Ten Years on the SNP and Scottish nationalism require a different politics for the future
Ten Years on the SNP and Scottish nationalism require a different politics for the future Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, March 24th 2017 The SNP have been a breath of fresh air to Scotland. Fifty years ago this year the modern SNP emerged with the talismanic victory of Winnie Ewing at the Hamilton by-election, and Scotland was never quite the same again. If you doubt this, think of a Scotland without the SNP. The only way Scots would be able to show their dissatisfaction with Westminster and difference from the rest of the UK would be to remain loyal to
Indyref2 is coming but can we do better than two versions of Little Britain?
Indyref2 is coming but can we do better than two versions of Little Britain? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, March 15th 2016 The ides of March 2017. One single day - Monday March 13th - will go down as an epic day in the fragmentation of the United Kingdom. The Brexit Bill passed through all its stages in the Commons and Lords shorn of any extra commitments. Nicola Sturgeon announced the prospect of a second independence referendum. And the UK Government in response decided to shelve the triggering of Article 50 for two weeks. That’s without mentioning what is happening in
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Nationalism – Scottish or British – is never enough. It always says: ‘We are the Good Guys’
Nationalism – Scottish or British – is never enough. It always says: ‘We are the Good Guys’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, March 8th 2017 Nationalism is one of the defining features of Scotland and modern Scotland. Last week UK Prime Minister Theresa May came north to the Scottish Tory conference in Glasgow, asking the Scots to think again, lambasting the SNP and their ‘constitutional obsessions’ and ‘tunnel vision nationalism’. Apart from the ridiculousness of the first point, considering the UK Government’s obsession with Brexit, the second was in the tradition known the world over of majority nationalisms (British) lecturing minority
Prisoners of the Past: Tony Blair, Trump and Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack
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 20th 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
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 8th 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’
Scotland’s Radical Tradition is richer and more diverse than ‘Red Clydeside’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 14th 2016 The 100th 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?
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
Time for a Bolder Scotland: The Seven Stories of Scottish Independence
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
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 40th 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?
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.
