The Price of Scottish Independence: Scotland and the UK according to the Free Marketeers Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 13th 2012 It is a sign of the times, and of its importance as an issue, that the global player which is ‘The Economist’ has Scottish independence as its cover and main feature this week, declaring, ‘It’ll cost you: The price of Scottish independence’. Their cover, leader, main UK article and a secondary piece, tell something about ‘The Economist’s’ view of Scottish independence, the UK and the world, each of which I will examine. ‘The Economist’ takes a dim view

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The People’s Game Still? Punters, Pundits and Change Part Three Gerry Hassan April 13th 2012 Celtic and Rangers never used to dominate Scottish football to the degree they do now. In this concluding piece, I am going to measure the degree to which the Old Firm’s near stranglehold on the game is increasingly driving fans away, then address the role of the media, and end with some observations about how we can change the game. The scale of Celtic and Rangers attendances and the size of their support has long been one of the defining accounts of the

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The People’s Game Still? Games under the Shadow of Giants Part Two Gerry Hassan April 12th 2012 The story goes like this. Scottish football has always been about Celtic and Rangers. Live with it. Get used to it. This is increasingly the way of the world: oligopoly, closed competition, success following money. Leaving aside the early days of the Scottish game this perspective invites pessimism and fatalism. And funnily enough it isn’t true. The economic, social and cultural forces of Scotland from Victorian times onwards favoured the dominance of Celtic and Rangers from the moment the game professionalised.

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The Missing Million Scots: What Do You Do When Democracy Fails You? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 7th 2012 A causal observer might think that the Scottish political classes love consultations and going through the motions of public engagement and dialogue. This is evidenced in the simultaneous UK and Scottish Government consultations on the independence question; something we have seen before with the ‘national conversation’ and the Calman Commission. While politicians and their supporters invoke the public, no one seems to take cognisance of who is missing from this debate, who they are, why and what we might do

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The Continued Legacy of Britain’s South Atlantic Adventure Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, March 31st 2012 The 30^th anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands war is next week, a conflict that matters to this day. Like many at the time, I had to first find the South Atlantic islands on a map, then put them into my leftist anti-Thatcherite view of the world, and then observe the mood of a Britain I barely recognised. The Falklands war raised so many questions then and now. Was this a war of principle or pride? What did this say about Britain’s self-image

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The Comeback of ‘Gorgeous George’ and What It Says About British Politics Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, March 30th 2012 A seismic shock has been delivered to the British body politic and its insular, complacent, steady as she goes assumptions. It is one with many levels, layers and complications: the return of George Galloway as the ‘Respect’ MP for Bradford West overturning a Labour majority of 5,763, winning by a margin of 10,140 over Labour, with an impressive 18,341 votes (55.9%), considerably more than the combined Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem vote of 12,402. Already the qualifiers are out, implying

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A Global Scot of Ideas: The Influence of Tom NaIrn Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, March 24th 2012 The United Kingdom this year will showcase itself to the world hoping that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and London Olympic Games lift the domestic gloom, aid business and bring the tourists flocking. One man who has spent his life cutting through the national mystique, hyperbole and veneer of tradition is Tom Nairn who later this year turns 80. Nairn has over his rich intellectual life written on numerous aspects of British society; the nature of the union, the symbolism of the monarchy

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The Back to the Future UK Budget Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, March 22nd 2012 George Osborne, rather like Gordon Brown, thinks of his Budgets, in acutely political terms and calculations. The top rate tax cut gives a boost to 328,000 people, whereas the stamp duty hikes could at most affect 4,000 people – 1% of those at the top getting tax cuts. And that is if they all decide to sell their houses. In November 2011 a mere 121 homes were sold worth £2 million or more, 98 of them in London. Osborne presented this as a measured, pragmatic

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The Fourth Most Unequal Country in the Developed World Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, March 17th 2012 One of the most important influences shaping the coming debate on the future of Scotland will be the nature of Britain. While various anti-independence campaigners interrogate every aspect of the Scottish Government’s case, they overall fail to deal with the reality of modern day Britain. The actions and reputation of the British government matter, along with the condition of the state, society, economy and culture. We have travelled a long way from the 1970s when John P. Mackintosh summarised the Scottish Nationalist case

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