Archives for March 2009

Here's Paul Mason with news of what's happening tonight at 10.30pm on BBC 2:

G20 is almost upon us.

President Sarkozy has threatened to walk out of the G20 summit if it does not pass some tangible measures. His foreign minister has reinforced the threat today, saying that the French won't sign the communiqué if it is vacuous. What lies behind the stance of the big Eurozone powers? And could they really march, Greta Garbo style, out of the ExCel centre? Jeremy has just interviewed outspoken German finance minister, Peer Steinbruck. He was, as always, outspoken but told us it was "not very likely" that the Germans would follow President Sarkozy into the flouncing out lobby in Docklands. Watch Newsnight for his views on whether Gordon Brown's economic measures are working in Britain.

The former chairman of RBS, Sir Tom McKillop, has written to the Treasury Select Committee defending the bank over the issue of Sir Fred Goodwin's pension. As it happens, Lord Myners is, at the time of writing, giving evidence to a Lords committee. We will be watching closely.

Meanwhile, Richard Watson has spent the day in the City hearing from the police and protesters ahead of tomorrow's day of action. What will the police and protesters tactics be? And what are bank workers doing in preparation for tomorrow's anti-capitalist demonstrations?

And do you remember Tina Owen? She's the Woolworth's worker who was made redundant and took on the Employment minister live on Newsnight in February. We return to Swindon to spend a day with her as she tries to find a new job.

And we'll be examining the Obama effect as he touches down in the UK tonight for the summit.

Do join us.

On Monday, 6 April, 2009 Newsnight will broadcast a special programme on cancer.

We will be examining how effective cancer care is in the UK compared with the rest of Europe, and look at the latest scientific breakthroughs that offer new hope to sufferers.

We will also be assessing how attitudes have changed to the disease with the help of Woman's Hour's Jenni Murray.

To help us we would like you to tell us, in no more than one sentence, your reaction to the word cancer.

Please leave your sentence below.

Newsnight Economics Editor Paul Mason writes:

I'm getting used to the concept of 'X trillion dollars'. The draft G20 communiqué leaked to the German press at the weekend is full of placeholders for money commitments that have not yet been decided. What is clear is that any new fiscal stimulus commitment is off the agenda. But only the outright cynics will say the G20 does not matter. It is set to deliver a concrete commitment to regulating the banking system. It will certainly deliver new money to the International Monetary Fund. But the danger remains that the emerging rival policy blocs will take action that accelerates the collapse of globalisation.

After that, Mark Urban will be reporting on the lawlessness of Lahore and what it means for Pakistan's fragile political state. As the Home Secretary is mired in embarrassment over using Commons expenses to pay for porn, MPs are offered a pay rise. Michael Crick asks if it's bad timing or just a bad idea. And 20 years after witnessing the Hillsborough disaster at first hand, Peter Marshall turns up new evidence of what went wrong that day.

And after Newsnight tonight - the first terrestrial showing of the drama that's been called the best TV series ever made - The Wire. If you want to know what you're in for, here's what Newsnight Review had to say about the last series, and critic Marina Hyde on why she loves The Wire.

Here's Kirsty with news of what's in store later this evening...

Hello viewers

"A comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan" was President Obama's stated aim today in the face of what he described as an increasingly perilous situation. The goal he said is to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Much of the speech was focussed on Pakistan, and the carrot was there as well as the stick, $1.5bn in direct support to the Pakistani people each year for five years. So, will this pave the way for more US military action within Pakistan's elastic border with Afghanistan? And is the deployment of a further 17,000 US troops to take the fight to the Taliban, and a further 4000 troops to train Afghan security forces really an acceleration of the exit strategy? Mark Urban gives us his assessment.

And on the eve of the start of the planned protests leading up to the G20 we discuss the anger that is driving the protests. Anger against the bankers, the politicians, and globalisation. And more broadly, are more of us just mad as hell. And, if so, what is fuelling this emotion? How destructive is it and what will dissipate these feelings?

We hope to be speaking to Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP who let rip in a sustained verbal attack on Gordon Brown in Strasbourg this week, a huge YouTube hit, and one of the people taking part in tomorrow's protest.

If you're angry tell us what about here.

And then on Review, Rosie Boycott, Sarfraz Manzoor and Andrew Roberts consider two books which might help you manage or "channel" your anger.

Ayn Rand's classic 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged is selling like hotcakes. In the book a number of "capitalist commandos" forsake American society in which the government is pursuing increasingly interventionist policies, to firefight economic meltdown. And in The Storm, Vince Cable analyses the present crisis (which he predicted) and gives his pro interventionist solutions.

I wonder which you would pick?

Still on the theme of economic crisis, there is a new adaption of Gogol's The Overcoat by the physical theatre company Gecko. A lowly clerk is angry and frustrated about the preferment and consequent prosperity of his colleagues, and lusts after an overcoat to impress a colleague after whom he lusts even more.

And anger is just one of the many complex emotions which dominated Brian Clough's 44 day hell as manager at Leeds United FC, and imagined in a novel The Damned United by David Peace (he of the Red Riding trilogy). Now Peter Morgan has teamed up with Michael Sheen for the third time (Blair, Frost) with a loose adaption of the book as the starting point of an exploration of the triangle that dominated those days (Clough, his deputy Peter Taylor and Don Revie). Director Tom Hooper weaves in wonderful archive in a very restrained way, and Michael Sheen finds the essence of one of the most famous faces in football. He tells me he has never felt such pressure to get a character right! The former footballer Pat Nevin joins the panel to give us his verdict on The Damned United.

Do join us for all this later tonight.

Tonight on Newsnight and Newsnight Review we are talking about anger.

The next few days will see the start of a series of protests in London in advance of the G20 summit on the global financial crisis. The protesters will be focussing on the popular villains of today, the bankers. And, of course, governments.

But how much anger is there out there more generally? And if we are angry, what are we angry about? And who are we angry with? We want you to tell us what you think.

One newspaper columnist this week said Britain was seething with rage. Is that true?

Are you angry about MP's expenses? Unemployment? Life in general?

Are you in fact - "mad as hell" and unable to take it anymore?

We'll discuss it all on Newsnight.

Plus: the US satirist Stephen Colbert joked the other day that Americans have got so angry they have even started to read books!

One of the books they have turned to is Ayn Rand's seminal novel of 1957, Atlas Shrugged, which imagines a world where the creative, wealthy, entrepreneurial classes (angered by government intervention and taxation) go on strike.

Newsnight Review will be discussing the book tonight, alongside Vince Cable's The Storm, which attempts to make sense of these extraordinary times.

Have you read Atlas Shrugged? If so, tell us why you think people are reading it now.

Has other literature or art helped you make sense of the economic crisis or calm your anger?

We are waiting to hear from you now.

Leave your comments below, or why not send us a video rant? Just click here.

Here's what's coming up in tonight's programme:

The film star, the fraudster, the world's biggest ruby and a bankrupt business

Don't tell me you are not hooked already by the title? We will explain all tonight, and I promise it is actually an even better tale than it sounds.

But first: Gordon Brown has taken a moment out from his whirlwind Brazil trip to confirm he does not 'tolerate torture'. Not a comment, as you might think, on the fortunes of a man currently struggling to drum up support for his G20 summit next week, but of a Prime Minister whose security agencies are about to investigated by the police.

Was MI5 complicit in the torture of a Guantanamo bay detainee? Tonight, at the invitation of the attorney general, an investigation into these claims has been launched. The implications, and the questions, are huge. What did MI5 know? What might it have agreed to? And just how far up the chain of command will these investigation stretch? We'll have the latest here.

And just how did a man who attacked 70 women in south London over the course of a decade, escape arrest for four years after he first became a suspect?

And we also look at how President Obama's policies are starting to shape up with the chair of his science and technology council and an analysis of his plans for the military.

Join us at 10.30pm.

Gavin Esler presents tonight's programme, here's his rundown on what to expect.

Quote for the Day
"Yes."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband when asked if an inquiry into the Iraq war would be set up as soon as is practical after British troops leave in July.

In tonight's programme we'll analyse what an Iraq inquiry might achieve and - after the Hutton and Butler inquiries - how credible it will be? Will we find out definitively why we went to war? Was the war legal? What happened to Saddam's supposed WMD? And why was the occupation of Iraq such a catastrophe?

Also in the programme, the latest in Paul Mason's series of reports from Eastern Europe, and whether the US and the EU really are split over what to do next on the economy. You can watch the first two films here and read more on Paul's blog.

And finally, Newsnight viewer Daniela Stuhlmann says she is still reeling from the sight of Tony Parsons' socks on Newsnight Review, and - no doubt in retaliation - has sent in the worst Joke of 2009 (so far - other entries welcome).

She writes:

There was a dog called Minton, who ate a shuttlecock... so his owner said "Bad Minton..."

Oh, dear. I'll have a word with Tony about his socks...

Gavin

Here's Paul Mason, who's on his Euro-Crash tour, with a look ahead to what's happening tonight on Newsnight:

"$16bn with the promise of double that to come. That is what is at stake in the stand-off between the IMF and the government of Ukraine. This country of 50m people, already a geo-political faultline and riven by ethnic unease, calmly took the IMF's promise of a bailout and then reneged on the strict conditions. Hence the bailout money is suspended and Ukraine is on the brink of bankruptcy. If you wanted to lend Ukraine £10m, you would have to take out insurance costing £5m upfront, that is how certain the markets are that it is on the road to default. Last week the government reversed its decision to impose a unilateral 13% import tax; but not on cars, which make up for 10% of its economy. So the stand off continues, and the Ukrainian people suffer. Many cannot even get their money out of their own bank accounts. Watch my report tonight and follow my progress through Latvia, Ukraine and Slovakia on my blog."

Also tonight:

David Grossman on the difficulties for Gordon Brown caused by Mervyn King's cautious message on fiscal stimulus, Richard Watson on the Government's anti-terror strategy and Matthew Price on the Mexican border with the US on the drugs war.

Join Jeremy at 10.30pm.

Jeremy Paxman presents Newsnight tonight.

Our Economics Editor Paul Mason begins his tour of countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain in Latvia tonight. There the end of easy credit and a housing boom has left the emerging middle class high and dry. Eastern Europe faces a slump on the scale of the 1930s as the newly emerging market economies wither under the onslaught that stronger countries can for the time being still weather. But what happens in the Eastern bloc could actually have an impact on all of us. Find out how tonight - and follow Paul's progress through Latvia, Ukraine and Slovakia on his blog.

Back in the UK, Ken Clarke waded in over the weekend to say that the all-important Tory Inheritance Tax promise was no more than an aspiration, political code among the cynical for 'we probably aren't going to do it after all'. The Conservative High Command sprang into action to affirm that this was a solid promise firmly in the next election manifesto and would be honoured come what may. End of story?

Well perhaps not. As the bill for the economic rescue packages mount, there's a growing political acceptance on all sides that high taxes or austerity will be required once the current crisis is over in order to balance the books. Our Political Editor Michael Crick reports on what that means for the next election campaign if no-one can convincingly promise anything but a long miserable slog out of recession.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Secretary today announced his latest plans to neutralise £1tn of toxic debts in the US banking system. Put simply that means that a whole lot of those sub-prime mortgages that kicked off the credit crunch in the first place will soon be sealed in concrete and buried deep under ground for a thousand years. And thus set free, the banks will start lending again. It all sounds good but will it work? And, perhaps just as importantly, will the Obama presidency stand or fall on how effective the plan is in rejuvenating the US economy?

All that and IPL cricket too. That's Newsnight at 10:30 on BBC2.

Here's Gavin with news of tonight's programmes...

My main aim in presenting both Newsnight and Newsnight Review tonight is to see whether I can get from one side of the studio to the other without falling over. And also whether I can manage to take my tie off - probably worth tuning in for that reason alone, I'd say.

We're going to devote much of the programme tonight to the new British economic divide. Not between north and south, or town and country, but between the public and private sectors. The public sector (NHS workers, teachers, police officers, local government workers) is, according to one of our contributors, a "recession free zone". The private sector meanwhile, from the car industry, to the high street, to the financial services industry, is reeling from lay-offs and money problems. How significant is all this? Is it a temporary or a more permanent shift? And with a General Election sometime in the next 15 months or so, will whichever government takes office have to take a chain saw to cut back the public sector, because we simply cannot afford it?

On Newsnight Review tonight it's power, politics and sex, from Judi Dench as the notorious Marquis' mother-in-law in Madame de Sade, to political mandarins and the mafia in the new biopic of seven-time Italian prime minister, Guilio Andreotti, Il Divo. We'll be reviewing the latest drama-documentary on climate change, The Age of Stupid (starring Pete Postlethwaite) which aims to create a new generation of activists. But in the current economic climate is the environment yesterday's news? That's for our guests are Tony Parsons, Miranda Sawyer and Jonathan Freedland to decide. We'll have a debate between The Age of Stupid's director Franny Armstrong, and Martin Durkin, the documentary filmmaker responsible for The Great Global Warming Swindle. I'll also be speaking to the Pet Shop Boys, about pop and political commentary, on the eve of the release of their tenth album Yes.

Fun for all the family.

Do join us.

Gavin

Is Google getting too big for its boots? On the day they launch Street View in Britain (to enable us to see 360 degree views of 25 UK cities) some of Google's critics argue it has gone too far. We debate.

Plus, ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders, Gordon Brown is trying to persuade European leaders that his response to the economic and financial crisis is the right one. He's in Transmit Mode, but are the other Europeans in Receive Mode?

We will have the latest report from Tim Whewell on the new Russia. This time the emerging Russian middle class and how it's coping with the recession.

And we're hoping to talk to the former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire about whether the seminal band is going to get back together.

All that on Newsnight tonight at 10.30pm,

Gavin

Here's Tim Whewell with news of what's happening this evening on Newsnight:

For generations the life of most Russian soldiers has been nasty, brutish and long. But at last, that's beginning to change. The Kremlin has realised that in order to modernise its army, its hundreds of thousands of badly-trained, demoralised conscripts have to be replaced by eager professionals. It is a huge task, and I've spent several days with Russia's elite paratroopers to see how it is progressing. I sample the army's new improved menus (now served by women), try a parachute jump, and learn to tie the traditional soldier's footcloths that are now being replaced by more modern socks. You might think anyone would want to sign up. But as I discover, the experiment is not going entirely to plan...

We will also be speaking to Lord Turner about his proposals for a "revolution" in regulation, and assessing how radical they are.

As unemployment tops 2 million, we speak to three people who have lost their jobs in the last few months to see how they are coping, including Tina who took on Tony McNulty in our Newsnight Jobs Special.

And as judges in the Josef Fritzl case consider his sentence, we speak to the forensic psychiatrist who assessed him.

Do join Jeremy at 10.30pm.

Here's Tim Whewell with news of what's coming up in tonight's programme:

It looks like we are approaching an historic turning-point in the relationship that once defined the history of our planet. After years when many feared a new cold war, America is now talking of hitting the reset button in relations with Russia. Today President Medvedev announced a major re-armament programme, and the country has embarked on a massive reform of its million-strong forces - the biggest upheaval, many believe, since the Bolshevik Revolution. In today's Russia it is hard for journalists to get access to military bases, but I recently persuaded the top brass to let me visit two of their most interesting units, where Russia's "top guns" train fellow pilots and test new aircraft. I got a chance to ride in their new airborne combat vehicles and watch their latest fighter-bomber - the Su-34 - in action. But I also heard about the mistakes they made in their most recent war, in Georgia, which are now prompting a drastic rethink of how the armed forces are organised and commanded. My report on what Russia now wants from its military leads the programme tonight. You can read more and watch some clips about Russia's military and the controversial reforms it is undergoing here.

Also tonight: a damning report into the A & E department at Mid Staffordshire NHS trust finds that hundreds may have died needlessly. Matt Prodger examines whether or not health care targets are actually hurting patients.

And David Grossman will look at whether the spotlight on Sir Fred is leaving other guilty parties in the shadows.

Do join us at 10.30pm.

Jeremy presents tonight's programme. Here's the running order as it stands.

Economics correspondent Alex Ritson:
"We'll see the recession coming to an end probably this year." It's an extraordinarily optimistic statement given the financial turmoil - a year to the day since Bear Stearns crashed. But it comes from arguably the most important official in the global economy, the US central bank governor Ben Bernanke.

I've spent the day hitting the phones to see if there is anyone credible on this side of the Atlantic who agrees with him. And to my surprise, there are a number of influential people in the financial world who think a turnaround could be in sight. But that may not be good news for all of us - find out why in Newsnight tonight."

Also tonight, have the Americans given up on President Zardari of Pakistan?

Has there been enough soul searching in Austria about the Joseph Fritzl trial?

We also have a frontline report with French troops - yes French troops - in Afghanistan (you can watch some of it right now here).

Tonight at 22.30

Here's Kirsty with a look ahead to tonight's Newsnight:

Hello viewers

I'm just back from deepest Sussex where I interviewed the Chancellor as the G20 finance ministers meet to plan how they are going to save the global economy... How advanced are their plans? And do they really agree on anything?

Also tonight, after a sad but historic week in Northern Ireland, Michael Crick assesses whether something fundamental has changed in the politics of the Province.

And as we await the return of more troops from Iraq, will they be met by the same protests as the Royal Anglian Regiment faced in Luton? We'll debate.

Join us at 10.30pm.

Tonight on Review we have a television extravaganza.

In the studio with me are the award-winning director of The Damned United, Tom Hooper who has a long list of film and TV credits to his name from EastEnders to John Adams; Jana Bennett, former head of Science at the BBC, and now the Director of BBC Vision, she was responsible for bringing Walking With Dinosaurs and The Human Body to our screens; Stephen Garrett, boss at Kudos Film and Television, who delivered such groundbreaking series as Spooks and Life on Mars; the stand up comic, author and avid TV consumer, Natalie Haynes; and the award winning TV critic, Andrew Billen.

They will all be addressing the question: is television dead?

Has TV run out of ideas and money? Is there any risk-taking? Does television surprise and delight audiences anymore? What are the must-see programmes? Are American broadcasters delivering what we can't?

Is TV still capable of conducting a national conversation? Or has a combination of recycling of ideas, fakery scandals, and multi channel options, jaded viewers' palates?

Please get involved - leave your comments here.

And do join us at 11pm.

Here's Gavin with details of what's in store this evening:

Quote for the Day
"I just read the newspapers and the need to rant and rave and vent and scream and punch things has possessed me."
Writer Alexandra Penney who lost her money through one of Bernard Madoff's schemes.

We'll have the latest on the prosecution of Bernard Madoff for what could be one of the greatest scams in history.

We'll also hear from Lord Laming on his report into the death of Baby P, and I'll be asking him, given the climate he describes, why on earth anyone would want to be a social worker.

And we'll have a very interesting film from Papua. Best known, if it's known at all, for being one of the most remote places on earth. We have rare access to those fighting for independence from deep in the Papuan jungle.

Finally, the PM Programme (a title which sounds like something for which Evening Primrose oil might be a cure) has accused Newsnight of - shock! - stealing its jokes. This, of course, is absurd. We did steal its editor, but our sophisticated style of Newsnight humour requires no plagiarism.

Here's the joke that we're both fighting over: "I went to the zoo the other day but all it had was a dog. It was a Shih Tzu."

The good news is we used it first in November 2004. As part of our green initiative on the programme I recycled it last night.

Finally, let me recount a short story from my visit to Glasgow last weekend. A local police officer stopped a car with a faulty tail light. The driver got out and kicked the light which started to work. "You'd better give another kick to your windscreen then," the police office said to the driver. "Maybe it might update your tax disc."

Newsnight is at 10.30PM on BBC 2.

Gavin

That is the question Newsnight Review will try to answer tomorrow night, with a panel of critics and industry insiders.

Doomed is putting it a little strongly, perhaps, but there is no doubting that television is facing a crisis, with funding drying up, and in the wake of all the fakery rows of recent months.

But Review is asking whether the problem is a more fundamental one.

Has television just run out of ideas? Are all the formats derivative? Are all the dramas a bit samey? Is everything just a bit safe and predictable?

Or, do you feel that television is still pushing the boundaries?

We want to know what you think. Was there ever a golden age of TV? If so, when was it? Or are we living through it right now?

Is TV still at the centre of our national conversation, and if not, does that matter?

What is the best and boldest programming around right now?

What was the best TV programme ever made?

And how do you think we will be watching TV in 10 years? Will we be watching it at all?

Let us know by leaving your comments below. And do tune in, or set your VHS, your recordable DVD player or digital recording device for Friday night.

That's if Newsnight Review is not already series linked on your set top box. Or you're not watching from your mobile phone. Or from outer space...

Here's Gavin with details of tonight's Newsnight:

Quote for the Day
"He went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath. I've never seen anything like this in my life"
German police chief, Erwin Hetger, following a deadly school shooting in which 15 pupils died.

We'll have the latest on that shooting and be discussing why this kind of killing has happened again in Germany.

We have a report from Northern Ireland where Richard Watson had an interesting encounter at one of the peace rallies, and we'll be talking about the economy.

Today's the day when QE starts, the Bank of England putting more money into the system.

Today is also the day when Barack Obama suggested next month's G20 summit in London will have to discuss ways of preventing a repeat of the current crisis as well as ways of extricating us from the mess.

We will also have a live interview from the man in charge of one of the touchstones of the economy, the department store chain John Lewis and the supermarket Waitrose. How are things on the high street now? What is the psychology behind consumer spending now?

Plus we'll have a film on how the credit crunch is affecting one of the world's most aggressive new economies, China.

And finally... my thanks to Nick Webb for this Joke Fit For an Eleven Year Old:

The Shep Association have just announced the discovery of the World's Worst Zoo in a remote mountainous region in the south west of China. Apparently the zoo only has one animal, a dog. When asked what type of dog, a spokesman confirmed, "it's a Shih Tzu".

Newsnight 10.30pm on BBC 2.

Gavin

Note: Due to technical problems the Newsnight email newsletter could not be sent out this evening. Sorry about that.

Here's Steve Smith with a look ahead to what's happening tonight on the programme:

Hullo viewers,

Richard Watson is in Northern Ireland for the programme tonight, with the latest on the three killings in as many days which have shocked the community and left politicians emphasising that the new peace deal will not be shaken. Richard will be examining how much support there is for the gunmen who reject the new order.

Two men with a lot to say about the state of the media have been appearing before MPs at Westminster. At first sight, the grievances of Max Mosley and Gerry McCann could hardly be more different. The Formula 1 boss won a High Court ruling against a Sunday newspaper after it ran a story about his private life. He now says journalists should be obliged to approach the subjects of their stories before a word is printed. Mr McCann and his wife won substantial damages from several papers over untrue allegations following the disappearance of their young daughter, Madeleine, in Portugal. What links both men is a disquiet about the media 'going too far' at a time of dwindling circulation and revenues. Max Mosley and Gerry McCann will both be on the programme as we debate issues of privacy and free speech. You can watch Jeremy's interview with Gerry McCann now.

And David Grossman trains his dry and perspicacious gaze on the ambitions of the Tory party in Europe ahead of the forthcoming elections. Read more about the Tories' European dilemma here.

Join us at 10.30pm.

"We should remember that our future isn't dependent on the evil of those who seek to destroy our society."

Confident words from Peter Robinson, the Protestant power-sharing leader to the Northern Ireland Assembly. But the killings on Saturday night raised plenty of questions about who was behind these attacks, and what else they might be capable of doing. Richard Watson is investigating.

From Richard Watson:
"Following the murder of two soldiers in Northern Ireland, I'll be looking at dissident republican groups who're trying to re-ignite what they term 'the armed struggle'. We've spoken to a source who claims that different groups of dissidents who oppose the peace process are attempting to come together to create a new version of the IRA."

We also have a film from Lyse Doucet in Afghanistan. It's twenty years since the last foreign invaders packed up and left. But not everyone went home. Lyse takes a ride with a former red army soldier turned Kunduz taxi driver; and as memories of that conflict are being invoked again, she asks what lessons can be learned from the past.

And we will be interviewing Julie Myerson about her new book 'The Lost Child'. She's been heavily criticized for writing about her struggle with her son over his cannabis habit. We'll be asking her how a mother justifies betraying her son's confidence for her art.

Join Jeremy at 10.30pm and leave your comments below.

Here's Gavin with a look ahead to tonight's programme:

"You made some comments about my deputy, and I have to say that I won't hear a word against him - I think he's fast on his way to becoming a national treasure."

Leader of the Commons Harriet Harman on her deputy Chris Bryant MP.

Is the Prime Minister on his way to National Treasure-dom? It's been a week in which he has taken huge risks, backing the Bank of England's decision to pump up to £150bn into the economy, and made a big speech to the US Congress. He has also met Barack Obama and begun laying the groundwork for next months G20 summit in London.

So, can Gordon Brown rebuild his premiership, along with the economy?

Or is he, as some commentators believe, inevitably doomed? We'll debate.

Plus we'll have more on the data protection issues raised amid allegations of a "blacklist" of construction workers. Peter Mandelson and some green custard could also make an appearance...

That's Newsnight tonight at 10.30pm.

Gavin

Tonight on Review, everything is history and history is everything, from the new film The Young Victoria, to The Kindly Ones, a shocking novel about The Shoah, written by a young, Jewish author. The book's narrator is a former SS Intelligence officer looking back on the war. He describes in horrifying detail the murder of the Jews and conducts a discourse with the reader about the nature of, and the blame for, the Holocaust.

In The Young Victoria, Emily Blunt takes the role of the 18-year-old monarch who had to battle to get the throne and who is feisty and passionate. Paul Bettany is Lord Melbourne, the scheming Prime Minister who is apparently after her hand, and Rupert Friend plays Prince Albert, with whom she falls in love. Does it matter that Julian Fellowes' screenplay is not entirely faithful to history? That's for our guests (novelist and critic Adam Mars-Jones, Kate Williams, author of a book about the youthful Queen, and artistic director of the ICA Ekow Eshun) to discuss.

They've been to see a dance piece about a cross dressing, 18th century spy. It's the product of a collaboration between dancer Sylvie Guillem, choreographer Russell Maliphant and director Robert Lepage.

They'll also be reviewing Gordon Brown's address to Congress, with its paean of praise for America's recent past, and its invocation of history as the key to the future, and an altogether darker, alternative vision of the last American century in the film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' cult classic comic series Watchmen.

If you're a Watchmen fan, or even if you're not, you can watch Ekow Eshun and cult musician Jeffrey Lewis discussing their different reasons for loving it here.

Join us at 11pm.

Here's Paul Mason, our Economics Editor, with a word about this evening's programme:

"So, it's finally happened. Interest rate cuts ran out of road and the UK will print money to try to dig itself out of the recession. This is a decisive move and puts the UK once again out ahead of the major western economies. The US central bank started buying up debt in this way in December, but has so far poo-pooed the radical step of buying government debt. Today's move will see the Bank pile in to the gilts market, hoovering up the debt of the government But will it work? The experts who have been banging on about this policy for months say we'll know by the summer. More tonight..."

And more on Paul's blog here.

Read the rest of this entry

At the time of writing, Gordon Brown is addressing both houses of Congress. It's being billed as the speech of his career. So far there has been a lot of clapping but Mark Urban will be here at 10.30 to unpick whether the prime minister has sold them his vision for a global solution to the economic downturn. For the moment, if you can decipher this, here's his speech as a tag cloud.

Matt Prodger writes:
"Doncaster hasn't had much luck with local government. A decade ago 21 councillors were convicted of fraud in the "Donnygate Scandal", the biggest local government corruption case since Poulson in the 1970s. Now Donny is at the heart of another crisis, this time over the deaths of vulnerable children who should have been protected by social services. In a chilling echo of the recent Baby P case, one of those who died was a baby murdered by her father when he snapped her spine. Over the course of a month-long investigation I've discovered that senior managers in Doncaster council were warned four years ago that child protection services were in chaos, yet our whistleblower - a former child protection manager there - says the warnings were ignored. I'll also lift the lid on a local authority at war with itself - an elected mayor at loggerheads with an elected council - and ask if the roots of the child protection crisis lie in a bold experiment in local democracy." You can read more on Matt's investigation, and see a clip of the out whistleblower here.

ITV has announced 600 job losses after reporting a loss of £2.7bn for 2008. Is this the consequence of the multi-channel, multi-format age or just bad business management?

And we hear from the founder of CNN, Ted Turner, on the economy, the environment and the future of television.

From our terror specialist, Richard Watson:

"It's another bleak day for the citizens of Pakistan. Not only are today's attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team likely to be the final nail in the coffin for visiting sports teams, they will also be seen as another milestone on the road to political chaos. The Pakistan Government has admitted that some of the planning for the recent Mumbai attacks was carried out on home soil. If the latest events turn out to have involved Pakistani militants then this will strengthen fears that the state is unravelling. I've spent the day trying to piece together the wider implications of these attacks which I think should be viewed in the context of a regional crisis involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Iran."

Also tonight, are we kidding ourselves about a "new" special relationship with the US? Gordon Brown is granted an audience with Barack Obama in the White House tonight. Jeremy will speak to Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband from Washington.

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Jeremy presents tonight's programme, which features an investigation by Caroline Hawley. Here's Caroline with details of her report:

"Tonight, Newsnight investigates the murky world of extortionate money lending. As the recession deepens there are warnings that more and more of us will fall prey to loan sharks. We've been out on a raid against a suspected loan shark, accused of lending over a £1m to hundreds of victims. But loan sharks are not the only winners in the economic crisis, pawnbrokers and legal doorstep lenders are also benefiting. But at what cost to their customers?

Also tonight:
We'll be looking at the way lotteries are being used to allocate places at secondary schools in England as the government has announced an inquiry. What should Gordon Brown tell Congress when he gets his moment in the spotlight and addresses the two great houses on the Hill this week? And one of President Obama's closest advisers tells Newsnight's Ethical Man what the new administration's global warming plan will look like. (Read Ethical Man Justin Rowlatt's blog here.)"