Peter Mandelson recently made headlines after being caught urinating against a wall, having spent the evening at George Osborne's Notting Hill home. But is it any wonder, when so many public loos are being sold off for profit, for example in West Norwood and the Isle of Dogs?

Last year, Age UK’s Lifting the Lid report found that in the last decade at least 97 council-run toilets have shut across the capital, and closures outnumber openings three to one. Seven London councils now manage fewer than ten public toilets in their entire borough. 

With the public loo under threat, John Darlington, Director of Projects for the World Monuments Fund, joins us to discuss the origins and history of the toilet - and argues that unlike other infrastructure, it still serves a much-needed and essential purpose.

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