Breakfast with Frost is BBC television's agenda-setting weekly news and current affairs programme. It is broadcast every Sunday on BBC One at 0900 GMT. Click left to hear a message from the presenter, Sir David Frost.

Sunday 21st April 2002

Sir David Frost was joined this morning by the Prime Minister Tony Blair to talk about the decisions announced in last week's budget to spend more on the NHS and to increase national insurance to pay for it. Mr Blair was also asked about the lastest situation in the Middle East and speculation about military action in Iraq.

Sir David also spoke to Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian's senior negotiator for his view on the crisis in the Middle East and he interview the European Union's external affairs commissioner, Chris Patten.

On a lighter note, Sir David was joined by Lloyd Scott who ran, or rather walked, last Sunday's London Marathon wearing an antique diving suit. The suit weighed 120 pounds, and the marathon took Lloyd five days to complete.

And as always there was a review of the papers - this week with the Green MEP, Caroline Lucas and the writer and broadcaster, David Aaronovitch.

In his interview Tony Blair promised that the extra billions being poured into the National Health Service by the Budget, will be properly spent. He said the restructuring of the NHS is the biggest task for any government since Margaret Thatcher's reform of British industry twenty years ago.

Moving to the subject of possible military action in Iraq, the Prime Minister insisted that the Government will not make any decisions on military action until it has looked at all the options, but he added that "Saddam Hussein is a threat and the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein in power".

On the situation in the Middle East, Tony Blair renewed his calls for a fresh peace process to be launched and he said: "There is blood being shed on both sides. People are dying. And the reason that is happening is because if there is not a political process the extremes move into the vacuum that is created".

Prime Minister Tony Blair

Saeb Erekat, Palestinian senior negotiator and Chris Patten, EU external affairs commissioner

Lloyd Scott, Marathon runner