A Rare Moment of Wisdom at the Heart of British Democracy Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 31st 2013 Parliamentary debates about military intervention are often rightly solemn occasions. They carry the weight of history and memories of past triumphs and disasters. The Syria debate this week had initially been downplayed by the Cameron government as it faced the realities of parliamentary arithmetic and the possibility of defeat. But this was historic, evoking past even more momentous debates, and opening a chapter in British foreign policy which could see military intervention in Syria without the UK. The entire parliamentary debate on

Continue Reading A Rare Moment of Wisdom at the Heart of British Democracy

Scotland’s Big Debate, Mini-Crises and A  Tale of Two Establishments Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 27th 2013 We hear all the time from all quarters and opinions that the independence debate is a historic one and a momentous decision. Sadly often it doesn’t feel like that at the moment, seeming more like the next installment in the Labour-SNP dirty war or a bitter by-election in a closely fought parliamentary seat. The key issues, if you go by what has been in the media in the last few weeks, has been who paid for a newspaper article, whether Labour for Independence

Continue Reading Scotland’s Big Debate, Mini-Crises and A Tale of Two Establishments

The Power of the London Scots Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 24th 2013 One of the most powerful group of Scottish opinion formers do not live and work in Scotland, but are the London Scots. This group are never far from the public gaze. They come into focus with the northern exodus of the London and Southern classes at Festival time, personified in Andrew Marr’s recent intervention at the Book Festival about the state of Scotland. Marr stated that, ‘There is a very strong anti-English feeling (in Scotland), everybody knows it’ and that ‘it could become toxic’. Two of his

Continue Reading The Power of the London Scots

What happens after the demise of ‘the Holy Trinity’ of Britishness? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 17th 2013 It has been a week of momentous events. The unfolding Egyptian tragedy, the restarting of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, and in our corner of the world, the first Scotland v. England match in over a decade. It feels inappropriate and insensitive to mention a mere football match in the company of such historic events. Yet, I think with that caveat the game mattered because it offered a glimpse of future possible arrangements. Two neighbours and friends with a rich, shared history, but who

Continue Reading What happens after the demise of ‘the Holy Trinity’ of Britishness?

Unionists, come out and declare your ‘nationalism’ Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 10th 2013 The story is familiar: there is a pesky, partisan, immature nationalism out and about influencing our body politic. This is the account of Scottish nationalism put forward by a range of commentators and public figures. Yet it could as easily be articulated about the ideas of unionism because unionism is at its heart a form of nationalism - British state nationalism. Scottish nationalism has its faults and limitations. It is cautious, conservative and shaped by the characteristics of the society from which it was born. It

Continue Reading Unionists, come out and declare your ‘nationalism’

The missing stories and, for some, the pain of growing up Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 8th 2013 On Saturday the Scottish football season opened in earnest with the first weekend programme of the new Scottish Premiership. There has been little excitement amongst fans, followers and media, despite the final reincorporation of the league authorities into one body, the Scottish Professional Football League, and the ending of football as a closed shop with the agreement of play-offs in and out of the lower league. But it all seems to most the status quo by another name, aided by the continuation

Continue Reading The missing stories and, for some, the pain of growing up

Who is the Real Gordon Brown and Why It Matters? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 3rd 2013 Gordon Brown dominated Scottish politics for several decades. Now gone from the stage, he has only left memories and the issue of his legacy. Brown is a fascinating figure - a very public person, but private; moral in his deliberations yet filled with caution; supposedly radical but profoundly conservative. Kevin Toolis’s new play ‘Confessions of Gordon Brown’ (on at the Pleasance during the Festival) attempts to get inside the mind and psyche of Brown. This is a potent idea and something writers

Continue Reading Who is the real Gordon Brown and Why It Matters?

Labour and Independence: The Power of the Past Gerry Hassan National Collective, August 2nd 2013 Beyond the posturing, allegations and counter-allegations of recent days on the vexed subject of Labour for Independence, there are a series of important and often unexplored questions which tell us much about Scottish politics. Why does Labour, ostensibly ‘a non-nationalist, non-unionist party’ in the words of Lallands Peat Worrier’s reflective blog (1), so preclude not only any consideration of independence, but so firmly, trenchantly and aggressively, a rejection of it? The answer is complex, and can be found deep in the history and evolution of

Continue Reading Labour and Independence: The Power of the Past

Britain – no longer the land of the future, but one living in the past Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 27th 2013 Once upon a time many years ago, like many other Scots, I believed in Britain. Britain seemed the future: it had appeal, appeared modern, progressive and full of promise. That now seems a world away from the Britain of today: one which looks to have given up on the future and instead appears content to live permanently in a fictitious past. This is the fantasyland Britain we see before us this week - of a society, culture and

Continue Reading Britain – no longer the land of the future, but one living in the past

The Limits of Labour and Nationalist Scotland Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 20th 2013 The Scotland of the present is a product of how we understand our past; and the past is always been made, remade and contested. It is not then too surprising that in recent weeks Labour figures such as Brian Wilson and Maria Fyfe in this paper have laid into what they have seen as the over-promotion of the Nationalist tradition – with both criticising visitScotland for profiling Robert McIntyre’s election as SNP MP for Motherwell in 1945. What people like Wilson and others are asserting is

Continue Reading The Limits of Labour and Nationalist Scotland