Jeremy Corbyn

Brexit, Dunkirk and a Britain Where the Past Shapes the Future Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, July 26th 2017 The past is always around us in what passes for modern Britain. In recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, it seems more omnipotent and increasingly problematic. From politics to culture and most aspects of public life we are confronted with a fantasyland version of the collective past which is selective and sepia-tinged. This matters because it reduces the prospect of us believing that we can make a better collective future than the nasty, mean-spirited reality which is for

Continue Reading Brexit, Dunkirk and a Britain Where the Past Shapes the Future

The Left’s Big Problem: Ken Livingstone and talking about Hitler and the Jews Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 12th 2017 These are dark days for British Labour. Much worse than 1983 - or the 1950s. Only the shock of 1931 comes anywhere near to the present malaise when the party was betrayed by former Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald going off with the Tories. Labour is heading for the rocks, irrelevance and ridicule. The only things holding it up are the even more self-destructive behaviour of UKIP, and the workings of the First Past the Post electoral system which

Continue Reading The Left’s Big Problem: Ken Livingstone and talking about Hitler and the Jews

The Long Suicide of Scottish and British Labour Hurts Us All Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, March 1st 2017 Political parties rise and fall. They have no permanent right to a lease on the terrain they occupy and the voters they appeal to. Scottish politics has seen the decline of many once powerful forces - the Liberals, Tories, and now the Labour Party. This weekend, and since, has witnessed what can only be described as the last vestiges of the long painful suicide of the Scottish Labour Party. Moreover, this coincided with the on-going pains and problems of the Corbyn Labour

Continue Reading The Long Suicide of Scottish and British Labour Hurts Us All

Where is the Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party revolution going to end? Gerry Hassan Scotttish Review, September 29th 2016 Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have some major positives going for them. He has been re-elected Labour leader with a huge majority in an election in which over half a million people voted. On the wave of a surge of excitement and engagement, Labour’s membership has risen to 650,000 - over four times that of the Tories, and representing the largest political party in all Europe. On top of that Jeremy Corbyn is clearly a different kind of politician. He is untainted by

Continue Reading Where is the Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party revolution going to end?

The Problem with Britain and Why It Can’t Be Tidily Put Back Together Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, August 14th 2016 Britain throughout its history has had a reputation for stability and security. This after all was one of the main clarion calls in the indyref and, more recently, the Brexit vote, but this has always been a bit of a myth and is now increasingly fictitious. In the European referendum and its aftermath, much of the discussion that occurred repeatedly - supposedly about the country, its challenges and future - wasn’t actually about the UK, but instead about England. This

Continue Reading The Problem with Britain and Why It Can’t Be Tidily Put Back Together

The Labour Party: that pillar of the British constitution doesn’t have a right to exist Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, July 25th 2016 Politics requires a credible opposition that holds government to account. One that offers the prospect of an alternative government – but now, and for the foreseeable future, Scotland and the UK is without one. This is due to the state of Labour. The last year has been one of the most disastrous in the party’s history. A second election defeat, Scotland lost - and then Brexit. And after last year’s defeat the party curled up even more in

Continue Reading The Labour Party: that pillar of the British constitution doesnt have a right to exist

A Very British Coup: The rise of Theresa May could see the end of the UK Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, July 17th 2006 Theresa May became the UK Prime Minister this week – elected on a mandate of 199 Tory MPs in what amounted to a very British coup. She is only Britain’s second ever woman Prime Minister, following in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher. But in other respects she follows Gordon Brown as the twelfth PM in the last 100 years who has entered Downing Street without a popular mandate. Jeremy Corbyn is clinging on as Labour leader –

Continue Reading A Very British Coup: The rise of Theresa May could see the end of the UK

Nine Months in the Death of Labour: A Response to the Corbynistas Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 28th 2016 These are surprising times in Britain and its politics. Cameron gone. England and Wales dragging the UK out of the EU. The England football team defeated by Iceland. And somehow Jeremy Corbyn was meant to be the antidote to these political times. He was different from the typical 21^st century politician, a throwback to the days when all male left-wingers were like underpaid sociology lecturers - badly dressed and presented, rambling but affectionate and with their heart in the right place.

Continue Reading Nine Months in the Death of Labour: A Response to the Corbynistas

Whatever happens, Britain has already left the building Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, June 22nd 2016 The UK has already left Europe. It never really joined in any real sense. National debates like this reveals much about the psyche of a country, and how it sees its collective hopes and fears. For one, it illuminates a lot about the ghosts of the past that haunt a country. In the Scottish indyref, for example, a great deal of this focused on the perceived legacy of Thatcherism and deindustrialisation. In this European debate, the ghosts seemingly ever-present are those of the spectre of

Continue Reading Whatever happens, Britain has already left the building

Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Question of Europe, the UK and Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 20th 2016 I am a European. I believe in Europe as an idea. And for all of my life I have felt an affinity and connection with the notion of greater European integration. Now I am not so sure. When I was a child my parents voted in the 1975 referendum against the then EEC. I wasn’t convinced of their argument. The BBC were showing then John Terraine’s ‘The Mighty Continent’ – a history of Europe in the 20^th century

Continue Reading Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Question of Europe, the UK and Scotland