The News Agents

Dr Anthony Fauci became a world-renowned figure during Covid - one of America's top virologists with a lifetime of public service to his name. And yet, in a Senate committee yesterday, he was condemned in the strongest terms by several Republicans, and had to plead the fifth amendment 100 times.
He accused the senior GOP Senator Rand Paul (who chairs the committee) of having an "obsession" with him. Ted Cruz has said that his silence should lead to a contempt of Congress charge and potential jail time. How on earth has he became such an enemy of the American Right? And what does it say about the long legacy of Covid on our politics?
Later, Baroness Casey speaks to Lewis about the social care review and what it's like working for Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham.
The News Agents is a Global Production.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Andy Burnham has set out plans to fix England’s struggling social care system - promising a new National Care Service, cross-party talks and a review designed to tackle a system he says is no longer working. But how quickly can reform happen, and who will pay for it?
In this episode, we unpack the announcement, and ask whether the new PM can finally deliver meaningful change.
Later, we're joined by Sky News' economics and data editor and of host of the 'Stuff Matters' podcast - Ed Conway - to analyse the economic challenges ahead for Burnham.
The News Agents is a Global Production.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Reform UK has referred Green party leader Zack Polanski to the police for "inciting murder" after a post he shared on social media.
The image, shared and then deleted on Instagram, showed a man wearing a tee shirt with the words “we’re only making plans for Nigel” next to a picture of a guillotine.
Farage has said: "“If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski”. The police are now "conducting inquiries".
The Greens say that Polanski “condemns the image on the tee shirt” and that he had only ever accepted being tagged in a post that contained 20 images “without realising there was more to it than he had seen”.
Has Polanski crossed a line? Is he too online? And why are Reform quick to defend people like Lucy Connolly but now calling for the arrest of a rival party leader?
Later, Andy Burnham unveils plans for vocational education to be offered from the age of fourteen, with bespoke training tapping into the local jobs market. It's a far cry from the Blair-era push to get as many young people into university as possible. Does it make sense given the shifting jobs market? Or does he risk denigrating universities and one of the few success stories of modern Britain?
The News Agents is a Global Production.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

It's hard to think of a political alliance as tightly bonded as Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram. Both northern MPs who vacated Westminster to lead their respective City regions, they have even co-authored a book - 'Head North' - which lays out their roadmap to fix Britain. Many of the words, ideas and policies Burnham has unveiled in his first week in office are all laid out in that book. It's a manifesto for fundamentally rewiring Britain, for bringing a new set of values into politics, and for bringing development and opportunity to neglected northern towns and cities.
They are self-described "bezzie mates", even "brothers". So who better to speak to than Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, to get under the new Prime Minister's skin, and work out what happens now.
The News Agents is a Global Production.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

There's been a flurry of policy announcements in Andy Burnham's first week as PM - but there is something more significant in the words he has been using to describe his mission. He's talked about reversing forty years of neoliberalism, about re-industrialising Britain, ending trickle down economics - fundamentally reshaping the British State and its driving purpose.
He promised, on the steps of Downing Street, to be a "circuit breaker", delivering the biggest change to the country since Thatcher. It's big talk - and the stakes are high. But how can he put that into action? How can he demonstrate this new form of politics? What even is the neoliberalism he is trying to wind back anyway?
Neal Lawson has been an influential Labour thinker, advisor, and campaigner for decades. He knows Burnham well - he is one of the driving forces behind 'Manchesterism' - and heads the left wing ideas factory Compass. He came into the News Agents studio to discuss just the Herculean task facing Andy Burnham - and what Britain might look like if he succeeds.
The News Agents is a Global Production.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/