Episode description

Did former Health Secretary Matt Hancock think the best person to decide who should live and die during the pandemic was... Matt Hancock?

That was the accusation levelled by former NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens in the Covid inquiry. Luckily, the hypothetical situation never materialised but how happy do we feel about politicians playing god?

And… as the deputy cabinet secretary describes a Downing Street in which not a day went by without rules being breached, we ask whether it’s time for an amnesty on all those citizens still facing fines and trials?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus

Producer: Laura FitzPatrick

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Producers: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents".