The political times are changing: Boris Johnson’s broken economic Britain and beyond
The political times are changing: Boris Johnson’s broken economic Britain and beyond Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 6 October 2021 Boris Johnson’s campaign of shameless differentiation from the Tory Governments that directly proceeded him goes on, as he tries to distance himself from David Cameron, George Osborne and Theresa May. It has now extended to a break not just with the past Tory decade of austerity, but over the past weekend to a rupture with the politics and economics of the past four decades which have shaped the UK. This is in words a break with Thatcherism and New Labour, and
The Tory attack on the right to vote is a threat to democracy
The Tory attack on the right to vote is a threat to democracy Gerry Hassan The National, 14 September 2021 The Tory Elections Bill, debated last week in the Commons, sounds on the surface like an anodyne piece of legislation, tidying up arcane procedures on voter registration, identification and how we vote. However, it is a full-fronted attack on the fabric of what passes for democracy and the right to vote, reveals the thin nature of fundamental rights in the UK, and the brazen reality that the Tories regard such rights and ‘the British constitution’ as playthings that they can
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Toryism is bad for your health. Literally it kills
Toryism is bad for your health. Literally it kills Gerry Hassan The National, July 20th 2021 Boris Johnson and his administration have presided over the biggest domestic disaster to befell a UK Government in living memory - arguably since the UK began. There have been terrible calamities before such as Blair and the Iraq war, Eden and Suez, Chamberlain and appeasement, Salisbury and the Boer war. But these are all foreign policy disasters which cost the UK’s reputation severely – and all saw military conflict in which many died including UK citizens. The current Tory Government’s miscalculations, mistakes and arrogances
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We are living in age of multiple revolutions
We are living in an age of multiple revolutions Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 22nd 2021 This Wednesday is five years exactly since the UK overall – led by England and Wales – voted for Brexit. The matter is still alive and present in so many ways – in the Northern Ireland protocol, in Scotland, in the UK argumentative relationship with the EU, and in the dividing lines which shape British politics. Here are eleven takes about the state of British politics and its future. ONE: Brexit is not just about leaving the EU. It is not just a
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The crisis of unionism has become the death of the union as we know it
The crisis of unionism has become the death of the union as we know it Gerry Hassan Sunday National, April 18th 2021 The UK is not in a good state - undermined by the concerted actions of the UK Government, continuing to showing a lack of understanding of the union. All of this is coming to a head as we approach the Scottish elections, raising the stakes for how people vote and raising difficult questions about the nature of UK democracy. This Tory Government is dramatically changing the UK and the union, how political authority is exercised, the relationships between
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The UK is not a fully-fledged democracy: An alternative history of Britain
The UK is not a fully-fledged democracy: An alternative history of Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 14th 2021 The events of the past few days, in the aftermath of the death of Prince Philip, have brought the nature of British society, history and democracy to the fore – or rather the all-pervasive official account that is articulated day in and day out. We are continually told – sometimes subliminally and sometimes explicitly - that the monarchy is central to Britain, Britishness and our way of life and being, and that it is part of what makes us unique, stable
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Britain is broken – which is both an opportunity and challenge to Scottish radicals
Britain is broken – which is both an opportunity and challenge to Scottish radicals Gerry Hassan Sunday National, April 4th 2021 Politics has been highly charged and combative across the UK for many years now. The British political system, its rules and codes, and how politics and power is enacted have been in decline for some time. While many in Scotland view this as proof that independence is needed as soon as possible, it is also true that Scottish politics has some soul searching to do. Recent times have seen our own controversies about party, government and power which have
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The state of the union and independence after Johnson’s jaunt
The state of the union and independence after Johnson’s Jaunt Gerry Hassan Sunday National, January 31st 2021 Boris Johnson came to Scotland last week: much trailed and talked about but certain to have no lasting effect. This was the week where a once-revered Scottish institution announced it had fallen on hard times. Once popular with Edinburgh ladies of a certain age and the middle classes who believed that they had a refined taste and lifestyle; the similarities between Jenners department store on Princes Street, Edinburgh and the Scottish Tories, are many. This illustrates the long-term collapse of the institutions of
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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
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The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism
The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism Gerry Hassan Sunday National, September 20th 2020 The clue is meant to be in the name - the Conservative and Unionist Party. The Unionist moniker may refer first and foremost to the union with Ireland, but has a wider meaning in relation to the union that makes up the United Kingdom. Tory unionism has historically gone to the core of the party’s DNA. At its peak – electorally and instinctually – between the 1920s and end of the 1950s, it gave
