You and Yours - 09/03/2009

Presented by Julian Worricker. There has been an angry reaction to the decision by one Manchester Grammar School to dispense with the GCSE system and replace it with an international qualification. Julian discusses the implications for schools in the public sector. How would you feel if your pharmacist could access your medical records? At the moment that privilege is limited to your GP, but that is set to change with a new trial beginning in Bradford, which will go ahead despite a government U-turn at the weekend on sharing private data. Should passengers on cruise ships tip in advance? The Independent's travel editor, Simon Calder, and Bill Gibbons, director of the Passenger Shipping Association, discuss. The TUC is calling on people to take part in a demonstration on 28th March in London as part of a global campaign to change the way we run our economy. But if we protest, can we actually change anything? Adam Lent, head of economics at the TUC, discusses. The diamond market is not immune from the effects of the recession, and De Beers has temporarily closed some of its mines in southern Africa. How are the retailers here in the UK faring in these difficult times? Writer and broadcaster Ray Gosling, who does not drive, shares his views about life as a pedestrian.