Today: Thursday 23 October 2008

PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to offer transcripts for our programme interviews. Today is broadcast live and the running order is subject to change.

Senior ministers are urging banks to resume lending to small businesses and individuals. Sex and relationship lessons look set to become compulsory at schools in England. And Swindon Council decides to scrap speed cameras.

0709
A change in the way sex and relationship lessons are conducted is expected to be announced by the government. Science correspondent Tom Feilden reports on the possibility that lessons will be made compulsory in all schools in England.

Sex education 'should begin at four'

0713
Alastair Darling and Lord Mandelson will meet bank bosses to get them to be more supportive of small businesses. Gavin Nolan, a credit analyst at the financial services company Markit, debates whether the massive injection of money from the taxpayer is showing any signs of working.

Banks face warning on small firms

0717
It is hoped a new drug might be able to treat multiple sclerosis, research by the University of Cambridge suggests. Dr Lee Dunster, head of research at the MS Society, discusses whether lost brain function can be restored.

Drug may reverse MS brain damage

0719
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0721
The heads of credit rating agencies have been sharply criticised by members of the US House of Representatives. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform accused the agencies of ignoring warnings signs and following the "delirious mob" on Wall Street. Professor Dean Baker, of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, says there were cases of outright corruption.

Candidates' economic plans compared

0725
Sports news with Garry Richardson.

0732
Millions of people in Zimbabwe are "simply starving". The country's economy has collapsed, its agriculture has been systematically destroyed and there are now serious food shortages. Southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles reports on the importance of attempts to form a new government.

MDC seeks new Zimbabwe election

0738
Councillors in Swindon have voted to stop funding the town's speed cameras. Peter Greenhalgh, the councillor responsible for transport, says the £320,000 it puts into fixed speed cameras would be better spent on other safety measures like warning signs and street lighting.

Council ends speed camera funding

0741
Today's papers.

0744
A bizarre collection of archive material charting over a hundred years of world music history is to be released. The old 78 records from the EMI collection include some of the very earliest recorded music, including the mystical sounds of the Imperial Palace Band of Japan. Correspondent Nicola Stanbridge met the archivists.

Around the world in 78 revolutions

0747
Thought for the day with Reverend Rosemary Lain-Priestley.

Thought For The Day

0750
What is the state of England's soil? Sarah Mukherjee reports on the latest findings of the Royal Agricultural Society, and professor Dick Godwin, who wrote the report, explains how agricultural productivity could be harmed if soil science is not reformed.

Soil health 'threatens farming'

0810
The government is expected to announce that sex and relationship lessons will be made compulsory in primary and secondary schools in England. Kevin Ward, headmaster of Holmleigh Primary School in Hackney, and Norman Wells, director of family charity the Family Education Trust, discuss whether more information given about sex can lead to fewer unplanned teenage pregnancies.

Lessons on sex to be compulsory

0817
Countries are becoming victims of the global economic slowdown. Pakistan has had to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help; Hungary has pushed up its interest rates massively to stop a run on its currency; Ukraine is looking for loans to shore up its finances and Turkey may be the next country to be forced to act. Business editor Robert Peston explains why entire countries are in trouble.

Stocks drift amid recession fears

0822
Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Lucy are back on the shelves. The latest instalment of the complete Peanuts cartoon strip is being revived, eight years after the death of its creator - Charles Shulz. Novelist Jonathan Franzen discusses why the comic hasn't aged.

So long, Charlie Brown

0825
Sports news with Garry Richardson.

0835
The trade union Unite is organising a demonstration at the site of a big power station project because, it says, British workers are not being allowed to work there. The Nottinghamshire project is being built by Spanish contractors and they are using Spanish workers. Derek Simpson, general secretary of Unite, says there are plenty of willing and able workers in the area, without relying on foreign workers.

Power plant faces worker protest

0841
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0844
It is not worth starting a blog, and if you already have one you should think about closing it down, an article on the technology website Wired says. Robin Hamman, of computing consultancy Headshift, and Guardian writer and blogger Kate Bevan discuss whether shorter forms of communication, such as Twitter, are taking over.

Rory Cellan-Jones' blog

0847
The draft agreement between Iraq and the United States on the future status of US forces in the country has run into trouble getting the necessary political approval in Baghdad. Correspondent Jim Muir reports on the steps needed to be taken to make sure of a stable future for Iraq.

Iraq mulls new US security draft

0855
Can the rich save the world? People like Bill Gates are reinvesting their fortunes into things like tackling malaria, applying what they've learnt from business to their philanthropy. Authors Matthew Bishop and Michael Edwards describe the newfound fascination with philanthrocapitalism.

India 'can prevent Aids epidemic'