As COP26 meets ‘It’s the Economy Stupid’ which needs to change
As COP 26 meets ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid’ which needs to change Gerry Hassan The National, 2 November 2021 The world’s media currently has one subject - will COP26 succeed in committing leading nations to act and change their ways on climate change. What is less talked about are economic assumptions and versions of the economy, who gains and who loses from it – not just in the UK and developed world but globally. Nearly thirty years ago Bill Clinton and the Democrats came up with “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” This not only prioritised economic growth but indicated that the
Continue Reading As COP26 meets ‘It’s the Economy Stupid’ which needs to change
A Time for Big Ideas for Scotland
A Time for Big Ideas for Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, February 16th 2020 Big ideas are important. Boris Johnson is talking about infrastructure projects, committing to HS2 and spending £106 billion of taxpayers’ monies. He also this week announced a review into the feasibility of a 20-mile long Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge that will cost £20 billion. Irrespective of the merits of these projects, and the obvious point that the Scottish-Northern Irish bridge has next to no chance of ever being built, they mark a different kind of politics at least rhetorically from that of Boris Johnson’s immediate Tory predecessors.
Independence has to be about more than an indyref. It is a state of mind
Independence has to be about more than an indyref. It is a state of mind Gerry Hassan Sunday Herald, May 13th 2018 Scotland and the UK feel in hiatus and stasis - awaiting the unfurling and unraveling of Brexit. Some people are marching. Last Saturday’s gathering was significant given the lack of SNP and Scottish Green support. It shows the energy, but also frustration and impatience, in parts of independence opinion. But it also shows the limits of such a politics. Any movement that marches under banners like ‘Tory Scum Out’, and with Tommy Sheridan on the platform, isn’t
Continue Reading Independence has to be about more than an indyref. It is a state of mind
The SNP has got us where we are, but the SNP on its own isn’t enough in the future
The SNP has got us where we are, but the SNP on its own isn’t enough in the future Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, October 12th 2016 The SNP have played a huge role in getting us to where we are today. They are central to where Scotland goes in the future - but they on their own are not enough. Without the SNP there is significant doubt that we would ever have got a Scottish Parliament. It is true that Labour legislated for it, but they were first brought back to devolution in the 1970s by the electoral threat of
Continue Reading The SNP has got us where we are, but the SNP on its own isn’t enough in the future
