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´óÏó´«Ã½ BLOGS - Newsnight: From the web team

Archives for October 2010

Friday 28 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 12:01 UK time, Friday, 29 October 2010

David Cameron says he has "succeeded spectacularly" in seeing off a potential 6% EU budget increase. He has been accused of "grandstanding" after saying he wanted the 2011 budget frozen, then agreeing to a rise that will cost the UK an extra £450m a year.

Our Political editor Michael Crick is at the EU leaders' summit in Brussels and confronted the PM during a press conference earlier - asking him if he thought the British public might find it difficult to accept that he's agreed to an EU budget rise just one week after the Chancellor George Osborne announced a package of £6bn austerity cuts that will affect almost all sectors. and hear more from Michael on the programme later.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has been criticised for saying he would not allow "Kosovo-style social cleansing" in London, amid the row over the proposed housing benefit cap that critics say will force low earners out of big cities. Matt Prodger has been asking Kosovans living in London how they feel about Boris' comments, and we'll debate what cultural impact the planned changes might have on Britain's big cities with a panel including John Prescott.

And Peter Marshall's gone stateside ahead of Tuesday's mid term elections, we'll hear how the final few days of campaigning are going.

Join Gavin at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Thursday 28 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 12:58 UK time, Thursday, 28 October 2010

Tonight we have an exclusive interview with one of the first soldiers on the scene of the now infamous "Crazyhorse" helicopter attack in Iraq, cockpit video footage of which became the first major leak of Iraq war material on the Wikileaks website.

In a moving interview, Ethan McCord - who has now left the army - describes how he saved a child from the wreckage of the vehicle, and the lasting effect the events have had on his life.

And we'll hear what one of the world's most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare, David Kilcullen, who served as an adviser to General David Petraeus, thinks about the phenomenon of Wikileaks.

Head of MI6 Sir John Sawers has become the first serving MI6 chief to make a televised speech. We'll be joined by a former senior intelligence chief to discuss its significance.

And, as the 50th anniversary of the end of the Lady Chatterley obscenity trial at the Old Bailey approaches, we get exclusive access to unpublished documents from the case against Penguin Books - who published the uncensored version of the controversial novel. And we'll debate the impact the novel had on the way authors write explicit material.

Do we have D H Lawrence to thank for the Bad Sex Awards?

Join Kirsty at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 12:50 UK time, Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Coming up on tonight's programme:

Tonight, we examine the impact of the proposed cap on housing benefit.

Despite some Tory and Lib Dem MPs joining opposition calls for it to be dropped, Prime Minister David Cameron has said that the government is sticking to the introduction of a £400 per week limit, insisting in PMQs that it was not fair for working people to see their taxes used to fund homes "they couldn't even dream of".

Jackie Long has been talking to people on the sharp end, who could lose their homes as a result of the changes, and we will be discussing the reform with a panel including Big Issue magazine founder John Bird.

We look ahead to Prime Minister David Cameron's first European Union summit on Thursday.

In the wake of Greece's financial troubles and continued fears of instability in Europe, Germany is leading calls for an amendment to the 2009 Lisbon Treaty to tighten the rules on EU nations' borrowing and to impose tougher budget discipline in future.

What will Britain's position be on such powers shifting to Brussels?

Katty Kay has report on how the big money involved in US elections has become even bigger in the run up to next week's Mid Terms.

And Switzerland's biggest bank UBS wants the lift that country's cap on bonuses. We'll be looking at why a $1m bonus could leave investment bankers struggling to make ends meet.

Tuesday 26 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 12:47 UK time, Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Growth in the UK is better than expected - at 0.8% between July and September - with construction continuing to be the fastest growing sector.

So is there reason to be cheerful? Or is worse to come once the cuts actually start biting? And is the private sector well positioned to pick up the impact of public sector cuts?

David Grossman investigates.

Last week the Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith suggested unemployed people had become too "static" and . Matt Prodger returns to the South Wales Valley to ask if those on the dole are willing to climb on the bus to Cardiff to get a job.

Meanwhile the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is under way in Japan. But how worried should we be about fish stocks? And are the predictions of scientists accurate enough to dictate policy?

Charles Clover, author of The End of the Line: How Over-fishing is Changing the World and What We Eat will debate the issues with Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations.

Plus Newsnight's Science editor Susan Watts considers what the spectacular natural phenomenon of the biggest salmon run in a century in British Columbia can teach scientists about global fish stocks.

Click here to read more about that and to see our interactive map with video which illustrates the salmon life cycle. And read more on Susan's blog about the global issues affecting the world's fisheries by clicking here.

Join us at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Monday 25 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 12:36 UK time, Monday, 25 October 2010

The world's finance ministers emerged from a summit over the weekend declaring an end to the so-called "currency war". But is it really over?

The global economy is still beset by currency devaluation and protectionist rhetoric. Will the currency war escalate to a trade war? Against this backdrop, David Cameron has promised a "forensic, relentless approach" to ensuring the UK's future economic growth.

In his first speech to the CBI since becoming prime minister, he said the government would offer help to ensure new companies can prosper. Our Economics editor Paul Mason will report tonight and two of the world's leading economists Richard Koo and Ken Rogoff will discuss.

Also tonight we have the latest in our series of films from Hartcliffe in Bristol where people rely heavily on the services threatened by the austerity cuts announced by George Osborne last week. Tonight we'll hear how they think the cuts will affect their lives. .

Then our Political editor Michael Crick will be bringing us the latest on the news that the government is planning a "very radical" overhaul of the state pension.

And, following Nick Clegg's admission that if he were marooned on a desert island his one luxury would be a stash of cigarettes, we'll consider when it becomes acceptable for politicians to fess up to smoking.

Join us at 2230 on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Friday 22 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 15:52 UK time, Friday, 22 October 2010

Here's what is coming up on the programme tonight at 2230 on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two:

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has launched a direct attack on a leading think tank over its analysis of the government's Spending Review.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said poorer families with children will be the "biggest losers" of the cuts. But Mr Clegg told the Guardian that the IFS's definition of fairness was "complete nonsense".

Tonight Gavin Esler will be joined by Cabinet minister Francis Maude and a studio audience comprised of a cross section of voters of all ages, and from across the country.

We'll be asking them if they think the great spending squeeze is fair and how the cuts will affect their families, their jobs and the services they use.

Do join us at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Thursday 21 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 12:13 UK time, Thursday, 21 October 2010

The Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg today rejected claims that the Spending Review cuts were "unfair".

The leading independent economic analysts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said George Osborne's measures were the deepest cuts since World War II and would hit the poorest harder than the better off.

Tonight Paul Mason will explain how the IFS reached its conclusion.

Matt Prodger is in Blaenau Gwent, one of the most deprived areas of Wales, to speak to people there about their reaction to the Spending Review.

Gavin Esler has been talking to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith about the job and welfare cuts and how he expects people to cope.

Mr Duncan Smith insists it isn't an "on your bus" moment, but his message for those without work is that "the jobs always don't come to you, sometimes you need to go to the jobs".

Also tonight - what will the impact of the Spending Review be on law and order? Police spending has been cut by 20%, there'll be reduction in the prison population and cuts to courts.

David Grossman has been in the West Midlands examining the implications and we'll be debating the issues raised with the policing minister and a former Attorney General.

Our Political Editor Michael Crick will consider the impact of the cuts to local government - and hears about the "real concerns" of one Tory Council Leader.

And later in the programme Gavin will be joined by Dame Joan Bakewell and Stanley Johnson to discuss why the chancellor decided to retain universal benefits for the elderly including free eye tests, free prescription charges, free bus passes, winter fuel payments and free TV licences for the over 75s.

What does this say about the ideology of the chancellor's review and the Coalition more widely?

Join us at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.


Wednesday 20 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 11:42 UK time, Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Here is what is coming up on tonight's programme:

Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled the biggest UK spending cuts in decades - with welfare, councils and police budgets all hit.

The pension age will rise sooner than expected, some incapacity benefits will be time limited and other money clawed back through changes to tax credits and housing benefit.

Tonight Jeremy Paxman presents an hour-long Newsnight special assessing the details and the impact of plan.

We will be hearing from one of the architects of the Spending Review, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.

Our Economics editor Paul Mason and our Political editor Michael Crick will be giving us their view of what has been announced.

Stephen Smith has donned the mantle of Motorway Man once more, returning to his general election home, the Donnington Park services, to get reaction from the people there.

We will be discussing whether Britain will feel culturally different in the wake of the swingeing cuts with artist Grayson Perry, historian and author Amanda Foreman, and businessman Sir Martin Sorrell.

And we will be getting the views of some leading newspaper editors.

Do join us at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 10:20 UK time, Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Prime Minister David Cameron has confirmed defence spending is to be cut by 8% in real terms over four years, as he unveiled the strategic defence review.

Tonight, our Defence editor Mark Urban will assess the impact on individual services and will explain what it all means for Britain's future military strategic capability.

Jeremy will be joined by a government minister and his opposite number, plus a senior US ambassador and a military figure, who will debate the implications of the defence review and ask if there is now a capability gap.

And later in the programme we'll be debating whether we should admit to the fact that we're no longer a first rate military power.

Ahead of tomorrow's Spending Review Michael Crick and Paul Mason will tell us what they're hearing on where we should expect the cuts to fall, and Michael will have the very latest on the news that a deal has now been done where in future the cost of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service will have to come from the licence fee rather than the Foreign Office budget.

Read more on Michael's blog:

Plus, almost half a million people have taken to the streets of France in a sixth national day of action against President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned pension reforms, while across the Channel in London thousands of union members and other campaigners are set to join protests against government spending cuts on the eve of the publication of the Spending Review.

We'll be joined by TUC Gen Secretary Brendan Barber and a senior French union leader to consider the difference between French and UK union strategy and contrast what is happening on the streets of London and across France today.

Join Jeremy at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.


Monday 18 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 10:25 UK time, Monday, 18 October 2010

Here's what is coming up on tonight's programme with Jeremy Paxman:

The government today outlined the threats facing the country in its National Security Strategy.

The most serious include acts of international terrorism, cyberspace attacks, a major accident or natural hazard such as a flu pandemic, or an international military crisis between states that draws in the UK and its allies.

Our Diplomatic editor Mark Urban will give us his assessment of the strategy and we hope to discuss the issues raised with a member of the National Security Council.

Our Political and Economics editors will be looking ahead to Wednesday's publication of the government's Spending Review, and bringing us the latest on what they're hearing on where we should expect the cuts to fall.

Then Jeremy will be joined by civil rights activist Rev Jesse Jackson and Brian Paddick - who was once responsible for 20,000 police officers across London's 32 boroughs - to debate whether the police are targeting ethnic minorities when they stop and search.

Rev Jackson asserts that Britain's moral authority is being damaged by the government's failure to stop the police discriminating against ethnic minorities. But Paddick maintains that officers should be free to stop and question anyone, regardless of their ethnicity.

And we have a film about Project Prevention - the US charity which has come to the UK offering to pay drug users who agree to be sterilised or have vasectomies. We'll be debating the morality of the initiative with Project Prevention's founder Barbara Harris and a former addict turned drug advice worker, Mandy Ogunmokun.

Friday 15 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 11:48 UK time, Friday, 15 October 2010

Here is Emily with details of tonight's programme:

Cheating Death:

In a week where "Los treinta y tres" re-emerged from a hell hole half a mile deep below ground, there has been much to celebrate in the way of lucky escapes.

Tonight we talk - exclusively - to another Chilean who cheated death, the writer Ariel Dorfman.

As a cultural advisor to Salvador Allende, working in the presidential palace, he escaped the coup by Pinochet purely by chance - he'd swopped shifts with someone else.

Tonight he talks to us about what this last extraordinary week has meant for Chile, for its miners and for its place in the world.

Liverpool FC:

The complicated comings and goings at Liverpool FC make Fermat's Last Theorem look like the Grazia sudoku column.

If you haven't followed every twist and turn of the club's potential sale, then you're probably, safely in about the top 98 percentile of sane people in this country.

But anyway, amidst court injunctions, suings, claims for damages and billionaire buyers it was finally bought. Whatever happened to good old fashioned football? We'll examine that tonight.

SNP:

And as the Scottish Finance Secretary lambasts the Westminster government's programme of cuts we ask John Swinney how he can justify and even pay for the measures Scotland is taking right now.

Join me at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Emily

Thursday 14 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 12:23 UK time, Thursday, 14 October 2010

Here's Kirsty with details of tonight's programme:

President Ahmadinejad has been addressing thousands of Hezbollah supporters at a rally in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel - on a visit which both the US and Israel have said is intentionally provocative.

Our Diplomatic editor Mark Urban has been investigating how close the Iranians are to achieving nuclear capability, and tonight he sets out in fascinating detail how Israel might try to pre-empt a nuclear attack.

What does the 'big society' mean to you? Are you confused, perplexed?
Newsnight's Big Society correspondent Steve Smith has been ringing around the Cabinet trying to find out what various ministers are doing for the big society, in an attempt to glean what it means for them. We'll have the results tonight!

The government today wrestled hundreds of quangos to the ground, obliterating some and merging others, but to what end?

At first it was spun as part of the "cut deep and cut now" agenda, but now it's billed as the way to restore accountability in decision making.

So who will make the decisions made by the Horserace Totaliser Board, or the Advisory committee on Historic Wreck sites? And will there be opposition similar to the rearguard action taken over the British Film Institute?

Presumably a civil servant who is a sommelier in his spare time gets to take over the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee on the Purchase of Wines.

And, Baroness Thatcher was due to be celebrating her 85th birthday with David Cameron at Number 10 this evening, but she has been taken ill with flu.

Her former Chancellor Nigel Lawson and new generation Tory MP Louise Bagshawe will join us to discuss how much of a Thatcherite the current PM is.

Join me, Kirsty, at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From earlier:

As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues a trip to Lebanon, Mark Urban has a report about the status of Iran's nuclear programme. Is it close to a tipping point? How likely is an Israeli strike on Iran and how would they do it?

Stephen Smith has been doing more digging on what exactly David Cameron's big society plan means, particularly to members of his Cabinet.

And we are looking at the so-called Bonfire of the Quangos as the government announces that 192 quangos are to be scrapped.

More details later.

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 17:54 UK time, Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Here's what is coming up tonight at 2230 on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two:

Sixteen of the 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months in northern Chile have been winched to the surface amid scenes of jubilation.

Tonight we'll discuss the pressures of captivity and isolation and how then to deal with intense media pressure with John McCarthy, kidnapped by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Lebanon in 1986 and held hostage for more than five years.

Then Michael Crick will be gauging opinion from the backbenches on Ed Miliband's debut at Prime Minister's Questions today. Mr Miliband clashed with David Cameron over proposed cuts to child benefits, accusing the PM of breaking promises to protect them and urging him to "think again" over the move.

Danny Finkelstein and John McTernan - two former political advisers to prime ministers - will join Jeremy to give their takes on Ed Miliband's performance.

And we have another US film from our Economics editor Paul Mason, tonight from Georgia where he finds cultural division looming over next month's US mid-term election and the ideology that drove millions of people into expensive lifestyles on low pay and easy credit broken.

Read more on Paul's blog here.

Do join Jeremy at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 11:58 UK time, Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Tonight we place the future of higher education in the spotlight.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has given his approval to Lord Browne's report which would allow an unlimited rise in tuition fees in England's universities, describing the proposals as "fair and affordable".

And the government is considering asking all but the poorest graduates in England to pay a "market" rate of interest on their student loans, instead of the low interest rate which they currently pay.

We will discuss what such changes would mean and how they are likely to alter the whole landscape of the university experience with the Universities Minister David Willetts and higher education stakeholders including students, university vice-chancellors and academics.

Our Economics editor Paul Mason will be crunching the numbers on the plan to scrap the current £3,290 fees cap and replace it with a free market.

And Political editor Michael Crick will be totting up which coalition MPs are likely to back the changes, and which not.

We also have an extraordinary film in which Paul Mason revisits Gary, Indiana to report on how the poorest city in America missed out on the money and the jobs, and why it is a symbol of the intractable problems gripping the world's biggest economy. Read more here.

And we will be speaking to the Man Booker winner just after the announcement about who has won the prestigious literary prize.

Join Jeremy at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From earlier:

Tonight, we have an extraordinary film in which Paul Mason revisits Gary, Indiana to report on how the poorest city in America missed out on the money and the jobs, and why it is a symbol of the intractable problems gripping the world's biggest economy.

We are currently looking into the BSkyB story after a number of the UK's leading news providers sent a letter to Vince Cable asking the government to block Rupert Murdoch- controlled News Corp's bid to take over the rest of British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc, saying it harms the public interest.

And we are poring over the detail of the Lord Browne's review of university funding, in which he has called for the £3,290 cap on fees, which students borrow in loans, to be scrapped.

More details later.

Monday 11 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 10:24 UK time, Monday, 11 October 2010

Here is what is coming up on tonight's programme:

The government is considering asking all but the poorest graduates in England to pay a "market" rate of interest on their student loans.

Currently all graduates pay a low interest rate, linked to the base rate, on their tuition fee and maintenance loans.

The earnings level at which they start repaying loans may also be raised. An official review of higher education funding - due to be published tomorrow - is expected to call for the cap on tuition fees to be removed.

Tonight, our Political editor Michael Crick will be explaining why the changing landscape of further education and how it is funded is creating a big political problem for the coalition - all sides in government accept that tuition fees are going to have to go up, but since the Lib Dems promised at the last election to oppose higher fees it will be difficult for the coalition to reach a consensus.

Then we have a piece authored by Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff when he was in Downing Street.

His latest book reworks Machiavelli's influential work The Prince and offers advice on being in government and leadership, and recounts his own time inside Number 10. Mr Powell will be joined in debate by Mr Blair's Cabinet Secretary, Lord Butler.

And we have the second film in our series from Hartcliffe in Bristol meeting those who rely heavily on services under threat from planned public spending cuts which David Cameron has said will affect "our whole way of life".

This time we focus on law and order, crime and anti-social behaviour.

Friday 8 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 11:11 UK time, Friday, 8 October 2010

Here's what is coming up on the programme:

Tonight we investigate the background of Abdul Jabbar, the British terrorist suspect killed last month in a drone attack in Pakistan, who Newsnight learnt earlier this week was being groomed to head an al-Qaeda splinter group in the UK.

Also tonight - in a surprise move by the new Labour leader Ed Miliband, Alan Johnson, a former postman and union boss who climbed to the top ranks of Labour government, has been named shadow chancellor.

Ed Balls, who had been widely tipped for the Treasury brief, will be home secretary, while his wife Yvette Cooper, who topped the shadow cabinet poll of MPs, is named as shadow foreign secretary.

"My team is united in one central mission for the future - to win back the trust of the British people and take Labour back to power," Mr Miliband said as the announced his selection, a line-up which he said was "drawn from a broad range of talents".

Tonight, Michael Crick will be assessing Mr Miliband's choices for the front bench, and we'll be asking one of the members of the new Shadow Cabinet what today's announcement tell us about the direction Mr Miliband plans to take his party in.

And Stephen Smith is back in Hastings for the latest in his Big Society series.

This week he sees first hand the effects of the fire which has devastated the 138-year-old pier and speaks to the man credited with coming up with the Conservatives' Big Society plan, Lord Wei.

You can .

Join Gavin at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 18:00 UK time, Thursday, 7 October 2010

"The number of children that you have is a choice and what we're saying is that if people are living on benefits, then they make choices but they also have to have responsibility for those choices. It's not going to be the role of the state to finance those choices."

Cabinet Minister Jeremy Hunt speaking on Newsnight last night.
Tonight Matt Prodger is on the Blackbird Leys Estate in Oxford asking families for their views on Mr Hunt's comments, and we'll be debating the issues with a senior minister and member of the opposition.

Ahead of Ed Miliband's announcement on who he is appointing to his shadow cabinet tomorrow morning, David Grossman will be giving us his assessment on who he thinks will get what.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Arts editor Will Gompertz will be meeting China's most famous living artist, Ai Weiwei, who is the latest artist to receive the UK's most popular public art commission - filling the Tate Modern's enormous Turbine Hall.

And as England's team take a clutch a medals on day four of the Commonwealth Games despite worries a bout of Delhi belly would completely floor them all, we'll be joined by sportswriter Mihir Bose and author Diane Wei Liang to consider why the Delhi games have been such a shambles compared to Beijing's Olympics in 2008.

Could it be because India is a democracy and China is a dictatorship? And what do poor attendances at the Delhi events tell us about sports culture in India compared to in China? Does all of this tell us anything about the future course of the two countries?

Join Gavin at 10.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two
.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 18:06 UK time, Wednesday, 6 October 2010

Here's what is coming up on tonight's programme:

"I think it's time for a new conversation about what fairness really means," David Cameron said as he made his first Conservative conference address as prime minister today.

"Fairness isn't just about who gets help from the state. The other part of the equation is who gives that help, through their taxes... Fairness means giving people what they deserve - and what people deserve depends on how they behave."

Tonight, we will be discussing the prime minister's assessment of fairness with guests including Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and film director Ken Loach.

Michael Crick, will be reporting on how the message was received by delegates, and whether it managed to assuage anger over what critics say is an unfair cut in child benefit for higher earners.

Mr Cameron said the furore over the plan showed the spending cuts would not be easy - but repeated his argument that it was fair to ask "those with broader shoulders" to "bear a greater load".

Did the audience agree?

Our political panel - Danny Finkelstein, Peter Hyman and Olly Grender - will be giving us their take on how the political conference season has been going.

Richard Watson will have an update on the story he broke last night about the leader of a planned new UK terror group being killed in a drone attack.

If you missed last night's report .

And we will be discussing the recent killings of German citizens in a Pakistan drone attack and warnings about an increased European terror threat with Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Germany's ambassador to the UK, Georg Boomgaarden.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Verity Murphy | 12:13 UK time, Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Tonight on the programme Richard Watson has exclusive new information on a British man accused of being behind plans to carry out Mumbai-style attacks in Europe, which led to a ratcheting up of terror warnings from both the UK and US governments.

Jeremy and the team up in Birmingham will bring you all of the latest Conservative conference news, which continues to be dominated by fallout from yesterday's decision to strip higher earners of child benefit from 2013.

The prime minister has today defended that decision in an interview with the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Mr Cameron conceded that it is "very difficult to do this in a way which is fair", but insisted that taxing child benefit or introducing a formal means test would be more costly and less fair.

At the same time the government has suggested that it might introduce a transferable tax allowance for married couples before the end of the current parliament in 2015.

Previously the married couples' tax allowance had been kicked into the long grass and was only to apply to basic rate tax payers. Is its sudden re-emergence an attempt to ameliorate middle class anger? And will it work?

And Jeremy will be talking to the Home Secretary Theresa May about all this and asking her if the Tories are soft on crime and justice.

Join us for all of that at 10.30pm.

Monday 4 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 11:23 UK time, Monday, 4 October 2010

More detail on what is coming up on tonight's programme:

Tonight Jeremy will be presenting the programme from the Conservative conference in Birmingham, where Chancellor George Osborne has kicked off the expected process of benefits and spending cuts with a cap on welfare payments to jobless families and the scrapping of child benefits for higher earners.

Jeremy will discuss the financial and political impact of the plans - particularly the decision to slaughter the sacred cow of universal benefits - with a gathered audience of conference delegates and newspaper columnists.

We hope to be joined by current Transport Secretary and former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Philip Hammond.

Jeremy has also managed to pin down Boris Johnson long enough to secure the only interview with the London mayor this conference.

Johnson spoke about his proposal that the government should consider a law insisting on a minimum 50% participation in a strike ballot, a proposal which he said he had "of course" discussed with Prime Minister David Cameron.

Watch a preview clip of Jeremy's interview with Boris .

Our Political editor Michael Crick will have the latest on the behind the scenes negotiations over which government departments will get hit the hardest in the upcoming spending review.

David Grossman will be delving into why the Conservative party failed to win the last election outright, asking if, as Michael Portillo suggested in the FT yesterday, the country still finds the Tory brand "toxic".

And Tory MP and author Nicholas Boles joins us live.

Entry from this morning:

Jeremy is at the Conservative conference in Birmingham for us where he'll be joined for the programme tonight by an audience of delegates, columnists and special guests.

Our Political editor Michael Crick is also there and he'll be examining Chancellor George Osborne's plans to axe child benefits for higher rate taxpayers from 2013. Is this the end of universal benefits?

Meanwhile, David Grossman will be considering why the Conservatives didn't win the last election outright and asking if, .

And Jeremy will be speaking to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London -

More details later.

Friday 1 October 2010

Sarah McDermott | 17:35 UK time, Friday, 1 October 2010

"Where's the bit," Russell Brand asked Jeremy Paxman, "where I'm skewered on a pin in the glare of your intellect?"

Tonight, we will bring you the bit. And indeed other bits. They discuss celebrity, Andrew Sachs, obscene phonecalls, and fear of becoming unfunny.


Before that, a look at the big benefits gamble - does a move to pay out billions more NOW, really save money longer term?

Join me, here on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two at 10.30pm.

Emily

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