How do we defeat the rise of the extreme right in Scotland and Britain?
How do we defeat the rise of the extreme right in Scotland and Britain? Sunday National, 24 July 2026 Gerry Hassan Andy Burnham has completed his first week as UK PM with the role feeling nearly as temporary as the leader of Scottish Labour. Many millions of words have been expended about the challenges and limitations faced by Burnham and the UK but missing much about the wider mood of politics and how it is created. The new government will have to make its case and progress its agenda against powerful headwinds pushing in the opposite direction fuelling an increasingly
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The Summer of Scotland after Sarwar, Sturgeon and Swinney
The Summer of Scotland after Sarwar, Sturgeon and Swinney Bella Caledonia, 4 August 2026 Gerry Hassan The Andy Burnham administration has taken office. It faces huge challenges - economic, political, geopolitical - along with no direct popular mandate and the rising storm of radicalised right-wing opinion in the UK waiting to devour anything that gets in its way. At the same time implicit in this is a challenge to Scottish politics: its assumptions, beliefs and dynamics of recent decades and the present. This is particularly true of those of an independence persuasion who are used to treating all things Labour
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Taking the High Road to Independence
Taking the High Road to Independence Sunday National, 16 August 2026 Gerry Hassan Talk of Scottish independence is in the air; in these columns, on social media and among independence supporters. But here is a reality check - the vast majority of Scotland do not persistently talk about independence as they have more immediate things on their minds. Independence has become divorced from reality: namely the reality of most Scots. Some may think that harsh, but it is true and needs acknowledging for anything to change. There has been a vacuum at the heart of independence since 2014 with no
The State of Scottish Football and can it change for the better?
The State of Scottish Football and can it change for the better? Sunday National, 30 August 2026 Gerry Hassan Another week, another set of controversies about Scottish football. Celtic humiliated in Europe; Rangers looking hopeless and Hibs and Motherwell out, while Hearts continue to fly the flag after a decent away result. The co-efficient of Scottish teams in Europe has fallen from 9th to 19th in four years. Broadcaster Danny Baker was overstating things describing this as “a collapse of Scottish football” but journalist Graham Spiers is correct to talk of “the horrifying humiliation” of Celtic and Rangers in another
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Can the Green Surge come to Scotland?
Can the Green Surge come to Scotland? Sunday National, 26 October 2025 Gerry Hassan Zack Polanski’s recent election as leader of the Greens in England and Wales was a major moment in UK politics. It has acted as a lightning bolt, offering hope to many who want to see the existing Westminster consensus and rightward drift of UK politics reversed. Green membership in England and Wales has exploded; in the past week it has surpassed the entire UK membership of the once powerful Tories. Several polls have shown the Greens not only rising across the UK but closing in on
Britain is Broken: What it means and where are we going?
Britain is Broken: What it means and where are we going? Sunday National, 29 August 2025 Gerry Hassan Britain is in crisis. Doom and gloom are everywhere. The right see this as an existential mess where everything they detest can be torn down. Meanwhile what passes for the centre-left shifts ever rightward to appease the increasingly emboldened right. The UK has been in crisis before. The early 1960s saw widespread debate about national decline and the UK’s inability to economically modernise. The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed similar discussions about the UK’s laggard economic performance and how to remove
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How to Defeat the Far Right and Fascism in Scotland, the UK and West
How to Defeat the Far Right and Fascism in Scotland, the UK and West Sunday National, 28 September 2025 Gerry Hassan The myth of British exceptionalism has collapsed in relation to the far right and fascism. There has been for too long a belief that Britain was somehow exempt from such politics and that its institutions and culture was immune. The Scottish version of this - a smug, self-congratulatory story - has stressed that our civic, inclusive culture makes us less susceptible to racism, racists and bigotry. This view was always deluded, especially given our history of anti-Irish racism. But
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Lonely at the Top: Sturgeon, Leadership and Regrets: Review of Nicola Sturgeon, Frankly, Macmillan £28.
Lonely at the Top: Sturgeon, Leadership and Regrets Bella Caledonia, 15 August 2025 Gerry Hassan Frankly is a major political occasion which has got people talking and taking sides – either defending or defenestrating Nicola Sturgeon as a leader, politician and her legacy. Sturgeon invites strong reactions. There are those who feel loyalty, even affinity, to her and what she represents. Equally there is a significant body of opinion who regard her as divisive, out of touch and having let down people – a view shared even by some in the SNP and pro-independence. There is no doubt that this
Dreaming of Post-War Scotland: How do we tell the full complex stories of ourselves?
Dreaming of Post-War Scotland: How do we tell the full complex stories of ourselves? Bella Caledonia, 8 August 2025 Gerry Hassan The Invisible Spirit, Surgeon’s Hall, until 9 August; the Space Venue 45, 11, 13-16 August; the Space, Niddry Street, 18-23 August. Make It Happen, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, until 9 August. Alistair Moffat, To See Ourselves: A Personal History of Scotland since 1950, Birlinn £18.99. The widely accepted belief that stories make a nation has become a cliché. It may be true but does not describe the kinds of stories or the storytellers - and who is included and excluded
Scotland and Independence need a new approach and agenda
Scotland and Independence need a new approach and agenda Sunday National, 27 July 2025 Gerry Hassan John Swinney recently engaged in the latest relaunch of independence. Some people noticed; some even cared and thought it relevant. Mostly his efforts passed unnoticed, without any real impact. Scottish politics, democracy, government and independence are not in good health and failing too many people. Some don’t see things this way. They measure the state of Scotland by saying we are not like the collective disaster of Westminster as if this is an effective measurement. Others say we need independence now such is the
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