“Where is Global Britain on the streets of Kabul” exclaimed Theresa May in response to Britain and the US’ humiliating withdrawal from Kabul. Kabul had fallen only a few days earlier on the 15th August and parallels to the 1956 Suez crisis and the fall…
Other than party members and journalists, not many people are particularly interested in the inner workings of political parties. Some Conservatives may like to assume that Labour are dominated by students calling for revolution from relatively affluent university constituencies, whilst some Labour members assume that…
Over the coming months, Backbench will be partnering with Torrin Wilkins, Director of Centre Think Tank for a series of comment pieces. In his column, Torrin will explore prominent policy issues – some of them related to the latest news and others related to his…
The 2016 referendum was too simple The 2016 EU Referendum was a basic “Yes” or “No” answer. This is because the EU has several overlapping “spheres” of membership, including the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Customer Union. For a geopolitical and economic relationship this…
The mania surrounding Bitcoin appears to be more popular than ever and the widespread appetite for cryptocurrencies has encouraged more countries and corporations to dabble in this emerging market. Only this month, El Salvador introduced Bitcoin as its legal tender, and there have been rumours…
The UK has recently received warnings from various industries of potential shortages in the coming months. As reported by the Bank of England, there have already been shortages in “furniture, car parts and electrical goods”. Supermarkets have also signaled that there will be some product shortages.…
It is an accepted fact that politics is a battle for power. It is as repugnant as it is pervasive. It is about as far removed from how most people live as to suggest that people are mere pieces on the board of political chess.…
Over the coming months, Backbench will be partnering with Torrin Wilkins, Director of Centre Think Tank for a series of comment pieces. In his column, Torrin will explore prominent policy issues – some of them related to the latest news and others related to his…
Farewell, Pax Americana To its adversaries’ delight, the US’s global standing is crumbling away. Its two-decade-long intervention in Afghanistan has ended in total defeat. America has lost thousands of troops, equipment and of course, it has lost its reputation as a successful military power. Importantly,…
Jane Austen once wrote that “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Well, a more recent universal truth is that a bank holiday without damp, wet conditions would not…
Over the coming months, Backbench will be partnering with Torrin Wilkins, Director of Centre Think Tank for a series of comment pieces. In his column, Torrin will explore prominent policy issues – some of them related to the latest news and others related to his…
For the first time since the pandemic began, two weeks ago, the House of Commons was packed with MPs discussing the disturbing events of the past few days. The Taliban took over Afghanistan at a shocking speed, throwing the country into turmoil and chaos. However,…
In Caspar David Friedrich’s German Romantic masterpiece, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, a man cuts a solitary figure at the top of the mountain. He boldly looks out to an unknown, slightly scary future. His hair is ruffled by the cold wind. We feel…
In 1970, the economist Milton Friedman laid out what he believed to be the ultimate role of enterprise within modern society – ‘There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its…
The number of top grades awarded reached an all-time high this year as 44.3% of students achieved either an A* or A in their exams. The A-Level results from this year have commonly been described as ‘inflated’ due to the 19.1% increase in top grades…
Over the coming months, Backbench will be partnering with Torrin Wilkins, Director of Centre Think Tank for a series of comment pieces. In his column, Torrin will explore prominent policy issues – some of them related to the latest news and others related to his…
The UK is not the one to blame for the collapse of Afghanistan (that dishonour goes to Trump and Biden), but this doesn’t mean that the UK is entirely blameless for the humanitarian disaster in the troubled Central Asian country. The UK’s response to the…
With the party briefing its members to expect a general election by 2023, I thought it was ample time to look at a few, and I mean few, positives in the Labour Party right now. But let’s not get carried away too early: first, the…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re no doubt aware of the Afghanistan withdrawal, after 20 years of trying and failing to impose stability and democracy there. With the Taliban taking over in a span of weeks and the possibility of an Iranian-style hostage…
At the start of the month, the Taliban held no major cities in Afghanistan. Less than three weeks later, they have full reign of the country and are preparing to form a government. This comes after the American backed Administration of Ashraf Ghani collapsed, with…