Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson
Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 22nd 2020 Thirty years ago today Margaret Thatcher resigned as UK Prime Minister and yet still casts a shadow over British politics and the Tories. Fast forward to this week, with Boris Johnson revealing his true feelings about Scotland and devolution – saying that ‘devolution has been a disaster north of the border’ and that it was ‘Tony Blair’s biggest mistake’ - a bit of a tall statement given the Iraq war over which Johnson called for Blair’s impeachment. Cue lots of
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The Pressures of Success: What independence has to do to win
The Pressures of Success: What Independence has to do to win Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 15th 2020 It has been a historic week, and we are only half way through the month. Trump defeated, Dominic Cummings leaving Downing Street, a COVID-19 vaccine, fourteen polls in a row for independence, and - to top it all - the Scottish men’s football team qualifying for the Euros. Things are looking up. Being in a winning position changes everything. It brings fresh questions, expectations and pressures. There is the cumulative effect of the SNP being in office by 2021 for fourteen years
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The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland
The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 1st 2020 We live in divisive, contentious times where the noise and claims and counter-claims in public life seem to never stop. Many people yearn for this age of rage and hatred to stop, and for a return to supposedly calmer, more enlightened times. This can be seen in part of the logic of support for Democrat Joe Biden against Donald Trump in next week’s US Presidential election. However, there will be no return to a so-called ‘normal’
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The UK is increasingly run by corporate insiders. And Scotland is, too
The UK is increasingly run by corporate insiders. And Scotland is, too Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 27th 2020 Politics has always been about power – who has it, how they exercise it, in whose interests they use it. Yet, increasingly politics has become associated with a professional elite who live, breathe (and have only ever worked in) politics and are, in how they see the world, divorced from the vast majority of the population. This group operate as a self-serving selectorate, sometimes described in the UK as a ‘chumocracy’. As we’ve seen with Boris Johnson, the corporate class and
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Let’s Talk about Power in Scotland
Let’s Talk about Power in Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 25th 2020 Britain is broken. Its state and government is callous, indifferent and incapable of looking after the interests of the people. And even more so, the British establishment – old and new – only cares about itself and its cronies. As Britain is engulfed in multiple crises, we cannot just sit back and idly watch and assume that we are different and morally better here. We have to prove that this is so, and embody it in our actions. The now well-used term ‘British establishment’ slipped into popular
What do we do about the corporate insider class running the UK and Scotland?
What do we do about the corporate insider class increasingly running the UK and Scotland? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 21st 2020 Politics has always been about power - who has it, how they exercise it, in whose interests they use it, how accountable and open to scrutiny they are, and if and how they can be removed. Yet, increasingly politics has become associated with the rise of a professional elite who live, breathe (and have only ever worked in) politics and are, in how they see the world, divorced from the vast majority of the population. This group operate
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Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence?
Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 18th 2020 Independence is the new normal and the mainstream. This is a huge historic shift and moment. It is a dramatic change and opportunity that will require a very different politics and attitude compared to 2014. Then independence represented the insurgents and outsiders, the new kids on the block, shaking the insiders, taking independence in from the cold and the margins. This is independence’s tipping point – or getting close to that point; the moment when everything changes: the argument, context and how the public see
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The Legacy of Donald Dewar and Scotland’s Stories: Past, Present and Future
The Legacy of Donald Dewar and Scotland’s Stories: Past, Present and Future Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 11th 2020 Twenty years ago today Donald Dewar tragically died at the age of 63. His loss was an incalculable one to the fledgling Scottish Parliament and to Scottish Labour: the first institution eventually finding its feet, while the second lost its way. Dewar was Scotland’s first ever First Minister who presided over the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. He reasserted Labour’s devolution commitment when others doubted it and, in the months following the 1997 Labour election victory as Scottish Secretary of State,
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The fate of Scottish football is about much more than football
The fate of Scottish football is about much more than football Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 30th 2020 Scottish football is about more than who makes the most noise whether it be ten in a row - or stopping ten in a row - or the obsessions of the top league and clubs. Scottish football’s deep roots reach much further than the dominant media narratives. They provide an insight into wider society, with the state of the game reflecting how healthy and vibrant Scotland is – and how we are being tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. Scotland has 42 senior
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The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism
The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism Gerry Hassan Sunday National, September 20th 2020 The clue is meant to be in the name - the Conservative and Unionist Party. The Unionist moniker may refer first and foremost to the union with Ireland, but has a wider meaning in relation to the union that makes up the United Kingdom. Tory unionism has historically gone to the core of the party’s DNA. At its peak – electorally and instinctually – between the 1920s and end of the 1950s, it gave
