The Art of Growing Up: The SNP after Sturgeon, Independence and the Power of Light
The Art of Growing Up Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 14 May 2024 Sunday was the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament’s opening day in 1999; and the 30th of the tragic death of Labour leader John Smith - two totemic moments which changed political realities and with implications to this day. The Scottish Parliament opened with its most senior member, Winnie Ewing, declaring: ‘The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened’, an expression of a nationalist narrative. The political void left by John Smith’s death produced the election of Tony Blair
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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)
Twenty-five years of the Scottish Parliament and the need for a new story
Twenty-five years of the Scottish Parliament and the need for a new story Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 28 April 2024 The past few days have seen Scottish politics shaken to the core. Humza Yousaf terminated the SNP-Green Bute House Agreement bringing the prospect of a vote of no confidence. This could end his Premiership and SNP rule, and even result in a special Holyrood election before the coming Westminster contest. In such a febrile atmosphere no one could be sure how voters would act in a surprise poll, or who they might blame for calling it! Politics in Scotland hasn’t
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What Scotland’s big independence debate is about and should be about
What Scotland’s big independence debate is about and should be about Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 15 June 2022 Nicola Sturgeon has fired the gun on Scotland’s independence debate, standing in Bute House yesterday with Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, launching the first of several papers on independence. This has brought forth the usual and predictable claims and counter-claims. SNP, Green and independence supporters are excited and hopeful; Labour, Tories and Lib Dems along with pro-union advocates of no party are filled with scorn and fury that anyone would want to progress independence in such times of upheaval and
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The rise, fall and rise of party and movement and the changing idea of Scotland
The rise, fall and rise of party and movement and the changing idea of Scotland Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 7 January 2022 Review of The National Movement in Scotland, Jack Brand, Routledge The SNP have been in existence for a long time and a serious electoral force since the 1960s. But at the same time there have been few studies of the party that have contextualised it within the wider nationalist movement and the changing nature of Scotland, and that have attempted to analyse and understand the dynamics of this relationship. The National Movement in Scotland by the late Jack
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My Musical Highlights of the Year
My Musical Highlights of the Year Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 17 December 2021 This year in music does seem to have been incredibly long, with what I was grooving to at the start of the year seems eons ago. Part due to COVID and the lack of live music, and part it being a year of two halves - one in Glasgow, one in Kirkcudbright – with the resulting upheaval of moving a lifetime’s worth of music. Without further ado, here are my best new albums of the year, best reissues and older albums that I have turned to for
Is this really the best Tory case for the union?
Is this really the best Tory case for the union? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 10 October 2021 Strength in Union: The Case for the United Kingdom, edited by Andrew Bowie, Centre for Policy Studies. The Tory Party are seeking a coherent strategy to deal with Scotland and the threat of independence – one that twin-tracks between looking at iconic infrastructure projects they can fund and wrap a Union Jack around, and the ‘wheesht on independence’ mindset – that entails not talking about the issue to avoid making it more real. If the latter is more than a passing Downing
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The Alex Salmond Scandal and its Aftermath
The Alex Salmond Scandal and its Aftermath Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 9 September 2021 Break-Up: How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War, David Clegg and Kieran Andrews, Biteback Publishing, £20. Scottish politics has been transfixed the past three years by the fallout between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon – the defining figures of the SNP over the past twenty years. This has been a saga like no other - of serious allegations made against Salmond, two court cases and judgements, a parliamentary inquiry and independent review, all of which have created huge political waves and turbulence which have
Scotland no longer defines itself and the world through England
Scotland no longer defines itself and the world through England Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, June 18th 2021 The Scotland v England fixture returns - Wembley, the Tartan Army, English commentators talking nearly exclusively about England, with Gazza’s 1996 goal now replacing the once constant references to 1966. It is almost as if nothing has ever changed. Almost. This is the original and oldest international fixture in the world dating back to 1872 - the foundational rivalry of international football, and one with great history, drama, controversies and memories. It is a vital part of the story of Scottish and English,
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The battle for Scotland and the language of apocalypse from Andrew Neil and the right
The battle for Scotland and the language of apocalypse from Andrew Neil and the right Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, November 20th 2020 One of the recurring themes of Scottish politics, from those of a pro-union disposition who are trying to find ammunition to attack the SNP and independence, is the propensity to dismiss the record of the Nationalists in office in language which borders on the apocalyptic. This entails talking of Scotland as some kind of disaster, basket case – while ignoring where such logic would take descriptions of Boris Johnson’s government. Some of this overblown rhetoric is a sign
