Sunday 15th September 2002

This week Sir David Frost interviewed the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as well as the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and the Labour MP Tony Banks - who this week announced his intention to try to steal Mr Livingstone's job at the next Mayoral election.

The Foreign Secretary joined the programme from the United Nations in New York where talks are underway to try to thrash out a new deal on Iraq. Mr Straw said the five permanent members of the UN Security Council had not yet finalised the content or structure of a new resolution, but added that if Saddam Hussein allowed UN weapons inspectors to do their job without restrictions, the "case for military action recedes to invisibility".

Joining Sir David in the studio was Tony Banks, the former Sports Minister who has thrown his hat in to the ring to become Labour's candidate for the office of Mayor of London. He raised his concerns about Mr Livingstone's controversial plans to introduce congestion charges in the capital.

Mr Livingstone hit back by saying congestion charges were the only way forward, and denied they amounted to a tax on drivers. The Mayor also scotched rumours that he was taking driving lessons.

As the country prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of Black Wednesday this week, the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, Sir Howard Davies, explained the lessons learned from that period. He also outlined how the economy could be affected by a war against Iraq. He said: "in a sense, you've already got a war kind of built into the markets".

Also on the programme, the man hailed as Britain's greatest living actor, Sir John Mills, recounted tales of his life and times, just weeks before going back on stage for a one-man show.

And this week's papers were reviewed by the BBC's John Simpson and the human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.

Jack Straw MP, foreign secretary

Tony Banks MP

Ken Livingstone MP, London mayor

Sir Howard Davies

Sir John Mills, actor