidates with an obvious lack of ‘new blood’ or talent. With the Scottish Parliament

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The Herald and Rangers FC: Noise annoys and listening for the Sounds of Silence Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 3rd 2016 A series of illuminating conflicts in the last week - the Graham Spiers sacking from ‘The Herald’ and the J.K. Rowling/Natalie McGarry argument on twitter - show something revealing about modern Scotland. Spiers sacking from the paper, along with Angela Haggerty’s from the ‘Sunday Herald’, brought up numerous issues. One immediate issue was where power lay in the newspaper group – with open disagreement emerging between ‘The Herald’ and ‘Sunday Herald’ editors. More fundamentally it touched upon the legacy

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The Great British Economic Miracle is an Illusion Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, January 31st 2016 Something is wrong with the British economy. George Osborne seems to be experiencing his own ‘Boom and Bust’. Just before Christmas he was singing the joys of the British economy on the mend.  Yet a few weeks later he changed his tone talking of the uncertain economic times. He hasn’t had to look too far for his troubles - from the tax credits’ chaos where he had to do a U-turn, to this week’s judgement that the bedroom tax was illegal and discriminated against

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Is Culture really what makes Britain GREAT? And does Dominic Sandbrook understand it? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 27th 2016 Everything is culture these days. It is what supposedly brings about real, lasting change, shifts attitudes, is everywhere and yet often intangible, and has spawned a plethora of ‘cultural studies’ from academics and writers eager for research grants and public attention. Dominic Sandbrook’s ‘The Great British Dream Factory’ - and the related BBC TV series ‘Let Us Entertain You’ - demands that it should be taken seriously, whilst not as definitive or scholarly, but as an important book and

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The Europe Debate will tell us much about the state of Britain Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, January 24th 2016 2016 will be a turbulent year for Britain and the world. One issue will dominate the UK political classes beyond economic and financial worries or anxieties about immigration and security, and that is Europe. Europe will connect with all of the above and more. Cameron’s main impetus is to have a quick referendum, to win it and get on with the rest of his Prime Ministership. It won’t work out that way. To have the referendum relatively soon (meaning before Scottish

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The Last Days of the Old BBC Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 20th 2016 These are turbulent times for the BBC. The patrician age of benign liberal paternalism and enlightened elites knowing what is best for us, unquestioned and unchallenged, have long since passed. We have now swung to the other end of the spectrum. Not a day seems to go by without the BBC being criticised from somewhere. The ‘Daily Mail’, ‘Daily Telegraph’ and Murdoch press conduct a never-ending war undermining the Beeb’s status - questioning the legitimacy of the licence fee and what they see as its

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Putting the Scotland into BBC Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, January 17th 2016 It has been a tough few years for the BBC – with challenges from every direction, and potshots and criticism from every quarter. This week Tony Hall, BBC’s head, gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament alongside BBC Scotland boss Ken MacQuarrie. Hall set out the BBC stall. Despite cuts, a range of digital possibilities and platforms were unveiled centred on the iplayer. MacQuarrie answered questions on BBC Scotland’s leaked plan for a new Scottish channel which he said ‘was never a plan’, but a set of brainstorming

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Whatever happened to the Scottish Tut? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 13th 2016 Once upon a time there was a thing called the Scottish Tut. It defined many of our exchanges, stalked our land and policed the boundaries of permissible behaviour. It gave and took away acceptance; and once it was seemingly everywhere and now seems nowhere. Whatever happened to the once powerful tut, can we live without it, and should we lament its apparent demise? The Scottish Tut involves many different motivations, styles and gradations. It could be used to indicate someone seen as ‘getting above their station’

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The Phoney War in British and Scottish Politics Will End Soon Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, January 10th 2016 The big news this week wasn’t the Corbyn re-shuffle of people no one had heard of. Nor was it Cameron’s retreat on the Euro referendum over Cabinet collective responsibility. And it certainly wasn’t Donald Trump threatening to pull future investments from Scotland. Nor was it the hostile words between Saudi Arabia and Iran or continued anxieties about terrorism. Instead, it was instability in the world economy, Chinese economic wobbles, their currency devaluing again and stock market falling by 7%, contributing to a

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There is a Light That Never Goes Out: Ian Bell, Willie McIlvanney and the Power of the Word Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 6th 2016 Scotland values words. It has always had a place in its heart for wordsmiths and for those who powerfully combine language with a sense of some higher calling – from religion, to morality, to various causes for a better world. In the weeks running up to Christmas, within a matter of days of each other, we lost two of our most celebrated public figures who expertly used words - William McIlvanney and Ian Bell. Sometimes,

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