Labour Party

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

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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

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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

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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.

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The Phoney War in British and Scottish Politics Will End Soon Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, January 10th 2016 The big news this week wasn’t the Corbyn re-shuffle of people no one had heard of. Nor was it Cameron’s retreat on the Euro referendum over Cabinet collective responsibility. And it certainly wasn’t Donald Trump threatening to pull future investments from Scotland. Nor was it the hostile words between Saudi Arabia and Iran or continued anxieties about terrorism. Instead, it was instability in the world economy, Chinese economic wobbles, their currency devaluing again and stock market falling by 7%, contributing to a

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It’s a Family Affair: the Strange Relationship of Labour and SNP Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, April 26th 2015 The forthcoming general election in Scotland, and to an extent in the UK, is being decided by the battle between Labour and the SNP. There is history and bad blood here which almost amounts to a bitter family feud. Insults such as ‘tartan Tories’ and ‘red Tories’ are exchanged – both phrases pre-exist their current Labour and SNP use, but are now synonymous with the enmity between the two. The past is a distant country in this. The SNP electoral breakthrough

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A Watershed Moment for Scottish Labour, Scotland and the UK Gerry Hassan Sunday Mail, March 8th 2015 Scottish Labour’s predicament and condition is centre stage in British politics. It has become one of the major factors which will determine the fate of the next UK election and government. Jim Murphy’s leadership, with its constant announcements and hyper-activity,  whilst not having created the fundamental problems the party faces, seems to offer no real solution so far. Underneath all this Scottish Labour does not understand the position it finds itself in and how to get out of it. Fundamentally the party does

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A Rare Moment of Wisdom at the Heart of British Democracy Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 31st 2013 Parliamentary debates about military intervention are often rightly solemn occasions. They carry the weight of history and memories of past triumphs and disasters. The Syria debate this week had initially been downplayed by the Cameron government as it faced the realities of parliamentary arithmetic and the possibility of defeat. But this was historic, evoking past even more momentous debates, and opening a chapter in British foreign policy which could see military intervention in Syria without the UK. The entire parliamentary debate on

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Debating the Future of Labour: A Conversation with Polly Toynbee Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, August 28th 2012 The Edinburgh of Scotland’s late summer is awash not just with rainstorms but a plethora of festivals and happenings: the International Festival, the Fringe, the Book Festival, Television Festival, and even a Festival of Politics in the Scottish Parliament. If all this sounds like an expression of the Scots ‘democratic intellect’ or a modern day ‘Enlightenment’ city, while conversations, deliberations and cultural happenings cover a multitude of concerns, there is usually an absence of connection to the host city and anything seriously

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Scotland, nationalism and the left A conversation between Douglas Alexander and Gerry Hassan Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, Summer 2012 Douglas to Gerry Before we get to where we’re going, I think it makes sense to be clear where we come from … My mother worked as a doctor in the NHS. My father was a Minister in the Church of Scotland. Both of them were inspired by their Christian beliefs to engage in the common life of the community. My first home was ‘Community House’ in Clyde Street, Glasgow: the mainland base of the Iona Community. We

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