The End of the Revolutionary Line: The Demise of Tommy Sheridan Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, December 24th 2010 The jury in the Glasgow High Court has found Tommy Sheridan guilty of perjury. His political career and hopes, whatever his rhetoric, lie in ruins, as does the party he helped found – the Scottish Socialist Party – which he briefly made a semi-potent electoral force. This is the end of a long journey for a revolutionary dream, illusion and fantasy – in which Scotland for a period had the world’s most electorally successful Trotskyite party. It has been three years since

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After New Labour, the Limits of the New Socialism and the Need for a Radical Politics Gerry Hassan Compass, December 20th 2010 British politics are in a strange place – one where while some of the landscape remains the same so much is different. All of the three main parties have been disorientated by the result of the election and coalition along with the scale of the crisis. One response to this from parts of the left is to retreat into the hoary old slogans of opposition and struggle, of shouting ‘Tory cuts’ without strategy or the need for rethinking.

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Ed Miliband and the Limits of the New Socialism Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 18th 2010 The Westminster chattering class view is that Ed Miliband has failed as Labour leader. He is seen as indecisive, lacking in political strategy and viewed as taking Labour back into its old comfort zones. Then there are the opinion polls. Labour may be cheered by the polls – and in most it is at or above 40% - but Miliband’s ratings – are so critics allege – the lowest for any new leader apart from Michael Foot, William Hague and Nick Clegg; Neil Kinnock,

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The New Sound of the Streets Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 11th 2010 Protest and rebellion are in the air. Those well-known songs of radical chic, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Power to the People’ have been regularly played on radio and TV; at the same time, red flags, anarchist slogans and student occupations have suddenly appeared on streets and university campuses. The first marked the 30^th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination, which happened this Wednesday past; the second saw the emergence of a mass student protest movement against tuition fees. Some of this may evoke John Lennon and 1968, but the more

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That Sinking Feeling: England against the World Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, December 4th 2010 The backlash has now begun in earnest about England not getting the World Cup in 2018. This tells us much about our southern neighbours, how they see themselves and the world, and are in turn seen. And about how the new global order of the 21^st century is evolving. First things first. I had wanted England to win the right to host the World Cup because I recognise that England – like Scotland is a nation with deep footballing traditions. I also have impatience with knee

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The Strange State of Undemocracy: Calman and the Scottish and British Questions Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, December 1st 2010 The Calman Commission proposals and their enshrinement in the paper, ‘Strengthening Scotland’s Future’ (1) and the Scotland Bill – are meant to be a moment of history and importance: the narrative of ‘the evolution of devolution’, of ‘devolution as a process’, and other questionable clichés. These proposals are important for both Scotland and Britain, revealing a political class and media which mostly does not understand the detail of what is being put forward or the resulting consequences. This is – leaving

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The Beautiful Game No More Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 27th 2010 I love Scotland. I love football. With all its imperfections and limitations I am fascinated by football in Scotland: its passions, history, traditions and why it matters so much. The emotional spasm which has gripped Scottish football would be comic, were it not so serious, revealing some of the sore wounds and faultlines of Scottish society. This whole affair, like ‘the tartan tax’ stushie shows part of Scotland loves getting things completely out of proportion. And an even larger section cannot engage in a

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The Scottish Stalemate and How to Change a Culture of Conservatism Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, November 22nd 2010 Party politics and the wider art of politics are profoundly about tribes. Are you part of my tribe or the opposing tribe? How is my side or camp doing? Are we up or down: making the political debate, or in retreat and on the defensive? At the same time we know our political tribes – Conservative, Lib Dem, Labour – are in major crisis leaving aside the disorientation they all feel as they come to terms with the reality of coalition government

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Imagine a Scotland Where Thatcherism Never Happened Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 20th 2010 ‘It was twenty years ago today ….’ No, not the latest anniversary of the never-ending sixties nostalgia and the Beatles ‘Sgt. Pepper’ album.  Instead, on Monday November 22^nd it is the twentieth anniversary of the fall of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. Mrs. Thatcher and Thatcherism have for so long cast a deep, dark shadow over our lives, that the twentieth anniversary of the fall and Tory regicide are an appropriate time to assess what her real impact was on Scotland. What would Scotland be

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Scotland Before the Cuts and the End of Devolution Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, November 18th 2010 Scotland has just entered a new era: a world of public spending cuts and job losses after a decade of devolution largesse. In this Scotland is just like everywhere else in the UK; some English and even some Scots people will say ‘and about bloody time too’: it was high time to put a stop to ‘the land of milk and honey’ and ‘subsidy junkie Scots’. Such gut, instinctual views miss that something much more significant is going on north of the border –

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