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Today: Ex-detainees allege abuse at Bagram A BBC investigation has revealed allegations of abuse at a US-run military base in Afghanistan. Correspondent Ian Pannell reports on former inmates' allegations of beatings, sleep deprivation and being hung from the ceiling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Can family courts be reported? Why has there been so little reporting of the Family Courts since they have been opened to the press? Reporter Sanchia Berg spends a fortnight in different Family Courts following various cases. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'Three Tories' voted for new Speaker Conservative MP John Bercow is to begin work in his new role after being elected as Speaker of the House of Commons. Political editor Nick Robinson considers whether some MPs are already plotting a challenge to unseat him after the next election. Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, Vernon Bogdanor professor of government at Oxford University, and Alan Duncan, shadow leader of the House, discuss whether Mr Bercow will be a successful Speaker. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Rehearsing the end of the world The government War Book, in use during the Cold War, set out in great detail exactly what was to happen in the countdown to nuclear war, and is now to be released in full to the public. Reporter Sanchia Berg examines the procedure if nuclear war had became inevitable. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0737 Swifts Demolition works and repairs to properties are affecting the swift population, conservationists say. Gemma Rogers, of the RSPB, says swifts now figure on the charity's list of "at risk" birds. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 The Speaker As MPs prepare to vote in a new House of Commons Speaker, the former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett remains bookmakers' favourite to win the post. But at least one Labour MP has accused the government of trying to install her into the prestigious position. Nick Robinson and Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman discuss the rumours that government whips are "touting" Ms Beckett. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Unity 'vital' for Pakistan's survival In Karachi, John Humphrys considers the fractured nature of Pakistan, and why it is vital that the Taliban militants are defeated. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: English 'a language without rules' Is the "i before e except after c" rule worth teaching? Jack Bovill, chairman of the Spelling Society, and English lecturer Bethan Marshall, of King's College, London, discuss new guidance for primary schools suggesting there are simply too few words that follow this rule. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Karachi 'becoming uncontrollable' How can the government of Pakistan deal with extremists living within the country? John Humphrys reports on whether internal problems facing leaders are affecting the fight against terrorism. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Probation 'told to under-spend' BBC News has seen an official letter which appears to cast doubt on claims by Justice Secretary Jack Straw that probation failings in the Dano Sonnex case were due to staff mismanaging their resources. Mr Straw and Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO), consider new evidence which suggests probation services were actively encouraged to under-spend. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 The Man Who Never Was The Man Who Never Was, one of the classic World War II films, is being retold in a play called Mincemeat by a theatre company of homeless people. Journalist Roger Morgan and director Adrian Jackson discuss the story of a British attempt to mislead the Germans about the invasion of Sicily by dropping a corpse dressed in military uniform into the Mediterranean with fake plans tied to his wrist. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Expenses Expenses claims of every MP over the last four years have been published online. Correspondent Norman Smith and Environment Secretary Hilary Benn discuss if this will be the end of the row. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Iran Mass protests are continuing in Iran over the nation's disputed election. Matthew Richardson, of Press TV, and expert Dr Reza Molavi discuss effects of protests on the system of Islamic rule. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Darling: Boardroom 'first line of defence' Alistair Darling says banks must be relied upon to understand risk Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Iranian deaths 'to be deplored' How will Britain respond to the elections in Iran? Foreign affairs editor John Simpson details the aftermath of recent protests. Foreign Secretary David Miliband gives his reaction to the post-election violence. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Labour peers 'under investigation' Two Labour peers are under investigation for allegedly abusing the current allowances system, the Today programme has learned. Reporter Andrew Hosken examines whether the rules need to be overhauled and how the House of Lords managed, in the main, to keep out of the spotlight during the expenses row. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Veterans of Tobruk siege reunited The siege of Tobruk lasted for most of 1941, a defence of the Libyan port by British and Australian troops that frustrated Rommel - the German 'desert fox' - and his Afrika Korps and turned the tide of the war in North Africa. John Rigg, who was with the British forces in Tobruk, Rudolf Schneider, who was a member of Rommel's personal battle squadron, and historian Robert Lyman discuss the battle, that is still well known in Australia but virtually forgotten in the UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'New horizon' for Israeli negotiations The siege of Tobruk lasted for most of 1941, a defence of the Libyan port by British and Australian troops that frustrated Rommel - the German 'desert fox' - and his Afrika Korps and turned the tide of the war in North Africa. John Rigg, who was with the British forces in Tobruk, Rudolf Schneider, who was a member of Rommel's personal battle squadron, and historian Robert Lyman discuss the battle, that is still well known in Australia but virtually forgotten in the UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'Ridiculous' election results in Iran Iran's electoral commission says votes counted so far in the presidential poll show that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won. Correspondent Jon Leyne gives the latest developments from Iran. Professor Ali Ansari, director of the Iranian Institute at St Andrews University, and former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski consider if a real change is being felt in the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Zimbabweans 'dying in own homes' Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 37 years for men and 34 for women. In the last of correspondent Mike Thomson's undercover reports from Zimbabwe, he looks at the collapse of the country's health system. The BBC is not allowed to operate legally in Zimbabwe so many of the names of people Mike interviewed have been changed and some locations omitted in order to protect those he spoke to. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Iran begins voting in elections Polls open in the country's closely fought election. Correspondent Jon Leyne reports from Tehran. Sir Richard Dalton, former British Ambassador to Tehran, says a victory for the opposition might help relations with the West. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Zimbabwe orphans 'selling their bodies' Zimbabwe's education system used to be one of the finest in Africa. But in 2008 only around a fifth of Zimbabwe's children went to school and the number of teachers fell by 70%. Correspondent Mike Thomson, in the fourth of his undercover reports from the country, examines the repercussions of the collapse of Zimbabwe's education system. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Public spending cuts 'are a reality' The Tories have rejected claims they are planning "massive" cuts after the next election. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne and shadow counterpart Phillip Hammond discuss whether future budget cuts are inevitable. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Zimbabwe's children 'do their duty' In Zimbabwe, a country with more than 1.5m orphans, children have to grow up quickly. In the third of his series of reports from Zimbabwe, correspondent Mike Thomson reports on the children who are forced to take on the responsibilities of parenthood while they are themselves not yet in their teens. The BBC is not allowed to operate legally in Zimbabwe so some names and places have been changed to protect the people Mike has spoken to. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Call to scrap secret court cases The use of secret evidence is weakening the credibility of British courts, says a human rights group. Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile QC and lawyer Matthew Ryder discuss if traditions of open justice are being undermined. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'Harsh life' for Zimbabwe's orphans Malaria, poverty, HIV and political violence have left Zimbabwe with more than 1.5m orphans in a country of just 11m people - more per head of population than anywhere else on earth.Correspondent Mike Thomson, in the second of his undercover reports from Zimbabwe, reports on the plight of orphaned youngsters in the country. Note - The BBC is not allowed to operate legally in Zimbabwe so some names and places in Mike's report have been changed to protect the identities of some of those h ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'Odds stacked against' Labour fourth term Gordon Brown is to meet with his reshuffled cabinet for the first time, following dire Euro election results. Foreign Secretary David Miliband says the Labour Party faces "a big hill to climb" if it is to win the next election. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Violence threatens Zimbabwe calm There are warnings that Zimbabwe could be heading towards a new wave of violence. Correspondent Mike Thomson, in the first of five undercover reports from the country, examines a claim by a government minister that she and other MDC leaders are receiving daily threats and warnings that their names are on an assassination hit list. The BBC is not allowed to operate legally in Zimbabwe, so some names and places have been changed or omitted in Mike's report to protect some of the people he ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Re-imagining the sinking of the Kursk What if a British submarine had been close to the Russian submarine Kursk when it sank in 2000? An experimental new play at the Young Vic attempts to answer this question. Reporter Sanchia Berg visits the play with the former head of the British submarine fleet, Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Harriet Harman on 'dismal' day for Labour The Labour Party has been beaten into third place in the European elections, behind the Conservatives and UKIP. The BNP, the most right-wing party in British politics, won two seats. BNP leader Nick Griffin, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman and political editor Nick Robinson discuss the results. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Increasing numbers remember D-Day More than 9,000 men were laid to rest in the cemetery, close to Colleville-Sur-Mer - codenamed Omaha beach - after the D-Day landings. Historian Dan Snow remembers the thousands of UK and Canadian troops who came ashore on 6 June 1944 and during the following days. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Brown 'seen as a towering figure' After 28 years of Labour control, Nottinghamshire County Council is now under Conservative leadership. Reporter Sarah Sturdey speaks to some local activists who feel let down by the Labour Party. Tony Wright, Labour MP for Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, discusses the local election results. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Bullying "less restrained online" One year ago, 13-year-old Sam Leeson hanged himself in his bedroom following bullying both at school and online. Sam's mother Sally Cope and Dr Monica Whitty, of Nottingham Trent University, discuss whether enough is being done to raise awareness of online bullying. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Future of Labour Party 'is in the balance' The Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, has resigned, urging Gordon Brown in his resignation letter to "stand aside." International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, and political editor Nick Robinson discuss the impact of the resignation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: PM 'should step down to best serve country' "You can best serve the country by stepping down as party leader," a draft email to Gordon Brown being circulated, says. Political editor Nick Robinson reports on how many Labour politicians could sign it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 'Scarcely dealing' with Tiananmen It is 20 years ago since tanks crushed protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. Correspondent John Simpson was reporting for the BBC that day, and Andrew To was in Tiananmen just before the massacre. They discuss the events and how the anniversary is being commemorated. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Falconer calls for 'major change' in politics The prime minister needs to "take control" of his party ahead of the European elections, the party's former deputy leader Roy Hattersley says. Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer consider how Gordon Brown can demonstrate his authority. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Nick Clegg calls for early election Three government ministers have resigned ahead of tomorrow's elections. Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, discusses the elections and expected government re-shuffle. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Obama hopeful on Mid-East peace President Obama, before his trip to the Middle East, has said the US can help kick-start meaningful peace talks. North America editor Justin Webb talks to the US president about how the situation in the area can be stabilised. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Cameron is 'sickened to the core' A substantial majority of the electorate believe that MPs have forfeited the right to regulate themselves, a survey for the BBC suggests. Conservative leader David Cameron discusses how faith can be restored in politicians. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Financial crisis far from over' Historian Professor Niall Ferguson has said he believes the recession is far from over and will soon give rise to a major political crisis. Professor Ferguson explains the reasons for his statements. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Major constitutional reform is now necessary' Recent polls indicate public support for Labour has dropped below that of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for the first time since 1987. Prime Minister Gordon Brown discusses the moral and political damage caused by the ongoing expenses scandal. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Injustices done' on MP expenses row 30 May 09 Why are voters equally agitated about MPs who claimed for buying duck houses as those who "flip" their properties to make a profit? Journalists Matthew Parris and Andrew Pierce discuss if perspective has been lost. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Sri Lanka 'will face UN inquiry' 30 May 09 Sri Lankan officials have strongly denied allegations that more than 20,000 civilians were killed in recent fighting against Tamil rebels. Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC discusses if the UN should hold some sort of investigation to find out what really happened. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0850 African problems 'could be solved' 29 May 09 All of Africa's problems - disease, natural disaster and war - could be solved by good governance, the only African woman to have won the Nobel Peace Prize says. Professor Wangari Maathai explains her argument - that Africans alone must be responsible for bringing about the change towards free and fair elections and governments based on human rights. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Stark choice' in Euro elections 29 May 09 The European elections, expected to be the biggest transnational elections ever, are less than a week away. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his shadow counterpart William Hague discuss who you should vote for. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Hope 'must be kept alive' 28 May 09 Relatives of five Britons being held hostage in Iraq have spoken of their hopes for their release. Correspondent Frank Gardner speaks exclusively to the families. Former hostage Terry Waite says families must remain positive. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0745 Wrong forecast 'cost council £1m' 28 May 09 Tourism officials in Bournemouth have accused the Met Office of costing the town £1m in lost revenue because its forecasters wrongly predicted that bank holiday Monday would be a wash-out. Mark Smith, director of tourism at Bournemouth Borough Council, and Met Office spokesman David Britton discuss the extent to which mistakes in the weather forecast affect local businesses. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 The marvellous showman of court 27 May 09 US trial lawyer Clarence Darrow, who was at his height in the 1920s, was the kind of flamboyant lawyer who turned cases by the sheer power of his oratory. Author Don McRae and lawyer John Cooper discuss the defence lawyer who, in a couple of years, was involved in three trials each called "the trial of the century". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Vauxhall plants 'likely to shut' 27 May 09 The German government will pick a preferred bidder to take over General Motors in Europe - which includes Vauxhall. Former Ford president Sir Nicholas Scheele and Derek Simpson, of Unite, discuss the carmaker's future. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0850 Academia 'full of boring truths' 26 May 09 The resignation of Ruth Padel as Oxford Professor of Poetry has shone a light into the murky world of academia. Lisa Jardine, professor of Renaissance studies at Queen Mary, University of London, and Mary Beard, professor of classics at Cambridge University, discuss if academia is full of "boring truths" or, as fiction has depicted, rather exciting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 North Korea 'has everything to lose' 26 May 09 North Korea has test-fired two more missiles, hours after its nuclear test was condemned by the UN Security Council. US expert Mark Fitzpatrick and UK Ambassador Sir John Sawers, discuss if further tests are likely. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Economic recovery is 'wishful thinking' 25 May 09 While some commentators claim that there will be an economic recovery as early as December this year, one of the world's most influential economists, Professor Robert Shiller, has warned that we should treat the latest stock market bounce with caution. Professor Shiller discusses his predictions for the future of the economy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Nuclear test 'opens the door to proliferation' 25 May 09 Foreign office minister Bill Rammell says North Korea's nuclear test was wrong and misguided Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Collective depression engulfing us' 23 May 09 The man who arranged for MPs' expenses details to be given to the Telegraph has revealed his identity. One Westminister insider and journalists Trevor Kavanagh and Steve Richards discuss if the political system can recover. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Have Tamil Tigers been defeated? 23 May 09 The Tamil Tiger campaign for a separate Tamil homeland had political support that enabled it to prosecute their campaign for 26 years. Now, the militant group has apparently been defeated by the Sri Lankan army. Sri Lanka correspondent Charles Haviland and Professor Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, discuss whether the insurgency can be ended by military means alone. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 CofE accused of conducting cover up 22 May 09 The Church of England has been accused of conducting a cover up over allegations that it drugged girls in one of its children's homes in the 1970s and 1980s. An investigation by Today reporter Angus Stickler reveals that a senior member of staff accessed and removed files from archives - despite assurances that he did not do so. The Church has also deliberately withheld documents from one former resident. Last month the BBC revealed that girls who were heavily drugged in the home have gone ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Commons life 'like a slasher movie' 22 May 09 Dr Ian Gibson MP says he will stand down if his constituents demand it, following expenses allegations. Stephen Pound MP says there is a desperate feeling around Westminster. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Harriet Harman on MPs' expenses 21 May 09 A Tory whip has admitted making an error on a mortgage claim in the latest rounds of revelations by the Daily Telegraph on MPs' expenses. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman discusses how the system must change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0720 'A lot of people cheat a little' 21 May 09 Following the public outcry over expenses claims made by MPs, how would others behave given the same system of allowances? Behavioural economist Dan Ariely explains the result of experiments which test how far normal people are willing to use a system to their advantage while rationalising their actions to themselves. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Parliament 'must come alive again' 20 May 09 Commons Speaker Michael Martin has announced his resignation. Members of the House of Lords Roy Hattersley, Shirley Williams and Norman Lamont discuss the first Commons Speaker to be effectively forced out of office for 300 years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Quiet revolution' in Parliament 20 May 09 After nine years as Commons Speaker, Michael Martin will step down on June 21st. Alan Duncan, shadow leader of the House, and Environment Secretary Hilary Benn reflect on a day most MPs had never expected to see. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Nazi mobile units 'murdered 1.5m' 19 May 09 A Catholic priest has uncovered hundreds of mass graves of Jews murdered by Nazi "mobile killing units". The priest, Father Patrick Dubois, and Dr Jean-Marc Dreyfus, a holocaust historian at Manchester University, discuss how the Nazis operated outside of concentration camps. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Speaker 'must be above politics' 19 May 09 The Commons Speaker Michael Martin - who is under pressure to resign - will meet party leaders to discuss immediate reforms to the expenses system for MPs. Tory leader David Cameron discusses the position of the Speaker. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 'I don't follow football very much' 18 May 09 Former Manchester United footballer and sometime poet Eric Cantona is the unlikely star of British director Ken Loach's new film, Looking for Eric. The film is to be shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. James Naughtie went to Cannes to speak to both director and footballer about their collaboration. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Speaker 'didn't know what was going on' 18 May 09 Political editor Nick Robinson, Professor Vernon Bogdanor and Jim Sheridan MP discuss the future of the Speaker Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0848 A restaurant in your living room 15 May 09 It is common in Cuba to find ordinary houses or flats where the owners serve up meals for small groups of paying customers. Now the concept has come to Britain. All this week, 10 amateur cooks from the north-east of England are inviting members of the public into their homes for supper. The event is part of the Eat Newcastle Gateshead festival. So what is the attraction? Reporter Luke Walton found out by joining the preparations at one of the households taking part. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Voters speak out on MPs expenses 15 May 09 The expenses row has led to a cataclysmic collapse in public confidence in representative democracy. James Naughtie visits the Marsh Farm estate in Luton, which borders on the seat of Margaret Moran MP - who was revealed to have spent £22,500 of taxpayer's money on curing dry rot in a house many miles from both her constituency and Westminster - and to Tatton, where in 1997 Martin Bell campaigned against Neil Hamilton on an "anti-sleaze" agenda. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0825 Eurostar 'should allow animals' 14 May 09 Pet owners should be allowed to take their animals onto the Eurostar, the pressure group Passport for Pets says. Lady Fretwell, head of the organisation, explains why she wants the rules to change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'We want reform not prosecutions' 14 May 09 It has been revealed that a former minister claimed £16,000 on expenses for a mortgage that had already been paid off. Lawyer Steven Barker says taxpayers' money should not be spent on "a political show trial". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Expenses scandal hits families 13 May 09 How has the expenses saga impacted on the families and private lives of MPs - especially those not caught up in the expenses row? Linda McDougall, wife of Labour MP Austin Mitchell and Eve Burt, wife of Tory MP Alistair Burt, discuss how new measures to curb expenses claims will affect their lives. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Carrying on as normal 'not an option' 13 May 09 "Extreme action" is needed to restore faith in MPs, Gordon Brown has said. Political editor Nick Robinson and Tory MP Ann Widdecombe discuss if examining all MPs' receipts independently will restore confidence. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Will India be next global power? 12 May 09 Will India or China be the next global power? An Intelligence Squared debate will try to answer this question. Author Gurcharan Das and Hong Kong businessman Sir David Tang discuss which developing economy will develop most quickly. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Don't vote for major parties 12 May 09 MPs should claim expenses "in the spirit of what is right", the Commons speaker has said. Tory Lord Tebbit says the electorate are extremely angry with MPs and should use their vote in European elections to demonstrate this. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Tories targeted in latest revelations 11 May 09 Leading Conservatives have been criticised as details of their expenses are published by the Daily Telegraph. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox and political editor Nick Robinson discuss "another bad day for Parliament". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Pakistan steps up Swat offensive 11 May 09 Tens of thousands of people in the Swat Valley of Pakistan have been fleeing their homes as the Pakistani army continues its offensive against Taleban militants in the region. John Butt, Muslim Chaplain of Cambridge University, and Graham Strong, Pakistan director for the aid agency World Vision, discuss the relief operation planned in the area. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 Paper 'right to publish expenses' 09 May 09 The Daily Telegraph has been accused of "absolutely disgusting" reporting and engaging in "chequebook journalism" by publishing details of MPs' expenses. Columnists Peter Preston, of the Observer, and Daniel Finkelstein, of the Times, discuss if the paper did the right thing by running the story. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Is the economic crisis all over? 09 May 09 The US stock market index the S&P 500 has risen 37% and in the UK, the FTSE 100 has risen almost 1,000 points since March. Economists Jim O'Neill and Graham Turner discuss how long it takes to recover from a banking crisis. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 Gurkha rejection letter 'madness' 08 May 09 High profile campaigner Joanna Lumley says immigration minister Phil Woolas has "reassured" her over Gurkhas' rights to remain in the UK, in an unscheduled meeting. They both discuss if the issue of Gurkhas' rights has now been settled. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'I know expenses claims look bad' 08 May 09 The full details of cabinet ministers' expenses claims have been published by the Daily Telegraph. Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman discusses if expenses claims made by MPs broke existing rules. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Muslims 'less happy' in Britain 07 May 09 Muslims in Britain are less well integrated into society than elsewhere in Europe and in the US, a report concludes. Home affairs editor Mark Easton visits France and East London to compare the difference in attitude. Dalia Mogahed, of the Gallup Centre for Muslim Studies, and Tariq Ramadan, professor of Muslim studies at Oxford University, discuss if one in five UK Muslims are "suffering". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Big risks' with large DNA database 07 May 09 Up to 850,000 innocent people on a national DNA database will have their profiles wiped. Home Office minister Vernon Coaker and Shami Chakrabarti, head of Liberty, discuss if DNA evidence should be retained for up to 12 years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 UK 'cannot afford' identity cards 06 May 09 Ministers are set to confirm that a voluntary initiative for controversial ID cards will launch in Manchester. Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling and Chris Fox, former head of Acpo, discuss if the scheme should go ahead. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0720 Shock-jock 'to sue' over UK list 06 May 09 US radio "shock-jock" Michael Alan Weiner, also known as Michael Savage, has reacted to his name appearing on a list of some of the people barred from entering the UK for fostering extremism or hatred. Correspondent Peter Bowes explains Mr Savage's outburst. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'No political fix' on Royal Mail 05 May 09 Downing Street has rejected claims that an alternative to the part privatisation of Royal Mail is being considered. Minister Pat McFadden and Neal Lawson, of Compass, discuss if Labour MPs will vote against the proposals. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 New attempt to identify WWI dead 05 May 09 A team of archaeologists and forensic experts is to begin recovering bodies from a mass grave of up to 400 British and Australian servicemen who died during World War I. Reporter Phil Mackie reports on the use of genetic testing to allow some of the men to be identified to their surviving relatives. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Thatcher's values are 'timeless' 04 May 09 It is 30 years ago today that Margaret Thatcher first became prime minister. Lord Maurice Saatchi, former chairman of the Conservative Party and chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, discusses her legacy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'I don't want to be Prime Minister' 04 May 09 A spokeswoman for Harriet Harman has dismissed The Daily Telegraph's claim that she is ready to run for leadership as "utter rubbish." She completely denies any suggestion that she is considering a leadership bid. Ms Harman joins us to talk about the speculation over Gordon Brown's leadership. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Prescott 'staggered' by criticism 02 May 09 Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke has told the BBC recent events have made him "ashamed" to be a Labour MP. Former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott says he is staggered by the actions of Labour MPs Charles Clarke and David Blunkett, who have criticised the situation Labour is in. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Children's services 'must do better' 02 May 09 The man responsible for the death of Baby P has been found guilty of raping a two-year-old girl. Lord Laming says the state should become a responsible and effective parent to more children. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 'Crying wolf' about flu pandemic 01 May 09 "We have gone demented" and lost any sense of proportion about the scale of swine flu, Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins claims. He discusses if predictions about pandemics are doing more harm than good with virologist Professor John Oxford, at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Labour 'must go back to its roots' 01 May 09 Labour must "get back to old-fashioned politics" because it "has lost its political antennae", former Home Secretary David Blunkett has warned. He says that recent events have not weakened Gordon Brown's position. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0815 'Curriculum must be slimmed' 30 Apr 09 A review of England's primary school curriculum is expected to emphasise the importance of new technologies. Former head of Ofsted Sir Jim Rose, who carried out the review, and language therapist Mary Hartshorne discuss the findings of the report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Brown 'has already lost' expenses row 30 Apr 09 Plans to reform the system of MPs' expenses will go to a series of votes in the Commons. Political editor Nick Robinson says the withdrawal of key proposals in the motion show Gordon Brown has already lost the debate. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Brown to unveil Afghan strategy 29 Apr 09 Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to outline a revised UK strategy for the war in Afghanistan. Former US adviser Philip Bobbitt and former EU diplomat Lord Ashdown discuss the importance of Pakistan in the new strategy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Swine flu samples to arrive in UK 29 Apr 09 Samples of the swine flu virus are expected to arrive at a UK laboratory in the hope of producing a vaccine. Reporter Sanchia Berg visits the National Institute for Biological Standards in Hertfordshire to discover the sort of work staff there are about to undertake. Professor of virology John Oxford, of Barts and the Royal Hospital London, discusses how dangerous the virus could be. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 PM 'can recover' from expenses row 28 Apr 09 The reform of MP expenses is back to square one after Gordon Brown's plan for a flat-rate daily allowance for MPs had to be abandoned for lack of support. Labour MPs Stuart Bell and Mark Fisher debate whether the Prime Minister's authority has taken a knock. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 '40% of population could become ill' 28 Apr 09 The World Health Organization (WHO) has increased its alert level for a deadly swine flu virus. Professor Neil Ferguson, of the WHO, and science writer Vivienne Parry discuss if the outbreak can be contained. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Equality 'leads to fair society' The government will publish a report aimed at reducing inequality through measures such as forcing companies to reveal if there is a pay gap between men and women. Minister for Equality Harriet Harman explains how the legislation will work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Move to contain swine flu spread There are concerns that swine flu could develop into a pandemic after cases have been reported in the US and Canada. John McCauley from the division of virology at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research and Hugh Pennington, formerly of the University of Aberdeen's department of medical microbiology, discuss the severity of the outbreak. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Unrealistic' for state to shrink 25 Apr 09 Are we on the verge of a fundamental shift in the way the government approaches public finances? Peter Kellner, of the polling organisation YouGov, Geoff Mulgan, of the Young Foundation and former Chancellor Lord Lamont discuss if public spending should be cut. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Police 'pay protester informers' 25 Apr 09 Police are using hundreds of paid informants inside protest groups to "feed them intelligence", recordings handed to the Guardian suggest. Member of the protest group Plane Stupid Matilda Gifford, who made the recordings, and John O'Connor, a former commander of Scotland Yard's flying squad, discuss if the police have "a responsibility to gather intelligence". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 ANC heads for decisive victory 24 Apr 09 The ruling African National Congress party has so far received just under 67% of the vote in the South African elections - with more than 12 million votes counted. Alec Russell, of the Financial Times, and Peter Hain, former minister for Africa, discuss the elections which will now almost certainly lead to ANC leader Jacob Zuma becoming president. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Britain 'needs culture change' 24 Apr 09 Latest official GDP figures show that the UK economy shrank by 1.9% in the first three months of 2009. David Cameron says, if elected, he will reward ministers for saving money and will reduce public spending. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Continuous stream of casualties' 23 Apr 09 The UN Security Council has called on Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka to lay down their arms and let the UN help evacuate civilians from the war zone. British surgeon Paul McMaster, who is working with Medecins Sans Frontieres, says the team have been working around the clock because there are dealing with so many casualties. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Next spending round will be tough' 23 Apr 09 Chancellor Alistair Darling had said the UK economy would return to growth by the end of 2009 and expand by 3.5% in 2011 in his Budget speech. He discusses if efficiency savings can offset cuts in public sector spending. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Ministers 'were warned about Sats' 22 Apr 09 The English qualifications agency's former head, who quit over last year's Sats fiasco, has described ministers' version of what happened as "fiction". Conservative education spokesman Michael Gove discusses if the portrayal of Dr Boston by ministers as "complacent and disengaged" is fair. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Debt 'could quickly get out of hand' 22 Apr 09 Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to give a Budget statement which conveys the severity of the economic downturn. Political editor Nick Robinson and economics editor Stephanie Flanders explain what the Budget is likely to contain. John Wraith, of RBC Capital Markets, discusses what the City is looking for from Mr Darling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Anti-obesity drug 'no magic pill' 21 Apr 09 The anti-obesity drug Alli is to become available over the counter for the first time. Dr Donald Hensrud, a preventive medicine and nutritional specialist, explains the drug to science correspondent Tom Feilden. Prof Gareth Williams, of the University of Bristol, and Prof Nick Bostrom, of Oxford University, discuss the benefits and drawbacks of it becoming more readily available. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0715 Tesco achieves £3bn annual profit 21 Apr 09 The supermarket chain Tesco has reported underlying annual pre-tax profits of £3.13bn, an improvement of 10% on the previous year. CEO Sir Terry Leahy says Tesco hopes to maintain growth despite the recession and is to create 11,000 UK jobs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Plans for Britain's railways 20 Apr 09 Transport Minister Lord Adonis has been travelling across Britain's rail network, clocking up some 2,000 miles. He discusses how he found his journey and what improvements can be made with Liberal Democrats transport spokesman Norman Baker. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Police review 20 Apr 09 There are calls for a national debate on how public events are dealt with by police. The death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 events and footage apparently showing police brutality have fuelled calls for a review. David Davis, former shadow home secretary, and Derek Barnett, vice president of the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales, discuss the calls for a debate. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Worried for South Africa's future 18 Apr 09 Across South Africa, final campaign rallies are being held before the elections on 22 April. Former president of South Africa FW de Klerk says he is worried about the increased influence of hardline socialists in the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 South Africa 'is in a bad place' 18 Apr 09 South Africa's ruling ANC party has condemned Archbishop Desmond Tutu's criticism of the organisation as "sacrilege". Mr Tutu explains why he is not looking forward to having ANC leader Jacob Zuma as president. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'The blackest day in football' 15 Apr 09 The 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster is being marked with a memorial service on Merseyside. Commentator Alan Green and former minister David Blunkett discuss the tragedy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0735 'Teachers have power to expel' 15 Apr 09 Schools should have "withdrawal rooms" to isolate disruptive pupils, a report on behaviour in schools in England will say. School Secretary Ed Balls considers if, as the Conservatives say, it is too difficult to exclude pupils permanently. He also discusses the Damian McBridge email "slur" saga. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0825 The voyage of the damned 14 Apr 09 Just before the World War II began, a ship set sail from Hamburg carrying nearly 1,000 German Jews who had decided that they had to flee Hitler's Germany. It was refused permission to land passengers in Cuba, then Canada, then the US. It then returned to Europe. Gerald Granston, who was a boy passenger on the ship, and author Max Morgan-Witts, discuss the extraordinary voyage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Media 'gratuitous' in slur coverage 14 Apr 09 The shadow chancellor's wife, Frances Osborne, has complained about the repetition of allegations about her in e-mails sent by a former No 10 adviser. MP Paul Flynn and journalist Andrew Neil discuss the coverage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Architecture 13 April 09 The Prince of Wales has asked the owners of a Chelsea site, where modern flats are due to be built, to change their plans. Prince Charles favours a more traditional structure. Senior fellow at The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, Professor Robert Adam and Sunand Prasad, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, discuss whether the prince can influence the plans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Alan Johnson 13 April 09 Gordon Brown is facing increasing pressure to personally apologise for e-mails in which senior Conservative MPs were smeared and set up an independent inquiry into the incident. Health Secretary Alan Johnson says he was "shocked and disgusted" by the e-mails but that the prime minister could not be held responsible. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Risk of terrorism 'is manageable' 10 Apr 09 Twelve men - mostly students and 11 of them Pakistani - are being questioned over an alleged terrorism plot. Prof Michael Clarke says the current immigration system works as well as it can. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Sats 'too stressful' for children 10 Apr 09 Teachers are threatening to boycott the national school tests Sats for seven and 11-year-olds in England. Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT, and Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham, discuss what teachers believe is wrong with the tests. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Was Thatcher a Thatcherite? 09 Apr 09 It is almost 30 years since Margaret Thatcher first entered Downing Street. Richard Vinen, professor of modern European history at King's College, London, and author Simon Jenkins discuss the legacy of Mrs Thatcher and Thatcherism. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Police chief resigns over blunder 09 Apr 09 Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer has resigned after revealing documents that sparked a security alert. Boris Johnson announces Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick's resignation has been accepted. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Are charities too political? 08 Apr 09 Oxfam are to launch a policy that details how the government could use the current economic turmoil as an opportunity to create a more "equitable, sustainable society". Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne and Jill Kirby, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, discuss if charities should engage in political campaigning or concentrate their efforts on helping people in need. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Police 'did professional job' at G20 08 Apr 09 The Liberal Democrats are calling for an inquiry after footage showed a police officer at the G20 protests pushing a man who later died. Correspondent Rory MacLean, Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth and Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, discuss the footage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website 0825 MPs 'do not exploit the system' 07 Apr 09 The committee looking into reforming the system of MPs' pay and expenses is to televise its hearings. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith discusses her role in the expenses row, and apologises for what was done, saying it was a bad mistake, but wished it had been brought to her attention earlier. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Sedation 'link to birth defects' 07 Apr 09 Hundreds of girls heavily sedated in UK care homes during the 1970s and 1980s may be at risk of having children with birth defects, the BBC has found. Reporter Angus Stickler explains the evidence he uncovered from a group of former care home residents. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 UK plans spending cuts, IFS says 06 Apr 09 With all main parties struggling to grasp the implications of the recession on public spending, the Today programme has been given exclusive access to new IFS figures that show the extent of the fiscal challenge facing the country. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne examines the figures. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 UK plans spending cuts, IFS says 06 Apr 09 With all main parties struggling to grasp the implications of the recession on public spending, the Today programme has been given exclusive access to new IFS figures that show the extent of the fiscal challenge facing the country. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne examines the figures. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Italian earthquake kills many 08 Apr 09 At least 20 people have died, in a powerful earthquake that has struck central Italy. Anna-Maria Spennati, who is an English teacher in L'Aquila, explains what has happened to the town and Dr Roger Musson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, says that because the area is densely populated, the effect is likely to be devastating. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 Afghanistan dominates Nato talks 04 Apr 09 US President Barack Obama called for better use of Nato resources in Afghanistan. North America editor Justin Webb reports on the Nato summit in Strasbourg, France. Defence secretary John Hutton discusses the call for more troops and funds to be committed by European countries in Afghanistan. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Court 'must focus on big issues' 04 Apr 09 The European Court of Human Rights is going beyond its jurisdiction and trying to create a "federal law of Europe", a senior British judge says. Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and Stephen Hockman QC, former chairman of the Bar Council, discuss the way the court operates. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 G20 leaders agree deal worth $1tn 03 Apr 09 G20 leaders have reached an agreement to tackle the global crisis with measures worth $1.1 trillion (£681bn). Chancellor Alistair Darling says the deal would have been difficult to imagine even a few months ago. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0745 Are formal greetings old fashioned? 03 Apr 09 What has happened to the formality between global leaders? Barack and Gordon have been referring to each other by their first names throughout the G20 summit. Matthew Taylor, former chief adviser to Tony Blair, and journalist Guy Walters, of the Daily Mail, discuss if formal greetings are becoming less common. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Persuading children to play 02 Apr 09 Nervous parents are making the countryside "out of bounds" for their children, a survey has suggested. Reporter Sanchia Berg visits one primary school to speak to children about their experience of the countryside. Tom Hodgkinson, editor of magazine The Idler, discusses if the idea of play is being taken out of childhood. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Peter Mandelson on the G20 02 Apr 09 World leaders are meeting at the G20 summit to strive for a global rescue plan to ease the financial crisis. Business secretary Lord Mandelson says the summit will lead to regulation which is both tighter and more transparent. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 A century of memorable speeches 01 Apr 09 Prominent names in British politics have selected the most memorable and significant House of Commons speeches over the last century. Politician Tony Benn and Matthew Parris, of the Times, discuss the choices they made. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Any agreement will do' at G20 01 Apr 09 Barack Obama is visiting Downing Street as global leaders arrive in London for the G20 summit. BBC editors Nick Robinson and Justin Webb discuss the prospects for progress in tackling the world financial crisis. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 The history of the telescope 31 Mar 09 The Royal Observatory Greenwich is marking the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations made using a telescope by Galileo Galilei - famed as one of the forefathers of modern astronomy. Evan Davis meets the historian, Richard Dunn, whose book, The Telescope - A Short History, has just been published. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 UK troops begin Iraqi withdrawal 31 Mar 09 The remaining British forces in southern Iraq will come under command of an American general this morning, as the coalition prepares for the final withdrawal of UK troops from the country. Most of the 4,000 British troops still in Iraq are due to leave by 31 May, though a few will leave today. The British commander in Basra, Maj Gen Andy Salmon, says that much had been achieved over the past six years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Difficult tradition' of expenses 30 Mar 09 Opposition MPs have questioned Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's credibility after she "mistakenly" claimed the cost of two adult films on expenses. Peter Riddell, assistant editor of the Times, discusses if the current system of expenses for MPs is working. Political editor Nick Robinson examines the future of expenses for MPs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'No quick solutions to angry Britain' 30 Mar 09 Jake Fahri has begun serving his sentence for the murder of teenager Jimmy Mizen. Jimmy's parents, Barry and Margaret, discuss why they believe the UK is losing its feeling for "civility, fair play, fairness and safety". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Brown's 'whirlwind' pre-G20 trip Gordon Brown has been on a five-day, three-continent trip ahead of the G20 summit with the intention of drumming up support for his economic policies. Political editor Nick Robinson considers how successful he has been. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 G20 protests begin A coalition of campaigners from a variety of charities and unions will march through London to demand action on poverty and climate change ahead of the G20 summit. 'Put People First' will urge world leaders to come up with a "fair, sustainable route out of recession" that also factors in environmental issues. Brendan Barber, General Secretary of TUC discusses the policy changes that 'Put People First' would like to see implemented after G20. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 New US Afghanistan strategy President Obama is to give a speech outlining his plans for Afghanistan, and is expected to announce the deployment of 4,000 extra troops. Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since the US led invasion in 2001. The new strategy will also focus on preventing al-Qaeda members believed to be in safe havens across the border in Pakistan from crossing over into Afghanistan. Emile Nakhleh, former director of the Political Islam Strategic Analysis Programme at the CIA and Michael Semple ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Royal succession reform discussed Gordon Brown has been in discussions with Buckingham Palace over possible reforms to the laws of succession, which would see women having an equal claim to the throne as men, and heirs being allowed to marry Catholics. MP Chris Bryant discusses the implications for the monarchy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0720 Should second homes be restricted? A proposal from Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor to limit the number of properties in rural communities being bought up as second homes has been rejected by the government. Reporter Jon Kay travels to a village in Devon where there is a high prevalence of second homes. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Councils 'negligent' on Iceland risk The Audit Commission has concluded from a report on English local authorities' deposits in the Icelandic banks that many behaved "negligently". The report states that councils are not expecting to cut services or increase council tax significantly as a direct result. Rita Greenwood, finance officer at Havering Council, one of the councils found to be negligent, responds to theaccusations. Steve Bundred, chief executive of the Audit Commission, and John Ransford, chief executive of the Local ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Is Obama's popularity waning? There are signs in the US that President Obama's popularity may be waning after widespread public anger over AIG bonuses and concerns about the economy. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson discusses the Obama presidency so far. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'No split' between bank and Brown Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has warned against further significant government spending to stimulate the economy, given the high levels of UK debt as a result of recent stimulus packages. He was answering questions from MPs at a Treasury committee. Former minister Geoffrey Robinson, Professor David Smith, chairman of the shadow Monetary Policy Committee, and Hugo Dixon, editor-in-chief of BreakingViews.com, a city commentary service, evaluate the governor's warning. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Disabled people 'failed by NHS' The Health Service and Local Government Ombudsmen has released a report attacking "significant and distressing failures" across the NHS in its care for people with learning disabilities. The report found that one man died as a result of failings in his care and that a second man's death could probably have been avoided. Allan Cannon, father of one of the people who died and Ann Abraham, Health Service Ombudsman, discuss what can be learnt from the report's findings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 New anti-terror strategy The Home Office's counter-terrorism strategy 'Contest' is to take a tougher stance on non-violent conservative Muslim groups that teach that Islam is incompatible with Western democracy. Correspondent Gordon Corera examines the debate surrounding how to deal with extremism and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith explains how attacks on "shared values" - such as a belief in democracy and human rights - can give rise to violent extremism. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Viral 23 Mar 09 The Today programme challenged a marketing firm to come up with a viral advertisement about the programme. So did it work? How far did the video get? And was it really "viral"? That last question has prompted a lot of debate online. Matt Golding of Rubber Republic, the advert creator and Emily Bell, director of digital content at The Guardian, who argues it didn't really go "viral". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Tony McNulty 23 Mar 09 The employment minister Tony McNulty says he did nothing wrong in claiming £14,000 a year in expenses for his parents' home in his constituency of Harrow. Only last month the Committee on Standards in Public Life decided not to look at MPs' allowances; it is understood they have now changed their mind and it is thought there will be an inquiry in the autumn. BBC political editor Nick Robinson analyses the case. Conservative shadow leader of the house Alan Duncan and Labour MP Don Touhig, c ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0844 Couple's distress at baby ruling Children's programmes are to disappear from mainstream BBC radio, including Radio 4's one remaining children's programme "Go4it". Michael Morpurgo, former children's laureate, and Peggy Vance, publisher at Dorling Kindersley discuss whether this means that radio simply doesn't work for children. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Pope ends Africa trip Pope Benedict XVI is in Angola on the final leg of his first trip to Africa. At the start of the trip the Pope said that Aids "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems'' and was widely criticised. The communications department of the Vatican has also been under fire for what is seen by some as a "series of gaffes" during his pontificate. John Allen, a Catholic writer and journalist and Peter Smith, Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff discuss whet ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Afghan solution 'not just military' President Obama is to receive a review of US policy on Afghanistan from a former CIA officer. The review is expected to provide ways for the allies to offer considerably more civilian and military help, without having to provide many more troops. Correspondent Ian Pannell describes the present situation in Afghanistan from Kabul, and Foreign Secretary David Miliband discusses the policy changes that are needed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Calls for changes to suicide law Former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt has tabled an amendment to the Coroner's and Justice Bill that would allow people to escort a terminally ill person abroad to die without facing prosecution. Over 100 people in the UK have travelled abroad to die, and although there have been police investigations, nobody has ever been prosecuted. Lesley Close, who accompanied her brother John to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, and Lord Carlile, Liberal Democrat peer, discuss the political, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Swindon hit hard by unemployment Unemployment rates have exceeded two million people in Britain for the first time in 12 years. Reporter Sanchia Berg travels to Swindon, one of the worst affected towns. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Review to examine college funding The body which decides further education funding in England has been accused of a mismanagement, which has left some colleges with demolished buildings and no funds to replace them. It emerged this month that the Learning and Skills Council has approved in principle building work at 79 colleges, with more in the pipeline, which the government cannot afford to fund. Correspondent Kim Catcheside reports on the errors that led to the chaos. Minister for Further Education Sion Simon says the go ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 DNA challenges murder conviction Sean Hodgson was convicted of murder in 1982, but new DNA evidence suggests he may have been innocent. Mr Hodgson's solicitor Julian Young discusses what could turn out to be a huge miscarriage of justice. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 New rules on bank lending proposed Lord Turner, the chairman of the FSA, is to announce proposals aimed at changing the way UK banking is regulated. Business editor Robert Peston outlines the errors in judgment that led to the FSA under-regulating in the past. Jon Moulton, founder and managing partner of the private-equity firm Alchemy Partners, and Terry Smith, of specialist broker Tullett Prebon, discuss whether or not Lord Turner's proposals will work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Universities push for higher fees 17 Mar 09 Universities in England and Wales want to charge students more money for their degrees. Higher Education Minister David Lammy says an independent review will decide future fees. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 PM warns Iran over nuclear plans 17 Mar 09 Gordon Brown will challenge Iran to join a new international effort to combat climate change by expanding peaceful nuclear energy. But Iran must also agree to stringent UN controls to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons, or it will face further and tougher sanctions. Defence Secretary John Hutton explains why the prime minister is "engaging" with Iran. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Lord Kinnock 16 Mar 09 Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock criticised Arthur Scargill at a gathering last week, accusing the former leader of the National Union of Miners of "suicidal vanity". Mr Scargill has also recently targeted Lord Kinnock, saying that he had "betrayed" the striking miners. Lord Kinnock gives his response to the NUM leader's accusations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Pakistan 16 Mar 09 Pakistan's government has reinstated several sacked judges, including the chief justice after the opposition prepared to march in Islamabad against the government. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 'Absolute right' to free speech 14 Mar 09 The Conservative MP David Davies wants to make it illegal for people to demonstrate against the military. He discusses if protests - like the one in Luton when a small group of anti-war protesters held placards saying "Anglian soldiers go to hell" and "Butchers of Basra" - should be made illegal with Abu Omar, who went to the demonstration in Luton but couldn't get inside the police cordon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 G20 finance ministers to meet 14 Mar 09 Ministers from the G20 group of rich and emerging countries are to meet in England amid growing rifts over how to tackle the worst downturn in decades. Chancellor Alistair Darling discusses if the countries will be in agreement on the major issues. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Funeral for murdered policeman 13 Mar 09 The funeral of a police officer murdered by dissident republicans in County Armagh on Monday is to take place in Banbridge, County Down. Retired Chief Superintendent Brian McCargo, a friend of Constable Stephen Carroll, describes the "quiet, unassuming, gentle sort of a guy" and speaks of his hope that the public will help in tracking down the killers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Guantanamo detainee blames UK 13 Mar 09 A UK resident freed from Guantanamo Bay has told the BBC that he would never have faced torture but for alleged British involvement in his case. Reporter Jon Manel talks to the former detainee Binyam Mohamed about whether he had any involvement in terrorist activity. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Whole country waits for Godot 12 Mar 09 Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot is being taken on tour by four of the UK's greatest actors. Jim Naughtie visits acting stars Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup and discuss how this partnership had come about. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Child protection faces criticism 12 Mar 09 A report into the death of Baby P is expected to criticise child protection in England. Deputy children's commissioner Sue Berelowitz and Dr Eileen Munro debate whether previous reviews have improved social work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Oceans face 'mass extinction' 11 Mar 09 Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, a top ocean scientist warns. Environment analyst Roger Harrabin and Dr Vicky Pope, of the Hadley Centre at the Met Office, discuss the fears for ocean ecosystems. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 Arrests made over police murder 11 Mar 09 Two men, aged 17 and 37, have been arrested in connection with the murder of a policeman in Northern Ireland. Correspondent Chris Buckler reports from Craigavon on how people have been reacting to the attacks. Dr Martyn Frampton, of Peterhouse College, Cambridge, discusses the likelihood of further disturbances. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 NI peace 'will not be undermined' 10 Mar 09 Politicians from all sides have condemned the killing of a police officer, shot dead in County Armagh 48 hours after the murders of two soldiers. Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward, John O'Dowd, of Sinn Fein, and Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism sub-committee, discuss if this murder could damage the peace process. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Drugs 'permeate Afghan society' 10 Mar 09 How stable is the current situation in Afghanistan? In the second of his reports, correspondent Gordon Corera examines how narcotics, the insurgency and the government are interlinked. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Afghan strategy 'under resourced' 09 Mar 09 The coalition is not winning in large areas of south Afghanistan, the commander of American and Nato forces in the area has said. Security correspondent Gordon Corera talks to General David McKiernan about why British troops are failing to have an affect in the area. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Murders 'attack on peace process' 09 Mar 09 The Real IRA has reportedly claimed responsibility for killing two soldiers and injuring four other people outside an Army barracks in Northern Ireland. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, condemned the attacks and said that the popular will in Northern Ireland is for peaceful and democratic change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Treasury takes 65% Lloyds stake 07 Mar 09 The government has announced that it will take a majority stake in the troubled Lloyds Banking Group. Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, discusses how much liability the taxpayer will be now be responsible for. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 US envoys travel to Syria 07 Mar 09 Two senior US envoys are due to travel to Syria to engage in "preliminary negotiations" to improve relations between the countries. Syrian Ambassador to London Sami Khiyami discusses if Syria is willing to negotiate. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Very grave' situation in Pakistan 06 Mar 09 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Pakistan-Afghan border is a "nerve centre for extremists". Foreign Secretary David Miliband says it is "a grave situation that is getting worse" and is putting British lives at risk. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0735 'Better help' for thalidomiders 06 Mar 09 Former Labour MP Lord Ashley has asked for more compensation for people born with deformities due to the drug thalidomide around 50 years ago. Science correspondent Tom Feilden reports on the secondary disorders associated with long term disability that many are experiencing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: US 'not bowled over' by Brown 05 Mar 09 Prime Minister Gordon Brown has returned from Washington following his speech to Congress. North America editor Justin Webb and political editor Nick Robinson discuss what the US thought of Mr Brown's address. The audio used in this item is an extended version of the piece broadcast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Anniversary of miners' strike 05 Mar 09 It is 25 years since the beginning of the miners' strike. Miners walked out of the Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire in protest at plans to close it. Correspondent Bob Walker talks to a miner who returned to work after six months - crossing the picket lines. Conservative peer Norman Tebbit discusses his memories of the how government dealt with the industrial unrest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gordon Brown talks to Nick Robinson 04 Mar 09 Gordon Brown is expected to urge the US not to follow a course of economic protectionism, when he addresses Congress. Political editor Nick Robinson examines if the "special relationship" the UK has with the US will "only grow stronger". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0735 Omar al-Bashir 'to be indicted' 04 Mar 09 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is expected to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the conflict in Darfur. Reporter Mike Thomson talks to a former government soldier who has come forward with what could be important evidence about the president's responsibility for the violence. Andrew Cayley, who has worked as a senior prosecuting council at the ICC, says Sudan has made clear that it will not arrest President al-Bashir. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Sri Lankan cricketers attacked 03 Mar 09 Unidentified gunmen have attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the city of Lahore. Eye witness Ahmad Hassan describes the attack. Sports editor Mihir Bose analyses the repercussions for international cricket and Dr Farzana Shaikh, of Chatham House, discusses the political instability in Pakistan. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 'Do not interfere with pensions' 03 Mar 09 City Minister Lord Myners denies "endorsing" the £693,000-a-year pension of former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boss Sir Fred Goodwin. John McFall, chairman of the Treasury select committee, discusses if Sir Fred will receive his pension. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Rights issue gives HSBC 'unquestioned strength' 2nd March 09 Europe's largest bank HSBC is expected to announce a plan to raise £12.5bn through a new rights issue. The bank is likely to ask investors to buy more shares in a bid to strengthen its position. HSBC Group Chairman Stephen Green discusses the bank's situation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Breakthrough in stem cell research 2nd March 09 New stem cell research has developed methods which avoid the use of dangerous viruses to reprogramme cells, one of the main health risks associated with previous techniques. Professor Sir Ian Wilmot discusses why new these discoveries are so significant. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 UK Economy 28th Feb 09 Steve Bundred, the chief executive of the Audit Commission says Armageddon is a possibility we need to watch for the Government finances. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: Combat Stress 28th Feb 09 Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry is one of only ten people alive to have been awarded the Victoria Cross. He is still a serving soldier, but he accuses the government of failing soldiers who are suffering from mental trauma as a result of their experience of combat. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Evan stands up to comedy challenge 27 Feb 09 Today presenter Evan Davis has turned his talents to stand-up comedy for a Comic Relief series on Radio 4. The programme, Stand Up with the Stars, trains four presenters in the art of stand up comedy before setting them loose on the general public. Comedian Paul Merton, one of the mentors on the programme, discusses what makes a good stand-up routine. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Sir Fred 'responsible' for collapse 27 Feb 09 The former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin has rejected calls to give up his £693,000-a-year pension. Political editor Nick Robinson and Labour MP John Prescott discuss the Treasury's reaction to Sir Fred's decision. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Alistair Darling on RBS losses 26 Feb 09 Royal Bank of Scotland has announced losses of £24.1bn for 2008, the biggest corporate loss in UK history. Chancellor Alistair Darling discusses a scheme to siphon off the bank's toxic assets, said to be worth £325bn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0715 Teenage pregnancy increases 26 Feb 09 The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has risen, new figures are expected to show. Reporter Mark Hutchings speaks to two 16-year-olds with babies - together with their mothers - in the valleys of Pontypridd and Aberdare in Wales. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Can Guantanamo inmates be judged? 25 Feb 09 The US government is considering whether details about the treatment of a British resident who alleges he was tortured in Guantanamo Bay should be released. Security correspondent Gordon Corera reports on the arrival of former detainee Binyam Mohamed back in the UK. Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands and Douglas Murray, director of think tank The Centre for Social Cohesion, discuss whether Guantanamo inmates' protestations of innocence should be believed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Government is 'secrecy obsessed' 25 Feb 09 Justice Secretary Jack Straw has vetoed the publication of minutes of key cabinet meetings held in the run-up to the Iraq war. Lord Falconer and Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay discuss if the release would hurt cabinet meetings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Fighting the inner-anorexic 24 Feb 09 GPs in England are failing to help people with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, a report warns. Constance Barter, who has just turned 16 and has suffered from anorexia, and her mother Sarah discuss what it is like to live with the disorder. Dr John Morgan, a consultant psychiatrist at the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders, describes the problems faced by those trying to treat anorexia. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Radical reform' for Royal Mail 24 Feb 09 Government proposals to sell off part of the Royal Mail are set to be introduced in Parliament. Former minister Peter Hain says proposals could open the door for full privatisation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 British talent succeeds at Oscars 23 Feb 09 Success for Slumdog Millionaire and Kate Winslet combined to make it a good night for British talent at the Oscars. Kate Winslet won best actress and Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars including best film. Arts Correspondent Rebecca Jones is in Los Angeles to talks about this year's results. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Van firm LDV seeks government aid 23 Feb 09 The auto company LDV Vans has confirmed reports that it asked the government for financial help in the form of bridging loans while it prepares for a management buy-out. The management buy-out of the firm aims to create the first big producer of electric vans in the UK. Erik Eberhardson, chairman of LDV's parent company GAZ, and shadow chancellor George Osborne discuss the government's plans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Binyam Mohammed 21 Feb 09 A new chapter is about to start in the life of Binyam Mohammed. An Ethiopian, resident in Britain, he travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he was arrested. The Americans allege he was travelling on a false passport to Britain, with apparent bomb-making intent. But the case against him has allegedly been drawn from confessions made while being tortured. What is clear is that he has been in Guantanamo for four years, but under an agreement between Britain and the US, he will now retur ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 Ireland's economic crisis 21 Feb 09 The economic crisis in Ireland is getting pretty serious, and the country is enduring some strife as it struggles to cope with the realities of its situation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 US billionaire 'escaped regulation' 20 Feb 09 FBI agents have found the Texan billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford, and served him with court papers accusing him of an $8bn fraud. Congressman Dennis Kucinich discusses if authorities should have discovered the case earlier. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 'Growing' UK polygamy problem 20 Feb 09 A leading Muslim peer says cultural sensitivity has prevented politicians from discussing the issue of polygamy in the UK. Baroness Warsi says we need to consider registering all religious marriages, including Islamic ceremonies. Zubeida Malik investigates the problem of polygamy in Britain. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Offshore investments in spotlight 19 Feb 09 The search continues for Texan billionaire and cricket entrepreneur Sir Allen Stanford who has been charged for investment fraud by US authorities. Writer Jeffrey Robinson, who specialises in financial investigations, discusses what lessons can be drawn from the affair. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 US urges Nato to up Afghan effort 19 Feb 09 As Nato defence ministers prepare to meet in Krakow to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, the US has urged its Nato allies to increase their troop levels to fight the Taleban. Defence Secretary John Hutton discusses Britain's capability and whether additional forces should be deployed to the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Force 'not institutionally racist' 18 Feb 09 Ten years since the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the police force "is still institutionally racist" despite efforts to tackle the issue, a report concludes. Dr Richard Stone, who was involved in the inquiry, Stephen Otter, chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, and Uanu Seshmi, head of a centre for boys who have been excluded from school, discuss if improvements have been made in the police force. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 'Snobbish' criticism of Jade Goody 18 Feb 09 Reality TV star Jade Goody, who has terminal cancer, will marry her boyfriend Jack Tweed on Sunday "health permitting". It is expected that the ceremony will be filmed for TV. Jade Goody's publicist Max Clifford and Times columnist Matthew Parris discuss the continuing public fascination with the TV star. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 France accepts Holocaust burden 17 Feb 09 The Council of State, France's top legal body, has recognised the French government's responsibility for the deportation of Jews during World War II - but the Council also appeared to close the door on the possibility of compensation being paid to deportees or their families. Professor David Cesarani, a specialist in Jewish history and the Holocaust, and Freddie Knoller, who was deported to Auschwitz from France, discuss the ruling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Dementia help 'a postcode lottery' 17 Feb 09 There will be one million people in the UK suffering from dementia by 2021, the Department of Health estimates. Former ITN newsreader John Suchet has spoken publicly about his own wife, who has Alzheimer's. Imelda Redmond, chief executive of Carers UK discusses what more can be done to help those caring for dementia sufferers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Cowley job losses 16 Feb 09 BMW has confirmed 850 jobs are to go at the Cowley car plant, as weekend working is scrapped. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite trade union, which represents workers at the Mini plant, describes the implications of the job losses. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Lloyds Bank 16 Feb 09 Shares in Lloyds dropped by more than a third on Friday as the group announced it was expecting losses of £10bn - greater than previously thought - as a result of the merger with HBOS. Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, discusses the political and financial implications this merger has had and whether the government should have given it more consideration. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0842 Iran It is 30 years since the Iranian Islamic revolution. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's national security adviser, and Ibrahim Yazdi, former Iranian deputy prime minister, discuss how far the Iranian revolution had been driven by anti-American sentiment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Lending Chancellor Alistair Darling has defended the government's handling of the banking crisis as record losses at HBOS are predicted. Reporter Jack Izzard visits Dundee to discuss if lending in the banking sector has recovered. Shadow business secretary Kenneth Clarke discusses what the Conservatives would have done differently to ease the banking crisis. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0815 'Lessons learned' from bank probe 13 Feb 09 Will the apology given to the Treasury Select Committee make a difference to banking culture? Chairman of the committee John McFall and Peter McNamara, former head of Alliance and Leicester, discuss the intense scrutiny the finance sector is now under. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 NY state plane crash claims 49 lives 13 Feb 09 Forty-nine people have died after a passenger plane crashed into a house in Buffalo, New York state. Police have said that all the passengers and crew on the Newark to Buffalo flight were killed; one person on the ground is also reported to have died. Rebecca Gibbons, from New York state police, gives the latest update. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0825 'Elderly is not offensive' 12 Feb 09 The press should be more considerate of "older adults", the Ageing Services of California says. Just a Minute panellist Sir Clement Freud and journalist Stanley Johnson, father of London mayor Boris, discuss if the media patronises people over a certain age. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Adoption row parents 'were wronged' 12 Feb 09 A Norfolk couple, whose children were adopted after accusations of abuse, have been told they cannot get them back. Evidence came to light in 2007 showing the child may not have suffered deliberate injury. Lawyer for the parents George Hawks and Lisa Christensen, director of children's services at Norfolk County Council, discuss if these types of judgements should be final. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Devastating' effects of unemployment 11 Feb 09 The number of jobless people in the UK is expected to rise above two million for the first time since 1997. Reporter Nicola Stanbridge and Danny Dorling, of Sheffield University, discuss if the situation is desperate for job seekers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Israeli elections still undecided 11 Feb 09 The leaders of Israel's two main parties have claimed victory in a snap general election. Today presenter Edward Stourton reports from Israel on what could be a prolonged period of political wrangling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 Ed Stourton in Israel 10 Feb 09 Polls have opened across Israel in an early election and the leader of Israel's right-wing opposition party Likud, Binyamin Netanyahu, is the favourite to become prime minister. Today presenter Edward Stourton travels along the length of the Gaza border to discover how the recent conflict will affect the outcome. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Bankers 'apologise' for mistakes 10 Feb 09 The former heads of RBS and HBOS will be questioned by MPs about mistakes leading to state-funded bail-outs. Editors Nick Robinson and Robert Peston discuss what sort of interrogation the bankers may face. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Calls to free Guantanamo prisoner 09 Feb 09 Guantanamo prisoner and British resident Binyam Mohamed is very ill as a result of hunger strike according to his American military lawyer, Lieutenant Colonel Yvonne Bradley. She is urging the Foreign Office to discuss the release of Mr Mohamed after claims that he has been tortured. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Bushfires destroy Australia homes 09 Feb 09 Australia is experiencing its worst bushfires since 1983 with the death toll now at 131. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called the bushfires mass murder after suspicion that some of the fires were started deliberately. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 MoD and civilian deaths 07 Feb 09 The Ministry of Defence and the campaign group Human Rights Watch have found themselves embroiled in an extraordinary clash, with allegations of illicit leaks, and counter-allegations of attempts to smear a campaign worker in Afghanistan. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 Sharon Shoesmith speaks out 07 Feb 09 Sharon Shoesmith, the former director of children's services at Haringey council, has been giving her first interviews since losing her job in the wake of the Baby P affair. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Have bank staff earned bonuses? 06 Feb 09 Is it appropriate to pay bonuses to banking staff when the banks have caused such damage to the economy? The speculation on the financial pages is that banks might be preparing to rush through this year's bonus payments before the government takes action to stop them. Business editor Robert Peston and Sir George Cox, formerly on the board of Bradford and Bingley, discuss the government's attitude. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Risks taken' with children's lives 06 Feb 09 Measles cases in England and Wales have risen from 56 cases a decade ago to 1,348 last year, the Health Protection Agency says. Professor David Salisbury says putting children at risk is unnecessary. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Thatcher remark 'hugely offensive' 05 Feb 09 Carol Thatcher's "inappropriate behaviour" means she will no longer work for The One Show, the BBC confirms. Head of BBC One Jay Hunt says the "golliwog" remark was offensive and Miss Thatcher refuses to apologise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0745 US relations under strain 05 Feb 09 Binyam Mohamed has been held at Guantanamo Bay for four years after being accused by the US authorities of planning a terrorist attack. He alleges he was tortured. Two British judges claimed that the US threatened to stop sharing intelligence with the UK if it made public details of Mr Mohamed's treatment. So were British intelligence officers complicit in his torture? Baroness Pauline Neville Jones, the shadow security minister, examines the relationship between the US and UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Deal hope in worker row 04 Feb 09 A deal might allow some of the jobs at the Lindsey refinery in Lincolnshire to go to British workers, a source within the GMB union says. Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of the Unite union, says the issue of foreign sub-contractors must be dealt with. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Should young offenders be punished? 04 Feb 09 Should the age of criminal responsibility be increased? Former Conservative leader Michael Howard and Professor Rod Morgan, former chairman of the Youth Justice Board, discuss the disparity between child custody figures around Europe. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0815 Demntia care 'not good enough' 03 Feb 09 The government plans to set up "memory clinics" across England to spot and treat dementia. Economist George Magnus and Prof Andrew Kerslake discuss if this will "transform the lives" of 700,000 sufferers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Every resource' used to clear snow 03 Feb 09 Up to 12 inches of snow is forecast as the weather that hit southern England - the most severe for 18 years - moves north. John Ransford, chief executive the Local Government Association, discusses if councils were under-prepared for the weather, despite receiving advance warning. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 PM 'created a bubble' 02 Feb 09 The shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke is making his first big speech since returning to front line politics. He discusses the recession and the protests over foreign workers in the UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'No discrimination' over UK staff 02 Feb 09 The dispute over foreign workers appears to be growing. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has urged workers to call off planned "sympathy strikes", saying there has been no discrimination against British workers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Davos 31 Jan 09 Politicians and business people went to Davos this week, to talk about the economy. But they have not found that it looks any better after doing so. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Strikes 31 Jan 09 Hundreds of nuclear workers at Sellafield are meeting on the 2nd February to decide whether they will join the strikes that are sweeping the country. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Illegal' snub of UK workers 30 Jan 09 Demonstrations at Lindsey Oil Refinery occur after an Italian firm won a£200m contract over British companies. Derek Simpson, of Unite, says some contractors will not consider UK workers under any circumstances. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Hospital 'calls in an exorcist' 30 Jan 09 Hospital managers want to exorcise a spirit cloaked in black in a Derby hospital, the Sun reports. Benedictine monk Dom Anthony Sutch explains how one would go about doing an exorcism. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0855 'Damage done' to Babylon 29 Jan 09 The ancient site of Babylon was seriously damaged during the invasion of Iraq. Professor John Curtis, of the British Museum, has been cataloguing the destruction. He discusses the archaeological importance of the area and the condition the site is currently in. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 'Too many' cannot read and write 29 Jan 09 The number of people in England who cannot read, write and count properly is "unacceptably" high, MPs warn. Skills Secretary John Denham says that he is "hugely proud" of the progress made towards literacy targets. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Making cows more happy 28 Jan 09 Giving cows a name and treating them with more of a personal touch makes them happier, a report from scientists at Newcastle University says. report co-author Dr Catherine Douglas and Graham Carter, a dairy farmer in Wiltshire, discuss if befriending cattle can lead to higher milk yields. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Troubles cash plan report 28 Jan 09 The authors of a report on Northern Ireland's Troubles have defended their plan that families of all those killed should get paid. Reporter Angus Stickler examines what has changed in Belfast since the Good Friday agreement; and Paul Bew, professor of Irish history at Queen's University Belfast, discuss if the proposal to compensate the families of victims is a fair recognition of the pain suffered in the Troubles. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Industry faces 'almighty catastrophe' 27 Jan 09 Over 3,000 British jobs have been lost in one day - including 2,500 at the steelmakers Corus. Reporter Jack Izzard visits Llanwern Steelworks to discover the state of the UK steel industry. Ross Walker, chief UK economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the union Unite, discuss if taxpayers' money should be used to subsidise industry as the recession takes hold. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Regulation call for peers 27 Jan 09 Two of the Labour peers at the centre of claims of amending legislation in return for cash have defended themselves in the House of Lords. Political editor Nick Robinson explains the complexity of the rules that govern peers' behaviour and Lord Goodhart discusses the acceptable limits of political lobbying. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Corus workers await news of jobs 26 Jan 09 Steelmaker Corus is expected to confirm around 2,500 job losses at its plants in Britain. The Indian-owned company is also thought to have been holding talks with the government about getting funding to retrain some staff. North of England Correspondent Chris Buckler discusses the downturn in the demand for steel. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 BBC Chief defends Gaza decision The BBC is coming under fire from religious leaders, politicians, the charity sector and viewers and listeners over its decision not to broadcast an appeal for aid to Gaza by the Disasters Emergency Committee. The corporation says it is worried that aid raised might not be delivered on the ground - and it is also concerned that broadcasting the appeal could give the impression that the BBC is taking sides and damage its reputation for impartiality. Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Northern Ireland 24 Jan 08 There is controversy over the proposal from the The Consultative Group on the Past to pay compensation to the families of paramilitaries who were killed as well as to the families of victims. We talk to Lord Trimble Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 Afghanistan 24 Jan 09 President Obama appoints the veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke as the administration's point man in dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan has been taken as a sign of the importance he attaches to that region. Paddy Ashdown has worked with Mr Holbrooke,they both played a significant role in the Balkans Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0840 Gaza munitions investigation 23 Jan 09 Did Israel engage in "the illegal use of munitions against civilian population, including white phosphorus shells" in Gaza? Correspondent Aleem Maqbool considers Haaretz's, a liberal Israeli newspaper, declarations that "Israel needs to ask itself what was done in its name in Gaza". Israeli Yigal Palmour says an independent, professional investigation must establish the truth of claims concerning the illegal use of white phosphorus. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gordon Brown 23 Jan 09 The UK economy is in recession, official figures are likely to confirm. Gordon Brown discusses what more the government is doing to alleviate pressure on businesses and whether he presided over "boom and bust". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Winter of Discontent 22 Jan 09 The Winter of Discontent began 30 years ago with the first public sector day of action. Less than four months later a general election made Margaret Thatcher prime minister. Rodney Bickerstaffe, formerly of public sector workers' union the NUPE, and Will Hutton, chief executive of the Work Foundation, remember the action of the 1970s and discuss if a public sector uprising could happen once again. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Big UK banks 'will not collapse' 22 Jan 09 There must be profound changes to prevent a repeat of the banking crisis, Lord Turner, the head of the Financial Services Authority says. He discusses what the City will look like in five years time. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 The future of broadcasting 21 Jan 09 The BBC will not have to give licence fee money to other broadcasters, an Ofcom report concludes. Chief executive Ed Richards says audiences want a diverse mix of programmes to move into a digital era. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0720 Dung beetle turns into carnivore 21 Jan 09 A remarkable dung beetle has dumped its usual dinner of faeces and begun attacking and eating millipedes 10 times its length. Science correspondent Tom Feilden discusses the rare example of a scavenger species turning carnivore. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Inaugural speeches 20 Jan 09 There's always a chance that an inaugural speech will rise about the throng and echo long after the end of the presidency it introduces. The ones that do leave a sharp picture that doesn't fade. In the last half century John F Kennedy's in 1961 - delivered a few months before Barack Obama was born - is celebrated for its power. - its electric effect on young Americans particularly, and also because it brought to the Capitol steps for the first time a poet - the sage of New England, Rober ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Obama Opus 20 Jan 09 It's dark and very cold here in Washington. Dawn is still a couple of hours away and somewhere out there a vast crowd is just starting to stir. It will soon starting making its way to the Mall for the presidential inauguration. Finding a place, wrapping up against the cold. After a campaign that produced uncertainty and drama for nearly a year this event has drawn people from across the Untied States and beyond in vast numbers, on planes and buses and trains they've been heading here, whe ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Alistair Darling 19 Jan 09 The government has announced further measures to support the banking system. Chancellor Alistair Darling says banks have been slow to reveal how much of their assets are at risk, but plans will help to increase lending. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 George Osborne 19 Jan 09 As the government releases new plans to help the economy, the Conservatives will announce the return of former chancellor Kenneth Clarke to the front bench. Shadow chancellor George Osborne discusses Mr Clarke's post as shadow business secretary and debates whether new proposals to help the economy will work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 Plane crash survivor 17 Jan 09 Divers in New York are searching for both engines of an airliner which crashed in the Hudson River, without any fatalities. Survivor of a plane crash in 1995 Mercedes Ramirez Johnson - one of only four of the 160 on board to survive - explains what she remembers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Andy Duncan 17 Jan 09 What is the future of public service broadcasting? With the licence fee coming under more and more scrutiny, Channel 4 has called for a "top-slicing" of the fee to give better funding for other public service organisations. Chief executive of Channel 4 Andy Duncan and Steve Hewlett, who presents BBC Radio 4's Media Show, discuss if a merger with BBC Worldwide or Channel 5 are reasonable suggestions for Channel 4 to consider. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 EU 'to subsidise motor industry' 16 Jan 09 EU business leaders will meet to work on a rescue plan for the motor industry. Rex Baintain, of Stephens Gaskets, and Jon Moulton, of Alchemy Partners, discuss whether UK consumers can be persuaded to buy cars. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0715 Pilot hailed for 'miracle' 16 Jan 09 The pilot of an airliner that ditched in New York's Hudson River is hailed a hero after all 155 passengers and crew survive. David Gleave, of independent consultancy Aviation Safety Investigations, discusses how he thinks the crash was caused. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Caring for family with dementia 15 Jan 09 The number of people with dementia in the UK - currently around 700,000 - is expected to double or even triple in the coming years. The government plans to set up a memory clinic in every town and to give all GPs training in how to spot the symptoms correctly. Author Deborah Moggach discusses the difficulties she faced in caring for her mother during her slide into severe dementia. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Unemployment 'to rise into 2010' 15 Jan 09 Yesterday was the one of the worst days for job losses since the beginning of the recession. Richard Lambert, of the CBI, and economist Ben Broadbent discuss if, as the government says, half a million job vacancies still exist. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Peter Mandelson 14 Jan 09 The government is to set out its proposal to underwrite £20bn of loans to small and medium-sized businesses. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson discusses if the plan will ease the recession by making banks more willing to lend. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 African agricultural 'real estate' 14 Jan 09 In Africa, international companies have been buying vast areas of agricultural or mineral-rich land. Correspondent Mike Thomson examines Africa's biggest ever private land deal - a US entrepreneur leasing 400,000 hectares of fertile ground in Southern Sudan from a local warlord. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Social mobility plans 13 Jan 09 The government is to explain how it plans to improve social mobility, increasing prospects for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Cabinet Office Minister Liam Byrne says the government must invest in people in every stage of life. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0735 Recession 'getting worse' 13 Jan 09 The government is considering a scheme to underwrite up to £20bn in loans to small and medium-sized businesses. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable, and political editor Nick Robinson, discuss how the banks can be persuaded to lend if this still does not work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 Talking to Hamas 12 Jan 09 Is the job of Middle East envoy Tony Blair being circumscribed by the fact that he cannot talk to Hamas? Former senior British diplomat Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who has made direct contact with Hamas as part of his work with the charity Forward Thinking, discusses what can be gained from talking to the militant Islamic organisation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Downturn could 'waste a generation' 12 Jan 09 Employers are to be given cash incentives by the government to recruit the long-term jobless. Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell says the majority of unemployed people will continue to find jobs within six months. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0850 Return of Winnie the Pooh 10 Jan 09 Beloved children's character Winnie the Pooh is to return to the bookshelves, 80 years on from his first literary appearance. Author of the new story David Benedictus discusses the first sequel to AA Milne's work that has been authorised by the author's estate. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gaza conflict 'brings factions together' 10 Jan 09 What impact will the Gaza conflict have on Palestinian society and the prospects for a Palestinian state? Correspondent Aleem Maqbool reports from Ramallah in the West Bank and Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Authority's representative in London, discusses if he thinks a sustainable ceasefire can be achieved. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 Does Gaza compare to Nazi Warsaw? 09 Jan 09 Is it right to compare Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto in the days of Nazi occupied Poland? Journalist David Aaronovitch has written a piece in the Times criticising those who do so. He discusses his view with former London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gaza ceasefire resolution agreed 09 Jan 09 The UN Security Council has passed a resolution urging an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Correspondent Jeremy Bowen explains why the US alone abstained from the UK-drafted resolution. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0855 PMs 'regarded as failures' 08 Jan 09 The 1970s was not an easy time to be prime minister. New biographies of Edward Heath and James Callaghan are being added to the latest Oxford Dictionary of Biography, written by Lord Hurd and Lord Hattersley, who worked under each prime minister. They discuss whether Heath and Callaghan were undervalued as national leaders. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Will Bank of England cut rates? 08 Jan 09 The Bank of England is widely expected to cut rates to their lowest point in the Bank's 315-year history. Correspondent Greg Wood, John Redwood, chairman of the Conservatives' Economic Competitiveness Policy Group, and Roger Bootle, managing director of Capital Economics, discuss what they think the Bank should do. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 M&S plans for 27 store closures 07 Jan 09 Marks and Spencer, the largest fashion retailer in the UK, is to release its trading statement to the stock exchange. Sir Stuart Rose, executive chairman of M&S, says the business is slowing down plans to enable it to weather the storm. Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, says sales figures in the economy will move backwards but that it "is not the end of the world". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 UN backs Gaza ceasefire 07 Jan 09 The Egyptians and French have devised a plan for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, discusses if - after considering it "very, very seriously" - the proposal could be agreed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Blair calls for Gaza ceasefire 06 Jan 09 More than 500 people have now been killed by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, now a Middle East envoy, says an immediate ceasefire could be reached. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Blair calls for Gaza ceasefire 06 Jan 08 More than 500 people have now been killed by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, now a Middle East envoy, says an immediate ceasefire could be reached. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Kidnapped journalist freed 06 Jan 09 A British journalist kidnapped six weeks ago in Somalia has been freed. Colin Freeman, chief foreign correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph, discusses how he was reporting on piracy in Somalia when he was abducted along with a Spanish photographer in November. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Kidnapped journalist freed 06 Jan 08 A British journalist kidnapped six weeks ago in Somalia has been freed. Colin Freeman, chief foreign correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph, discusses how he was reporting on piracy in Somalia when he was abducted along with a Spanish photographer in November. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 David Cameron 05 Jan 09 Conservative leader David Cameron is setting out his economic policy. He attacks Gordon Brown for "burning money" in the VAT cut and sets out his beliefs that the economy needs to be rebalanced and the state needs to be "pruned back". Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Israel and Hamas 05 Jan 09 Will the Israeli offensive on Gaza actually work to strengthen Hamas, the militant group it is aimed at defeating? Presenter Edward Stourton reports from the West Bank city of Nablus. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Israeli strikes enter second week 03 Jan 09 Israel would be making a "foolish mistake" if it sent tanks into Gaza, The Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal says. Presenter Ed Stourton, on Israel's border with Gaza, reports on what is described by the UN as a "worsening humanitarian crisis". Hamada Abu Qammar, one of the BBC's Gaza producers, and Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, discuss the context to the conflict. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Nick Clegg 03 Jan 08 At the beginning of each year, the Today programme speaks to the leaders of the three main political parties. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg discusses the changes he has made during his first year in charge of the party. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld 02 Jan 09 Guest editor Zaha Hadid has produced a museum - or rather a portable exhibition space - that can be transported around the world. Inside it is an art exhibition celebrating Chanel handbags. Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld discusses his life in fashion. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 '90% of children will be obese' 02 Jan 09 The government has launched a healthy living campaign in a bid to stem rising obesity rates in England. Health Minister Ben Bradshaw and Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, discuss the suggestion that obese and overweight people will cost the taxpayer in England £50bn by 2050. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0740 Sir Chris Hoy 01 Jan 09 The spectacular success of the British Olympic Cycling Team led today's guest editor, Sir Win Bischoff, to wonder whether they had any advice that they could give businesses about how to perform better. Business presenter Adam Shaw visits the team's headquarters to find out more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Sir Win Bischoff 01 Jan 09 When 2008 began, no one was fully aware of the impact of the credit crunch on the banking industry. Guest editor Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citigroup, discusses if anyone could have predicting the current situation in the economy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Jonny Wilkinson 31 Dec 08 Rugby star Jonny Wilkinson - perhaps surprisingly - has an interest in quantum physics, a subject that also fascinates guest editor Jarvis Cocker. They discuss how quantum physics combines with sport. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gaza 'badly needs supplies' 31 Dec 08 A concerted diplomatic drive is under way to try to end Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militant rocket attacks. Correspondent Christian Fraser, Iyad Nasr, spokesman for the Red Cross in Gaza, and Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander, discuss calls for an immediate ceasefire. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Israel 'must seek diplomatic path' 30 Dec 08 Israeli jets have attacked the Gaza Strip for a fourth day, with raids on a number of Hamas government buildings and security installations. Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen and Richard Haass, president of think tank the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss if calls from the international community for a ceasefire will be listened to. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Gordon Brown 30 Dec 08 How does religion fit into Prime Minister Gordon Brown's view of the world? Guest editor Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor talks to him about the morality of politics. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 The class of comedy 29 Dec 08 Is social class still the animating force behind contemporary British comedy? Class-conscious comedian Russell Kane considers the heritage of the class struggle in comedy, from Steptoe and Son to the present day. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 David Miliband 29 Dec 08 Israeli air force jets have bombed the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip, a significant cultural symbol for Hamas. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Deputy Israeli Ambassador in London Talya Lador-Fresher, discuss the origins of this current upsurge in fighting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Translation into Latin 27 Dec 2008 Our annual round of guest editted programmes begins on Monday - and one of our guest editors will be Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. His programme is next Tuesday but by way of a preview, here's one of the interviews he suggested to us. Father Reginald Foster has what must surely qualify as one of the most specialist jobs around - he translates church texts into Latin, and he's done it for several Popes. I spoke to him about his unusual career ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Retail Prospects 27 Dec 2008 Today marks a sad moment in the Woolworths story - the first tranche of store closures. But there has been one shaft of cheerfulness in the retail sector; John Lewis reported yesterday that their sales in the last four shopping days before Christmas were actually UP on the same period last year. Stephen Robertson is the director general of the British Retail Consortium and David Smith chairs the group of economists known as the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0845 Redneck letter 26 Dec 2008 In September Joe Bageant, a self-confessed "redneck" from rural Virginia explained the appeal of Sarah Palin to so-called heartland voters. Well, with the election over, we asked Joe to send a message, on behalf of those voters, to their new president. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Gloomy forecast 26 Dec 2008 The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicts the economy will shrink by 2.9% in 2009. It expects consumer spending to decline and investment in business to slump. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0830 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Archbishop Desmond Tutu says the international community should consider using force to get rid of Robert Mugabe - and says that South Africa should have taken a lead against the Zimbabwean leader. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Watford residents on economy 24 dec 08 The Today programme has reconvened a group of ordinary consumers from Watford to discuss how they see the next year unfolding. Six of the original 12, who met John Humphrys back in October, discuss how they see the economic downturn unfolding in 2009. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0820 Pope's address 23 Dec 2008 The Pope has said that "saving" humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforests. In his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff he said that defending God's creation is not limited to saving the environment, but also protecting man from self-destruction. Joanna Bogle, a columnist with the Catholic Times, and Cristina Odone, a writer and broadcaster who used to edit the Catholic Herald, discuss the Pope's address. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Bush legacy 23 Dec 08 How will history judge George Bush? US Ambassador Robert Tuttle says that while the chapters on Iraq and Afghanistan are yet to be finished, the promotion of democracy was at the centre of Mr Bush's agenda. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Lord Malloch Brown on Mugabe Africa minister Lord Malloch Brown discusses the British government's position on Robert Mugabe in light of the US's revelation that they no longer support the power sharing deal. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Tories demand police chief apology A row has erupted between Bob Quick, who is investigating Home Office leaks, and the Conservatives. MP David Davis says Mr Quick must withdraw allegations the Tories were trying to undermine the inquiry. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Sex Offenders Register 20 Dec 08 When the sex offenders register was set up ten years ago the rule that applied to the more serious offenders was simple: once you're on it you're on it for life. Now the high court has ruled that shouldn't happen: it's a breach of human rights. The Home Office is thinking of appealing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: What now for bankers? 20 Dec 08 The banks have had their worst year in living memory. For that they must take blame. Some would say they must say sorry. Most bankers though, have chosen to get on with the job now facing them...of reducing risks, borrowing and lending less, and one might say, leading the economy into recession. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 Rare audience with CAR rebels 19 Dec 08 The President of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, is expected to agree to the creation of a consensus government. In the fifth and final of his reports, correspondent Mike Thomson examines the importance of the attitude of rebel soldiers in the north to the agreement that is hoped to end a three-year long civil war. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Case like this 'could happen again' 19 Dec 08 The Metropolitan Police are not going to carry out an inquiry into their investigation of the killing of Rachel Nickell in 1992. William Clegg, barrister for Colin Stagg, says profiling is an unreliable science and a case like this could happen again. Peter Neyroud, CEO of the National Policing Improvement Agency, says work in this area has improved significantly. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0835 'Ruthless' Central African attacks 18 Dec 08 It is thought that more than one million people in the Central African Republic - or about a quarter of its entire population - are currently affected by violence. In the fourth of his reports, correspondent Mike Thompson visits the small village of Goroumd, where bandits massacred nearly every man and boy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 Archbishop gives Christmas address 18 Dec 08 The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has issued his Christmas message. In a wide-ranging discussion, he gives his view on the economy, the situation on Iraq and the possibility of disestablishment of the Church of England. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0730 Animal testing 'increasing' 18 Dec 08 The number of scientific procedures carried out on laboratory animals rose by 6% last year to just over 3.2m, the latest Home Office figures show. Science correspondent Tom Feilden gets unprecedented access to some of the country's leading research institutions to discover why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0812 Mugabe 'could be removed by force' 08 Dec 08 There is "bitter disappointment" with the current leadership of Zimbabwe, the Elders group says. Former US President Jimmy Carter says he wants to see Mugabe removed peacefully, but force could be used as a last resort. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 'Sterile debate' harms education 08 Dec 08 The government should replace some traditional lessons in primary schools with new "areas of learning", a report by former director of inspection at Ofsted Sir Jim Rose suggests. He says teaching children about emotional well-being and social skills should be a compulsory part of the curriculum. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0810 US unemployment rate reaches 6.7% 06 Dec 08 The jobless rate in the US has risen to a 15-year high of 6.7%, another indicator of the global economic downturn. North American Business Correspondent Greg Wood, employment workplace correspondent Martin Shankleman, and Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Federation, discuss if this dramatic rise in unemployment could soon be seen in the UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Today: 0750 Alistair Darling 30 Oct 08 Alistair Darling has signalled a new approach to fiscal policy, saying his "core objective" must be to help the UK through a likely recession. He says that he will unveil a new £4bn package to help small businesses. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website