• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • blog
  • About
  • Book Publications
  • Other Reading
  • Social Wall
  • Back Pages
  • Contact Me

COVID-19

More than ever we need to come together and celebrate collective joy

December 28, 2020
More than ever we need to come together and celebrate collective joy Gerry Hassan Sunday National, December 27th 2020 These are not exactly the happiest of times the world over - with crises, worry and anxiety all around us. In such circumstances never more have we needed to find light and hope, optimism and joy. As important in an age of loneliness and isolation is reaching out to others, recognising that we are more than mere individuals and are part of something bigger than ourselves – whether it be different communities and places. Over a decade ago the American writer

Continue Reading More than ever we need to come together and celebrate collective joy

The Great Big Lie of the British Royal Family

December 7, 2020
The Great Big Lie of the British Royal Family  Gerry Hassan The National, December 6th 2020 Feeling a bit blue as the nights grow colder and darker? Worried about all those avoidable COVID-19 deaths and the threat of a chaotic Brexit? Are you worried about Boris Johnson and his hapless government being in charge of anything - let alone a vaccine roll-out - as they shamelessly reward their corporate pals with billions of our monies with no due process and diligence? Never fear because such inauspicious circumstances are the perfect conditions for a royal tour. And not just that,

Continue Reading The Great Big Lie of the British Royal Family

The SNP, independence and the politics of solidarity

December 1, 2020
The SNP, independence and the politics of solidarity Gerry Hassan The National, November 30th 2020 The SNP annual conference was, like all party gatherings at the moment, a strange affair conducted through virtual discussions connecting thousands of homes and living rooms. This gave it a decent social media footprint, but restricted what broadcasters had to cover and portray to the wider nation. This conference was the starting gun for the 2021 elections, with the major chance for any cut through being Nicola Sturgeon’s keynote address on St. Andrew’s Day. This was carried by most broadcasters - with the right-wing

Continue Reading The SNP, independence and the politics of solidarity

Scotland and life after COVID-19

December 1, 2020
Scotland and life after COVID-19 Gerry Hassan Sunday National, November 29th 2020 2020 has been a year like no other in living memory. As our lives have been thrown upside down, politics and public life have struggled to keep up and find a language to convey the scale of human loss, tragedy and disruption. It goes without saying that the UK Government and Boris Johnson have had an appalling pandemic. The Prime Minister has been unable to find the right response, words and tone; while Downing Street has embodied chaos and farce. And shockingly, but hardly surprisingly, dozens of Tory

Continue Reading Scotland and life after COVID-19

Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson

November 24, 2020
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

Continue Reading Boris Johnson and the Tory attack on Devolution is about more than Johnson

Let’s Talk about Power in Scotland

October 28, 2020
Let’s Talk about Power in Scotland Gerry Hassan Sunday National, October 25th 2020 Britain is broken. Its state and government is callous, indifferent and incapable of looking after the interests of the people. And even more so, the British establishment – old and new – only cares about itself and its cronies. As Britain is engulfed in multiple crises, we cannot just sit back and idly watch and assume that we are different and morally better here. We have to prove that this is so, and embody it in our actions. The now well-used term ‘British establishment’ slipped into popular

Continue Reading Let’s Talk about Power in Scotland

The fate of Scottish football is about much more than football

September 30, 2020
The fate of Scottish football is about much more than football Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, September 30th 2020 Scottish football is about more than who makes the most noise whether it be ten in a row - or stopping ten in a row - or the obsessions of the top league and clubs. Scottish football’s deep roots reach much further than the dominant media narratives. They provide an insight into wider society, with the state of the game reflecting how healthy and vibrant Scotland is – and how we are being tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. Scotland has 42 senior

Continue Reading The fate of Scottish football is about much more than football

After the COVID recession: The age of conservatism is coming to an end

August 17, 2020
After the COVID recession: The age of conservatism is coming to end Gerry Hassan Sunday National, August 16th 2020 This week the scale of damage done by COVID-19 to the UK economy was confirmed as much more serious than previously thought. The drop in GDP for the second quarter of 2020 was 20.4% - the highest on record for a quarter - contributing to a 22.1% fall in the first six months of the year, plus a significant rise in the claimant count to 2.7 million people and a dramatic fall in employment. But this is nothing compared to

Continue Reading After the COVID recession: The age of conservatism is coming to an end

The rise and fall of civil society in Scotland

August 13, 2020
The rise and fall of civil society in Scotland Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, August 12th 2020 Last year in the US in the town of Williamstown, Massachusetts I got into a conversation with a complete stranger who followed politics avidly. I naturally asked him about the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election, to which he responded that even more important than defeating Trump was the vibrancy and health of civil society. It struck me as a perceptive remark in seeing past the debris of the Trump Presidency and looking at something deeper, more long-term and centred on the health of

Continue Reading The rise and fall of civil society in Scotland

We are living through history and we are the history makers

July 13, 2020
We are living through history and we are the history makers Gerry Hassan Sunday National, July 12th 2020 The UK Government is convulsed in multiple crises - COVID19 and the related coming economic storm - while Brexit still remains unfinished business with a No Deal Brexit still highly likely by the end of this year. If this were not enough, the UK is committing self-harm at the bequest of a government both rudderless and dogmatic. It is treating large parts of England like distant provinces while remembering Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only when they cause trouble or to keep

Continue Reading We are living through history and we are the history makers

< Older Entries

Primary Sidebar

categories

  • Blog
  • Events
  • Futures Thinking
  • International Conversations
  • Longer Essays
  • Short Essays
  • What Gerry's groovin' to
  • What Gerry's reading
FacebookTwitter

featured publication

Scotland after the Virus

Click here to buy Gerry’s latest book containing fiction, poetry and non-fiction from over 40 contributors

what Gerry’s groovin’ to

My Favourite Music of 2020

December 20, 2020

what Gerry’s reading

My Favourite Books of 2020

December 19, 2020

tags

Scottish politics | Scottish Independence | Scottish Review | British politics | The Scotsman | Scottish Nationalists | Open Democracy | Scottish Nationalism | Scottish Labour Party | Nicola Sturgeon | Scottish society | The British State | Sunday Mail | Brexit | Sunday National | Social Democracy | Conservative Party | Boris Johnson | British Labour Party | Jeremy Corbyn | Alex Salmond | David Cameron | Popular Culture | British Nationalism | Scottish National Party | Scottish Media | The Future of the Left | Social Justice | Bella Caledonia | Scottish Men | Scottish Parliament | Scottish Culture | Scottish Unionism | British Society | Football | CoronaVirus | 2016 Scottish Parliament Elections | Labour Party | Scottish Independence Referendum | The Guardian

Categories

Footer

about Gerry

Gerry Hassan is a writer, commentator and thinker about Scotland, the UK, politics and ideas.

More >

recent

  • Trump and the Problem with Sexist Men and Masculinity
  • Scottish Labour is the problem, not the leader. And the solution is a genuine Scottish Labour Party
  • I am a European and want to live in a country which calls itself European

search

FacebookTwitter

Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
Copyright © Gerry Hassan - writing, research, policy and ideas. All Rights Reserved.
Illustration and website design by Infinite Eye