For as long as people have talked, conspiracy theories have run riot. And while sometimes they’re nothing more than the result of festering boredom or curiosity turned conjecture, they can be extremely dangerous, especially during times of uncertainty. A conspiracy theory can be defined as…
On Sunday 14 March, British-Iranian dual citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was back in an Iranian court facing more charges. This time relating to a protest long ago outside the Iranian embassy and an interview with BBC Persia. Legally, the judge had to give his verdict by…
Like most outspoken public intellectuals on the right, Jordan Peterson uses gibberish and verbosity to disguise the fact that he has nothing particularly insightful to say. If you found 12 Rules For Life enlightening, as apparently many did, you may be tempted to read Beyond Order: 12 More Rules…
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 of a seemingly renewed gratitude…
The past month has seen a flurry of successive outrage campaigns from political figures on the right over what has been described by sitting Senators and even a US President as ‘cancel culture’. Prominent examples include Gina Carano’s firing from Disney in February for posting…
Ensuring energy sustainability in the long term is one issue among many that has been utterly obscured by the combination of COVID and Brexit. Time that could have gone into a debate over how Britain should be powered has instead been spent dealing with a…
I have spent the last few days feeling deeply unsettled. Like many people, I can’t stop thinking about what happened to Sarah Everard. My feelings are a mix of sadness, anger, fear and frustration. Ending violence against women is something about which I am passionate,…
A High Court judge has granted a possession order to evict anti-HS2 campaigners from the Euston tunnel, after a month-long protest against the high-speed rail network and its destruction of woodland. News of the ruling comes as the fifth of nine campaigners leaves the tunnel,…
The Labour Party never does itself any favours, does it? With the government in disarray, Labour had a real chance to put a credible plan forward as an alternative ahead of this May’s local elections. Instead, the party has imploded, and many socialists are now…
Those who hate Piers Morgan miss the point. He exists in the media space as a figure to be hated, or, for those who ‘love’ him, to direct their hate against groups who allegedly threaten his disproportionately older, socially conservative audience. And is it really…
The gut-wrenching, heart-breaking news came on Wednesday night that human remains were discovered in Kent where police have been searching for thirty-three-year-old Sarah Everard after she disappeared a week ago while walking home from a friend’s house in Clapham, London. The idea of a woman going missing…
There was always something slightly off about seeing images of Boris Johnson and the rest of the Cabinet clap for careers during the first wave of the pandemic. For me, it seemed superficial, as it could never make up for the lack of PPE, and…
Before I begin, allow me to make one thing absolutely clear. Unlike Piers Morgan, I believe Meghan Markle. I truly believe that social isolation and a culture of racism made her feel that her life was not worth living. And I also believe that the…
Chancellor Rishi Sunak released the fiscal budget for the next year last week, and whilst the funding is scarce for the country, the Tories still seem to be protecting their fellow members of the patriarchal elite. It almost seems predictable by now after the last…
This piece is part of a series exploring 2021’s International Women’s Day theme #ChooseToChallenge. Pieces from Backbench’s editors represent their personal views and not those of Backbench itself. If you would like to get in touch regarding the series or add a contribution, please email editor@bbench.co.uk.…
This piece is part of a series exploring 2021’s International Women’s Day theme #ChooseToChallenge. Pieces from Backbench’s editors represent their personal views and not those of Backbench itself. If you would like to get in touch regarding the series or add a contribution, please email…
The pandemic has forced society to take stock of its relationship with technology and to see how the technological tools available to us can be used to further enhance the human experience. One technological tool has stood out during this process -AI. With its almost…
Growing up, the idea of corruption conjured images of soviet party officials and generals enjoying lavish luxuries with the protection of state-owned media and secret police. But with the contracts scandal currently exploding, it is time for the current generation to realise that we live…
The Labour Party leadership has had something of an embarrassing time in the last month. With opinion polls slowly showing better performance since Keir Starmer became leader, Labour’s statistical fortunes are now faltering again and the party’s recent patriotic turn has been revealed to be…
When summer returns to Britain this year, there is concerted hope that a return to normality will bring with it a period of reconciliation and progress, no matter how abstract it may seem now. Yet, hidden among the toppled rubble of a turbulent pandemic will…