Monday, 19 February, 2007

By Emily Maitlis
Presenter, BBC Newsnight

Presented by Emily Maitlis

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Thank you for not driving

Do you feel as if you're being criminalized and penalised every time you get in your car?

Or do you welcome moves by the government to make motorists think twice about doing just that?

Tonight, as the capital sees its congestion zone double in size, and cities around the UK are flirting with a road-pricing future, we will be asking if motoring has become the new smoking - with all the taboo and social disapproval that incurs.

We've devoted much of the programme to this theme in all its aspects - penalty points, parking, as well as the growing taxes associated with putting your vehicle on the road.

We've invited all three main political parties into the studio. We want to ask the government why it appears to be flying in the face of public opinion - or at least a 1.5 million strong Downing Street petition - by forging ahead with such seemingly unpopular measures.

And we want the Conservatives - with their long standing support of the car - to tell us how the motorist fits into David Cameron's green dream.

Armed with a panel of critics, we'll debate whether the government is now effectively at war with the motorist.

TALK ABOUT NEWSNIGHT | Is motoring the new smoking?

Blair's Britain

As the 10th anniversary creeps closer we start a new series looking at Tony Blair's legacy.

This film, with Jeremy Paxman, starts not in the schools, or in the hospitals, or even in Iraq but - perhaps more surprisingly - in the heart of the City of London.

More on Blair's Britain by Jeremy Paxman

Sego's France?

She's shaken up her campaign team and is putting herself in front of a live public audience on prime time TV.

This is make or break time for Segolene Royal, the French Socialist, who is currently trailing heavily in opinion polls behind Nicolas Sarkozy on the right.

She's made a few gaffes recently - like not knowing the exact number of nuclear submarines in the Navy.

But does that really define what the French look for in a president? We'd debate that too if we had the time...

Caroline Wyatt's Newsnight report on Segolene Royal (July 2006)