Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson
Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 22nd 2020 Thirty years ago today Margaret Thatcher resigned as UK Prime Minister and yet still casts a shadow over British politics and the Tories. Fast forward to this week, with Boris Johnson revealing his true feelings about Scotland and devolution – saying that ‘devolution has been a disaster north of the border’ and that it was ‘Tony Blair’s biggest mistake’ - a bit of a tall statement given the Iraq war over which Johnson called for Blair’s impeachment. Cue lots of
Continue Reading Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson
The Pressures of Success: What independence has to do to win
The Pressures of Success: What Independence has to do to win Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 15th 2020 It has been a historic week, and we are only half way through the month. Trump defeated, Dominic Cummings leaving Downing Street, a COVID-19 vaccine, fourteen polls in a row for independence, and - to top it all - the Scottish men’s football team qualifying for the Euros. Things are looking up. Being in a winning position changes everything. It brings fresh questions, expectations and pressures. There is the cumulative effect of the SNP being in office by 2021 for fourteen years
Continue Reading The Pressures of Success: What independence has to do to win
Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence?
Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 18th 2020 Independence is the new normal and the mainstream. This is a huge historic shift and moment. It is a dramatic change and opportunity that will require a very different politics and attitude compared to 2014. Then independence represented the insurgents and outsiders, the new kids on the block, shaking the insiders, taking independence in from the cold and the margins. This is independence’s tipping point – or getting close to that point; the moment when everything changes: the argument, context and how the public see
Continue Reading Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence?
Understanding and defeating the argument for the union in twelve steps
Understanding and defeating the argument for the union in twelve steps Gerry Hassan Sunday National, August 30th 2020 It has been an uplifting last few weeks to be an independence supporter. Not only has there been a swathe of polls showing a growing independence majority, the pro-union side seems to be in a bit of a panic. Michael Gove has been desperately trying to wake up the UK Cabinet to the dangers of independence saying it could bring the government down. Gove has been in discussions with the new self-appointed defender of the union – George Galloway – which
Continue Reading Understanding and defeating the argument for the union in twelve steps
Independence as the New Majority and the work that still needs to be done
independence as the New Majority and the work that still needs to be done Gerry Hassan Sunday National, August 23rd 2020 The past week has seen two milestone polls put independence in front by 55:45 and 54:46, confirming a trend over the past two months. What is it that is moving public opinion in such decisive numbers? There is the nature of the UK, the UK Government and the rightward drift of British politics. There is the disastrous Premiership of Boris Johnson – the UK’s 20th PM from Eton, of 55 (36%) and 28th from Oxford (51%) – and an
Continue Reading Independence as the New Majority and the work that still needs to be done
The Real Divided Scotland: Time to get serious about class and inequality
The Real Divided Scotland: Time to get serious about class and inequality Gerry Hassan Sunday National, August 9th 2020 The SQA debacle has dominated the news. It is not a good moment for Scottish education or the cause of a more just, equal country. That is the bigger story here – one we should be uncomfortable with until we face up to it. Specifically, the extent of inequality and division in Scotland - this supposed land of egalitarianism. We can see it in the education attainment gap and scale of educational inequality and apartheid which underpins it; it is evident
Continue Reading The Real Divided Scotland: Time to get serious about class and inequality
The SNP, Salmond and Sturgeon and the limits of court politics
The SNP, Salmond and Sturgeon and the limits of court politics Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 5th 2020 The UK is in turbulence. The UK Government has failed us on matters of life and death. Scotland has felt very different, even if on some of the fundamentals of COVID19 it has not been actually that different. At the same time the SNP has soared in the polls, Nicola Sturgeon’s ratings have outshone everyone else and independence has moved into the majority. To some this looks like our future - a slow disentanglement from the UK state. Yet across the world,
Continue Reading The SNP, Salmond and Sturgeon and the limits of court politics
Independence as the new normal: Listening to the Scotland that did not vote Yes in 2014
Independence as the new normal: Listening to the Scotland that did not vote Yes in 2014 Gerry Hassan Sunday National, July 26th 2020 This week ‘All Under One Banner’ asked on social media: ‘What do you think is the main obstacle to overcome in order to restore Scottish independence?’ This brought forth comments about the state of the mainstream media, BBC, Westminster parties and UK Government, but very little on actual voters. It took pro-independence writer Michael Gray to answer that: ‘The reality that independence was rejected by two million of our fellow citizens for many decent and understandable
The debate on a new pro-indy party: What kind of democracy and politics do we want Scotland to be known by?
The debate on a new pro-indy party: What kind of democracy and politics do we want Scotland to be known by? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, July 19th 2020 You wait years for a new independence party and suddenly you can’t move for them. There is the Alliance for Independence (AFI) supported by former SNP MSP Dave Thompson; the Independence for Scotland Party (ISP), and the fledgling Wings over Scotland-Alex Salmond party, which may or may not happen. To some this is about winning significant list representation which isn’t SNP or Green, for others about ‘gaming’ the system to help the
Scotland’s future as an independent nation is being created in the here and now
Scotland’s future as an independent nation is being created in the here and now Gerry Hassan Sunday National, June 28th 2020 Independence is back in the news and making the news. Truth is it never went away, but last week’s 54:46 poll in this paper set a surge of energy through the Scottish political scene. The British state and government, and Boris Johnson’s serial incompetence and inability to tell the truth in a national crisis of life and death proportions, is making the case for independence. Johnson represents all that most Scots are repulsed by - a posh entitlement
Continue Reading Scotland’s future as an independent nation is being created in the here and now
