• News South Africa takes Israel to Court for Genocide
      On December 29th 2023, South Africa (SA) presented their case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, in the Netherlands. The initial hearings only took place last week, on the 11th and 12th of January. South African lawyers argued that Israeli forces had killed over 23,000 Palestinians. 70% of […]
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  • History The History Behind Israel and Palestine’s Conflict
    In light of the recent, ongoing Hamas-Israel war, which began on October 7th, I am writing this article to educate myself and others on the horrifying situation that is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. The war started with an attack from Hamas, an extremist militant group, which killed over 1,200 people (mostly civilians) and took […]
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  • Editorials Mastering Politics: The Power of the Prime Minister
    Understanding politics isn’t easy – let alone trying to understand the role of the most important person in Britain: the Prime Minister. This week’s Mastering Politics is all about the power of the prime minister and how much of it they really have. What is the role of the prime minister? The prime minister’s (PM) […]
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  • Music Top Five Feminist Songs
    Feminism is a key feature in modern-day society. the google definition is, ‘the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.’ There are many different ways to express this. One way is through music. Here we analyse one writer’s most prolific feminist songs. Mans World – MARINA ‘Man’s World’ represents […]
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  • Books Book Review: Animal Farm
    Animal Farm is a book, which, many would think is about animals on a farm, however, the message is far more advanced. The short answer is that it is about the dangers of communism. Animal Farm is aimed at 13+ but can be read by any age. The farm is run by Farmer Jones, but […]
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  • Politics Why migration is an economic necessity
    Picture this; You have made the perilous journey of thousands of miles across several countries, avoiding a war, death and trafficking, only to be turned back by what you thought was a safe haven. Rishi Sunak’s plan for migrants trying to cross the channel is a complete and utter disaster, not to mention violating several […]
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  • Politics Revisiting Mastering Politics: What’s an MP?
    For a lot of people, politics is a very confusing topic. There are so many words to remember, so many parties and government positions and it’s not easy to know what it all means. But there is no shame in not knowing. After all, it’s not like the news explains the definition of all of […]
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  • Editorials The Assassination of Harvey Milk
    Harvey Milk was elected as an official for California in 1978. He was the first openly gay man to achieve this and, as a result, Milk encouraged people to come out and be proud of their sexuality. He was a pioneer for equal rights, but was assassinated in the same year he was elected. And […]
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  • Editorials Five Women in History Robbed of Their Legacy
    History textbooks are full of men, completely ignoring the courageous actions of countless women. Here, we have managed to whittle down this seemingly never-ending list of forgotten women to just five who have been robbed of a legacy. 1.  Mary Seacole Mary Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse who did outstanding work during the Crimean War. […]
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  • British How Winston Churchill Failed in India – Explained
    Winston Churchill had two terms as British Prime Minister between 1940 and 1945, and between 1951 and 1955. He is known for leading the Allies to victory during the Second World War and encouraging speeches which inspired public during wartime. But should he be remembered for anything else? Churchill had a very controversial relationship with […]
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  • Politics Mastering Politics: Ukraine and Russia
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared war on the eastern European country of Ukraine. Here is everything you need to know about the situation so far. Why Ukraine? Putin has referred to Ukraine as “ancient Russian lands”. He also says the invasion is about the “de-Nazification” of the country, accusing it of committing genocide against […]
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  • Politics The risk asylum seekers take
    After the heartbreaking news that 27 people were killed following a failed crossing of the Channel, asylum seekers coming in boats are fresh our minds. But what can be done to prevent such devastating events from happening again? It’s hard not to immediately reflect on recent comments from Home Secretary Priti Patel who said she […]
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  • Politics The Conservative Party’s Sleaze Problem
    Another week, another government scandal. Only the Conservative Party may not be able to sweep this one under the rug. MP Owen Paterson was found guilty two years ago to have broken lobbying rules, having been paid at least £500,000 from two companies to lobby his fellow MPs on their behalf. So, how did the […]
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  • Politics Why COP26 politicians are not the right leaders
    COP26 is underway now, and as a Glasgow resident, I can see firsthand the impact this conference is having on the city. Police squads roam frequently, many famous buildings have protective measures being put around them, and transport is completely compromised. Clearly, this is an event that brings unprecedented attention to the city. Many of […]
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  • Politics TV is the new Tory battleground
    The Secretary of State for Media and Data John Whittingdale has thrown out another dog whistle in the Conservative Party’s culture war. He is helping draw up plans which will see the UK’s public service broadcasters have a legal requirement to produce “distinctively British” programmes. Mr Whittingdale admitted that Britishness is a “difficult concept to […]
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  • Editorials How the Cold War Changed Everything
    The Cold War was one of the most significant events of modern history. Although both World Wars were vastly more terrible and on a much larger scale, the Cold War shaped society in a way that keeps the entire planet in a status quo we still see today. It is the decades-long saga of two […]
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  • Politics Scotland and the Fight for Independence
    In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is continuing her push for an independence referendum. This has come after the Green Party and the SNP have solidified their partnership, meaning the Scottish Parliament has a strong independence majority. The First Minister has set out a plan and timeline for the vote, as well as many good […]
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  • Politics Free school meals rise
    Statistics show that one in five children are now eligible for free school meals in the UK, impacted by the pandemic.  Since 2010, food poverty has increased drastically. Brutal Tory cuts have contributed to the rise, evidencing systemic disadvantage for poorer and vulnerable families. Now, over 1.74 million children are in need. During the pandemic, […]
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  • Editorials The Windrush generation deserves better
    The government are planning to create a commemorative coin for the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Windrush. According to minutes from a government meeting, the coin is to be designed by a Caribbean artist and issued in 2023 as part of multiple events planned for the anniversary. This is obviously a performative […]
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  • Politics Afghanistan is our responsibility
    Post-9/11 we all know the story. The Western world was at a heightened sense of insecurity, anger, paranoia – the lot. We ended up invading Iraq with America – and we also all know how that ended. Tony Blair, Prime Minister at the time, can not do anything now without being labelled – rightly or […]
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  • Politics Keir Starmer is unfit to lead
    Keir Starmer assumed office as Leader of the Opposition on 4 April 2020, after a tight leadership contested by Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey. This is one of the most crucial leadership contests in British political history, considering Labour’s defeat in the 2019 General Election and the general distrust in the previous Party leader, Jeremy […]
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  • Politics The government’s office for culture war
    The UK Ministry of Culture really sounds like something straight out of The Thick of It. For those not in the loop, the show is set around the running of a fictional government department. It’s the worst department of the lot, and something similar to the reputation of the real-world Culture Ministry. Except in the real […]
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  • Politics Vaccines shouldn’t be required for students
    Earlier this week, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that the government would give “advance notice” if it was decided that having a complete Covid-19 vaccine would be mandatory for students to attend lectures or live in halls of residence. The UCU, who had previously written a letter asking the government to make students a priority […]
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  • Education Teaching Latin creates more class division
    Many have been in uproar at the announcement that the government will be prioritising funding for Latin teaching in state schools in a bid to reduce elitism.  Boris Johnson, an Eton-educated and Oxford Classics graduate, might think this as a great way of ensuring social mobility, but unfortunately for him, this move almost worsens the […]
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  • Editorials Unemployment devastation hitting young men
    A recent study has found that 40% of unemployed Brits suffer from depression, which is double the amount for the unemployed. As a consequence of unemployment, mental health has suffered. The once thriving industrial towns have been ravaged of their workforce as society moves away from manual labour. Now, mainly men under 45 are left […]
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  • Politics Boris Johnson’s Parliament poverty lie
    Boris Johnson told Parliament recently that “fewer households are living in poverty compared to ten years ago”. This is a drastically incorrect statement given the reality that poverty has actually risen in the past ten years. This isn’t the first time that Johnson has been used misleading statistics in political debates, and considering his government’s […]
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  • News Deprived school funding has moved to wealthy areas
    A National Audit Office report has found that school funding for the most disadvantaged areas of England has fallen, while funding for the most affluent areas has increased. The report found that the average per pupil funding in the most deprived fifth of schools fell by 1.2% between 2017-18 and 2020-21. In contrast, this funding […]
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  • Politics Home Office spent £370,000 to settle Priti Patel bullying allegation
    The Home Office’s annual report and accounts for the year 2020 to 2021 confirm that the department spent over £370,000 to settle a top civil servant’s claim against Home Secretary Priti Patel. Sir Philip Rutman served as permanent secretary before quitting in February last year, citing Ms Patel’s behaviour as the reason behind his exit. […]
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  • Politics The Disunited Kingdom? A Scottish referendum could change all
    Last week, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family were deployed on a tour of Scotland, dubbed ‘Holyrood Week’. She and the Duke of Cambridge visited an Iron Bru factory and later in the week, the Queen went to a car factory with Princess Anne. Whilst this seems like the usual fluff that […]
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  • News Mastering Politics: Myanmar coup continues
    Ever since elected leader Aun Sang Suu Kyi was overthrown by the Myanmar military junta in February, protests have swarmed streets and state-sanctioned violence has been amplified in cities. But on Wednesday, Myanmar freed over 2,000 of its detainees held since the beginning of the coup. Of those released were journalists and others who the […]
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  • News Priti Patel to send asylum seekers abroad for processing
    Home Secretary Priti Patel is to introduce laws next week that will allow the government to send asylum seekers abroad for processing. An asylum seeker is an individual who has been forced to leave their home country but their application to live in another country has not yet been concluded. People often seek asylum due […]
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  • Editorials Covid shows governments care most about profit
    As we draw towards what we hope will be the end of the Coronavirus pandemic, it is important to reflect upon the relationship economy and profit has had with public health over the past fifteen months. Most importantly, what does it what tells us about that same relationship in normal times? Across the world, governments […]
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  • News Boris Johnson to strip Electoral Commission of powers as he is investigated
    Just weeks after the Electoral Commision launched an investigation into Boris Johnson and the Downing Street flat refurbishment, he is planning to strip the body of its power to prosecute breaches of law. In May, the Prime Minister found himself at the heart of controversy as details of his expensive flat refurbishment were found to […]
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  • Editorials Mastering Politics: China’s Uighur genocide
    In the news for the past few months have been stories about an ongoing genocide in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Most of the population living in the north-western region are Uighur Muslims and they are currently the victims of horrific government-sanctioned abuse. Please note: this article features mentions of rape and torture. Who are […]
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  • Politics Trapped in lockdown with yet another delay
    Since March 2020, the UK has found itself trapped in what seems like a never-ending lockdown. With the recently emerging news that lockdown will be further delayed until the 19 July there have been many questions raised about whether it is necessary to continue the delays. Despite the disappointment surrounding the news, is there solid […]
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  • News 26 of 30 towns awarded government funding have Tory MPs
    The government’s Towns Fund is no stranger to controversy – but the revelation that 26 of the 30 towns awarded the shared £725 million budget have Conservative MPs adds fuel to the fire. In March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak was forced to deny favouritism after the previous list of 45 towns receiving a chunk of the […]
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  • Editorials Will the reversal of China’s two-child policy be enough?
    Recently, China has announced they will be ending their controversial two-child policy, allowing Chinese couples to now have up to three children. In the announcement, the CCP stated that the new regulations would “improve China’s population structure” – but will this be the case, or has Chinese society adapted to the one-and-two-child policies? The one-child […]
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  • Politics Mastering Politics: Israeli air strikes
    Mastering Politics is back with an explanation of the Israeli air strikes currently happening in Gaza City. As a little disclaimer, we know that this issue is far more complex than just what’s happening today. A more in-depth look at the Israel-Palestine conflict will be coming to Beep in the next few weeks. What’s happened? […]
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  • Politics Local elections 2021: What’s happening to the Red Wall?
    Last night was quite an eventful one for the Labour Party in England at the local elections. By eventful, I mean terrible for their so-called Red Wall. Keir Starmer’s Labour was “under new leadership”, he promised, and it was going to be all about winning back voters who’d turned Tory for the first time at […]
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  • Politics £96bn given to non-NHS healthcare providers in a decade
    In the past ten years, more than £96 billion worth of health service funding has gone to non-NHS care providers. These include private firms such as Virgin Care – owned by billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group – and for-profit healthcare providers. For the sake of clarity, the NHS is a not-for-profit service. It is not […]
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  • Politics ‘Let the bodies pile high in their thousands’ – Boris Johnson?
    Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reported to have said he would rather “let the bodies pile high in their thousands” than order a third lockdown during a heated exchange with his No 10 advisors. The Daily Mail led its front page today with the exclusive, which is said to have come directly from those who […]
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  • Politics Funding for disadvantaged North East students cut by £7m
    Schools in the North East are set to lose between five and seven million pounds worth of funding after the government changed an administrative rule about how money is allocated, according to figures from Schools North East. The money would have been spent on helping pupils from lower-income families who qualify for the government’s Pupil […]
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  • Politics Mastering Politics: David Cameron and Greensill scandal
    You might have heard a lot about David Cameron in the news recently but not quite know the details of why, and what has happened. Worry not – that’s why Mastering Politics is here today. Let’s get into it. What has David Cameron done? Greensill Capital, a now insolvent financial services company, is at the […]
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  • News Labour opposes vaccine passports
    Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said that vaccine passports are essentially “a digital ID card” and that Labour cannot support them in their current form. Boris Johnson announced yesterday that vaccine passports – or ‘Covid status certificates’ – will be trialled this month at upcoming events, including the FA Cup final and a range […]
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  • Editorials National Day of Reflection: An Avoidable Disaster
    Today marks one year since Prime Minister Boris Johnson took the decision to put the UK into its first lockdown. Since then, we’ve had a tiered system, a summer free-for-all which likely contributed to the increase in cases throughout August and September, and another full-force lockdown. But as we pause today to remember the almost […]
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  • Politics Mastering Politics: The Police Bill
    This week the government’s new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was passed in Parliament. It’s referred to sometimes as just the ‘Police Bill’, and has caused some controversy around the country due to its impact on the right to protest. Currently, the bill is delayed until later in the year, but it has not […]
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  • Editorials Could the school day be changing?
    Earlier this month, Gavin Williamson called for a “transformative” reform to the school’s system following the pandemic. What this can be assumed to mean is lengthening the school day and altering holidays to make room for catch up lessons and the missed hours of in-person teaching that has come as a result of the pandemic. […]
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  • Editorials ‘If I were PM, I’d fire all men’ – does Amber Rudd have a point?
    Former Conservative MP Amber Rudd has recently stated in an interview with ITV’s Acting Prime Minister Podcast that she would “fire all men” if she was Prime Minister, and instead put in place an all-female Cabinet. This recent comment is part of a plethora of comments Rudd has made regarding the blatant inequality of the […]
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