31 July 2003

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John Leslie

Emotional scenes outside Southwark Crown court as the assault charges against the television presenter John Leslie were dropped. The Crown Prosecution Service says John Leslie left the court "without a stain on his character", for his part Mr Leslie said that he and his family had been "taken to hell and back", and he's considering suing.

This high profile failure is another blow to Scotland Yard's Special Inquiry team which was also behind the investigation into Princess Di's former butler Paul Burrell - that case also collapsed. We looked at the Celebrity Squad's own record. And Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf said MPs should examine whether people accused of sexual offences should be given the same anonymity as the alleged victims. We looked at the arguments for and against.

Saudi Arabia
Also, as a committee of MPs warns against the threat to Britain from al-Qaeda, an incredible report from our Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner on Saudi Arabia's efforts to combat the organisation's roots there. We spoke to the Saudi Ambassador to the UK.

Tony Blair
And on the 2nd of August Tony Blair will become the longest serving Labour prime minister, we looked back over 100 years of Labour history to find out how he's avoided the fate of those who've gone before him.

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