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Glasgow School of Art, Power and the Chumocracy Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 28 September 2021 How power is held to account has been a problem in Scotland, predating the Scottish Parliament and the independence debate – neither of which have aided the shining of a light into the recesses of public life which for too long have been in darkness. Many public institutions and bodies have fallen short and let down people, with their failings only brought to wider attention too late or long after the event – from deaths in hospitals such as the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Glasgow

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Labour’s problems are about much more than Keir Starmer Gerry Hassan The National, 28 September 2021 Labour meet in Brighton this week for another conference in opposition and in the wilderness, with clear evidence of being collectively bewildered and confused. Not only that but Keir Starmer’s leadership is openly being questioned across the party – not just from the Corbynite left but on the centre and right from where he has drawn most support until now. No one seems sure what Starmer stands for, or even if he has the real skills needed to be a leader. Yet

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The world turned upside down and living with hurt and loss Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 22 September 2021 The past eighteen months have witnessed tumultuous, unprecedented times for everyone on this planet. A global pandemic has ripped through our lives turning them upside down and in the process killing nearly five million people globally on official records, alongside just under 250 million people falling ill. In the face of this government, scientists, public health experts and media have struggled to comprehend the complexity, epidemiology of the virus, and role of government in temporarily restricting freedoms to reduce death and protect

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Seven years on independence has serious work to do to win Gerry Hassan The National, 21 September 2021 Last weekend was the seventh anniversary of Scotland’s big date with destiny on independence – and for some this is an understandable seven-year itch. Cue the demand from some that Scotland holds another indyref as soon as possible. The previous weekend at the Alba gathering Alex Salmond made the case for an indyref in the midst of the COVID pandemic on the grounds that the 2021 Scottish elections were held against the same backdrop (when legislation would have been required to postpone

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Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon: A Tale of Two Very Different Leaders and Parties Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 15 September 2021 Last weekend the world marked 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, while many of us were absorbed in the birth of a new British tennis star, Emma Raducanu, as she sensationally won the US Open on Saturday evening at the age of eighteen. There were also the rival attractions of the annual conference of the SNP, this year held online, and the inaugural conference of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party in Greenock Town Hall. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon

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The Tory attack on the right to vote is a threat to democracy Gerry Hassan The National, 14 September 2021 The Tory Elections Bill, debated last week in the Commons, sounds on the surface like an anodyne piece of legislation, tidying up arcane procedures on voter registration, identification and how we vote. However, it is a full-fronted attack on the fabric of what passes for democracy and the right to vote, reveals the thin nature of fundamental rights in the UK, and the brazen reality that the Tories regard such rights and ‘the British constitution’ as playthings that they can

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The Alex Salmond Scandal and its Aftermath Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, 9 September 2021 Break-Up: How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War, David Clegg and Kieran Andrews, Biteback Publishing, £20. Scottish politics has been transfixed the past three years by the fallout between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon – the defining figures of the SNP over the past twenty years. This has been a saga like no other - of serious allegations made against Salmond, two court cases and judgements, a parliamentary inquiry and independent review, all of which have created huge political waves and turbulence which have

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The World Turned Upside Down: Life after 9/11 and the West’s War Machine Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 8 September 2021 Twenty years ago, the world changed dramatically on 11 September 2001 when al-Qaeda attacked the USA and overturned the post-Cold War assumptions of the West. Prior to this, in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West believed in its in superiority with ‘the end of history’, ‘the clash of civilisations’, a belief in globalisation, progress and increasing prosperity. All were to be tested in the next two decades and found wanting. The aftermath of that dramatic

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Why we need to get serious about sectarianism in modern Scotland Gerry Hassan The National, 7 September 2021 In 1999, within months of the Scottish Parliament’s establishment, composer James Macmillan delivered an address that had a major impact, ruffling feathers and beginning a long overdue debate. Entitled “Scotland’s Shame”, it spoke about our long disgraceful tradition of anti-Catholicism. He suggested that “we as a nation have to face up to the ignominy of our most prevalent if unspoken bigotry if we are to move together into the next millennium with a sense of common purpose.” This sparked soul-searching, the publication

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The Limits of Seeing Glasgow in Black and White Terms Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, 1 September 2021 Last weekend Rangers and Celtic met in the first ‘Old Firm’ derby of the season. Hotly anticipated in some quarters and dreaded in others, it was marked by a Rangers victory with supporters of the club then walking through the city centre singing anti-Irish, anti-Catholic songs full of bigotry and hate, while police officers passively watched them. We have been here so many times before in the strange world of Scottish football that the senses of many are numbed, while others choose to

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