Snowmail: Iraq five years on

While British troops have been engaged in regime change more than 2,500 miles away, a quiet revolution has been taking place closer to home.

And our political editor Gary Gibbon delves into how Britain's involvement in the war has impacted on the political-military decision-making process. Parts of Whitehall, he finds, seem to have been scorched by the experience.

And the day after we reported a slowing-down of the British 'drawdown' of forces from southern Iraq, I'll be talking to the spokesman for the British forces in their big base near Basra. One question is what exactly they are supposed to be doing in a week when the Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari urged on this programme that they should "stop doing nothing" and get out and reengage in the havoc he described in the city of Basra.

We'll see you live from Amman at 7 or what is 9 over here.

Jon

What's going on at the Bank of England?

And from London how the banking community are running around like Corporal Jones telling everyone not to panic. A meeting this afternoon with the Bank of England has been scheduled for days and is not, they keep saying, an emergency meeting.

But they do want some changes from the Bank that would ease their credit problems. The strategy is clearly to close down the public speculation that is so destabilising - but it does rather leave us all in the dark. Is that right?

McCain shoulder to shoulder with Brown and Cameron

Plus, how the next American president - if he beats Clinton or Obama, of course - could change British politics. John McCain came to London today and both Gordon Brown and David Cameron were pleased to stand shoulder to shoulder with the man who might take over from George Bush.

But what differences would a President McCain, Clinton, or Obama make to the dynamics of British politics - might Obama make Gordon Brown look more exciting? Or just highlight the shortcomings? Cathy Newman's on the case.

See you at seven,

Krishnan

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