Newsnight 20 October

Presented by Gavin Esler.

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Merged ITV

There was a battle going on over who should control the soon-to-merge TV companies, Carlton and Granada. And there was a battle going on about who should decide who is to control the companies. Big city fund managers were trying to prevent Carlton's chairman Michael Green becoming the boss of a newly merged ITV. It's a rare public display of shareholder muscle. We asked whether the muscle was being put to good effect.

Iraq

Ahead of this week's key conference of potential donors to the Iraq reconstruction effort, we looked at the question of what should be done with Iraq's future oil revenue. One proposal is to distribute the money directly to the Iraqi people. Would this help avoid the corruption and economic distortions that oil wealth has brought to Iraq and other countries in the past?

London Underground

The RMT rail union is threatening a strike ballot over safety on the London Underground, after this weekend's two separate derailments. Has the public-private partnership really lead to declining safety standards on the Tube?

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