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Page last updated at 07:09 GMT, Thursday, 25 March 2010

Today: Thursday 25th March

The political parties are drawing up their election battle lines around the economy following yesterday's Budget. And a parliamentary committee has suggested that there is too much anti-terrorism legislation in Britain.

PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to offer transcripts for our programme interviews. Today is broadcast live and the running order is subject to change.

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0709
The political parties are giving their reacting to Alistair Darling's Budget. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable gives his analysis of the UK's economic strategy.

0714
Scientists have made great progress in recent years in understanding the neural processes involved in memory, and are beginning to look to developing cures for phobias and treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder. Science correspondent Tom Feilden took a look at the links between memory and trauma.

0718
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0721
Saudi Arabia has announced that more than 100 people have been arrested in connection with an alleged al-Qaeda suicide plot to blow up oil installations. Security correspondent Frank Gardner outlines the arrests.

0725
Sports news with Rob Bonnet.

0732
German chancellor Angela Merkel is refusing to sign a bail-out deal for Greece despite reassurances by Eurozone leaders that they will take "determined and coordinated" action to ensure the zone's stability. Europe correspondent Jonny Dymond reports from Germany's financial capital, Frankfurt.

0736
Britain's seaside towns are to be regenerated under a new government strategy to be unveiled today. Communities Secretary John Denham will outline a £5m fund to aid regeneration in 25 coastal resorts. Patrick Browne, from the Coastal Communities Alliance, and Colin Foran who runs the Clarence House Guest House in Skegness, discuss whether new funding will help coastal areas.

0740
The paper review.

0743
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has extended his visit to Washington to attend a meeting aimed at restarting peace-talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu met with President Obama earlier this week. Tensions between the US and Israel have escalated after Israel announced it would build Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. Dr Rosemary Hollis, director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme at City University London, examines whether US-Israeli diplomatic relations can be improved.

0748
Thought for the day with The Right Reverend James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool.

0751
Would you like to be able to wipe any bad memories from your mind? Anders Sandberg, neuroscientist and philosopher at the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, and AC Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, examine how the possibility of being able to adapt our memories will affect our individual identities.

0810
The political battle lines on the economy have been drawn in the final budget before the election. Shadow chancellor George Osborne gives his reaction to Alistair Darling's speech.

0820
Following the success of his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, about a boy with Asperger syndrome, Mark Haddon is now trying his hand as a playwright. Arts correspondent Rebecca Jones spoke to the writer ahead of the first performance of Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse in London next month.

0827
Sports news with Rob Bonnet.

0832
EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to try and agree a deal on a bail-out package for Greece, in a crisis which has exposed rifts between Germany and France over how to run Europe's economy. Europe editor Gavin Hewitt comments on whether relations between Eurozone countries have been damaged.

0836
Business news with Adam Shaw.

0838
Among the many industrial disputes of the 1980s it is the deadlock between the miners and Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government which still resonates 25 years on. The strike's cultural legacy will be examined at a conference at Leeds University today. Correspondent Nick Ravenscroft looks back on how the miners' strikes effected Britain.

0842
Who was the real Macbeth? A new book tells the real life of one of Shakespeare's most popular and most performed characters who lived 500 years ago. Fiona Watson, historian and author of Macbeth, A True Story, and Declan Donnellan, founder and artistic director of the Cheek by Jowl theatre company, compare the lives of the two Macbeths.

0848
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is warning Palestinians to be wary of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, accusing Israel of using the personal information posted to help recruit collaborators. Jon Donnison reports from Gaza.

0852
The political battle lines on the economy have been drawn in the final budget before the election. Political editor Nick Robinson comments on how the political reaction to the Budget will pave the course of the general election campaign.



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