Hopes and fears
As usual on Fridays, I shall leave you in the more than capable hands of my co-presenter Anita Anand.
The UK is in recession. This might not seem like breaking news to you. After all with two bank bail outs, rising unemployment and a falling pound it feels like we have been in recession for a while. But .
But is the recession being felt equally across the UK? And will the government's attempts to extricate the British economy from this mess work in every corner of the country? We will be talking to the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, about his hopes and fears for the economy in Scotland. 
It has not all been doom and gloom this week. At least not for the 2 million people who descended on a freezing Washginton DC on Tuesday to see - well a few of them could - the inauguration of Barack Obama. It is impossible to imagine similar scenes this side of the Atlantic. But why are we so different from our American cousins? Are there no British politicians who can inspire such devotion and hope or is it just our reserved stiff upper-lip nature? We will be discussing the differences and similarities in British and American political cultures with the American playwright and critic, Bonnie Greer.
Also, the state-run Northern Rock has paid most of its staff a 10% bonus. The government has supported the decision but it has caused outrage amongst opposition parties. We will have all the reaction.
And as always we will have a rundown of what's up and down in the political charts.
With us for the whole programme will be the journalist, Toby Young, and the commentator, Peter Whittle.
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