Posts Tagged ‘David Cameron’
The Beginning of the Break-Up of Britain?
Gerry Hassan
Open Democracy, January 11th 2012
The Scottish constitutional question has shot to the top of the UK political agenda. The manoeuvrings of the UK Government and Scottish Government on the Scottish independence issue have consistently led the UK news bulletins this week, even giving the high impact HS2 development go-ahead a run for its money.
We are now entering uncharted waters. Scotland and the UK are now changing and things will never be the same again. Whatever the outcome of the stand-off between the two governments and the eventual referendum, Scottish independence has become mainstream and a serious, viable option.
Alex Salmond announced on ‘Sky News’ that the Scottish Government had decided to hold its independence referendum in autumn 2014. The timing was planned to cause maximum embarrassment to Michael Moore, Secretary of State for Scotland, who at the same moment was addressing the House of Commons on the UK Government’s view of independence. Salmond said autumn 2014 ‘was the date that allows everything to be put in a proper manner on the most important decision in Scotland for 300 years. That date will allow the Scottish people to hear all the arguments.’ Read the rest of this entry »
The ‘Three Scotlands’ and How to Win an Independence Referendum
Gerry Hassan
Bella Caledonia, January 4th 2012
Scottish politics post-the election and the return of a majority SNP Government have existed in a seeming state of limbo, a kind of political phoney war.
The SNP have won a landslide victory but have yet to produce a serious strategy for winning independence; the unionist parties in Scotland have all been reduced to an existential crisis about defining their purpose and point; while David Cameron’s government (if it ever thinks about Scotland) is of the view that the break up of the United Kingdom isn’t a serious threat and those pesky Nats will soon be put in their place.
This is a strange display of emotions and assumptions by every party which seems to downplay the historic situation that we are in. This is a combination of immediate short-term politics (SNP victory), with the long-term evolution of Scottish politics and fundamental crisis of the British state to make far-reaching change, and Scottish independence, distinctly possible.
The ‘Three Scotlands’ of Modern Times
There are three distinct Scottish futures on offer. The first is from the SNP Scottish Government which proposes an independent Scotland. The strategy, tactics and detail on this might be surprisingly vague, but the direction and intent is clear. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Play Political Poker: The High Stakes of the Independence Debate
Gerry Hassan
The Scotsman, December 31st 2011
The Scottish constitutional debate will increasingly be the main, if not the only, debate in our national politics over the next year.
It is going to be a debate which not only has a Scottish interest, but for obvious reasons, a UK audience, alongside a wider European and international relevance.
It is crucial for many reasons that we conduct this debate in the best way possible. International attention, including the world’s media, will be on us. We have to rise above the schoolyard yah-boo politics of unionist versus nationalist, and aid a debate which engages with some of the serious issues.
Alex Salmond’s dominance over his Scottish political rivals, combined with his Scottish political awards, will continue to be one of the constants of our politics. But this isn’t going to be enough and the SNP will have to face some tough strategic dilemmas. Read the rest of this entry »
The Twilight of the British State:
Alex Salmond, Scottish Independence and the European Question
Gerry Hassan
Open Democracy, October 28th 2011
This is a fascinating and fast moving period of politics, at a global, European, British and Scottish level, challenging many of the most deep-seated and unexamined assumptions held across the political spectrum.
In the last week we have seen the euphoric SNP conference at Inverness showing a party on the crest of a wave which seems to think that the future is within its grasp.
Then we have at Westminster the return of the popular bogeyman – Eurosceptism – and its capture of the mainstream of the Conservative Party with the biggest ever backbench Tory rebellion on Europe.
What is seldom explored is the interconnection of these two issues: Scottish independence and Euroscepticism. Both illustrate the multi-dimensional nature of the crisis of the British state, and tensions and faultlines in the existing order with its mantras and folktales of parliamentary sovereignty. And in both, the centre of gravity has shifted significantly in recent times; towards an environment favourable to Scottish self-government, and a Eurosceptic agenda. In the first, the debate is now between full fiscal autonomy and independence, and in the second, the Tory mainstream debate is between repatriation of powers from Europe and complete withdrawal. These two dimensions could in the future influence each other in ways seldom stated or explored. Read the rest of this entry »
Why we need to understand the Cameroon Conservatives
Gerry Hassan
The Scotsman, October 1st 2011
Why do so many people caricature Conservatism? This can be seen on the left, anti-Tory opinion, and of course, most of Scottish public life.
The Conservatives are reduced to a series of stereotypes: of being selfish, uncaring, just for the super rich, not understanding what it is like to live on modest means, unmoved by poverty, and wanting to turn back the clock to Dickensian Britain.
If these clichés were true the British Conservatives would be reduced to some impotent rump the size of the Scots Tories or Lib Dems. But they are not because they have always spoken for a large swathe of British society.
Well over a year into the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, not only are the Conservatives not as unpopular as people thought they might be and they themselves feared, but something else is happening. Despite the economic gloom and doom, which you think might lead to a revival of left thinking, so far the running has been made in ideas from the right. Read the rest of this entry »
