It’s been 11 months since I last hugged my family. I was fortunate though, as I made it back before the UK’s first lockdown last year – most Australians overseas haven’t been so lucky. Australia’s borders have been shut since…
Day however many hundred since that very first lockdown. Times have been pretty turbulent since March 2020, but now it seems that the UK might be turning a corner. The sun is shining (occasionally) and the pubs are open. Bit…
It’s been a busy year and a bit for the Backbench editorial team. Nothing could have prepared us for March 2020. Not only was the conversation totally and utterly dominated by COVID-19, but more people than ever were looking to…
Last year, the COVID-19 lockdowns saw road traffic in the UK fall by over 70%, and industrial emissions from China between February to March 2020 were reduced by 18%, a cut of 250 million tons. The cleaner air quality that resulted from less…
Where there is much to be positive about regarding the UK’s strong vaccine rollout, a public inquiry into how this pandemic has been handled in the country since the first signs of COVID emerged will be required, to ensure mistakes aren’t repeated…
Torrin Wilkins is the Director of Centre Think Tank, a think tank and pressure group which supports a comprehensive welfare system alongside free markets. All views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent Backbench’s stance. Members…
After more than a year spent battling the social, economic and health effects of a pandemic, Britain is tired. Admittedly, that’s a bit of a sweeping statement, but with news of lockdown fatigue and an escalating mental health crisis making…
Regardless of whether it’s a cheap stunt or a threat to the lifeline many refugees depend on, the Government’s threat to jail alleged people smugglers for life involved in English Channel crossings have certainly not been taken lightly by campaigners,…
On returning from the hospital after receiving treatment for Covid-19 in early 2020, Boris Johnson cut a changed figure. Perhaps understandably, confronting his mortality appeared to have left a psychological mark on the Prime Minister. This mark took the form…
Do not waste your sympathy on Boris Johnson and his cronies. Whilst nobody anticipated the COVID-19 outbreak to be as prominent and as devastating as it was and still is, there can be no excuse for the constant missteps this…