- Sarah McDermott
- Wed 11 Nov 09, 04:47 PM
On this Armistice Day we will end tonight's programme with a discussion about the lasting resonance of the Great War poets and the Poet Laureate's poem written for today. Is poetry the most apt medium for conveying loss, bravery, anger and regret? We hope to be joined by the poets Simon Armitage and Andrew Motion.
We will begin though with the state of the UK economy. "Gloomy optimism" would probably best describe the assessment given this morning by the Bank of England. The Governor of the Bank, Mervyn King, said that the recovery had "only just started" and was "highly uncertain." The unemployment rise was the smallest quarterly increase in 18 months, but the youth unemployment rate has reached a record high of nearly 20 per cent. With such a fragile recovery under way, some economists fear that planned spending cuts could lead to another dip.
Tonight we speak to David Blanchflower who - virtually alone in the Bank of England - predicted the nature and scale of the recession months in advance of the markets. And we'll also be joined by DeAnne Julius, a senior economist who is on the board of a number of blue chip companies, and Lord Lamont, who was chancellor during the last recession.
Also tonight, a revolt on childcare vouchers. The government has rejected a warning by no less than nine former Labour ministers (including Patricia Hewitt and Caroline Flint) that phasing out childcare vouchers could harm the party at the general election. The prime minister says this relief is badly targeted but Flint says, "surely this is not the time to remove a key support from hard working families... crucially in the run up to an election, it will remove support for working parents and for businesses in key marginal constituencies".
We have one of the signatories to the letter, and are pursuing government ministers, who at this early stage are proving elusive.
And in the last in our series of film on the noughties - Susan Watts explores the giant leaps that were made in science and especially genetics over the last ten years. One of her interviews even raises the spectre of a "superhuman" in the near future. Read more about that here.
Join us tonight at 10.30pm on BBC Two.
- Verity Murphy
- Tue 10 Nov 09, 06:34 PM
Here is what is coming up on the programme:
Gordon Brown has emotionally insisted that he never meant to offend the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan when he wrote her a condolence letter in which she says her son's name was misspelled.
The latest twist in the controversy is that The Sun has released a recording of a phone conversation between Mrs Janes and the prime minister in which he blames his poor handwriting for any confusion.
Tonight, David Grossman will be asking if this slip is indicative of a government in chaos and what it reveals about attitudes in Downing Street.
Also this evening David Cameron will be outlining Conservative plans for tackling poverty and inequality, which include allowing people to keep more benefits when they find work.
Our Economics editor Paul Mason will be comparing Labour and Conservative policies on an issue which is expected to be one of the deciding factors in the next election.
Plus tonight we have the first of three special episodes of Politics Pen in which you - the audience - are put centre stage.
Hundreds of you sent in ideas about how to ease the strain on the public finances and tonight three people get to slug it out with our political animals.
Tune in at 10.30pm to find out how they fare.
- Verity Murphy
- Mon 9 Nov 09, 06:04 PM
Here is what is coming up in the programme:
In exactly four weeks Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband will sit down with other environment ministers in Copenhagen to try to agree a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
But tonight, Mr Miliband will sit down with Newsnight's Ethical Man, Justin Rowlatt, in Justin's kitchen.
Since what will be discussed in December is ultimately about how we all live our lives, Newsnight thought where better to discuss the issues it raises but in a fairly ordinary home?
Also joining Justin - and his long-suffering family - are economist Vijay Joshi and Sarah Jayne Clifton from Friends of the Earth
They'll each get a mug of tea and a chance to tell us what kind of deal is likely in Copenhagen and how it will affect us all.
But the reality is that there are limits to how much individuals can reduce their energy consumption without fundamental changes in the way that energy is generated, and if Britain is to meet it commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions it faces a yawning energy gap.
Today the government announced that it plans to fill the gap with a huge expansion of nuclear power. Tonight, Susan Watts looks at the details of the plan and Jeremy Paxman will ask Mr Miliband about the thinking behind it.
Plus, it is 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jeremy Paxman - who had only just joined the programme then - will be looking back on those historic events.
And on our website now, Olenka Frenkiel recalls being the first on the scene as East Berliners passed through the Brandenburg Gate and how she became part of TV history when she turned up in a live discussion clutching a brick from the newly dismantled wall.
The anniversary celebrations in Berlin have given European Union leaders the perfect excuse for a get-together, and their first chance to discuss who should become EU president and EU High Representative since the Lisbon Treaty was ratified.
Michael Crick will have the latest on the jobs race and whether David Miliband is still in the frame.
- Verity Murphy
- Fri 6 Nov 09, 06:48 PM
COMING UP ON NEWSNIGHT WITH GAVIN ELSER:
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has come under fire from former defence chiefs who have criticised his Afghanistan strategy and questioned his support for British troops there.
During a House of Lords debate, Chief of the Defence Staff Field Marshal Lord Inge said the armed forces had never really believed the prime minister was "on their side".
General Lord Guthrie, also a former CDS, accused Mr Brown of "dithering" over his pledge to send an extra 500 troops to Afghanistan and said the government had failed to provide adequate numbers of helicopters to prevent the loss of British lives.
The criticism came after a key speech on Afghanistan from Mr Brown, hastily arranged at the end of a bloody week for UK forces there.
Mr Brown said it was "simply wrong" to say troops were not getting the support they need and that he was determined to do everything necessary to protect them.
He warned the Kabul government that he will not put UK troops "in harm's way for a government that does not stand up against corruption", but again staunchly defended the mission, saying it is vital for UK security.
Tonight, Michael Crick will be looking at the Downing Street's increasingly uncomfortable relationship with retired generals and assessing whether Mr Brown's speech will have done enough to ease concerns about the operation in Afghanistan.
Also tonight, Richard Watson will be digging into the past of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood killing 13 people and injuring 30.
US President Barack Obama has warned against "jumping to conclusions" about the US-born Muslim's motivation.
But what did cause an army psychiatrist, whose job it was to help traumatised and injured US troops, turn assailant?
AND HERE IS KIRSTY WARK WITH WHAT IS COMING UP ON NEWSNIGHT REVIEW:
And on Newsnight Review tonight I'll be getting to the dark heart of the week's cultural offerings along with my guests Kim Newman, Sarah Churchwell and Matthew Sweet.
Hammer Horror lives again with a retrospective in London and two new films currently in production.
We look at how the horror landscape has changed since the last Hammer film 30 years ago.
Does Jennifer's Body, unusually written and directed by women, challenge the gender stereotypes of the genre?
And does the success in America of the low budget film Paranormal Activity, soon to be released over here, mean a return to more psychological values in horror after the so-called "torture porn" gruesomeness of recent years?
On stage, the gore of the early 20th Century Grand Guignol theatre is revived in a new work by Carl Grose. Can the horrors of previous generations only ever be played for laughs?
And Paul Auster tells us how he scared himself writing his new work Invisible, a dark page turner of murder, incest, lies and illusion.
Join us at 11pm.
- Mark Urban
- Fri 6 Nov 09, 05:38 PM
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's speech on Friday morning was intended to make the case for a continued British combat role in Afghanistan after another grim week of casualties.
But although he did lay out some new ideas, such as setting five benchmarks for improved performance by the Afghan government, the prime minister was limited to spinning the rhetorical rotors without actually taking flight.
The thing that has grounded him and other Nato leaders is the continued absence of a clear line from Washington.
How could Mr Brown have been more adamant about the current counter-insurgency strategy or the need for more troops to execute it, if he knows that at any time the White House might change its mind?
President Barack Obama received the McChrystal report calling for a troop surge on 30 August, and with each week that passes without a decision the political difficulties of his allies across Nato multiply.
When Britain announced in mid-October that it would, if certain conditions were met, send another 500 troops to Afghanistan, Whitehall felt it was on a promise from the Obama team.
As Newsnight reported at the time, one top insider suggested not just that Britain had been promised there would be a substantial US reinforcement, but that it would be General Stanley McChrystal's option of around 45,000 troops, and that its announcement was imminent.
So what does he say now? When asked recently, my contact characterised the continued lack of a clear statement of the way ahead from Mr Obama as, "disgraceful".
These views, given non-attributably, are simpler a stronger version of what one can see in the public domain.
Back in October Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Britain's senior serviceman, insisted that the Allies were still all committed to the counter-insurgency strategy and that he was, "confident" he knew which way the US would go on the troop increase question.
In the absence of an announcement, confidence in ministries from Ottawa to Berlin is faltering.
"What is the goal? What is the road? and in the name of what?" asked French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner earlier this week, adding menacingly, "Where are the Americans? It begins to be a problem".
Field Marshal Lord Inge, speaking in a defence debate in the House of Lords earlier on Friday said the US' delay sent, "a very bad message".
Talking to Nick Horne earlier this week, home after several years working as an official for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Kabul, he reckoned the Obama administration had carried out seven different reviews of Afghan policy.
From their electoral victory one year ago to the present, Afghan policy has been in a state of flux.
The criticism is not simply code for "Why doesn't Obama just get on with the troop increase"?
There are plenty in European governments who would be delighted if the president announced that the US intends to withdraw from Afghanistan as quickly as possible.
What people want is a decision.
Now the White House is suggesting that there could be an announcement in a fortnight's time. So the present limbo is set to continue.
It is all the stranger because Mr Obama has not yet endorsed the strategy set out in the McChrystal report, something Nato defence ministers did at a meeting two weeks ago.
The US' own defence secretary, Robert Gates, has called publicly for the matter to be resolved swiftly.
Some Obama supporters have stressed the importance of measuring such vital life and death decisions carefully.
Gen McChrystal himself has been loyal enough to his commander in chief to echo them, remarking that it is better it be done properly than rapidly.
The shambolic outcome of the Afghan presidential elections has complicated matters politically, but it hardly de-railed some great policy juggernaut that had been careering along smoothly until then.
Looking though at the succession of reviews and the tangled logic in the one definitive presidential statement on "Af-Pak strategy" given back at the end of March, it is evident that the administration has had great difficulty deciding what it thinks about the Afghan conflict.
Instead we have witnessed what people in Whitehall describe with increasing frankness as a failure of leadership.
- Sarah McDermott
- Thu 5 Nov 09, 06:02 PM
The Bank of England's rate-setters have decided to pump an extra £25bn into the economy in their quantitative easing (QE) programme. The Bank has already spent £175bn on QE, which involves printing money to buy assets from banks and other companies to stimulate the economy. But despite all the many billions being spent, small businesses have seen a seventh consecutive month of reduced lending. So is QE really working? Tonight Liz MacKean will be asking if the money is reaching those who really need it.
The shadow foreign secretary William Hague spoke to us last night about the Conservative party's decision not to hold a Lisbon Treaty referendum. He defended the Tory pledge to claw back power from the EU if elected, a policy French government minister Pierre Lellouche called "pathetic". Mr Lellouche has since said that he is prepared to "live with" whatever policy the UK had on Europe. But how are we going to be perceived in Europe and beyond if the Conservatives come to power at the next election?
Security forces in the Iranian capital, Tehran used batons and tear gas to disperse opposition supporters yesterday, witnesses and state media reported. Tonight we have a very strong interview with an Iranian opposition protestor about the brutal treatment inflicted upon him while in prison.
Emily's sore throat has got the better of her, so Gavin's stepped in. Join him at 10.30pm on BBC Two.
- Sarah McDermott
- Wed 4 Nov 09, 05:32 PM
Here's Emily with news of tonight's programme:
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.
Promises of a referendum on the Lisbon treaty are now gone, defunct, deceased etc. But, if you thought the Tories would present that fact with the tail between their legs you have another think coming. No hint of apology from David Cameron today. Instead, fresh promises (some might call them cast iron guarantees) of a public vote on future treaties and indeed a pledge that British courts of law would hold sway over Europe. Can he promise this? Will anyone in Europe listen if he does?
Tonight, William 'wewillnotletmattersrestthere' Hague will join us. We'll ask if the Tories can still win the trust of the British public when they make pledges on Europe.
But first, a week that started badly in Afghanistan - with the return to power of a corrupt government - just got much, much worse. Today, five British soldiers were shot dead by the very policeman they were helping to train. Tonight we ask if the whole strategy of empowering and training up the Afghan army has been undermined by today's dreadful events. And we explore whether politicians are getting cold feet about the mission. Former minister Kim Howells says it would be better to 'bring home the vast majority of our men and women there and use the money saved to secure our own borders'. Do others tacitly agree with him?
The party leaders are united about one thing - a wish to appease Christopher Kelly with whatever he suggests on new rules for MPs' expenses. We'll be looking into the changes and how quickly they will be implemented.
And our Dragons' Den style Politics Pen returns (watch the trailer here). This time we're giving Newsnight viewers a chance to face our political animals and pitch their policy ideas on how we can raise more money from taxation. You can read more from one of the political animals, Patience Wheatcroft - who's the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal Europe here.
Do join us on BBC Two at 10.30pm.
Emily
- Michael Crick
- Wed 4 Nov 09, 12:38 PM
"Cast-iron guarantee" was the phrase of the day at Prime Minister's Questions today as Gordon Brown and Labour MPs taunted the Tories on their pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
The trouble is that Brown calls it "iron cast" and pronounces "iron" in a rather strange way, with two syllables rather than one.
Still, we can expect Labour researchers to be busily examing past Conservative policy statements to see where else they have made "cast-iron guarantees", or "iron-cast".
Interesting to see that the Speaker John Bercow twice gave mild rebukes to Gordon Brown over straying into party politics, and Brown's later retort that he did "not always agree" with Bercow's rulings.
- Mark Urban
- Tue 3 Nov 09, 05:36 PM
The death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid underlines how critical bomb disposal operators have come to the Nato campaign in Afghanistan.
The numbers involved give some idea of how making Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs has become a major industry on Helmand Province.
During the first nine months of this year, British forces dealt with more than 4,000 IED incidents.
Thousands more bombs were either dealt with by other Nato forces, or blew up those planting them or locals and livestock.
As for those that remain undiscovered, it is anyone's guess how many there might be.
The next wave
Staff Sgt Schmid had defused 64 IEDs during the first five months of his tour.
Bomb disposal operators (that term covers officers and NCOs, men and women) are working flat out, more intensively even than at the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
Recently, Newsnight filmed with the next wave of bomb disposal people bound for Afghanistan.
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They were training at the Felix Centre at Kineton in Warwickshire.
Unusual people
Talking to instructors who had returned recently from Afghanistan, such as Staff Sergeant Stu Dixon who won the George Medal there, it is the rudimentary nature of so many of the Afghan devices that makes them so difficult to deal with.
Sometimes the pressure pads or trip devices made with bare bits of wire, and old lumps of wood will result in the slightest movement making an electrical contact, leading to the explosion.
Dealing with this threat on an almost daily basis requires a very unusual type of person as we discovered during our filming.
- Sarah McDermott
- Tue 3 Nov 09, 03:01 PM
The Czech constitutional court has ruled that the Lisbon Treaty is in line with the constitution, clearing the way for President Vaclav Klaus to sign it. The Czech Republic is the only EU member yet to ratify the treaty, and the decision removes the penultimate hurdle to its passage. It's a move that has put pressure on David Cameron's Conservatives. In 2007, Mr Cameron made a "cast iron" guarantee to hold a referendum on any treaty that emerged from EU talks. Now that position seems to be shifting with the Tory Leader expected to clarify their policy tomorrow. Tonight David Grossman looks at whether Cameron can hold the Tories together on Europe.
On the day that former British soldier Simon Mann - who was sentenced to 34 years for a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea - is pardoned and returned to the UK, Richard Watson has the exclusive, inside story of the coup. He has documents including the contract for the coup which shows that if it had been successful Mr Mann would have been in line for a $15m payout. Take a look at the documents here.
We have an exclusive interview with Al Gore - the former US Vice President, and author of the best-selling book and Academy Award winning movie about the threat of global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.
And Matt Frei returns to the town of Culpeper, in 'swing state' Virginia, a year on from the US Presidential election. Has anything changed since President Obama was elected?
Join Jeremy at 10.30pm on BBC Two.
- Verity Murphy
- Mon 2 Nov 09, 05:47 PM
Here is what is coming up on tonight's programme:
Hamid Karzai has been declared the elected president of Afghanistan. The planned second round of the vote was scrapped after Mr Karzai's sole challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of the race.
Tonight we hope to be speaking to Lyse Doucet live from Kabul to get the latest. And our
Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban will be asking if the lives lost and money spent to secure Afghanistan sufficiently for the election was worth it, and with Mr Karzai's reputation now so tarnished, how legitimate will his presidency be?
On Friday Newsnight spoke to the UK's chief drugs adviser, Professor David Nutt, who was sacked after criticising government policies Since then two members of the drugs advisory panel have quit in protest and others are to meet to discuss their next move.
The home secretary Alan Johnson said Prof Nutt was sacked for "crossing the line" between giving advice and campaigning for a policy.
Tonight our Science Editor Susan Watts examines how this row came about, where it is heading and what could be the future implications for scientists and government ministers.
And talking of Alan Johnson, we will also be getting reaction to his first speech on migration in which he admitted the government has sometimes been "maladroit" in dealing with immigration.
Mr Johnson also accepted that some parts of Britain were "disproportionately" affected
by immigration, with an influx of new arrivals putting a "strain" on jobs and services.
And we have the second part in our Make Do And Mend series of films. Milliner Mary Jane Baxter has been travelling around the UK for Newsnight investigating if the resurgence of make do and mend is parsimony or passing fad.
Jeremy is presenting tonight and he'll be on BBC Two at 10.30pm. Do join
him.
- Mark Urban
- Mon 2 Nov 09, 03:30 PM
The leading contenders in Afghanistan's presidential election certainly have shown cunning.
Unfortunately their skills have helped their country little and brought the elections into disrepute.
President Hamid Karzai has been re-elected after his leading challenger, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out.
Mr Karzai thereby did what the international community asked for - conceding the need for a second round of voting after claims of widespread vote rigging in the first - without having actually to fight it.
Dr Abdullah meanwhile has managed to tarnish his rival's victory by making a hue and cry about voting fraud in the first place.
When sufficient Karzai votes were disallowed to make a second round necessary, and the president had conceded that, Dr Abdullah withdrew.
Abdullah 'tarnished too'
The challenger himself had 300,000 votes disallowed so he was hardly blameless in first round rigging.
What is more few experts think that he would have won, even if the second round had been staged to the best international standards.
So rather than enhancing the sitting president's credibility by losing against him, Dr Abdullah has withdrawn, claiming fair elections were impossible.
Both men have displayed the Afghans' remarkable talent for nihilism.
Many foreign models have been trashed in Afghanistan, but their own governance only ever produced one of the world's poorest, and in recent decades, most war torn countries.
Strategic options
So where now? Mr Karzai has been congratulated on his re-election and the international community must now get along with him.
There will be some ideas about making further aid conditional on his rooting out corruption and getting the government to function better, but it will be very hard to compel him to do so.
Threats of withdrawing foreign forces are not credible - not yet anyway. In fact the logic of the strategic options now being considered suggests committing more troops and aid.
Since the president knows this, he will make the right sort of noises towards the Western powers, and maybe accept a national unity government or some constitutional reform.
But will he really follow through?
The Americans will have to work Mr Karzai hard, but carefully, during the coming weeks in order to get the best looking result they can.
But even if his government is no more than the vehicle for raising much larger security forces in order to make Nato's withdrawal from combat possible, Mr Karzai knows he is indispensible once more.
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