Scottish Independence

Which England Will Dare to Speak in Britain and Europe? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 19th 2011 The European crisis has already told us many things; that the eurozone in its current form is not sustainable; that German leadership of the continent is going to become more pronounced; and that Greece, Italy and maybe one or two others are going to have decades of European-inflicted austerity. Another factor is Britain’s continued role as the awkward, distant partner in Europe; a country which sees the European project as something it was hoodwinked into by its political classes and establishment. And

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The Danger of a Westminster led Scottish Independence Vote Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, November 12th 2011 Once upon a time referendums were seen as ‘unBritish’, as the sort of thing that continental Europe and dictatorships did. Now we seem to talk of little else. There has been as trust in politicians has declined, a rise in the use of referendums, with two UK wide polls, three Welsh, two Scots and two Northern Irish votes since the 1970s, along with a host of local votes. Politicians’ interest in direct democracy is driven by what they think the results will be.

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From the ‘How’ to the ‘Why’ of Scottish Independence Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 29th 2011 Scottish independence was once viewed as an eccentric, maverick subject, something not to be taken seriously or mentioned in polite society. Well no more. The unionist parties talk at the moment of nothing else, and even the self-obsessed London political class and media have noted that something is happening. After years of ignoring independence, now they want instant answers, detail and a vote – all on their terms. The ‘how’ of Scottish independence has become nearly universally accepted, and we have quickly moved

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Ian Davidson, the Labour-SNP Divide and the Language of Violence Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, October 28th 2011 Does the recent Ian Davidson-Eilidh Whiteford controversy matter? Is it a storm in a political teacup? Or does it reflect something wider and more sinister in our culture? First, there are the alleged words of Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West, about giving a woman, Eilidh Whiteford, SNP Banff and Buchan MP, ‘a doing’, meaning threatening actual physical violence and abuse. This does sound like the sort of thing that Davidson could say; he has form with using aggressive, hard,

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The Twilight of the British State: Alex Salmond, Scottish Independence and the European Question Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 28th 2011 This is a fascinating and fast moving period of politics, at a global, European, British and Scottish level, challenging many of the most deep-seated and unexamined assumptions held across the political spectrum. In the last week we have seen the euphoric SNP conference at Inverness showing a party on the crest of a wave which seems to think that the future is within its grasp. Then we have at Westminster the return of the popular bogeyman – Eurosceptism

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A Post-Nationalist Politics for the Nationalist Movement Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, October 22nd 2011 The SNP gathering at Inverness is an historic occasion for the party with a discernable feeling that this is their moment and that nearly anything, including independence, is possible. International dignitaries, corporates and lots of hangers on are evidence of the SNP’s importance. Even the UK media in one of their episodic fits have noticed Scotland and the SNP with various correspondents scuttling north and dusting down their clichés. Inverness catches the SNP in transition. They have mastered the art of government and even more

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It’s Time for a Radical SNP Vision for Scotland Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, September 3rd 2011 It was a strange summer. A few months ago the SNP won a landslide victory which challenged many of the assumptions about Scotland and Scottish politics. The SNP Government had then, and still has, enormous goodwill and support behind it. Immediately after the election, the SNP got embroiled in the spat over the Supreme Court, an important issue, but one where its tone and language was all wrong. Then came the mess of the Sectarian Bill, tackling one of Scotland’s biggest issues in

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The ‘Forward March’ of Scottish Nationalism and the End of Britain As We Know It Gerry Hassan Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy, Summer 2011 Introduction Scotland has been changed dramatically and fundamentally. The SNP landslide victory has resulted in a completely different political map of Scotland. This is a wider set of changes than just a northern, near-foreign politics of little real interest to the Westminster village. For a start there is the demise of the Labour hegemony north of the border. This is part of a deeper crisis of the British political class and state, British identity

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The Changing Tory Story of Scotland and the Union Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 16th 2011 While the British media and political classes have obsessed over the mega-story of the crisis of the Murdoch empire and parallel state within a state, the constitutional debate about Scotland has quietly and yet profoundly moved on. The Conservatives have a long and proud tradition in relation to the politics of the union. This doesn’t mean they haven’t made serious errors of judgement at points, whether in Ireland or post-war decolonisation. Taking a wider view there has been a potent Tory account of

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The Conservatives, the Union, Scotland and the British State Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, July 11th 2011 While the entire British political and media class obsesses over the Murdoch News International scandal, former Prime Minister John Major has made a major speech on Scotland’s place in the union. Speaking to the transatlantic Ditchley Foundation, Major laid out the case for Scottish self-government over nearly every aspect of domestic policy, raising its own taxes, and leaving economic, defence and foreign policy with Westminster. He stated: Why not devolve all responsibilities except foreign policy, defence and management of the economy? Why not

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