Scottish Independence

Nigel Farage, the Scottish Debate and the Future of Europe Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 19th 2013 This is an age of uncertainty, crisis and doubt. The UK is experiencing multiple crises: political, constitutional and economic, of the UK in Europe and of Europe itself as an idea and project. And underneath all of this is a deep-seated Western fear, of loss of confidence in Western modernity and anxiety about the future. The lack of sureness now being displayed in Britain’s political elites is one manifestation, as is the rise of Nigel Farage’s UKIP. The Westminster village has been

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What Kind of European and British Union is Emerging? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 18th 2013 Prague Spring. Two words which evoke a certain feeling, the hopes of a generation, European idealism and the past. Today Europe could not be in a more different place and frame of mind, the brief optimism of 1968 and 1989 long gone. All across the continent, European political, elite and civic conversations are underway about ‘whither Europe?’ and ‘what future for the eurozone?’ In the last two weeks I have participated in two of these, attending the Prague Press Forum and before that speaking

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The Framing of the Scottish Independence Debate: A Tale of Two Referenda Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, May 15th 2013 Two independence campaigns are now running in the UK: one on Scottish independence; the other which has become more public in the last week, on the UK’s possible exit from the European Union. Strangely they operate in near complete isolation of each other, with the Euro referendum being talked about as if we still lived in the high days of untrammelled Westminster parliamentary sovereignty. In the last week, the front page of the Scottish edition of The Times reported a

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Who Speaks for Scotland and Where are the Empathy Makers? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 11th 2013 These are baffling times – of big issues and challenges, but of a politics and political conversations which are increasingly problematic, not just in Scotland but across much of the world. How many times have we been told that the independence debate is a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ or ‘a historic moment’? Funny that, because it doesn’t feel like that too many people outside the ‘bubble Scotland’ that lives and breathes politics. There have been comedy wars, twitter spats, stupid interventions, and

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What Difference Does It Make? Making Explicit the Change of Independence Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 4th 2013 It has been another fast-moving week in Scotland’s constitutional conversation even leaving the comedy controversies aside. There was Denis Canavan, chair of ‘Yes Scotland’, distancing himself from SNP policy in suggesting Scotland that should have its own currency; while the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee made the startling observation that independence will involve shaking things up for the UK. Then there was Alex Salmond’s announcement that an independent Scotland would not have a central bank. This is part of the

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Seven Suggestions for Scottish Labour to be the Party of Change Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 20th 2013 It seems to be the age of seven questions as Tony Blair once again acts as an uncomfortable sage for Labour and Ed Miliband. With Labour meeting in Inverness this weekend and the party’s Devolution Commission interim report out, it is time for Scottish Labour to assess where it is and what it needs to do to change and to start shaping the political weather. Here then are my seven observations and suggestions for you Johann: 1. Careless Talk Costs Political Lives

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Games with Shadows: Living in Thatcher’s Scotland Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 10th 2013 We live in Thatcher’s Britain, yet that statement is obvious, contentious and deeply divisive. And this is all the more true of Thatcher north of the border. Thatcher is simultaneously both history and present day. You can hear this in the differing accounts on TV and radio; with conservative figures claiming she remade the modern world from knocking down the Berlin Wall and freeing Eastern Europe, to preventing a future ‘socialist Britain’; while elements of the left wail in pain and agony at how events have

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What do we do when we talk (and don’t talk) about Power? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 9th 2013 The story of modern Scotland is an obvious one: we are a nation and a community, increasingly defined by these two terms and from this comes our sense of difference and identity. Beyond that it begins to get complicated and contested; our prevailing account of ourselves is that we are centre-left, egalitarian, inclusive and radical, and the missing word in front of each of these is more; meaning more than England, which for many is the crucial ingredient. All of

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Mind the Gap: Gender and the Debate over Scotland’s Future Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, March 29th 2013 The debate over Scottish independence, its constitutional status and wider future, is an important one, both north of the border and across the isles of the UK.  It is also one which elicits as much sound and fury as it does reflection, as well as a significant amount of adversarial, tribal, binary posturing and point-scoring. In the last week a Panelbase poll found on the question to be used in next year’s referendum, ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’, 36% supporting independence

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Let us recognise that we are One Scotland: The Vision of Self-Government Gerry Hassan The big day was finally announced. It was, when it came, an emotional moment and I will admit I had a tear in my eye but then I am a bit of a quiet sentimentalist, aided by it all occurring on my birthday. There has been a long journey to get to this point; but it is about us as a nation, what we aspire to, how we see our future, our values, and importantly, how we get on with each other even when we politically

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