The Plan to Make Democracy Impossible

Is the UK about to break up? The first ministers of Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland met today in Cardiff to sign a "memorandum of understanding" declaring each nation's desire to separate from both one another and England. This is just days after Donald Trump claimed over the weekend that a united Ireland would be “fantastic”, Not long after, new Prime Minister Andy Burnham had explicitly shut down prospects of a referendum on reunification. Could we be viewing the possibility of the UK breaking up? And, as ever when we’re talking about matters of devolution, can I manage to shoe a horn in a bit about Cornwall at the very end? Find out, on today's Slow News Day.The Slow NewsroomCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The UK government announced sanctions on Israel earlier this week in a move which was closely coordinated with allies in eleven other countries. On Monday, British foreign secretary Ed Miliband delivered a statement to Parliament in which he announced a significant change in the UK’s relationship with Israel. It is now the official position of the UK government that the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and that their government is supporting settler terrorists in their mission to remove Palestinians from their homes.What will the impact of these sanctions be? Why has it taken the UK government so long to act, and what will the reaction from Israel as well as the US be?The Slow NewsroomCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsImage Courtesy of Getty ImagesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The far right look to be on their way back to government in Germany. Sunday's election saw a thumping victory for Alternative for Deutschland, the country's populist far-right party which is led at the federal level by Alice Weidel. This represents the best result for a far-right party in Germany since the Second World War. All of which was supposed to be impossible. What does this mean for Germany? Is the country retreating back to fascism, and what does it mean for far-right parties elsewhere in Europe and across the world?The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Just Stop Oil are back! Perhaps the world’s most controversial activist group, JSO were rarely out of the headlines a couple of years ago. From their throwing of soup over a Van Gogh painting to the smashing of the glass around the Magna Carta (which we just so happened to be in the room for), Just Stop Oil were masters at attracting controversy. That is, until they hanged up their buckets of orange paint last year. However, yesterday they returned during Andy Burnham's first PMQs, supergluing their hands to the road outside Parliament. I've had a chat with Just Stop Oil spokesperson Gill Tavner to find out why they've come back on today's SND.The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The global right wants to stop you from voting. Right wingers in both the US and the UK are currently pushing forward with plans to heavily restrict the right to vote. Both claim they are trying to stamp out various forms of electoral fraud, despite independent experts saying there is little to no evidence of that fraud actually existing. So what exactly are their plans and will they succeed?Find out on Slow News Day.The SND TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are currently in the legal battle of their lives, as a jury trial which started this week sees them facing-off against a coalition of 29 US states. Those states are seeking $200 billion in damages from the company as well as to enforce changes in the way their social media products, specifically Facebook and Instagram, work to keep children engaged. This case could turn out to be incredibly consequential for how Meta's apps are and aren't allowed to work.The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nigel Farage won a stonking by-election victory last Thursday, beating 33 rival candidates of varying degrees of oddness to take back his seat as Member of Parliament for Clacton. On the surface, Farage's decision to resign his own MP seat in order to distract from accusations of financial misconduct by proving people love him regardless, appears to have paid off. But, has it really?The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Smart glasses are facing a backlash. Whilst the privacy-eroding spectacles had been on a good run, the sheer amount of weirdos using them to covertly film other people has resulted in the Meta Glasses receiving a nickname: "pervert glasses". Is there a chance that governments could ban them or regulate them out of existence or will Meta fight back?The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies published this weekend has revealed the worrying extent to which parliament’s many on-site bars and frequent booze-soaked events fuels a culture in which MPs are spending excessive amounts of time getting sloshed. What does it say about the culture among parliamentarians that the people who hold the highest offices in the land are frequently sinking a few cold ones before voting on laws which affect us all? Does an increasingly outdated drinking culture in parliament risk further alienating people from politics at a time when trust in government has never been lower?The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s democratic socialist mayor revealed more details about his plans for city-owned grocery stores earlier this week. The move is part of a plan to tackle rising food prices in New York; with those price rises having been felt across America and much of the rest of the world too. What’s really interesting to me, however, is the manner in which the particular project reflects a far bigger trend in both US and UK politics over recent years towards a politics of price. Can this project, and others like it, help fight against predatory pricing models? The Slow News Day TeamCreator and Host: Tom NicholasProducer: Jack CarterEditor: Georgia BurrowsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.