Politics UK - 16/07/2010 Public Sector Cuts | The Mandelson Memoirs | The Swedish Solution

Is Britain facing another Winter of Discontent? The trade unions are squaring up for a fight with the Coalition over public sector cuts. The Prince of Darkness spills the beans about what really went on between Mr Blair and Mr Brown, but what will the public make of the revelations of skulduggery in high places? And what is it about Sweden? Politics UK explains the Tory love affair with the Swedish model. Presented by Edward Stourton.

The coalition government's attempts to reduce spending, and so cut the budget deficit, are likely to have a huge impact on public sector workers. The public sector unions are bracing themselves for a battle to save jobs and benefits for their members. The veteran political journalist Nicholas Jones compares the current situation with previous clashes between Government and the unions. Mark Serwotka is General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). He assesses the impact of the government's proposed changes on the workers he represents.

Lord Mandelson, the so-called 'Prince of Darkness', was an extremely influential figure in the last Labour government. His memoirs have just been published and they are extremely candid about the long-running feud between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Anthony Howard, a seasoned observer of the political scene, and Lance Price, a former BBC political correspondent who later worked in Downing Street's communications department, discuss what they make of the book.

Sweden holds a lot of answers for how best to run the public sector - as far as many Conservative ministers are concerned. Dan Lucas, the London correspondent of the Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter", and Fraser Nelson, editor of "The Spectator", analyse why the Tories find so much to admire in Sweden.