A Moment for Reflection and Radicalism
A Moment for Reflection and Radicalism Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 26th 2010 The first Queen’s Speech of the Con-Lib Dem government provided the opportunity to show how much they understand Scots (along with Welsh) sensibilities. We are different up here, driven by different political motivations, and with an entirely different set of political dynamics. So apparently the key word is ‘respect’, despite its overuse and misuse by the Blair Government for dodgy initiatives involving czars! Whatever we think of the Calman Commission’s proposals the next stage of Scotland’s constitutional journey has begun. No matter the road we take the
Breaking Out of The Politics of Tribalism
Breaking Out of The Politics of Tribalism Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 17th 2010 Life changes you. Time passes and you slowly realise that you have changed. You become mellower and more reflective. You recognise the validity of opponent’s points even when you disagree with them. This happens to some of us. Others remain stuck - repeating themselves, showing the same degree of intolerance, making strident points and never listening to others. A moment, or set of moments, recently took place when I realised I was beginning to change. These occurred over the course of the election and its aftermath,
Back to the Future: Is it Time for a 1980s Revival or Not?
Back to the Future: Is it Time for a 1980s Revival or Not? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 8th 2010 The Scottish election results throw up numerous challenges for all the parties and their prospects in next year’s Scottish Parliament elections. Scotland has on one reading confirmed its difference. We are a different political place. Labour held its own, while falling back everywhere else. The Tories have got nowhere, while Lib Dem and SNP hopes have been unfulfilled. Just as the Westminster elections were about the mantle of ‘change’, with the prospect of a minority Tory Government, the battle in
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The Myth of ‘Red Scotland’
The Myth of ‘Red Scotland’ Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, May 6th 2010 This general election looks set to confirm some of the characteristics of modern Scotland, and in particular that this is a centre-left country, defined by parties of the centre-left, and in which the Tories only play a bit part. This is one of the many findings from the fascinating Scotsman/YouGov poll published yesterday. On policy issue after issue – unemployment, health, education – Labour easily leads the Conservatives by wide margins as the favoured party, the one exception being immigration. David Cameron is not yet unpopular in Scotland
The Third British Debate
The Third British Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 30th 2010 This was a combative, fascinating debate, starting slowly, which built up as each of the leaders reached for the elusive knock out blow. Cameron opened talking about the state of the nation and ‘the economy stuck in a rut’, Clegg, of ‘doing things differently’ (again), and Brown acknowledged that he sometimes ‘didn’t get things right’. Then it was on to an evening talking or not talking about cuts, tax cuts, inheritance tax, bankers and the economy. Cameron saw a country wrecked where he promised to ‘roll up his sleeves’,
The Long Silence and Slow Emergence of England
The Long Silence and Slow Emergence of England Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 26th 2010 England has always been a sensitive subject at the heart of the United Kingdom. Most Scots bristle when ‘England’ is used when Britain’ is meant; others find it horrifying that at times ‘Britain’ is used when clearly ‘England’ is the intention. Once upon a time British politics used to throw around these terms with a sense of élan and confidence. Baldwin and Churchill often used to talk of ‘England’ and know that they meant ‘Britain’. Churchill, who seems even more to be the defining figure
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The Second Big Debate
The Second Big Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 23rd 2010 The dynamics this week were very different: Clegg, the new favourite, Cameron, the previous frontrunner, and Brown, the supposed steady incumbent. Nick Clegg had to navigate difficult terrain between being an ‘outsider’ and emphasising his experience, including drawing on his work for EU Commissioner Leon Brittan. When we got to Afghanistan and nuclear weapons, the temperature changed, and Brown told Clegg to ‘get real’ and Cameron said ‘I agree with Gordon’. Brown was better than the previous week, avoiding mentioning no percentages or three point plans, and even cited
The British Big Debate
The Big British Debate Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 16th 2010 It was history in the making supposedly. Whatever it was, politics will never be the same again - for good and bad. Gordon Brown showed himself as a master of facts - endless facts and numerous percentage figures about public services delivering and improving. He took half an hour before he mentioned a single human being and that was his father who only got a passing mention. David Cameron told a host of stories inhabited by individuals and their stories, of being victims of crime, of being an immigrant
The Dream is Over: The Sixties, the Beatles and the Baby Boomers
The Dream is Over: The Sixties, the Beatles and the Baby Boomers Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 15th 2010 This week is the 40th anniversary of one of the most pivotal cultural moments of the post-war era in Britain and globally: the break-up of the Beatles. Forty years ago on Saturday, Paul McCartney released his first ever solo album. In it was a pre-prepared interview which announced to a shocked world that ‘the dream is over’ and the Beatles were no more. Some people have never quite got over that moment, or more accurately, have decided to choose to remain
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The Empire State Building of the United Kingdom
The Empire State Building of the United Kingdom Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 8th 2010 The 2010 election campaign has now formally begun, as politicians zigzag up and down the country in search of voters. There is a palpable sense of anxiety and doubt about the multiple crises the country faces: economic, democratic, and where we see ourselves in the world and how we conduct our foreign policy. Despite all this there is a propensity in our political classes to adopt a business as usual approach and talk in only the narrowest of ways of the crises we face. Politicians
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