A Citizen’s Politics for Scotland and the UK
A Citizen’s Politics for Scotland and the UK Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, August 6th 2011 There is a crisis of public life and ethics in Britain: of the standards of public institutions in politics, business and much of the media, which throws up huge questions about the purpose of politics and democracy. Our mainstream politics and politicians seem to be beyond understanding this. Thankfully away from this narrow, cloistered world, numerous writers, groups and initiatives are exploring ways of addressing these challenges. Charles Moore, arch-Thatcherite and official biographer of the great lady has written a fascinating piece, ‘I’m starting
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The Changing Tory Story of Scotland and the Union
The Changing Tory Story of Scotland and the Union Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 16th 2011 While the British media and political classes have obsessed over the mega-story of the crisis of the Murdoch empire and parallel state within a state, the constitutional debate about Scotland has quietly and yet profoundly moved on. The Conservatives have a long and proud tradition in relation to the politics of the union. This doesn’t mean they haven’t made serious errors of judgement at points, whether in Ireland or post-war decolonisation. Taking a wider view there has been a potent Tory account of
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The Time for a Scottish Media Voice
The Time for a Scottish Media Voice Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 9th 2011 The world has been turned upside down these last few days. There have been elements of an old fashioned morality play and Citizen Kane all rolled into one. Things have been talked about in public which you are not meant to say in front of the children. Ed Miliband and Labour have finally after years turned on News International freed from their previous fear. David Cameron has tried desperately to find his moral compass and appeared at least temporally to have lost his political touch.
After Rage against the Machine: The Search for an Alternative
After Rage against the Machine: The Search for an Alternative Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, July 2nd 2011 The return of mass public sector strikes; British living standards experiencing their biggest fall since 1977; the escalating Greek debt crisis; the shaky future of the eurozone and European project in doubt. These are just some of the headlines this week. All across the West governments are cutting public spending, services and benefits, and privatising and marketising what were once seen as public goods. Many governments are enduring significant unpopularity and even questions of legitimacy. They face publics uneasy, unsure and resistant
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How do we bring change to our public sector?
How do we bring change to our public sector? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 25th 2011 One of the growth areas in the last few years in Scottish public life has been the establishment of various Commissions drawing together ‘expert’ opinion. We have had a broadcasting commission, Calman on the powers of the Scottish Parliament, and before that one on tuition fees. Next week sees the publication of the Campbell Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services. Given the plethora of Commissions it is worth noting that the Scottish Government does not have a central resource of
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The Pains of Labour after Blair and Brown
The Pains of Labour after Blair and Brown Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 18th 2011 The condition of British Labour may seem a distant subject to many Scots. We after all have a SNP majority government and our politics now march to a different beat. Despite everything, British Labour still matters. It is the majority Scots party at Westminster, winning 41 out of 59 seats only last year. And British politics still matter, for as long as Scotland remains part of the UK. There is a strange atmosphere in what used to be called ‘the people’s party’. Ed Miliband’s
What is the Problem with Scottish Men?
What is the Problem with Scottish Men? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 11th 2011 The story of Scottish men is a familiar one as well known as that of Scotland itself. There is the story of local heroes, Bravehearts, conquerors and warriors, along with a few explorers and inventors through our history. In the present day this panoply of possibilities has reduced to one about confusion, negativity and about men who have mostly lost their way. Men dominate most of the public life of Scotland: politics, business, media, the public conversations and public spaces. However, there is a deep
Self-Government is about more than the Constitution
Self-Government is about more than the Constitution Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, June 4th 2011 The arrival of Scotland’s first majority government is a learning curve for all of us: for the institutions and processes of the Parliament, the political parties, civil servants and media. This is a defining moment for the SNP, for the kind of politics and vision they represent, for how they express their mandate, and how they articulate their ideas of the Scotland of the future. During the election campaign the SNP painted a believable, plausible vision of a different Scotland, a place of green jobs,
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How We Help Our Friends in the South
How We Help Our Friends in the South Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 28th 2011 Scotland may have changed and by so doing shifted the UK. And all of this has consequences for the English and England. Listening to the voices of some of England’s so called liberal commentators post-election has been illuminating. David Mitchell said that ‘If Scotland ever goes it alone … the British will have lost their country’. Madeleine Bunting stated that ‘If Scotland goes, all we’ll have left is the Englishness we so despise.’ There is amongst some a tangible anger about Scotland. Tim
Scotland’s Future: Society, State and Story
Scotland’s Future: Society, State and Story Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 21st 2011 The debate about Scottish self-government is also about how Scotland sees its future. This has seen different interpretations arise about the meaning of independence. This reflects the new realism and gradualism of Alex Salmond’s SNP Government. Experienced voices such as former SNP MP Jim Sillars and academic James Mitchell have made the case for a pragmatic nationalist politics, while Pat Kane on these pages has seen such thinking falling well short of independence and Scottish statehood. This is a timely, crucial debate which needs to be
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