An Open Letter to Alex Salmond
An Open Letter to Alex Salmond Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 13th 2012 Dear Alex, Next week you will address the SNP Annual Conference, closer than ever to what you have strived all your political life for: Scottish independence. You need to give a speech like you have never done before. Here are some suggestions. 1. Stop using the same template to shape your speech. Some of us have noticed that you have a habit of giving a rather similar speech year-in, year-out. There is a reference to a cultural figure, usually the Makar, Edwin Morgan. Then there is
Is Scotland Really the Social Democratic Country It Prociaims?
Is Scotland Really the Social Democratic Country It Proclaims? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 18th 2012 There is a widespread assumption across most if not all of Scotland that this is a land of the centre-left; that we don’t vote Tory, didn’t buy into Thatcherism, and that we are all the children of social democracy. Leaving aside the Scottish Social Attitudes Surveys on Scots/English differences (which show there aren’t that big differences), there is a prevalent belief that centre-left, left and collectivist values percolate through and define our society. Some voices on the left believe that they speak for
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State of Interindependence: A Vision for Scottish Self-Determination
State of InterIndependence: A Vision for Scottish Self-Determination Gerry Hassan May 24th 2012 Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in the future And time future contained in the past. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets (1936) This week the Scottish independence debate reaches new levels with the launch of the ‘Yes Scotland’ pro-independence campaign, the emergence of the shape of the pro-union campaign, and the spectre of Tony Blair hovering threateningly over Scottish politics. Scottish independence has long been viewed by the British political classes as eccentric and unworldly. The Economist’s ‘Bagehot’ column made a revealing
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Alex Salmond, Rupert Murdoch and the Pitfalls of Crony Capitalism
Alex Salmond, Rupert Murdoch and the Pitfalls of Crony Capitalism Gerry Hassan The Guardian Comment, April 26th 2012 Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, has emerged as a significant player in the Leveson inquiry. This is a result of the release of 163 pages of emails from News Corporation which have publicised the extent of their contacts with the Scottish Government. The charge is that the Scottish Government were prepared to go into bat for the Murdoch empire as a quid pro quo for ‘The Sun’ supporting the SNP in last year’s elections. This is contested and denied by Rupert
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Scotland Names the Big Day and the Alex Salmond-Rupert Murdoch Relationship
Scotland Names the Big Day and the Alex Salmond-Rupert Murdoch Relationship Gerry Hassan The Guardian Comment, February 26th 2012 The launch of ‘the Sun on Sunday’ may have caused shockwaves in media and political circles in the corridors of power in London, but its headline about an Amanda Holden exclusive surely didn’t. North of the border things were very different where a distinct Scottish version of ‘the Sun on Sunday’ was even more eagerly awaited and didn’t disappoint. This was following Rupert Murdoch’s tweet this week that he was in favour of Scottish independence, declaring, ‘Let Scotland go and
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The Long Revolution: Scottish Self-Government and the Case for the Union
The Long Revolution: Scottish Self-Government and the Case for the Union Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, February 17th 2012 David Cameron came north to Scotland speaking with the authority of Prime Minister of the UK and the status of leading a party with one MP out of 59 Westminster representatives. He delivered an important speech and intervention and met with First Minister Alex Salmond; this can be seen as part of the long campaign and positioning of each man and side seeing himself as a long distance runner, pacing themselves, sizing up and trying to get the better of their
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The Story of a Northern Rebellion and how it could remake Britain
The Story of a Northern Rebellion and how it could remake Britain Gerry Hassan New Statesman, January 16th 2012 The Westminster parties have a northern problem but they do not know what it is or what to do. Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister, stands all-conquering, a nationalist hero to some; a one-man band of “El-Presidente Salmond” to others. The SNP’s “big tent” politic, social democratic and pro-business, leaves the opposition with little terrain to mark out; redolent of Tony Blair and New Labour at their peak in 1997. How has this happened in
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When ‘Two Tribes’ Go To War: Why Independence Needs to Understand the Union Case
When ‘Two Tribes’ Go To War: Why Independence Needs to Understand the Union Case Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 14th 2012 This week Scotland exploded onto the UK and international stage. The constitutional debate and independence have become the talk of Westminster and across the world. Pro-union forces have been caricaturing the independence camp as ‘separatists’ with even the British Government paper published this week having contained within its title the phrase: ‘whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom’. Independence supporters like to think they are above this. Yet they have a tendency to think the union is
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The Possible Scotlands of the Future
The Possible Scotlands of the Future Gerry Hassan The Guardian Comment, January 13th 2012 The Scottish independence story has become one of the UK’s hottest stories, forcing Westminster and London politicians and correspondents to gen up quickly about Scotland and Scottish politics as they try to make sense of what is going on. Scottish independence and self-government are not about an old-fashioned nationalist movement drawing from reactionary ideas, but a profoundly modern, pro-European, centre-left politics. The debate of independence versus the union has already seen battlelines drawn, David Cameron and Alex Salmond engage in the first of what will
The Beginning of the Break-Up of Britain?
The Beginning of the Break-Up of Britain? Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, January 11th 2012 The Scottish constitutional question has shot to the top of the UK political agenda. The manoeuvrings of the UK Government and Scottish Government on the Scottish independence issue have consistently led the UK news bulletins this week, even giving the high impact HS2 development go-ahead a run for its money. We are now entering uncharted waters. Scotland and the UK are now changing and things will never be the same again. Whatever the outcome of the stand-off between the two governments and the eventual referendum,
