Scottish Review

The Ireland Question is not just about Ireland, but a selective view of Britain Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 29th 2017 Brexit has become a constitutional and political clusterfuck - a rolling embarrassment for Britain in a show that is set to run officially at least until 11pm on 29 March 2019, and in all probability for years after. It is a crash between a right-wing Fantasyland version of Britain (witness Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Jacob Rees-Mogg) and at the margins, a left-wing British exceptionalist story led by Corbyn which hopes, by keeping quiet, to pick up the pieces,

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Kezia Dugdale and the Jungle that is the Scottish Labour ‘Family’ Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 22nd 2017 The big story of the last few days in certain quarters hasn’t been Zimbabwe, allegations of child sexploitation in Govanhill on Glasgow’s Southside, the saving of BiFab, or the election of Richard Leonard as Scottish Labour’s ninth leader. And not even Alex Salmond’s weekly programme on ‘Russia Today’. Instead our airwaves, papers and social media have been obsessed with news that Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Labour’s outgoing leader, will appear in the TV reality show ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’.

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Gordon Brown: The Ghost in the Machine Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 14th 2017 Gordon Brown, like him or loath him, was a titan of a figure in British politics for close on two decades. Along now comes Brown’s attempt at putting his case and a call for understanding and redemption in his autobiography - ‘My Life, Our Times’. It comes with much baggage for all who will read and encounter it, including from the author himself who goes through the pretense that he had to be reluctantly dragged into writing it, explaining himself: ‘For me, being conspicuously demonstrative is

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Sexual Misbehaviour is the concern of all of us Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 8th 2017 A spectre is haunting British politics. At a time of high wire politics, instability and the biggest constitutional challenge – Brexit – in post-war times, the political classes are obsessed with allegations of sexual impropriety, harassment and abuse. This affects all the main parties and at the most senior levels - the Conservatives and de facto Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green, Labour’s Kelvin Hopkins, the Lib Dems with the previous Lord Rennard scandal, and the SNP with the resignation of Children’s minister Mark McDonald.

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The Importance of Joy, Lightness and Irreverence Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 1st 2017 Scandals and controversies are thick and fast these days. There are the indictments against senior members of the Trump campaign, allegations of impropriety by sexpest MPs, and the ongoing stand-off and clampdown by the Spanish authorities in Catalonia. All of these are serious issues asking important questions about politics, public life and the nature of democracy. Yet at the same time, the manner of how these and other factors are brought into scrutiny and debated often seems to contribute to part of the problem. There is

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The Fantasyland Version of Britain is alive and kicking – and driving Brexit Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, Oct0ber 25th 2017 British democracy used to be presented as the envy of the world - the Whig version of history, the rule of law and above all the sense of continuity which was meant to differentiate the UK from its European neighbours. Such a view permeated British elites, institutions and public life. But it also informed many left-wing radicals and dissenters. One notable example was provided by the American writer Edward Shils on visiting the UK in 1953. He reflected on being

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Is Scotland really a social democratic country? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 18th 2017 At last week’s SNP conference in the middle of her keynote speech, Nicola Sturgeon asked: ‘What kind of country do we want to be?’ She wasn’t expecting an answer, and seemed surprised when a member of the party faithful shouted out ‘an independent one.’ Behind Sturgeon’s non-question is the belief in Scottish difference, the efficacy of our values, and the link of both of these to the idea of Scotland as a social democratic country. Thus, around the conference chatter and commentary, Lesley Riddoch on Sky

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Is this the end game for Theresa May and Tory Britain? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 11th 2017 The British Conservatives have for most of their history been an impressively successful political force, winning elections and forming the UK government on its own or in coalition for two-thirds of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. It then behooves the rest of us to try and understand the Conservative Party – what motivates its thinking, actions and ethos. And this matters even more when they are engulfed in infighting and faction fighting, in what looks like the lingering death rites of

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Catalonia and Scotland are very different: The complex struggle for self-determination Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 4th 2017 There are many reasons to be thankful for living in Scotland. This came home to roost in the last week with the Catalan referendum, the experience of the Iraqi Kurds voting on independence, and even, more dramatically, the tragic events in the US when Las Vegas witnessed yet another mass killing and carnage. Scotland is a prosperous and peaceful country. Unlike Catalonia we were able to have an independence referendum – which everyone agreed to, participated in, and accepted who won and

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Labour could be the future but is feeling a bit too self-satisfied with itself Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 26th 2017 This week the Labour Party Conference gathered in Brighton. It hasn’t been in such good spirits for many a year - with the highest membership of any party in Europe, and the biggest increase in its vote in a UK general election since 1945. The spirit in many respects is a little too upbeat. Corbyn’s Labour did not actually win the June election, despite Theresa May’s campaign being the most inept by a major party in living memory.

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