British history – Page 2 – Manchester Historian

In 1990, the inmates of Strangeways prison began the longest riot in British penal history. Once revered as a “last bastion of discipline,” the prison stood as the largest penitentiary in England, holding around 900 men at full capacity. By 1990, a peak of over 1,600 prisoners had been confined within its walls, becoming a ‘human warehouse’ with a dangerous guard-to-prisoner ratio. It was the perfect environment for revolt to fester, with cries for justice from disenfranchised men being inevitably ignored. Inmates began to talk of revolt, one specifically, Paul Taylor, who became the ring-leader of such discussions. Taylor was confined in an attempt to silence his protest but paradoxically, it was there he met Alan Lord, the second ring-leader of the riot, and the two began to plan their systemic overthrow.

An Imperialist Aggressor or The Truly Great Britain? As the populist left and right separated, conversations about Britain’s history of international involvement became dangerously simplistic. Amidst the ongoing culture wars, fuelled by both political division over Brexit and the populist candidates at the last general election, British people have found themselves increasingly segregated by their political opinions, creating a population that no longer exchanges ideas.