Scottish Nationalism

Back to the Future for a Democratic Politics for Scotland Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 21st 2012 The untimely death of Bob McLean in the last week might seem news from another era, but it offers an insight into the current and future state of our politics. McLean was a passionate home rule supporter, campaigner and catalyst for cross-party co-operation for a Scottish Parliament, who played an important role in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Labour’s slow journey from an Assembly to a Parliament, as convenor of the pressure group Scottish Labour Action (SLA). His political and civic

Continue Reading Back to the Future for a Democratic Politics for Scotland

How to live in a Scotland of the Heart and Mind Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 7th 2012 Politics is about feeling, emotions and instinct. But most politicians and political debate try to deny it; more often than not stressing the importance of rationalism, logic and reason. Yet this is not what drives most of life. This is the age of rage, of moral indignation at bankers, politicians and media. Or SPL fans fury at the arrogance of Rangers FC and alternatively Rangers FC fans sense of denial. The same is true of much of the Scottish debate. There

Continue Reading How to live in a Scotland of the Heart and Mind

Scotland United: The Need to Find Common Ground against the Free Market Vandals Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 30th 2012 One of the fundamentals that we often forget in our ongoing Scottish constitutional debate is how Britain and in particular England understands or more accurately doesn’t understand us anymore. This was brought home to me in this week’s ‘Spectator’ debate, ‘It’s time to let Scotland go’, held in London. Three people, Margo Macdonald, Kelvin MacKenzie and myself were asked to speak for the proposition, and three against, Malcolm Rifkind and Rory Stewart, both Tory MPs, and Iain Martin, with

Continue Reading Scotland United: The Need to Find Common Ground against the Free Market Vandals

What has happened to Scottish Labour and how can it shape its future? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 23rd 2012 Scottish politics were once seemingly filled with certainty - we were Labour, socialist, collectivist, and didn’t like those nasty Tories. Reality was actually always different but there was a Labour vision of Scotland which many of us grew up with, knew its positive aspects, and which made us feel ennobled and liberated. That vision lifted hundreds of thousands of Scots out of poverty, widened opportunities and brightened countless lives via education, health, housing and numerous other public services. This

Continue Reading What has happened to Scottish Labour and how can it shape its future?

The Perils of Content Free Campaign Scotland Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 16th 2012 The times they are a changing all over the world from Greece and Spain to the USA and China. There is unrest, voices of protest rising and authorities reacting with confusion as they cling to the wreckage of failed economic orthodoxy. At the same time the battle of Scotland unfolds; one which isn’t life or death or black and white thankfully. But to some it seems that way. The official independence campaign saw John Swinney this week declare his support for a ‘highly integrated UK financial

Continue Reading The Perils of Content Free Campaign Scotland

State of InterIndependence: A Vision for Scottish Self-Determination Gerry Hassan May 24th 2012 Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in the future And time future contained in the past. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets (1936) This week the Scottish independence debate reaches new levels with the launch of the ‘Yes Scotland’ pro-independence campaign, the emergence of the shape of the pro-union campaign, and the spectre of Tony Blair hovering threateningly over Scottish politics. Scottish independence has long been viewed by the British political classes as eccentric and unworldly. The Economist’s ‘Bagehot’ column made a revealing

Continue Reading State of Interindependence: A Vision for Scottish Self-Determination

How to make and understand the Case for the Union Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 19th 2012 This week has seen important developments in the pro-union campaign. First, we are not meant to call it that; the organisers have indicated that the word ‘union’ won’t play any part in the title of the campaign. Second, they have revealed that they will have lots of money, resources, and celebrities. There have also been reflective pieces by Colin Kidd and Bill Jamieson in this paper which have added to public deliberations, the former in particular making a nuanced historical argument for

Continue Reading How to make and understand the Case for the Union

The Limits of Modernisation: Blair, Cameron and Salmond Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 12th 2012 ‘Modernisation’ is one of the defining words of our time, along with ‘legacy’ and ‘journey’. It is a word used by Tony Blair, David Cameron and Alex Salmond. It is an in-word for those who feel they shape and define the age, change and the world. It has had an interesting trajectory; it was once bright, shiny, confident, swaggering with confidence, impatient with opposition, and believing the future was theirs for shaping. It became associated with Tony Blair and New Labour; modernisation was about

Continue Reading The Limits of Modernisation: Blair, Cameron and Salmond

Throwing the Three ‘Rs’ Away: Rupert Murdoch, the Referendum and Rangers FC Gerry Hassan May 8th 2012 It has been a dramatic few months in Scottish politics and one which reveals something about our nation and its public life. We have a problem with how we do politics, public conversation and understand power. There is an inability, or more accurately, unwillingness across large swathes of Scottish society, from our political classes and institutional forces to even many of the radical and alternative voices, to confront some of the difficult issues we have to. This pattern has been evident

Continue Reading Throwing the Three ‘Rs’ Away: Rupert Murdoch, the Referendum and Rangers FC

The Price of Scottish Independence: Scotland and the UK according to the Free Marketeers Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 13th 2012 It is a sign of the times, and of its importance as an issue, that the global player which is ‘The Economist’ has Scottish independence as its cover and main feature this week, declaring, ‘It’ll cost you: The price of Scottish independence’. Their cover, leader, main UK article and a secondary piece, tell something about ‘The Economist’s’ view of Scottish independence, the UK and the world, each of which I will examine. ‘The Economist’ takes a dim view

Continue Reading The Price of Scottish Independence: Scotland and the UK according to the Free Marketeers