Bella Caledonia

Donald Dewar and the Lost Story of Devolution Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, October 8th 2020 A significant and poignant moment in Scotland’s recent history comes up this weekend on Sunday, with the 20^th anniversary of the tragic death of the first ever First Minister Donald Dewar at the age of 63. Donald Dewar was a profoundly decent person, imbued with an older sense of public mission and morality, who often seemed out of kilter with the times - drawing from a deep reservoir of how the middle and professional classes used to behave. His death robbed the Scottish Parliament of

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The Brexit power grab and the collapse of British conservatism Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, September 30th 2020 In the midst of a pandemic and the prospect of No Deal Brexit the UK Government continues its path of self-harm and self-destruction – with a central place given to the UK internal market bill. Such is the normalisation of irresponsible uber-right-wing politics, aided by the long-term ratchet effect of Brexit, that this watershed bill - tearing up legal agreements and trashing the UK’s reputation further – that was once much commented upon now is taken as the norm. When the UK

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The Brexit Crisis and Problem with Absolute Sovereignty: From the loss of the American Colonies and Ireland to Brexit Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, July 26th 2019 Britain is not only in crisis but under Boris Johnson’s new hardline Brexit government is heading for the rocks and disaster at turbo-charged speed. Yet with wall-to-wall mainstream media commentary on all things Brexit and Boris Johnson, a number of key characteristics are missing. The first is any understanding that Brexit is nearly entirely an English phenomenon and not only that but an expression of virulent, reactionary English nationalism. Secondly is the unpalatable reality

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Where is the vision for Scotland’s First City: Glasgow? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, July 11th 2019 Glasgow is Scotland’s first city in size and importance. There are of course several different Glasgows - from the official council area of 621,020 inhabitants to the metropolitan region of between 1.2 million to 1.7 million people, depending on the definition. Glasgow matters. It’s success, wellbeing, vibrancy, the happiness of its people, sustainability, and state of its public realm all matter not just to the city, but to all of Scotland. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that to many Glaswegians. The past weekend saw

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The Scottish Parliament at 20: Are we really ‘Children of the Devolution’? Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, July 1st 2019 It was twenty years ago today that the Scottish Parliament officially opened. Donald Dewar spoke eloquently, the Queen attended, and there was a small amount of pomp and circumstance in Edinburgh Old Town. Time for reflection and an assessment - cue Allan Little’s ‘Children of the Devolution’ shown on the new BBC Scotland channel, and subsequently BBC Scotland (the last episode shown this Tuesday on the former, and Wednesday on the latter). This offers an appraisal of the past twenty years:

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Scotland’s Independent Story isn’t over: A Review of Yes/No: Inside the Indyref Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, March 19th 2019 As British politics enters a mixture of meltdown and an endgame, convulsed by Brexit, everywhere in political discourse there is an obsession with the past. From the rise of Churchill to unquestioned national hero, to the ultra-Brexiteers talking of the UK reduced to a ‘vassal state’ of the EU; and now, Speaker John Bercow announcing there cannot be a rerun of parliamentary votes due to a 1604 English convention, while being compared to Speaker William Lenthall who presided over the long

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1979: The beginning of the end of the ancien regime that ruled Scotland and the UK Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, March 1st 2019 Today is the 40^th anniversary of Scotland going to the polls to vote in the first devolution referendum on Labour’s proposals for a Scottish Assembly. This marked the beginning of Scotland’s constitutional revolution through referendums which, at the moment, stands at a triptych of 1979, 1997 and 2014 but which may have another addition. Despite this there will be no bunting, no ceremonies and no plaques unveiled to mark today. Both then and now, Labour’s plans for

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Independence is about more than an indyref. It is about changing minds and Scotland Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, January 25th 2019 Independence has to be about more than tactics and processes – which has dominated too many conversations since 2014. Independence is about more than an indyref - and in particular, timing, the question asked and how it comes about. This is politics as process and taking the substance for granted. And it is a trap too many independence supporters have fallen into post-2014. The last four plus years have been a strange time in Scottish politics. The democratic spirit

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Telling the Missing Stories of Working Class Culture in Cinema: ‘Peterloo’ and ‘Nae Pasaran’ Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, November 3rd 2018 It is a rare occasion when two films are released on the same day about working class histories of Britain. This weekend sees such a situation with the release of Mike Leigh’s much awaited ‘Peterloo’ and Felipe Butos Sierra’s ‘Nae Pasaran’. ‘Peterloo’ is the story of the infamous massacre at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, on 16 August 1819, when fifteen people were killed in cold-blood by the authorities, demonstrating naked power and to remind them of their place. It

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Britain and Scotland have changed: The Tory Story of Britain is Dead Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, October 3rd 2018 The British Conservative Party is one of the most successful electoral parties in the developed capitalist world. They might not look like it at the moment but this is a force which has adapted to numerous challenges and changes: the coming of the mass franchise and rise of the working class, emergence of Labour, the post-war settlement, and demise of Empire and the UK’s diminished global standing and influence. The Tories are the party of privilege and entitlement; of a ruling

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