• 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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  • Education Student left voicemail on Education Secretary’s mobile about exams
    If you cast your mind back to last summer, you will remember weeks of fury from students, their teachers and parents about the exams fiasco. Well, it turns out that one student used some pretty forward-thinking initiative, found Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s phone number on Google, and left him a voicemail. Writing in the Mail […]
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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 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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  • Editorials Our Top Stories of 2020
    Beep has been here all through this year in one form or another. We’ve even re-launched a YouTube channel. But, of course, our love of the written word prevails and we have collated our top stories of 2020. Believe it or not, they aren’t all about C*VID-19. So, without further ado, here are Beep’s top […]
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  • Editorials Beware of the Tories – they are lying to you
    The headline of this piece may come as absolutely no surprise to you. Yes, the Tories are lying. Again. To you. Except, the problem is that, this time, they are lying to you during an election campaign where things like lies really do matter. The first strike was during the ITV debate between Prime Minister […]
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  • News Tory candidate: Benefits Street stars should be ‘put down’
    It’s not every day you catch a prospective MP candidate who said that the people starring in Channel 4 TV show Benefits Street should be “put down”. Yet Conservative candidate Francesca O’Brien said this in 2014 on Facebook, it was revealed. O’Brien, who is running to be MP for Gower in South Wales, was selected […]
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  • Editorials Tory MP Describes Blackface as a ‘Bit of Fun’
    A senior Tory has called blackface “an entirely acceptable bit of fun” in a blog post on his official website. Titled ‘Trudeau’s Turban’, the blog post argued that Canadian PM Justin Trudeau should have “refused to apologise” following the public backlash regarding his blackface photos. Sir Swayne, who was knighted by David Cameron in 2016, […]
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  • Editorials Mastering Politics: Capitalism
    Understanding politics isn’t easy – and that’s why we have our own ‘politics put simply’ column, Mastering Politics. This time, we’re explaining the meaning of capitalism. What is capitalism? Capitalism is, first and foremost, an ideology. This means that it’s a system of ideas and beliefs about the economy and social aspects of running a […]
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  • Politics Review: Johnson v Hunt Debate
    In the one and only Conservative leadership race debate on ITV, hopefuls Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt went head to head on issues from Brexit to the NHS to what it means to be the British prime minister. If you missed the debate, or just couldn’t understand anything other than Boris Johnson talking over everyone, […]
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  • British Why we’ll never agree on Brexit
    Brexit. Brexit. Brexit. In case you haven’t noticed (don’t worry – I know you have), it’s all we talk about nowadays. And, if you want to know the grim truth, here it is: we’re never going to agree on Brexit. Never. Never. Going. To. Agree. If you’re asking why, I’ll forgive you. The way politicians […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    Mamma Mia, here we go again Theresa May danced onto the stage to give her speech at the Conservative Party Conference. She came out wriggling to ABBA’s Dancing Queen and even warmed up the crowd with a few jokes. In reference to her embarrassing speech last year, she quipped that if she coughed, it would be because […]
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  • Editorials Theresa May’s best/worst moments
    UK Prime Minister Theresa May has had some, er, memorable moments during her tenure at the top of British politics. And as the Conservative Party Conference approaches, we thought it was an appropriate time to have a look through the PM’s best/worst moments in office. 1. Her shoulder laugh While in the House of Commons […]
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  • Editorials Could Boris Johnson be prime minister?
    Boris Johnson has been making headlines for many years now. At first, though, the headlines were all jokes. There was his wild helmet hair. Then there was that time he got stuck on a zip wire. And that time he managed to rugby tackle a kid to the ground. But recently, the headlines about Boris […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    Entering the single market So Boris Johnson’s getting a divorce. He and his wife are separating after 25 years. While she can no longer live in his house, he does expect her to cook, clean and allow low tariff imports for no benefit. Drawing comparisons with Johnson’s own separation and Brexit is obviously fun but not […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    Berk: A row Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (better known as Boris) caused a stir this week when he compared women wearing the burqa to ‘letterbox[es]’. Proving, once again, that no one in this country knows what a burqa is. A burqa has a full face covering. What Boris is referring to is a niqab. […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    *Editors note* Because Kieran is still in hiding from all the Welsh people he upset last week, he was unable to complete this week’s column. Luckily though, as he was bolting out the door holding facepaint and water-reeds, he managed to book a few guest writers. We think you’ll recognise a few big names here but […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    National Wealth service Prince William has praised the ‘wonderful’ NHS staff in a video message to be played at an awards ceremony. The ceremony coincides with the anniversary of the formation of the NHS. The service turns 70 this year and like many 70-year-olds, it’s crumbling under its own weight, struggling to function and neglected […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    Gnome country for old men Scottish police have appealed to the public after someone stole 37 garden gnomes from a front garden in Angus. Against all odds, this doesn’t even appear to be guerrilla marketing for that Sherlock Gnomes movie that’s, for some reason, coming out. Police describe the kidnapped collectables as the ‘usual gardening […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    After the brake A car has smashed into a Worcester home where a family was watching TV. Personally, I think Ant is taking the interactive element of Saturday Night Takeaway a bit too far. Robert Beattie said it was ‘a miracle’ that he and his family were still alive but added that it would make […]
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  • News A week in mild amusement
    Leaving the EQueue Border check queues at ports may triple in size after Brexit. Apparently, lorries could form a traffic jam up to 29 miles long due to more stringent checks required. The Treasury said it was seeking ‘as frictionless trade as possible’ with the EU post-Brexit. ‘Frictionless’, in this case referring to the friction […]
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