Today - 05/11/2009

Presented by Sarah Montague and John Humphrys. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is meeting to review the future of its quantitative easing policy, which has pumped 175 billion pounds into the economy. Economics editor Stephanie Flanders examines the impact of the policy. Many MPs have refused to comply with Sir Christopher Kelly's report into MPs' expenses, despite the government giving its full backing to it. Parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy reports on the mood in Westminster. The United Nations has announced it will temporarily relocate more than half of its staff in Afghanistan. The decision follows last week's Taliban attack which killed five UN workers and three Afghans. UN spokesman in Kabul, Allen Sedique, comments on the measures. Friends of the Earth (FOTE) have warned that plans to expand carbon markets could trigger a second 'sub-prime'-style financial collapse, and fail to protect the world from global warming catastrophe. CEO of the European Climate Exchange, Patrick Birley, and the author of the FOTE report, Sarah Jane Clifton, discuss the rise in the carbon trading market. The NHS is failing to properly care for patients who are near the end of their lives, according to the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD), with poor communication compromising patient care. Sian van de Welle describes her family's experience with the NHS while her father was dying and Dr Ian Martin, author of the report Caring to the End? discusses the report's findings. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has made an unusually outspoken condemnation of attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Joseph Stalin. In a message posted on his blog, President Medvedev called on people to remember the 'millions who died because of Stalin's terror'. Last year, in a nationwide television poll to name the greatest Russian ever, Joseph Stalin came third. Moscow correspondent Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports on how Russians view their former leader. Thought for the Day with the writer Rhidian Brook. Conservative leader David Cameron has announced his party will not allow any further powers to be passed to Brussels without referendum on Europe policy and will aim to return some powers in social and employment law, and criminal justice. Mr Cameron claimed the approach 'settled' Tory policy on Europe for the next parliament. Sir Stephen Wall, former Europe adviser to Tony Blair, and Conservative peer Lord Tebbit debate the Tories' European policy. The killing of five British soldiers in Afghanistan by a police officer has raised questions over security progress in the country. The British army has been training Afghan security and police forces to enforce the rule of law for the long-term future of the country. Mark Grant-Jones, padre with 2 Rifles Battle Group, and Mark Christian, a padre serving with British soldiers in Helmand, comment on the implications of the killings on the British cause in Afghanistan, and Afghan journalist Nadene Ghouri discusses the Afghan reaction to the incident. The story of writer Will Self's journey walking from Shepperton to Dubai is documented in a new collection of collaborations called Psycho Too, which Mr Self has worked on with artist Ralph Steadman. Sarah Montague went to meet the two men at Mr Steadman's studios in Kent. Author and business journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin has published an insider's account of the Wall Street crash. Mr Sorkin discusses his insights into the crash. German carworkers are furious at the decision by General Motors to cut 10,000 jobs across its European car unit Opel, instead of selling the firm. Correspondent Steve Rosenberg reports from an old Opel factory at Russelsheim near Frankfurt. A report highlighting the cases of 71 individuals who have been subjected to various forms of detention without charge has been released by human rights campaign group Cageprisoners. The report, primarily based on testimonies taken directly from the detainees, says that the counter-terrorism tools used are counter-productive. Cerie Bullivant, who was placed on a control order, discusses his experiences of being detained. The Isle of Man is to lose a quarter of its income, after warnings of job losses and cuts to public services. From 2011 there will be a reduction of 140 million pounds a year in the amount it receives from the British Treasury. North of England correspondent Judith Moritz reports from the Isle of Man on the reaction to the cut. The diaries Anatoly Chernyaev, a former adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev, have been published for the first time. They entries reveal that, from the 1970s onwards, Gorbachev met senior members of the Labour Party, including and Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock, who went looking for favours from the Soviets. Pavel Stroilov, who has researched the Chernyaev diaries, and Robert Service, Professor of Soviet History at Oxford University, examine the historical implications of the d