Today: Wednesday 27th June

The government will publish its plans for Lords reform today against a backdrop of unrest among Tory backbenchers. The Queen is due to shake hands with Martin McGuinness, the former IRA commander who is now the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. And also on today's programme, the world's first professor of networking tells Today about the importance of working a room.

We are no longer providing clips of every part of the programme but you will be able to listen via the BBC iPlayer .

0615
Business news with Simon Jack, on the £56bn pound merger in the mining world which could be under threat of collapse.

0650

The National Trust is launching an appeal to raise money to allow them buy an area of farmland on The White Cliffs of Dover. Dame Fiona Reynolds, Director General of the Trust explains why.

0709
The government will publish its plans today for Lords reform, where it wants a chamber of 450 members, 80 percent of whom are elected. The BBC's Ben Wright has more details and Lord Kakkar, a crossbench peer, gives his views on the reforms.

0717
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have told a private meeting of her own MPs that eurobonds will not come to pass "as long as I live". Europe correspondent Chris Morris has more details.

0719
Business news with Simon Jack.

0722

What do the environmentalists think about the government's decision to delay a three-pence increase in fuel duty that was planned for August. Andrew Pendleton, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, gives his views.

0725
Sport news with Rob Bonnet.

0732

The Queen is to meet and shake hands with the deputy first minister and former IRA chief Martin McGuinness today on the second day of her two-day visit to Northern Ireland. Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at Oxford, explains the historical and cultural significance of the meeting for the people of Northern Ireland.

0737
The paper review.

0740
The art critic Michael Peppiatt speaks to Justin Webb about his new book and the artists he has interviewed over the last 45 years.

0746
Thought for the day with Akhandadhi Das, a Vaishnav Hindu teacher and theologian.

0749

Network Rail has to cut down trees to clear its railway tracks, but are they cutting down too many? John Fletcher, from the Dronfield Civic Society, Robin Gisby, managing director of Network Operations, and Darren Moorcroft, of the RSPB, debate the environmental impact of the tree felling.

0810

A bill to introduce a mainly-elected House of Lords will be published today. Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson, and Eleanor Laing, Conservative MP for Epping Forest, debate the proposals.

0818

Today marks the world's first appointment of a Professorship in networking at the Cass Business School. Julia Hobsbawm, who has been handed the title, explains what her new job entails.

0822
In just over a week's time, Libya is due to hold its first nationwide elections in more than 40 years. As Wyre Davies reports, recent fighting and violence in several regions has exacerbated the feeling of instability ahead of the voting.

0830
The think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs has issued a counterblast to the thinking that underpins campaigns for the government to tax fatty foods. What should our position be? Dr Barrie Craven, from the Department for Education at the University of Newcastle, who co-wrote the IEA report and Dr Mike Rayner, a researcher in Public Health at Oxford, debate the aims of a "fat tax".

0837
Nick Robinson examines the government's U-turn on fuel duty, and the potential rebellion on Lords reform.

0841
During her recent trip to Liberia Sarah Montague caught up with Mark Dowee, one of the people living in Bong County.

0843
Business news with Simon Jack.

0847
Author Dambisa Moyo, whose new book Winner Takes All tells the story of China embarking on one of the greatest commodity rushes in history, discusses the actions of China in Africa with Harry Verhoeven of Oxford University's China-Africa Network.

0852
Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett and shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan debate the proposals for reforming the House of Lords, published today.

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