Scottish Independence

Is Britain Broken? And what should we do in this election and beyond? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, December 8th 2019 The United Kingdom is not a happy place at the moment. This has been a strange, unsatisfying election campaign. People feel ignored and distrustful of politicians. But more than that, they don’t feel that they own what passes for democracy. This has a longer tail than this election. A host of factors have contributed to the current state of Britain. There is the UK’s struggle to find a global role post-Empire. The dependency on the so called ‘special relationship’ with

Continue Reading Is Britain Broken? And what should we do in this election and beyond?

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour and Scottish Independence Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 17th 2019 This week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s trip to Scotland made the headlines - and not for positive reasons. Corbyn’s position in less than 24 hours changed more than once on independence. First, he shifted from his previous position of not having an independence referendum in the ‘early years’ of a Labour Government, indicating that a vote would not take place in ‘the first term’ of an administration. Then when this was seen as the significant shift it was, he rowed back and returned to the first position,

Continue Reading Jeremy Corbyn, Labour and Scottish Independence

Conventional wisdom is no guide to the future in an age of turmoil and surprise Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 13th 2019 UK general elections are never about one single subject even when politicians try to define them as such. Ted Heath’s ‘Who governs Britain?’ election of February 1974 became about the state of the country, and Winston Churchill’s belief after the war in Europe ended in 1945 that he would be elected by a grateful electorate turned out to be illusive as voters instead looked to the future. Similarly this election will not be about just one issue

Continue Reading Conventional wisdom is no guide to the future in an age of turmoil and surprise

The Last UK General Election Ever? Or the Last Bar One? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 27th 2019 Boris Johnson on Monday makes what is his third attempt to get the votes to call a UK general election – needing 434 votes to win a two-thirds majority under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. This piece was written before the moves by the Lib Dems and SNP to bring about an election on December 9^th via a simple, single line bill. This may have more chance of succeeding later this week. But whether it does or does not it doesn’t invalidate

Continue Reading The Last UK General Election Ever? Or the Last Bar One?

Does Boris Johnson’s ‘deal’ pose the end of the Union? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 20th 2019 It has been another tumultuous Brexit week. But this is not the end of Brexit, or even the beginning of the end, but just another staging post in this drawn-out process. Fundamental to the Johnson deal is what is proposed for Northern Ireland. In place of the so called ‘backstop’ the province is instead put in a special place in relation to the rest of the UK and EU. It remains legally in the UK customs territory, while practically remaining in the EU

Continue Reading Does Boris Johnson’s ‘deal’ pose the end of the Union?

Scotland needs fundamental change. A nationalist project is not enough Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 16th 2019 Five years after the indyref and three years after the Brexit vote Scottish politics feels like it is in a holding pattern, full of pent up pressures, but stuck in a vortex of powerful forces beyond its control. The SNP, who just met at their annual conference in Aberdeen, are by far the leading party. Yet their dominance can be overstated, it being aided by the fragmentation of multi-party politics, divided opposition and the negatives of Labour and Tories. The most recent

Continue Reading Scotland needs fundamental change. A nationalist project is not enough

Politics and People Power is changing Scotland and beyond Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 9th 2019 Demos and marches are part of the ritual of politics - from today’s pro- and anti-Brexit gatherings, to the direct action and interventions of Extinction Rebellion, and the spate of pro-Scottish independence rallies criss-crossing the nation. They are often dismissed by those in power and the mainstream media as pointless and having little to no effect. But that is too easy, glib and cynical. Instead, while many marches have a limited impact, only preaching to the converted and not reaching out to persuade beyond

Continue Reading Politics and People Power is changing Scotland and beyond

Deal or No Deal? Brexit Endgame or the End of Britain? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 6th 2019 Boris Johnson has finally revealed his Brexit plan with less than one month to his intended exit date from the EU. Constantly presented as a ‘deal’ by insular British political discussion and media who have contributed so much to fueling Brexit, it is in fact nothing of the sort. It is rather an agreement between Boris Johnson, the Northern Irish DUP, the Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) and what remains of the parliamentary Tory Party. Politics does not stop at the

Continue Reading Deal or No Deal? Brexit Endgame or the End of Britain?

The death of British conservatism as we have known it Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 11th 2019 British conservatism has been one of the most successful political philosophies and political parties the world has ever known. As we speak it is engaged in the latter stages of its thirty year civil war on Europe, which has convulsed the party, bringing it to a state of near self-destruction, abandoning its traditional tenets and debasing constitutional norms that for most of its history have been its raison d’etre. Whatever happens on Brexit in the next few months and years, much will have

Continue Reading The death of British conservatism as we have known it

Britain is in a mess: Is a different democracy possible? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 4th 2019 Nearly everyone now agrees that British politics isn’t working - and that our political system, politicians and Parliament are in a mess and broken. Even more than this, our economic system and social contract have long ago become frayed, discredited and stopped working for the interests of the vast majority of people. This is the context in which the country is convulsed by Brexit. Everywhere people are talking, thinking and worrying about it. Out on a Saturday night in a local Indian restaurant

Continue Reading Britain is in a mess: Is a different democracy possible?