Tuesday, 2 October, 2007
- 2 Oct 07, 07:06 PM
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Basra troops
Gordon Brown's announcement of a reduction in troops on a surprise trip to Iraq this morning was flagged up by our own Mark Urban on last night's programme. But the timing and the manner of his statement has provoked a major political row. First, the PM's suggestion that 1,000 troops would be leaving by Christmas had to be "clarified", as the departure of 500 of those had already been announced. And then, at their conference in Blackpool, a series of Tories accused Gordon Brown of trying to distract attention from their proceedings there, asking why the announcement hadn't been made to parliament. We hope to put this point to a government minister on the programme.
Cameron's big day
The Tory leader is limbering up for what is sure to be the biggest day of his political life tomorrow. The success, or otherwise, of his speech at the party conference is likely to have a major influence on Gordon Brown's decision as to whether to call a snap general election. Our Political Editor Michael Crick has been assessing what David Cameron has to do to win over the waverers.
Blackwater
The head of the controversial US private security firm, Blackwater, is appearing before a Congressional committee in Washington today. It's said that the company has been involved in 200 shootings in Iraq since 2005. Paul Mason has been watching the proceedings.
Muslim punks
We鈥檙e running an extraordinary film about a group of Muslim punks who've been touring across America, playing some gigs, having some cancelled, and having some stopped by the police. They call their subculture "Taqwacore" - and their sound and message is not exactly what you would expect.
Ronnie Hazlehurst
And, Ronnie Hazlehurst, the composer of a host of theme tunes that are doubtless rattling around in the nether regions of your brain, has died. Steve Smith brings us his greatest hits.
