The Trades Union Congress Conference in Brighton in October was my first ever political conference, and not a bad start for a socialist. The conference was energetic, ironically, fueled by the cost-of-living crisis and a realization that unions were once…
No human is perfect. Each of us has habits, attributes and ways of behaving that provide us with limited, if any, benefit. Rather, our indulgences, potentially as an escape from tricky lives, could be an immense detriment to personal, social,…
Last month, the government voted in favour of increasing national insurance contributions by 1.25 percentage points. This led to the breaking of their manifesto commitment in 2019 of not increasing national insurance. The main criticism of this decision is that…
Over recent months I have been working a new paper for Centre Think Tank, ‘A second pandemic’, which focuses on dealing with the growing mental health crisis after the pandemic. This crisis has happened not only due to the pandemic…
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…
The government has recently pledged to increase some NHS staff’s wages by 3%. The decision took place after facing widespread criticism earlier in the year for pursuing a pitiful pay rise of 1%. The government hoped that the new proposal…
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…
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…
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…