Where stands the SNP and independence?
Where stands the SNP and independence? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 2 September 2024 The SNP conference met in Edinburgh over the past weekend. It was an understated affair compared to the huge gatherings in the years post-2014. The mood was not surprisingly of a diminished party in numbers, appeal and rationale - but at the same time less demoralised and defeated than might have been expected. Rather party members at least on the surface appeared to still have some spirit and energy. This begs the question were they just putting on a brave face, do they have an inner core
Project: The Next SNP. Deadline: Post-2026 Election
Project: The Next SNP. Deadline: Post-2026 Election Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 25 August 2024 The SNP meets next weekend in Edinburgh in a state of transition which marks the end of one political era - that of SNP dominance - and the beginning of a new era. The SNP is experiencing a mix of emotions in having to navigate a very different political environment from the one that it has become used to since 2007. It has experienced election defeat, political turbulence - and a crisis of party, government and independence. The SNP used to have a positive narrative and
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Three Futures of Scotland: And how to shape the future by understanding the past
Three Futures of Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 28 July 2024 Understand the present and shaping the future depends on understanding the past. Sometimes difficult through the noise, smog and smirr, but during disruption and change it is more necessary than ever. The major shifts experienced by Scotland over the past 25 years - the establishment of the Parliament following the emphatic victory for self-government in the 1997 referendum; the SNP’s coming to office in 2007; followed by the 2014 indyref bringing the idea of independence centrestage and into the mainstream, where it has remained since – are seismic. Yet
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Can a New SNP emerge which speaks a new story of Scotland?
Can a New SNP emerge which speaks a new story of Scotland? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 17 July 2024 The scale of SNP defeat should not have taken anyone by surprise. It has been a long time coming, and is a long way down from Peak Nat. But it still shocked many, whilst others too sensitive have looked away from the resulting carnage. This is what happens when parties experience defeat. Unity goes. The sense of shared purpose and direction diverges. And unless the SNP wake up, they could still fall much further. In particular, the 2026 Scottish elections now
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Anatomy of a Loveless Landslide: Labour’s Victory, the Nature of Britain and Post-Democracy
Anatomy of a Loveless Landside Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 12 July 2024 One week ago the UK underwent a quiet kind of revolution. We drew the curtain on years of Tory chaos and psychodrama. A Labour Government was elected with a large overall majority; the Tories won their lowest ever vote in their history; the SNP suffered a significant reverse; while the Lib Dems, Reform and Greens increased their representation and votes. The UK election was an expression of multi-party politics in voting. It was a very European-style result with five GB-wide parties competing besides SNP and Plaid, along with
Barbarism Begins at Home: The Continuing Great Moving Right Show and War on Democracy
Barbarism Begins at Home Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 2 July 2024 Across the West politics are fractured, divisive, and raise more questions than answers. Biden vs. Trump; the authoritarian US Supreme Court extending Trump’s Presidential immunity; the march of the far-right in the French legislative assembly elections; the UK election and emptiness of the mainstream – a trend reflected by Andrew Hindmoor in Haywire: A Political History of Britain since 2000 as ‘the growth of modern miserabilism’ and as evidence that ‘the country is in decline and everything is getting worse.’ Everywhere the forces of the populist right are either
UK Election 2024: The emptiness of the mainstream, punishment elections and ghost parties
UK Election 2024: The emptiness of the mainstream, punishment elections and ghost parties Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 11 June 2024 The UK is experiencing a turbulent, messy, argumentative election contest. One where the main players and institutions seem unsure of themselves; their place in the world; their relevance - and moreover their ability to govern and present policies and ideas. Whatever the final election result it looks certain that the Labour Party will be elected with a sizeable majority. The Conservatives will be decisively rejected, the right split by the rise of Farage’s Reform; while in Scotland the dominant governing
Change is coming to Scotland: Can Scottish Labour seize the opportunity?
Change is coming to Scotland: Can Scottish Labour seize the opportunity? Gerry Hassan Chartist, 10 June 2024 This is a change election; both in the UK and Scotland. A sense of wanting to punish the Tories after 14 years pervades the UK; and a similar, if less emphatic, desire can be felt in Scotland with regard to the SNP after their 17 years in office. Scottish politics are in flux. This is the end of the era of SNP’s effortless dominance under Salmond and Sturgeon. The SNP is in a crisis of leadership – both of party and of government.
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As Scotland goes to the polls caution and continuity – in Labour and the SNP
As Scotland goes to the polls caution and continuity are not enough – in Labour and the SNP Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 26 May 2024 The UK election on 5 July has huge consequences that could draw the curtains on fourteen Tory years - and see the election of a Labour Government under Keir Starmer. All expectations are that the Tories will lose badly, and Labour could win by a landslide. However the Tories won emphatically in 2019 and Labour need to gain 124 seats for a majority of one seat - something they have done twice in post-war times
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Walls come tumbling down: The SNP crisis and the state of Scottish politics and independence
Walls come tumbling down Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 1 May 2024 The events of the past few days have caught many off-guard. Humza Yousaf‘s abrupt termination of the agreement with the Greens, their resultant fury and desire for revenge, with the inevitable resignation of Yousaf as it became obvious that he could not win a vote of confidence without paying a high price to Alba and Alex Salmond. All political parties, parliaments and political systems have crises. They are the life and blood of politics. They are revealing, tell us much about what the main players (whether parties or individuals)
