Plan B Begins

So here it is... Merry Maskmas. As England's new Covid rules start to take effect, the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar, who first broke the news about last year’s Downing Street Christmas gatherings, brings us up to date on the controversy.Meanwhile, the BBC’s Ed Thomas tells Adam about the impact of the pandemic on poverty and mental health in Burnley, where he has been following communities in some of the town’s most deprived areas over the past year.And Brit Awards’ Rising Star winner, Holly Humberstone, talks about becoming famous during lockdown and why she supports mask-wearing at her gigs.Today’s Newscast was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Ben Cooper and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Emma Crowe. The assistant editor was Alison Gee.

Om Podcasten

The UK’s flagship daily news podcast from the BBC, Newscast dives into the day’s big stories so you’re never out of your depth. Newscast picks the brains of BBC News experts so you’re ready if someone picks yours, covering the latest developments in politics in Westminster and beyond, what the cost of living means for the money in your pocket and the impact of climate change. Can Rishi Sunak turn the Conservatives fortunes around? Will Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party win the next general election? Newscast will give you all the best insights from BBC News so you’re across all the day’s top stories. Newscast is hosted by trusted journalists including Adam Fleming, BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. Joined by special guests, including Lyse Doucet, Katya Adler, Marianna Spring, John Simpson and Victoria Derbyshire among others.In this election year, Newscast will track all the developments from Westminster - as well as following all the big developments around the world, from the race to the White House, to the war in Ukraine.Catch Newscast seven-days a week and watch on BBC One at 23:40 on Thursday night or later on BBC iPlayer GET IN TOUCH: You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Send us a message or voicenote via WhatsApp to 03301239480 Email Newscast@bbc.co.uk Or us #NewscastNewscast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Newscast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Americast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Newscast (and if you’re reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r Americast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07h19zz Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm