On 1 November 2015, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stood side by side with Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa as they dug the first hole of a new British naval base at Mina Salman Port. It felt like a watershed moment for many Bahrainis who, having spent half a decade struggling for democratic rule, now watched the British government ignore their plight while supporting democracy elsewhere.
Bahrain joined the ‘Arab Spring’ over five years ago, with thousands of people from all factions taking to the streets to demand democratic reform and respect for human rights. The state response was as brutal as it was swift, with mass arrests, torture, shooting at unarmed protesters and more.
