Scottish Review

As Labour and Tories splinter the old political order is broken beyond repair Scottish Review, February 20th 2019 Gerry Hassan The Labour Party have finally split after months of rumours – with so far eight Labour MPs resigning from the party and three senior Tories joining them – and numerous stories of many more considering their position in both parties. This may or may not amount to a seismic meltdown of Labour and of two party politics as we know it. But something is rotten and deeply wrong with British politics. This is usually portrayed as the product of Brexit

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Time to close the last closed shop: Britain and Scotland’s private schools Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 13 February 2019 Britain’s elites have never been more self-serving, self-sustaining and only interested in looking after themselves – aided by private education. All of a sudden the subject of private schools is back on the public agenda, aided by a decade of austerity, stalled living standards and the evaporation of social mobility. This has brought home to many who would not have previously thought of it the role of private education in looking after a very select and privileged few. Britain’s elites according

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The next Battle of Britain is going to about England’s future Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, February 6th 2019 Brexit certainly seems increasingly to be about England – or a certain version of England and a rather specific version of the past. Take last week for example. The previous Tuesday was another landmark day for Brexit. There were numerous big parliamentary votes and the House of Commons made clear again that it was unhappy with Theresa May’s deal with the EU. BBC News knew this was a big moment and the next day ended their flagship ‘Six O’Clock News’ announcing: ‘Theresa

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Hugh McIlvanney: A Moral Compass and the Power of Words Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 30th 2019 The tributes paid to Hugh McIlvanney spoke volumes for the influence of the man, his writing and for his humanity. They were laced with recollections and memorable stories of late nights, pressurised deadlines, and long conversations - often involving drink. They came from far and wide across the spectrum including Donald Trelford, former editor of ‘The Observer’; Alex Ferguson, ex-manager of Aberdeen FC and Manchester United FC; Graham Spiers of The Times; Liam McIlvanney remembering his uncle; stars such as George Foreman

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We Scots have to start listening to each other Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 23rd 2019 Brexit seems to have no end, consuming nearly all political energy and devouring those who come into contact with it. Or so it seems for now. The Economist recently made the point in its ‘Bagehot’ column that one of the seldom understood groups in British politics were the long haulers. These were people who once occupied the margins of political life, and have now in the case of Brexiteers and Corbynistas, come centrestage and turned politics upside down. These two groups involved people

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Salmond, Sturgeon and the End of an Era for the SNP Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, January 16th 2019 Britain stands at an abyss. Three years of endless Brexit deliberations have resulted in the UK facing crisis, doubt and anxiety about what the future holds. Politics has become a high wire act of competing intransigencies and denials of reality – with the only certainty that there is no easy way out of this mess or simple resolution. This is a crisis of mainstream politics, democracy and Britain’s political parties. The Tories continue their thirty-year civil war on Europe, while Corbyn’s Labour

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Memorable Moment Living with Two Gentle Giants: Salt and Pepper Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 19th 2018 I have lived with cats since a teenager, but this year I ventured into completely new territory by getting two cats at the same time. They are brothers, from the same litter, half Maine Coon, and were one year old when they came to stay. Got from the nearby Cat Protection League and already christened Salt and Pepper, they have retained their names due to the simple logic that they answer to them. Salt and Pepper have obviously known each other all their

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Where is Radical Scotland and does it really exist? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 12th 2018 As the United Kingdom seemingly collapses and its political class shows unprecedented incompetence, where stands Scotland? Where is that much talked about sentiment that we are radical, different, and more left-wing than the rest of the UK? For some all that matters in the above is difference and the elixir of sovereignty; ‘Take Back Control’ and don’t worry about detail and all the other stuff until we are on the other side of independence. This is rather reminiscent of the version of Brexit as

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The Brexit Disaster is an Existential Crisis in the ‘Idea’ of Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, December 5th 2018 Last week I attended an event at Dundee University on the ideas and impact of the Scottish thinker Tom Nairn. Many of his books were discussed, including his critique of the monarchy, and the insularity of the British left, but his most important work - ‘The Break-Up of Britain’ - published 41 years ago, seems more relevant than ever as we live through Brexit. ‘The Break-Up of Britain’ explores the archaic, ossified relic that is the British state; undemocratic, anti-modern and

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This should be the time for Corbyn’s Labour but so far it isn’t Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 28th 2018 This should be the moment for Corbyn’s Labour. They face a divided, incompetent Tory Government. A party that has lost nine Cabinet ministers in the last year, which has no domestic agenda to speak of, and is not even bothering with the pretence of a Queen’s Speech. The Government has no direction or purpose, no credo beyond continuing limpet-like in existence, clinging onto office and pursuing the project of Brexit. And yet at this moment of decision, when Labour should

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