Open Democracy

A Beginner’s Guide to Scottish Independence and Britain Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 12th 2011 It has never been very simple to describe Scotland and Britain to people from other places. Scotland is a nation, but not a state. The trouble begins when you try to explain the UK. It is not a nation, but a state. It is routinely described in our political conversations and on that fountain of wisdom, Wikipedia as ‘a unitary state’, when it is in fact a ‘union state’. You can see where confusions begin. If all of this troubles foreigners, then it is

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The ‘Forward March’ of Scottish Nationalism Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 9th 2011 Scotland has been changed in so many ways by the results of the Scottish Parliament election, and emphatic re-election of Alex Salmond’s SNP administration. It changes how the Nationalists see themselves, the story, place and sense of Scotland, and the United Kingdom itself at home and globally. The Long March from the Wilderness There is a historic dimension to this. There is the Nationalist account of Scotland; the story which is filled by historic and totemic victories and moments of hope: Winnie in 1967, Margo

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A Scottish Watershed Election! Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 6th 2011 Scotland emerges from its election completely and utterly changed. A huge historic Nationalist victory; the worst Labour result in seats since 1931; the Tories still despite a decent campaign in retreat; and the worst Liberal result since 1970s. This is a Scotland of surprises. The SNP won 45.4% of the constituency vote to Labour’s 31.7%, a lead of 13.7%; while on the regional list the SNP won 44.0% to Labour’s 26.3%, a lead of 17.7%. This has produced a Parliament of SNP 69 (+23), Labour 37 (-7), Con

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After the Landslide? Scottish Labour Begins its Election Post-Mortem Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 3rd 2011 The Scottish Labour Party is - whatever you think of it - one of the great defining institutions of 20^th century Scotland. It has contributed significantly to the public life, ideas and personalities of our nation. And it is in serious trouble. It has fought one of the most disastrous election campaigns in recent memory anywhere in the UK, although not quite on the same level of Labour’s self-destruction in 1983. The latest poll by TNS-BMRB for STV (1)

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The Crisis with Mainstream ‘Safety First’ Scotland Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 2nd 2011 The Scottish election approaches the finishing line; the polls have narrowed with the latest Scotland on Sunday/YouGov poll putting the SNP on 42% to Labour’s 34% on the constituency vote, a lead of 8%, and 35% to 33% respectively on the list vote, an SNP lead of 2% (1). The campaign has shown thanks to three consecutive Sundays of YouGov polls, that the SNP’s campaign has worked with men and stalled with women; the Nationalists are 13% ahead on the constituency vote with men, 3%

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Scotland’s Election, the Future of the Union and Ed Miliband’s Labour Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 26th 2011 Three opinion polls in a row have now given Alex Salmond’s SNP double digit opinion poll leads (1). Bookmakers William Hill offer odds for the SNP of 2/9 on and Labour of 3/1 to be the biggest party in the Scottish Parliament after May 5^th: a huge turnaround from barely a week ago (2). It is now fashionable and commonplace to dismiss modern elections as ‘boring’ and the Scottish elections are no exception. The normally thoughtful Alf Young in ‘Scottish Review’

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The Scottish Election Comes to Life Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 21st 2011 Suddenly Scotland is everywhere on the British airwaves and media. Two very different sides of the nation. Alex Salmond’s cheeky sunlit Nationalists, the scheming separatists in Labour parlance on one side, and on the other, the dark side of football, ‘the Old Firm’ and sectarianism. To some English listeners and viewers, this fantasy/nightmare Scotland portrayed by these accounts must seem like a strange land. A place where the population lives the life of reilly on English subsidies while complaining all the time that their culture of

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What is Happening to Scottish Politics, its Future and Why It Matters? Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 19th 2011 Something interesting is happening in Scottish politics. The forthcoming elections were meant to see the return of Scottish Labour and normal service resumed. Instead, the SNP is pulling ahead, Labour is slipping back, confused and fighting an inept campaign, while in a sign of the times Murdoch’s ‘Scottish Sun’ has – unlike last time – just come out for the SNP, with a front page endorsement of Alex Salmond, ‘Play It Again, Salm’ (1). This later story has got the

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The New Market Man of History and the McCliche View of Scotland Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 7th 2011 The Scottish Parliament elections are if not in full swing, then reaching a certain tempo. This week has seen the launch of the Tory, Lib Dem and Labour manifestos, next week the SNP, and even the notorious Londoncentric media and political classes have twigged that there something is going in Scotland which they don’t like or understand. Andrew Neil is a talented broadcaster and ‘The Daily Politics’ and ‘This Week’ both good TV and must watches for the Westminster classes.

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Scotland and the Japanese Earthquake: The World According to Matthew Taylor Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, March 18th 2011 We know that there is a tradition of criticising Scotland from afar or in the briefest of visits north bringing your prejudices with you unchallenged. This used to be the terrain of the centre-right, of Thatcherites such as Nigel Lawson in the 1980s and The Spectator, but now what remains of the British centre-left has begun to join in. Recently Nick Pearce of the IPPR had a whistle wind Scottish tour checking out Scottish Labour’s preparation for returning to power, which led

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