Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson
Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 22nd 2020 Thirty years ago today Margaret Thatcher resigned as UK Prime Minister and yet still casts a shadow over British politics and the Tories. Fast forward to this week, with Boris Johnson revealing his true feelings about Scotland and devolution – saying that ‘devolution has been a disaster north of the border’ and that it was ‘Tony Blair’s biggest mistake’ - a bit of a tall statement given the Iraq war over which Johnson called for Blair’s impeachment. Cue lots of
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We need to know our history: The rise and fall of the British Prime Minister
We need to know our history: The rise and fall of the British Prime Minister Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 11th 2020 Leadership is one of the mantras of the modern age, and no more so than in politics. National leadership - and success (and conversely failure) - is endlessly analysed. Is Boris Johnson in irretrievable decline and was he ever right for the job? Can Nicola Sturgeon maintain the level of popularity of herself and the SNP to the 2021 elections? And does anyone remember the Lib Dems and who their leader is? (answer: Ed Davey). The new book
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The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland
The Politics of Hate and why it has to be defeated – from the US to Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 1st 2020 We live in divisive, contentious times where the noise and claims and counter-claims in public life seem to never stop. Many people yearn for this age of rage and hatred to stop, and for a return to supposedly calmer, more enlightened times. This can be seen in part of the logic of support for Democrat Joe Biden against Donald Trump in next week’s US Presidential election. However, there will be no return to a so-called ‘normal’
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The UK is increasingly run by corporate insiders. And Scotland is, too
The UK is increasingly run by corporate insiders. And Scotland is, too Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, October 27th 2020 Politics has always been about power – who has it, how they exercise it, in whose interests they use it. Yet, increasingly politics has become associated with a professional elite who live, breathe (and have only ever worked in) politics and are, in how they see the world, divorced from the vast majority of the population. This group operate as a self-serving selectorate, sometimes described in the UK as a ‘chumocracy’. As we’ve seen with Boris Johnson, the corporate class and
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What do we do about the corporate insider class running the UK and Scotland?
What do we do about the corporate insider class increasingly running the UK and Scotland? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 21st 2020 Politics has always been about power - who has it, how they exercise it, in whose interests they use it, how accountable and open to scrutiny they are, and if and how they can be removed. Yet, increasingly politics has become associated with the rise of a professional elite who live, breathe (and have only ever worked in) politics and are, in how they see the world, divorced from the vast majority of the population. This group operate
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Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence?
Is This The Tipping Point of Scottish Independence? Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 18th 2020 Independence is the new normal and the mainstream. This is a huge historic shift and moment. It is a dramatic change and opportunity that will require a very different politics and attitude compared to 2014. Then independence represented the insurgents and outsiders, the new kids on the block, shaking the insiders, taking independence in from the cold and the margins. This is independence’s tipping point – or getting close to that point; the moment when everything changes: the argument, context and how the public see
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Superman is not coming to save us: Trump, Boris Johnson and Regressive Masculinity
Superman is not coming to save us: Trump, Boris Johnson and Regressive Masculinity Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, October 14th 2020 It is not very surprising that Donald Trump was apparently considering wearing a Superman top under his shirt and then revealing it on leaving hospital after being treated for COVID. It is deeply symbolic of the allure of the Superman complex that a significant section of the public – usually men, including many of those in senior positions – are drawn to an erroneous belief in Superman as a viable form of leadership. The world is in crisis and needs
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Trump and Trumpism have to be defeated
Trump and Trumpism have to be defeated Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 4th 2020 The October surprise has duly arrived in the form of Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump testing positive for COVID-19, leading to their self-isolation and the suspension of campaigning by Trump in person. In a year - and a Presidency of surprises - this was almost inevitable. Trump has consistently underplayed the pandemic only last month saying that it affects ‘virtually nobody.’ And he has shown a complete disregard for public safety and wearing masks, holding rallies - including his address to the Republican
The British Empire is still very much alive and kicking
The British Empire is still very much alive and kicking Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 23rd 2020 The British Empire has never really gone away. Its presence and influence has always been here - sometimes in the background, often in the foreground, being invoked, defended and even celebrated by some. It is there in the ridiculous debates about the UK ‘punching above its weight’ on the global stage, the painful dependency of UK elites on ‘the special relationship’ with Washington, and all the clinging to the wreckage of the UK’s diminished international status and that’s without mentioning Brexit. Like
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The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism
The political and moral collapse of the Conservative Party, conservative thinking and unionism Gerry Hassan Sunday National, September 20th 2020 The clue is meant to be in the name - the Conservative and Unionist Party. The Unionist moniker may refer first and foremost to the union with Ireland, but has a wider meaning in relation to the union that makes up the United Kingdom. Tory unionism has historically gone to the core of the party’s DNA. At its peak – electorally and instinctually – between the 1920s and end of the 1950s, it gave
