 A daily selection of interviews, comment and debate from the BBCÂ’s flagship Radio News programme, Today. For more information and the podcast Terms of Use go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio4Primary Format :
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Today: Northern Ireland dissident threat 'deeply personal' There are fears of an upsurge in violence in Northern Ireland, after an attempt to blow up the headquarters of the policing board in Belfast. Police say dissident republicans left a car bomb outside the building. It is thought only the detonator exploded. Five men have now been arrested, after an exchange of gunfire with police in Fermanagh last night. Sinn Fein member Gerry Kelly discusses his reaction to the violence.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Great Escape PlotAn account of life at Stalug Luft III, the prisoner of war camp from which the Great Escape took place, have emerged thanks to diaries written by an RAF officer held there. Flt Lt Ted Nestor was a navigator who was held in the camp for 18 months after being shot down in 1943. His journal includes stories of camp life, cartoons and even a coded reference to the mass breakout. The story is told tonight on BBC One's Inside Out North West programme. The story is told tonight on BBC1's Inside Ou ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'Like a war town'Severe flooding in parts of the UK has destroyed homes and livelihoods. Reporter Nicola Stanbridge visited the hardest hit town, Cockermouth, to see how people are coping.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Budget shops 'opportunistic'Discount store Poundland is to open its 250th store today. The bargain chain has flourished while many of its competitors, such as Woolworths, have faced financial ruin. Today presenter Evan Davis reports on the bargain chain's appeal, and Robert Clarke, retail analyst at Retail Knowledge Bank, comments on the company's success.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Vintage Agatha Christie story releasedA newly-discovered story by crime writer Agatha Christie is to be released in the United States. The short piece, The Incident of the Dog's Ball, was found in the crime author's papers when she died. Crime writer Harry Keating, and managing editor of Strand Magazine, Andrew Gulli, discuss the work.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Ashton appointment 'not a fudge'Belgian Prime Minister Herman Von Rompoy and Lady Cathy Ashton have been elected for the new top positions to represent the European Union on the world stage. The appointments have been seen in Brussels as an end to the accretion of power to the EU, with stronger candidates for the roles being overlooked. Lady Ashton discusses her new role.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Cameron: Queen's Speech 'unravelling'The Conservative party have criticised the Queens speech, accusing the government of using it as a "Labour press release on Palace parchment". The party condemned the government for failing to include legislation to tackle MPs' expenses and NHS reform, and Tory peer Lord Strathclyde has threatened to block the proposed bills. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, discusses his response to the Queen's speech.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Yes Minister in the UkraineThe classic BBC comedy, Yes Minister, is to be reworked for audiences in the Ukraine. The satirical sitcom, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, has become an international phenomenon and is enjoyed in Turkey, India and Holland.
Sir Antony Jay, co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, and Andrey Kurkov, a Ukrainian writer and satirist, reflect on the programme's popularity.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'It will be for the public to judge'The Labour party is set to deliver proposals for its election manifesto in the Queens Speech, the last before the general election. Among the bills being considered are the provision of free personal care for thousands in England, and the limiting of banker bonuses. Political editor Nick Robinson comments on the upcoming speech, and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson discusses his party's policies.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Osama Bin Laden's son 'normal'What is it like to have Osama Bin Laden as your father? New book Growing Up Osama describes the upbringing of Omer and his mother, who fled from his father during the Afghan war. Author Jean Sasson discusses the book.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'China is not a global superpower'President Obama has been meeting China's leaders in attempts to seek closer co-operation and trust. China's growing political, economic and military powers are raising concerns in the West. Jonathan Fenby, China director at the Research Service Trusted Sources, and China expert Dr Stephen Tsang, examine the US's relationship with China.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Tory candidate 'dictators'A Tory parliamentary candidate has fought off a de-selection vote, over revelations of an affair. Liz Truss kept her Norfolk constituency association seat by a comfortable margin. The association were not informed of the affair, despite Westminster knowing of it, exposing tensions between the 'Turnip Taliban' and the 'Notting Hill set' within the Tory party. John Strafford, chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy, and Eric Pickles, chairman of the Conservative Party, discuss the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Financial regulation 'has broken down'The Queen's Speech will be listened to with particular care by bankers who are to learn what the government intends to do to limit their pay. Reforms announced in the speech will give regulators the power to stop bankers from pocketing big bonuses that could destabilize the financial system. Former Chairman of RBS Sir George Mathewson and chairman of the Treasury Select Committee John McFall discuss the proposals.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Australian migrant 'hell hole'Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has apologised for the hardship and institutionalised abuse suffered by thousands of British children who were sent to the country up until the 1970s with the promise of a new life. Sydney correspondent Nick Bryant reports on the apology and child migrant John Hennessy describes the terrible treatment he faced when he arrived in Australia.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Neurons ready...goThe World Memory Championships are taking place in London. Contestants have to memorise long streams of numbers or the sequence of 35 entire decks of cards. Reporter Sanchia Berg went along to speak the world's top brain athletes.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'No evidence' of endemic abuse in UK forcesThe Ministry of Defence has said it is investigating 33 new allegations of abuse by the UK military in Iraq. Armed Forces minister Bill Rammell said the claims were being taken "with the utmost seriousness".Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: British Pakistanis on the mediaAre young people turning to Islamic, Pakistani, Middle Eastern channels in Britain for news on their loved ones and events in Pakistan? Zubeida Malik spoke to British Pakistanis.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'A lot more to do' in AfghanistanGordon Brown's leadership has been dictated by the war in Afghanistan. 232 British lives have been lost, the majority under his government. Public opinion is mounting against continued British presence in Afghanistan, and the Obama administration's position on the war is undecided. Gordon Brown discusses the future of his Afghanistan policy.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Is shorthand a dying skill?The use of shorthand has long been an important journalistic tool, but the growing use of recording devices is threatening the skill. Kim Fletcher, chairman of the National Council for the Training of Journalists, comments on the future of shorthand, and Today presenter John Humphrys tests his shorthand skills.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: New nursing rules 'will add skills to compassion'All new nurses in England will need to have a degree from 2013. The minimum level for pre-registration courses will be raised from diploma to degree level, making nurses better equipped to improve the quality of patient care. Chief nursing officer Christine Beasley, and Gail Adams, head of nursing at trade union Unison, discuss the implications of increasing the educational level of nurses.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Tories outline DNA profile policyThe DNA profiles of innocent people arrested in England and Wales will be kept for six years and not indefinitely under new government proposals. The changes will be put before the European Court of Human Rights, which had ruled the current policy unlawful. Police have defended the system, which it says has led to the solving of crimes, but human rights groups are unhappy with the compromise. Julie Bindel from the campaign group Justice for Women and the shadow home secretary Chris Grayling ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Bosnia's 'heightened tensions'Bosnian leaders are meeting tomorrow to try and resolve long-standing divisions which many fear could lead to a new civil war. Correspondent Edward Stourton reports from the Bosnian Serb town of Banja Luka.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Crime: Worse in the UK or Baltimore?How dangerous are Britain's streets? In a speech in August the Shadow home secretary, Christopher Grayling, claimed that "The Wire used to be just a work of fiction for British viewers. But under this government, in many parts of British cities, The Wire has become a part of real life in this country too. Far too many of those features of what we have always seen as a US phenomenon are now to be found on the streets of Britain as well". To put Mr Grayling's words to the test the Independent ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Tories 'will look at causes of poverty'David Cameron has long accused Labour, and what he describes as "big government", of failing the poor. Today he will set out his party's policies to combat poverty and reform the welfare system. Mr Cameron will say the government is guilty of a moral failure, creating a welfare system that tells young girls having children before finding work and a loving relationship means a home and cash. Shadow secretary for work and pension Theresa May, and Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper deba ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Afghan soldier: 'I'm happy to go back'We spend a lot of time talking to politicians about the strategy in Afghanistan, but we spend very little time talking to the people who are sent there to fight. Captain Andrew Tiernan of the Grenadier Guards, who came back from Afghanistan on leave on Friday and will be back there next week, gives his insights into the conflict.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Good parenting is 'experiential'What approach to parenting works best? The Demos think tank are giving their advice on parenting - saying both warmth and discipline builds a good character in children. The report suggests children of married couples and wealthier backgrounds also tend to fare better. Co-author of the report Richard Reeves and Camila Batmanghelidjh of charity Kids Company, discuss the report.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Jan Morris's 'glimpses of people'Travel writer Jan Morris has changed tack for her latest book, by writing about people instead of the places she visits. Miss Morris comments on her latest travels.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: UK 'is real frontline' in terrorism fightBritain's presence in Afghanistan has been seriously questioned this week following the deaths of seven army personnel, and calls from former junior Foreign Office minister Kim Howells MP to withdraw all troops from the country. Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday defended Britain's continued presence, saying that troops there are "our first line of defence" against terrorist attacks on British streets. Shadow security minister Baroness Pauline Neville Jones and the chairman of the Royal ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today:'Rude, whimsical and late'A selection of unpublished letters sent to the Telegraph is being released. Am I Alone in thinking? is a collection of some of the letters sent the the newspaper that were not appropriate for publication. Deputy head of the Telegraph letters page, Iain Hollingshead, and author Robert Popper, comment on the letters.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: RBS recovery 'a marathon not a sprint'RBS has made a loss in the last quarter, despite the government pumping billions of pounds into the failing bank. Profitable parts of the bank will have to be sold off under news measures imposed by EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes. RBS chief executive Stephen Hester discusses the bank's future.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'Nerves miraculously disappear'What is it like for the soldiers on the front line in Afghanistan?
Major Richard Streatfeild has been keeping a diary for the Today programme as he leads his troops in the Sangin Valley, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the war.
The latest instalment describes how his first patrol was hit by an roadside bomb.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Afghan police are 'undisciplined, badly trained and corrupt'The killing of five British soldiers in Afghanistan by a police officer has raised questions over security progress in the country. The British army has been training Afghan security and police forces to enforce the rule of law for the long-term future of the country. Mark Grant-Jones, padre with 2 Rifles Battle Group, and Mark Christian a padre serving with British soldiers in Helmand, comment on the implications of the killings on the British cause in Afghanistan, and Afghan journalist Na ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Russia's admiration for StalinRussia's President Dmitry Medvedev has made an unusually outspoken condemnation of attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Joseph Stalin. In a message posted on his blog President Medvedev called on people to remember the "millions who died because of Stalin's terror". Last year, in a nation wide television poll to name the greatest Russian ever, Joseph Stalin came third. Moscow correspondent Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports on how Russians view their former leader.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Five British troops die in 'rogue' attackFive British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan after a policeman they were training opened gunfire. Defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt reports on the latest in the incident.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Is Obama losing his charmIt is the first anniversary of Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential elections. But in the intervening year, the Democrats have lost gubernatorial seats in both Virginia and New Jersey to the Republicans. The Republican's chairman, Michael Steele, says the results are a rejection of President Obama's reckless spending, and what he calls "the far-left policies that are hurting our nation." North America editor Mark Mardell examines President Obama's popularity a year after his electi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Does the US still want Obama?The first anniversary of President Obama's election takes place tomorrow. A year after his election, Washington correspondent Kevin Connolly went to Colorado to talk to some of President Obama's supporters, to see if they are happy with his presidency.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Bank shake-up creates 'more competition'New plans for a big shake up of banks have been announced. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are to sell off a large number of their branches after the European Commission demanded that banks bailed-out by taxpayers should be scaled down. The changes will, it is hoped, ensure there is more competition for loans and mortgages in the banking industry. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, outlines the banking reforms.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Tall tale from storyteller laureateAre you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin. Britain is to have its first laureate for storytelling. The new post is being filled by Taffy Thomas, who discusses his repertoire of 300 stories culled from oral sources as a professional story teller for the past 30 years.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Clarke: Brown 'error' led to drug rowThe Home Secretary Alan Johnson is coming under pressure to make a Commons statement following his sacking of the chair of the Advisory Council on the misuse of drugs Professor David Nutt. But what is the correct relationship between scientific advisors and policy makers? Former home secretary Charles Clarke, home affairs editor Mark Easton and political editor Nick Robinson analyse the issue.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Colonel's Iraq warning leakedThe most senior British officer to be killed in Afghanistan Rupert Thorneloe, who commanded the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, had warned about the risks posed to his troops by a shortage of helicopters. It has emerged that Lt Col Thorneloe, killed by a roadside bomb in July, had written to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) warning that a lack of helicopters meant that too many trips were being made by road, leaving forces vulnerable to improvised explosive devices. The memos were leaked by an of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: 'Take drug laws out of party politics'The government's chief drug adviser has been sacked after claiming cannabis, ecstasy and LSD are less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes. Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, responded by lashing out at the government's "Luddite" attitude to science. Professor Nutt, and the government's former chief scientific adviser Sir David King, discuss the relationship between the government and its advisers.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: What makes a hero?What is the nature of heroism? Captain Sully Sullenberger has been hailed a hero for safely landing 155 passengers and crew on the Hudson River but is he a hero, or simply showing courage while doing a job he was trained for? Alexandra Shackleton, grand-daughter of the explorer Ernest Shackleton and the Evening Standard's defence correspondent Robert Fox discuss what makes a hero.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Kaminski 'today against anti-semitism'A wartime massacre in the Polish town of Jedwabne came the centre of debate between Foreign Secretary David Miliband and shadow foreign secretary William Hague on the Today programme yesterday. The argument centred on the views of Polish MEP Michal Kaminski, leader of a new group in the European Parliament, which includes Tory MEPs. The Foreign Secretary claimed that Mr Kaminski is an anti-semite, and cited the Chief Rabbi of Poland and Mr Kaminski's controversial statements on Jedwabne, in ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Miliband and Hague clash over Blair EU roleEuropean Union leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss a wide ranging agenda, from climate change to the economy. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and shadow foreign secretary William Hague discuss the EU summit's agenda.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Inside the life of the Coen BrothersThe Coen brothers are among America's most prolific and inventive film directors, and are releasing a new film in November. A Serious Man will join the brothers' long list of successes, which include the Oscar winners Fargo and No country for Old Men, to Raising Arizona, Barton Fink and Blood Simple. The new film tells the story of the unbearable pressures on a Jewish academic in the mid-west in the sixties. Evan Davis spoke to Joel and Ethan Coen about their new movie, and whether the film ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Nimrod review to be publishedOn 2 September 2006 an RAF Nimrod aircraft exploded in the air over Afghanistan due to a fuel leak. All 14 servicemen on board were killed. A coroner's inquest called for the entire fleet to be grounded. The then defence secretary, Des Browne, apologised for failings on the part of the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force and set up an independent review to be headed by Charles Haddon-Cave QC, which is published today. Reporter Angus Stickler has been speaking to a relative of one of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: MPs 'might baulk' at new mortgage rulesThe BBC understands that the review of MPs' allowances will recommend a number of measures to reform the current system. MPs will no longer be able to employ family members on the parliamentary payroll and will be banned from claiming expenses for mortgages for their second homes. And MPs who represent constituencies within a reasonable distance of London will no longer be able to claim expenses for a second home. The changes will be phased in over five years. Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell, who ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: English as it might have been spokenA new book has been published that examines into our language might have changed if King Harold had defeated William the Conquerer at the battle of Hastings. David Cowley, author of How We'd Talk If The English Had Won In 1066, and Professor Clive Upton, head of modern English at the University of Leeds discuss how the battle affected the English language.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Today: Women 'catapulted into the turmoil'More babies with Down's syndrome are being aborted. The number of women deciding on abortion after being told their child has the condition is three times higher than it was 20 years ago. Reporter Nicola Stanbridge met one mother who had a positive test result and decided against having an abortion. Rob Llewellyn, consultant obstetrician in Swansea and Carol Boys, chief executive of the Down's Syndrome Association, discuss why more women are choosing to abort their babies with the syndrome.Listen | Listen in your iPhone | |
