Scottish politics

Prisoners of the Past: Tony Blair, Trump and Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 22nd 2017 The past is a powerful force and that is even more true in the strange times we are living in. Take the waves of reaction and revulsion emerging last week after Tony Blair came back from the cold to announce his new initiative on Brexit. Blair’s intervention took place at the start of the 20^th anniversary of the first New Labour landslide, but also bizarrely after the Commons voted to trigger Article 50, and six days before two critical by-elections for

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The Day Britain Died: Brexit, Trump and Scottish Independence Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 15th 2017 Last week a Rubicon was crossed as the House of Commons voted 494 to 122 – a government majority of 372 - to give a third reading to triggering Article 50. Just as seriously on the same day - Wednesday February 8^th 2017 – the UK Government reneged on its promise to take 3,000 child refugees (what was called the Dubs amendment) and slashed the number to 350. If that wasn’t enough the Commons at the same time voted to refuse to offer any

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Scotland’s Radical Tradition is richer and more diverse than ‘Red Clydeside’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 14th 2016 The 100^th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution will be in 2017. The seizure of power by Lenin and Trotsky in October 1917 was one of the central events of the twentieth century, took Russia out of the imperial quagmire that was the First World War, and led to revolutionary uprisings across Europe – from Berlin and Bavaria to Budapest. Scotland had its own mini-version of this in ‘Red Clydeside’ and the series of events between 1911-19 – which saw agitation, protest and

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As Britain crashes and burns can Scottish politics embrace more humanity and substance? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 8th 2016 Britain is falling apart by the day. ‘British politics’ no longer exist in any form outside the House of Commons; ‘Brexit Britain’ is an inaccurate term considering the divided vote and kingdom; while the UK Government wastes our resources going to the Supreme Court to prevent a parliamentary vote actioning a referendum decision that was supposedly about parliamentary sovereignty. It’s confusing isn’t it? Meanwhile Tory politicians and newspapers rail against judges as ‘Enemies of the People’, and the influence of

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Time for a Bolder Scotland: The Seven Stories of Scottish Independence Gerry Hassan The National, November 30th 2016 We are living through unprecedented times of change and uncertainty. The words and phrases we use can barely keep up - ‘post-truth politics’, 'fake news', ‘alt-right’, the vacuity of ‘Brexit means Brexit’, and the debate on whether Trump is a ‘fascist’ or not. Language itself is struggling to convey and understand these times. This is true in Britain and Scotland. ‘The Economist’ magazine, in its review of the year and assessments of next year, when talking of Brexit observed that ‘When

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Tom Nairn’s Break-up of Britain turns 40 and is as relevant as ever Gerry Hassan The National, November 24th 2016 Few books about politics stand the test of time like Tom Nairn’s The Break-up of Britain. Next year will see its 40^th anniversary. Originally published during the Queen’s Jubilee of 1977, the book offered a blistering counterblast to the then official commemorations – and self-congratulation of political and media elites who used the occasion to reflect on the wonders of the British way of doing things. The UK has undergone dramatic change since then. Superficially in form and appearance it

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Scotland the Bold or Scotland the Timid? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 22nd 2016 Is Scotland really special? Are we a land that has bucked the retreat of the centre-left and social democracy, and proven itself immune to the right-wing populism sweeping the West from Brexit to Trump? Significant parts of Scottish opinion are always looking for any reason to jump on a wha’s like us exceptionalism: one which invokes our morality, values and commitment to social justice, alongside our collective opposition to all things evil from Thatcherism and Blairism to neo-liberalism. Truth of course is rather different.

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Scotland the Bold: Making the Case for a Radical Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday Herald, November 6th 2016 This weekend I attended a Donald Trump campaign rally in New Hampshire. It was a surreal experience - of a Presidential candidate who isn’t a professional politician, who has a limited conventional manifesto, and is running on what amounts to populist instinct and anger. Win or lose, this offer has resonated with a sizeable audience of dissatisfied people who are looking for change and who believe that Trump rather than Hillary Clinton best provides it. Last week I was at a Clinton-Elizabeth Warren

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The SNP has got us where we are, but the SNP on its own isn’t enough in the future Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, October 12th 2016 The SNP have played a huge role in getting us to where we are today. They are central to where Scotland goes in the future - but they on their own are not enough. Without the SNP there is significant doubt that we would ever have got a Scottish Parliament. It is true that Labour legislated for it, but they were first brought back to devolution in the 1970s by the electoral threat of

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We need a Spirit of Independence to shape the Scotland of the Future Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, September 19th 2016 No one needs reminding that Sunday represented the second anniversary of the indyref. It was a significant watershed: a passing of time from being in the shadow of the 2014 vote to looking to the future. If that’s true, then an awful lot of attitudes are fairly entrenched. While that’s true of both pro-union and independence opinion, it belies the forces of change to more ruthlessly assess, be honest about failings and foibles, and change and adapt to be successful.

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