The events of 5th-7th July 2022 were unprecedented, extraordinary, and frankly, farcical. The 36-hour coup, waged predominantly by those who owe their political livelihoods to Boris Johnson, showed the Conservative Party mercilessly plot and conspire against – and ultimately betray…
In early October, I stood in a Viennese bar and watched Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resign in the midst of a corruption scandal. His resignation speech was played proudly in a bar full of students, who were all revelling in…
This article is a response to our ‘Making History’ campaign for Black History Month. If you would also like to submit a piece for this, please get in touch at editor@bbench.co.uk. The history of Great Britain is like Great Britain…
The night of June 23rd 2016 is etched into most people’s mind as one of the biggest political moments in the United Kingdom’s history. Following the referendum, David Cameron resigned and he was replaced by Theresa May who also had…
A switch in the prime minister of the UK aimed to break the Brexit impasse that has dominated politics in this country for the past year. Out with a remainer Prime Minister, in with a Brexiteer. Theresa May struggled to…
Iain Duncan Smith once said that “cake exists to be eaten, and cherries exist to be picked”. This statement, as jocular as it was, was a stark approval of Theresa May’s third landmark speech on Brexit at Mansion House. In the speech, the Prime…
Earlier in March, Theresa May made another landmark speech on Brexit, the so-called Mansion House Speech. The significance of this intervention was that it conveyed, in some modest detail, the UK’s propositions for a future relationship with the EU after Brexit.…
As ever, the Brexit negotiations continue to be strenuous. Last week, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, warned that a transitional period for a smooth UK exit from the bloc was “not a given.” In his speech, Mr Barnier contended that…
When she came to power, Theresa May was seen as a balancing force between those who wanted to remain in the EU, and those who wished to leave as quickly as possible. Despite being on the Remain side herself during the…