Backbench has appointed three new general editors to its growing editorial team. The new editors are Violet Daniels, Ben Thompson and Eleanor Longman-Rood. The existing team is very excited to welcome its new members and is looking forward to taking…
Why do we have statues? Remembrance of great human beings? The celebration of people who were largely good? Surely not to remember slave traders. Since the removal of slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston, a debate has been reignited around…
After the Financial Crisis of 2008, Gordon Brown was frequently chided for the suggestion he made, while Chancellor, that the era of ‘boom and bust’ had come to an end under his stewardship. A similar, though less well known, comment…
It might appear to be a nice filler amongst the doom and gloom coronavirus coverage, but an article from BBC News headlined ‘Coronavirus: ‘I never thought I’d be so proud to sell bread and butter’’ left something of an unpleasant…
This piece is part of a series from Backbench’s editorial team on the coronavirus crisis. Views expressed are the opinions of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect Backbench as a whole, which is non-partisan in outlook. The editors will…
It is clear that in the near future the Coronavirus will be instrumental in generating real change. For the next few months, at least, we will have to keep distance between ourselves and our loved ones. We will also have…
Many of us don’t remember much from our history lessons at school. A long trawl through English monarchs one by one (but often in no particular order), interspersed with bursts of teaching on evacuees and rationing during World War Two…
It takes a lot to get the world into a mass panic, and yet that is what Covid-19, otherwise known as coronavirus has achieved. From people panic buying and emptying out supermarkets, to governments announcing the cancellation of large gatherings…
Our civilization has the potential to be a cornucopia of health, knowledge and freedom. Scientific and technological advances have significantly (to steal a phrase) ‘levelled up’ our wealth, safety from illness and ability to appreciate the world around us. Unfortunately,…