In this special episode of Slow News Day, you ask the questions and Tom answers! Last week, we asked you to message in on what topics you would like Tom to cover and we've got a selection of Tom's hottest takes on everything from voting reform to Doctor Who's cancellation.

If you would like to see another Q&A SND, please email your questions over to [email protected]

The Slow News Day Team

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Producer: Jack Carter

Editor: Georgia Burrows

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The presumed next Prime Minister of the UK, Andy Burnham, has said that he plans to move at least part of 10 Downing Street to the north of England. Not physically. The door and Larry the Cat are staying where they are. But, in a speech this Monday, he said he was looking at establishing an additional office for his Prime Ministerial activities in Manchester, where he had been mayor for nine years. The idea is to try to rebalance political power in the UK, drawing civil servants and politicians into different parts of the country other than London. Will it work? Can Andy Burnham actually do anything about London's political, financial and cultural dominance over the UK?

The Slow News Day Team

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Producer: Jack Carter

Editor: Georgia Burrows

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Can anyone stop Andy Burnham from becoming Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of the UK? No, is almost certainly the answer to that. And yet that’s not going to stop politicians on the right wing of the Labour Party (who aren’t super keen on Burnham) from trying. If there is to be a challenge to Andy Burnham taking over as Prime Minister, rather than him simply becoming leader of the Labour Party unopposed, it currently appears that there is one man left who can be that challenger. You’ve possibly never heard of him. (Or at least hadn’t until a couple of months ago). Most Labour MPs probably hadn’t heard of him until a couple of months either. In fact, among Labour Party members, he polls at just 2%. Let's talk about Al Carns.

The Slow News Day Team

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Producer: Jack Carter

Editor: Georgia Burrows

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keir Starmer has officially announced that he will be standing down as Prime Minister, and Leader of the Labour Party, leaving the door wide open for Andy Burnham to replace him. Having just found his way back to Parliament, as the winner of the Makerfield by-election, the “King in the North” is all but certainly our next Prime Minister.

But what does Andy Burnham actually believe? What kind of policies would be looking to implement should he enter 10 Downing Street? What is his thesis for what is wrong with Britain right now and how we might fix it? One of the challenges for Keir Starmer is that, while he was able to become Leader of the Labour Party and then Prime Minister, he didn’t particularly have a good answer to that question. Will Andy Burnham be any different?

On this episode of SND, we’re going to find out.

The Slow News Day Team

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keir Starmer’s future as Prime Minister will be decided today, in the most unusual of ways: a by-election in the North West of England. Usually, Prime Minister's fates are decided in General Elections, and by-elections are somewhat inconsequential, outside of the constituency. Makerfield, however, is different because Andy Burnham is standing for Labour. If he is elected to Parliament, he may just become the next Prime Minister. Will he win? Or Will Reform UK scupper his plans?

It's all happening today on SND.

Apologies for only one episode this week. Tom's been sick, but don't worry, he's feeling much better now!

The Slow News Day Team

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump will be celebrating his 80th birthday this Sunday, and he will be celebrating with style. If by style we mean gaudy excess. Donald Trump’s big birthday bash will consist of a specially-arranged, double title fight night of UFC matches being held on the South Lawn of the White House. The meeting of the American Presidency and the UFC might seem a little odd. So, today, I want to both take a look at the event itself, and recap the fairly long collaboration between Trump and America’s premier cagefighting franchise.

The Slow Newsroom

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins this week, and even before kick off, the tournament has been caught under a mountain of scandal. We can put the blame for the situation at the feet of just one man: FIFA president Gianni Infantino. He may have been the man elected to save FIFA after a wave of arrests and rampant corruption, but has he saved or doomed the beautiful game?

The Slow Newsroom

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

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Elon Musk’s SpaceX is due to go public next week. In effect, this means it will go from being a privately-held company owned by Musk and a number of friends and colleagues to being a publicly-tradable company which you, yes you, can buy stocks in too. There’s a real risk that SpaceX might be massively, massively over valued, meaning retail investors (and retirement funds) might end up being forced to buy a stock which rapidly loses value.

The Slow Newsroom

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

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Hasan Piker, the American Twitch streamer has been banned from entering the UK, along with The Young Turks host (and Piker’s uncle) Cenk Uygur. I’ve seen a few attempts to explain what’s going on here online, often by Americans and so I wanted to try and provide an explainer grounded a bit more in UK politics and law. So here we go.

The Slow Newsroom

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

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Elon Musk might be in the process of sabotaging the British far-right and inadvertently handing the Labour Party a massive win. Better still, I don’t think he knows he’s doing it or particularly cares. All of this relates to the by-election which is currently taking place in the constituency of Makerfield, where Andy Burnham’s biggest challenge to winning that seat should be Nigel Farage’s Reform party. But Elon Musk might be about to shoot that threat down with a good, old-fashioned bit of vote-splitting.

The Slow Newsroom

Creator and Host: Tom Nicholas

Editor: Georgia Burrows

Producer: Jack Carter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.