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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Boris Johnson’s survival is a headache for Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tories Gerry Hassan The National, 15 February 2022 Boris Johnson’s continued clinging on as Prime Minister and leader of the Tory Party is an undignified mess, a new ethical low for the Tories and moral stain on the reputation of Britain. Tory politicians across the UK now have to publicly pretend that they live in an Alice in Wonderland world where upside down is the right way up, and Johnson’s never-ending speel of lies is not called out but presented as fair, accurate comment. Thus Tory politicians cannot

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Singing for Scotland at Hampden, Murrayfield and Beyond Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 9 February 2022 The songs that we sing individually and collectively in our hearts, homes and at public occasions tell us something - about who we are, our relationships with each other, and the society and nation we live in. There are numerous different layers to this. There are the songs we sing and hum along to on the radio or on streaming devices; the golden oldies that remind us of favourite or not so favourite past moments; and then there are the collective songs we sing together

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Seventy Years of the Queen matters and why the UK is not a democracy Gerry Hassan The National, 8 February 2022 The Queen this year marks 70 years on the throne with Sunday past being Accession Day – the day her father George VI died and she became Queen. This represents the opening salvo in a year of official commemorations, celebrations and pageantry. The dominant words used to describe the Queen are “service”, “duty” and “sacrifice”, that underline that whatever ones feels about the institution and its hereditary entitlement there is popular affection for the person. But these words have

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In the age of rebellion we can do better than Boris Johnson and Toryism Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 2 February 2022 2022 is the centenary of a year of rebellion. The Irish Free State was born in 1992, the ‘Red Clydesiders’ went to Westminster; and the year gave its name to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers after they overthrew a sitting Prime Minister – David Lloyd George – then heading up a Tory-Liberal coalition government. Boris Johnson and this Tory Government should know that today we live in even more an age of rage and rebellion – being the

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We need to address accountability in public life in the UK and Scotland Gerry Hassan The National, 1 February 2022 The UK is a country lacking accountability in public life. Increasingly, those in senior positions of authority in government, civil service or public bodies resign or take responsibility for anything they have done. There never used to be such an indefensible state of affairs. Previously government ministers used to resign for policy failures, shortcomings of their departments, and for breaking constitutional convention of ministers. Lord Carrington, Thatcher’s first Foreign Secretary, resigned as a result of the Argentinian invasion of the

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