This week on the Pest and podcast, we knew it was too good to last.

A collective cross-party approach to defeating the crisis has descended into squabbling over whether there should be free school meals at Christmas, how much money should go to places like Manchester being forced into tier three restrictions over whether there should be a national circuit breaking lockdown. So is the

crisis going to get better or as many of us fear is it going to get worse?

As it gets the bottom of all of this, I'll be talking to the Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden,

to the boss of the controversial outsourcing firm Circo Rupert Soames

and to the head of the Crick Institute, the Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse.

Also on the programme is Rosanna Alan Khan of Labour and Andrea Jenkins, the Tory MP.

Andrew, I'm going to start with you. You've got a northern constituency. Boris Johnson won the election.

Very much on the back of winning, I mean, you won your constituency before, but winning lots of new seats in the north, promising to narrow the gap between north and south.

You must be very worried that he appears to be losing popularity in Northern England.

Look, the Prime Minister nearly died. He's committed to save as many people's lives as possible.

There's tough decisions been made by the governments across the globe, and it's about working together.

But five million pounds, people think, you know, it was ridiculous not to give Andy Byrne

the five million he was asking for.

I disagree, because if you look, it's proportionate.

Look of what Liverpool got.

Look of what Sheffield's been allocated, you know, just recently as well.

It's proportionate.

So, you know, a responsible government should give the, should, you know, make sure the funds proportionately spread.

But do you think your constituents agree with you on this?

Proportionately spread rather than to those who shout the loudest.

You know, there's got to be enough money to go around everybody.

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