MONDAY 6 JULY - 22.30 GMT - BBC TWO Presented by Jeremy Paxman From the web team: President Barack Obama's new foreign policy comes up against its hardest test yet tonight - the masters of cold hard diplomacy - Russia. In Moscow talks today Mr Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev struck a deal to cut back their stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Mr Obama said the two countries were both "committed to leaving behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the past". There is plenty of room for improvement - under the previous Bush administration relations between Washington and Moscow deteriorated to levels not seen since the Cold War. But how likely is rapprochement given their differing perceptions of issues such as Russian military action in Georgia and the planned US missile defence shield? Also tonight, we have the last in this current run of the Politics Pen in which candidates go up against our panel of political animals to pitch ideas on how to slash public spending. Items on the chopping block tonight include civil servants' pay and the Houses of Commons. And talking of Politics Pen it seems David Cameron must have been watching the first edition in which deputy editor of the Financial Times Gillian Tett called for a 10% cut in quango spending. Today Mr Cameron pledged to cut the number of unelected quangos to save money and increase accountability. Tonight we will be discussing his proposals and whether they go far enough. Do join Jeremy at 10.30pm on BBC Two. To follow Newsnight's Twitter updates click here |