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鈥淭hings will get worse before they get better.鈥� That was the gloomy warning given by Keir Starmer this week, in his first major speech since becoming prime minister.

Labour have previously blamed the Tories for the 鈥榚conomic black hole鈥� they say they鈥檝e found in the public finances since taking office. But what did Starmer mean when he referred to a 鈥榮ocietal black hole鈥� left by his predecessors? And if there are cracks in British society, how does the government fix them?

Amol and Nick are joined by Starmer鈥檚 former director of policy and expert on the working class Claire Ainsley 鈥� now a director at the left-leaning thinktank, the Progressive Policy Institute.

And Tom Walker - the comedian behind the fictitious political correspondent Jonathan Pie - is in the studio to give his moment of the week and reminisce on some of his favourite bloopers by news reporters.

If you have a question you鈥檇 like to Amol and Nick to answer, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of The Today Podcast land first on 大象传媒 Sounds. Get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme.

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of 大象传媒 Radio 4鈥檚 Today programme, the UK鈥檚 most influential radio news programme. Amol was the 大象传媒鈥檚 media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he鈥檚 also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the 大象传媒鈥檚 political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV鈥檚 political editor.

You can listen to the latest episode of The Today Podcast any time on your smart speaker by saying 鈥淪mart Speaker, ask 大象传媒 Sounds to play The Today Podcast.鈥�

The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producer is Hatty Nash, research and digital production from Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Mike Regaard.