News in Picture

With public debt heading for a historic high, it seems there is no escape from tighter public spending in the months and years ahead.

Lord Mandelson told the BBC today that that the Conservatives are "salivating at the prospect of wielding an axe over public services".

He was speaking ahead of a speech on the government's plans for reform of public services and spending, in which he called Labour the party of wise spending, not big spending.

The Conservatives however, accuse the government of "reckless" spending and of being oblivious to the economic conditions. They say that public spending must be reduced now to cut government debt.

Tonight, David Grossman will be assessing who is right, when it is best for the axe to fall and how the party's strategies are changing to deal with the cash-strapped times we live in.

We will be asking the government to explain what measures it could introduce which would effectively reduce costs without compromising frontline public services and talking to politicians of every stripe about what needs to be done.

Also, on the day TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber gave his opening speech to the TUC Congress in Liverpool, Matt Prodger is in Doncaster to report on the rise of a new trade bloc, the Workers of England Union.

And, as Newsnight prepares to mark the year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman's Brothers which set us on the path to global recession with an hour-long special programme on Tuesday, Robert Peston reports tonight on the year following the crash and the lessons learned. And on our website you can watch some of the key Wall Street players giving their view on the events.

And finally, the Cabinet met today to discuss political strategy in the run-up to the election. The cameras were let in briefly ahead of the get together and of course a team from Newsnight were there. We didn't get to film the meeting, but we did get a close up of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's list of notes and we want your help on deciphering them - what do you think was top of the PMs list?

Do join Jeremy at 10.30pm on BBC Two.