大象传媒

Are we too hard on drugs? Taking drugs is a human right, according to a cross-party group of MPs and peers who want to legalise the possession, purchase and growing of drugs. Would it be wrong to legalise private drug use? Or would that send the wrong message? On the panel are author and commentator AN Wilson, radio broadcaster James Whale, musician Nitin Sawhney, and Alison Ruoff, a lay member of the Church of England's ruling body. Baroness Molly Meacher, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy reform also joins the discussion.

Also discussed on the programme is whether Britain should pay compensation for the Empire? An Indian politician has called for Britain to pay reparations to India and other former colonies for its decades of imperial rule. Dr Shashi Tharoor's speech at the Oxford Union went viral online after he argued that British rule had decimated India's economy during the years of Empire.

Britain had the most powerful Empire on the planet for decades, but was it built on suppression? If so, should Britain apologise to the countries it ruled over or has it more than made up for the past with rebuilding institutions, trade and foreign aid, as well as immigration to the UK? The panel is joined by Dr Shashi Tharoor from our Edinburgh studio.

Interview: 大象传媒 security correspondent Frank Gardner talks to Vicky Beeching about being shot whilst he was on assignment in Saudia Arabia. The attack left his colleague dead and him reliant on a wheelchair. Despite his injuries, Frank returned to work and reports from around the world, including Afghanistan. Here, he tells his story of recovery, resilience and his beliefs.

Is cancelling the Prophet Muhammad exhibition bad for free speech? An exhibition of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in London has been cancelled after its organiser Anne Marie Waters decided it was too dangerous. Waters, who also runs Sharia Watch UK and has been a UKIP parliamentary candidate, said there was a 'very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed - before, during, and after the event. Is the cancellation a blow to freedom of speech in the UK? Are we too frightened as a country to back such an event? Or are such actions not about freedom but a deliberate provocation of a minority? The panel is joined by the director of Sharia Watch UK Anne Marie Waters and Remona Aly, campaigns director of the Exploring Islam Foundation. Nitin Sawhney plays us out with Dark Day, a track from his upcoming album Dystopian Dream.