Thursday 1 February, 2007

By Gavin Esler
Presenter, BBC Newsnight

Presented by Gavin Esler

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Hello,

Imagine my surprise this morning opening my copy of the Times to read that my esteemed colleague Jeremy Paxman has offered a devastating critique of the BBC's failures to be Green enough, failures on recycling, failures to cut power consumption, failures to help save the planet. Great stuff, I thought. Then imagine my surprise because in the BBC office Jeremy and I share with Kirsty and Emily, the computer and monitor (which we also share) were left switched on all night. The culprit? Hmmm. Who could it possibly be wasting all that electricity? Well, the last log-in that I could discover was "Paxmanj." Any ideas? Now to business:

The End of Blair?

News that Tony Blair has again been questioned by detectives in the cash for peerages investigation suggests to many in Westminster that we are already in the twilight of the Blair era. Michael Crick has the latest on the investigation, and we'll be considering the enormous political fall-out.

SFO

The House of Lords debate the issues surrounding the decision to drop the Serious Fraud Office investigation into BAE arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The government claims the decision was made for reasons of national security. Tonight Newsnight has an interview with one of the key witnesses in the prosecution case who makes claims about BAE's financial connections to the Saudi royal family.

Afghanistan

Alistair Leithead has been the BBC's correspondent in Kabul for almost as long as General David Richards has been in charge of the NATO force in Afghanistan. Alistair's film tonight follows the General's progress in his battle against the Taleban ahead of his departure this weekend.