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Politics UK Archive

A weekly look inside British politics from the BBC

*** This programme is no longer on-air, but please listen to our archive of available episodes ***

Issues affecting British social and political life.

*** This programme is no longer on-air, but please listen to our archive of available episodes ***

Politics UK is the weekly programme that covers British political and policy issues, economic and cultural change and Britain’s standing in Europe and the rest of the world in a way that is relevant to an international audience.  
It's the flagship programme for UK political analysis and debate on the BBC World Service.  
Leading politicians, commentators and intellectuals take part each week to discuss and reflect on the main events shaping British politics.

Politics UK

Politics UK Archive: 11/02/2011 Ed Balls | Libraries | Multiculturalism

Factual: Politics

11/02/2011

11/02/2011 Ed Balls | Libraries | Multiculturalism

BBC World Service - Politics UK Archive, 11/02/2011 Ed Balls | Libraries | Multiculturalism

A weekly look inside British politics from the BBC with Edward Stourton.

At Westminster the new shadow chancellor Ed Balls took his first tilt at the government's economic policy this week and lived up to his pugnacious reputation. So is this now the moment when the economic debate is enjoined in Britain? Has the opposition now got a new spring to its step? Bill Keegan is senior Economics commentator at the Observer newspaper, Lord Lamont is a former conservative chancellor.

Some of Britain's best known authors have been campaigning to protect libraries from the impact of local authority spending cuts. One of them is best selling writer Kate Mosse. She tells us why libraries mean much more than just borrowing books, while Dr Eamonn Butler head of the Adam Smith Institute free market think tank, says libraries should take lessons from  market place and update themselves.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has re-opened the debate on multiculturalism calling for a more robust assertion of British values, a muscular liberalism and an end to what he calls the doctrine of state multiculturalism.

Gisela Stuart is  German born labour MP and Agnes Poirier a French writer and commentator who lives in London. All on Politics UK with Edward Stourton.

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