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Private Notes
King's Cross, Zeebrugge, Piper Alpha ... more than a thousand people died in the big disasters of the late 80s. Each year more than 600 die in everyday workplace accidents. Yet after most disasters and deaths at work, company managements escape unpunished. Only one director has ever been convicted of manslaughter for a workplace death, while the average fine for safety offences is little more than £800.
Michael Crick asks whether the law on safety is too lenient.
The Prime Minister has praised the NHS for the treatment his parents received when they were ill in their old age. But many health authorities are now cutting back or even abandoning long-stay beds, moving the elderly to private nursing homes. In a special Panorama investigation,
Robin Denselow reveals that the result can mean financial hardship and in some places disturbingly inadequate care.
The collapse of the Soviet Union has left thousands of nuclear warheads, vast amounts of plutonium and entire cities full of scientists who know how to make nuclear weapons: what happens to them now? How safe are the warheads? Where is all the plutonium? And could other countries entice the scientists to make their own atomic bombs and spread the threat of nuclear war around the world?
David Dimbleby presents a debate on the "nuclear nightmare" with experts from the USA, Russia and the UK.
As the General Election approaches, opinion polls suggest an increasing likelihood of the result being a hung
Parliament. If so, the balance of power may be held by Paddy Ashdown , the leader of the Liberal Democrats. Gavin Hewitt examines the "Third Man" in British politics. What do he and his party stand for and how would he use his first experience of real political power?
Next week George Bush sets out on the long electoral road to a second term in the White House. But the souring mood of America is ill disposed to reward the President of his foreign policy successes.
Instead the campaign spotlight has focused on the ailing United States economy. Under attack from Democrats and even the right wing of his own
Republican party, can Bush win through? Fred Emery assesses the President's chances.
As the opinion polls indicate that-half the Scottish electorate now favours independence,
David Dimbleby chairs a debate from Edinburgh on the future of Scotland's government. Taking part will be four men who will help decide it: the Rt Hon
Ian Lang , the Secretary of State for Scotland; Donald Dewar ,
Labour's Scottish Spokesman; Alex Salmond , Leader of the Scottish National Party; and Malcolm Bruce of the Liberal
Democrats. Each gives his answers to the question which will dominate the general election in Scotland.
Three men are serving life sentences for the gruesome murder of a Cardiff prostitute. Tom Mangold investigates some of the methods used by the police in a case that led to the longest murder trial in British history, and uncovers disturbing new evidence that raises serious doubts about the men's guilt. Is the case another example of the failure of the British criminal justice system?
Since the miners' strike seven years ago, productivity in Britain's mines has soared and efficiency improved beyond all expectations. But these gains have been accompanied by dozens of pit closures and thousands of redundancies as the coal industry has felt the chill blast of market forces.
Now the Conservatives are pledged to privatise the remainder of British Coal if they win the General Election. Jane Corbin reports from the coalfields of Yorkshire,
Nottinghamshire and South Wales on the bitter mood of betrayal in the pits.
Now that it is officially admitted that Britain's current economic recession is the longest since the Second World War, a bitter debate has broken out about its ; origins. The BBC's Economics Editor Peter Jay talks to those who have shaped recent economic policy and asks if the slump was inevitable.
David Dimbleby chairs a debate on one of the issues crucial to the outcome of the imminent
General Election.
David Dimbleby face-to-face with the party leaders.
Tonight: Paddy Ashdown , Leader of the Liberal
Democrats.
David Dimbleby face-to-face in live interviews with the party leaders. Tonight: Neil Kinnock , j Leader of the Labour Party.
The Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, John Major , is interviewed live by David Dimbleby. Can the Conservatives win the election despite the longest economic recession since the war?
What are the implications of the election result for the nation and for its political parties? David Dimbleby and the Panorama team assess last
Thursday's poll.
Summer has not yet arrived but already large areas of southern Britain are subject to hosepipe bans and other restrictions on the use of water. The south has suffered its lowest rainfall for
200 years, rivers have run dry and the water table is at an all-time low. But is nature alone to blame?
Nisha Pillai investigates why water has become so scarce in parts of a country renowned for its rainfall, and asks what can be done to supply water to the regions suffering shortages.
Now that it is officially admitted that Britain's current economic recession is the longest since the Second World War, a bitter debate has broken out about its origins. Economists and politicians are divided over a question which lay behind the election campaign: what caused Britain's recession and was it avoidable? Peter Jay , the BBC's Economics Editor, talks to those who have shaped
Britain's recent policy and asks was the slump inevitable?
Are the golden days over for
British home owners? Reporter John Plender looks at whether in future owning a house will still be a sure way of doubling your money or whether, now that Britain is in Europe, the bubble has burst forever.
Plender visits Chippenham in Wiltshire - a housing boom town until 1989 - and its twin towns in Germany and France and discovers what a Continental-style housing market, restrained by the ERM, is like.
The Citizen's Charter, which John Major launched as the Tories' "big idea" for the 90s, is rapidly breeding mini-charters setting new standards for most public services. Fred Emery reports from hospitals, schools, trains and refurbished benefits and job centres on how citizens are using their rights. Can the charters deliver their promise of public services more responsive to consumers or is the Prime Minister's initiative destined to be written off as a gimmick?
At the Earth Summit in Rio this week, tax payers in rich countries like Britain will be asked to pay billions of pounds to save the world from environmental disaster.
Leaders of the poor countries in the south say the rich have polluted the planet and should now pay the bill: claims that they are destroying rainforests and having too many children are dismissed as the new imperialism. Steve Bradshaw reports from Malaysia - where environmentalists have been compared to Nazis - and the Philippines, and asks whether anyone will make the sacrifices necessary to save the planet.
Are the police now calling a truce in the war on drugs? Fewer users are being prosecuted, but does this mean there is a move towards a decriminalisation of drugs use?
As Israel prepares to go to the polls, the Middle East peace process hangs in the balance.
The main parties face mounting pressure from an electorate trying to cope with the influx of Soviet Jews, and from
Americans demanding the exchange of land for peace.
Jane Corbin reports on how the Israeli voters will affect the prospect for peace.
In the wake of the Maxwell scandal, there are fears that pension funds are vulnerable to theft and sharp practice by the people who run them.
Nisha Pillai reports on the urgent calls for reform and asks how safe are company pensionfunds
In a few days' time, Britain's last governor will arrive in Hong Kong - in preparation for handing the colony over to
China. Can Chris Patten save the way of life of its people, or will it fall prey to the regime in Peking? David Walter reports on the last chance for freedom in Hong Kong.
Almost a year after the abortive coup against Gorbachev, the ghost of communism still haunts the former Soviet Union. Reporter Gavin Hewitt reveals how the hardliners have seized many of the economic reins of power, despite the country's attempts at reform.
New fears about an Aids epidemic in the heterosexual community have been raised by recent highly publicised cases. Reporter Tom Mangold looks at new evidence on how Aids spreads among heterosexuals, and asks whether current health policies are effective.
Is free dental care in danger of becoming a thing of the past? As dentists threaten to withdraw from the NHS over the Government's attempts to regulate their fees, Steve Bradshaw reports on the widening gap between private and NHS dentistry.
Supporters of the death penalty in America used to claim it was a deterrent to violent crime.
Now, more and more, they support it simply as a form of revenge. John Ware reports on how, in pursuit of retribution, America is putting to death juveniles, the mentally retarded, the insane, and even the innocent.
Britain is poised to become a major player in an international trade in deadly plutonium, one of the most toxic substances known to man and the raw material for nuclear weapons. There is growing concern that the movement of enormous quantities of plutonium around the world is both unsafe and unnecessary. John Taylor asks whether it is worth the risk.
Forced to remain in harbour against their will and obliged to throw almost half their catch back into the sea, British fishermen are angrier than at any time since the "cod war" of the early 1970s. The
Government says that it is enforcing conservation; fishermen say they can only survive by breaking the law. John Nicolson reports on Britain's oldest industry, in peril on the sea.
Horse racing in Britain is in crisis. Is it because it's not run in a business-like way or because the bookies aren't paying their fair share? Jane Corbin investigates the reasons for the decline in the sport of kings.
Despite the recession, the pay of Britain's company directors is rising faster than ever. When others are being urged to show restraint, how do they justify j double-figure increases? ; Michael Crick finds out who sets the boss's pay and whether there is a better way
New payments to farmers to produce less food will result in an area of farmland bigger than Devon being released. Will this lead to widespread dereliction? Should the land be used for housing and industry or returned to nature as a resource for us all?
On the eve of the Conservative
Party conference, another in-depth investigation and analysis of current events with the Panoramateam.
Recent events have shaken the foundations of the EC. As the 12 gather for a summit in Britain this week,
Martha Kearney looks at the view from France and Germany and asks whether these fast-track nations will push ahead and create a premier league Europe.
This year, hundreds of thousands of people will be smuggled into the west from the former communist states of eastern Europe. Nisha Pillai reports on this crime which is fast becoming a European growth industry as Panorama follows the refugee trail from the turmoil of Bosnia, Croatia and Romania to an uncertain welcome in the west.
Bill Clinton has suffered the most sustained attacks on a candidate's character in recent
American history, over sex, drugs and the draft. Yet he goes into next week's presidential election with the best prospects ' a Democrat has had in 16 years. Julian O'Halloran reports on how Clinton has survived the campaign and whether he can revitalise a nation plagued by economic uncertainty.
The future of some popular
BBCtv shows, from Eldorado to the Generation Game, is under scrutiny. Why should viewers pay a licence for the kind of programmes that may be widely available on rival channels in the 90s? As the Government opens the debate on the BBC's future, Stephen Bradshaw reports on the case for renewing its Charter and interviews former heritage secretary David Mellor.
Animal sacrifice, child sexual abuse, cannibalism and murder: crimes committed, claim some, in the name of Satan. According to one estimate, satanic ritual abuse is rife in every town in Britain, but is this myth or reality? Martin Bashir examines the claims and counter-claims both in America and in Europe.
Crack cocaine is one of the most dangerous illegal drugs ever to reach Britain. The intense pleasure it gives soon leads to addiction, and a deadly spiral of depression and destructiveness. Tom Mangold 's investigation reveals that the first signs of the long-expected crack epidemic have now surfaced in Britain. This extended edition includes front-line reports from the cocaine cartel's hide-outs in the Colombian jungle, from an anti-narcotics patrol in the Caribbean, and from the streets of Nottingham and London.
Under Mrs Thatcher , ministers j said they meant to privatise |
British Rail, but left it in public ownership. Now John Major 's i government intends to show I how radical it is, by de-nationalising the industry. The plan is to "franchise"
British Rail's passenger I services as soon as possible, I until they are all in private t hands. Will it work - and is it in the public interest? Vivien White investigates.
