Why should Parliament come before Today?

I've started blogging at the new Public Finance blog in addition to my posts here. In my first posting, I challenge the notion that Parliament really should have priority over Today for those ministerial announcements.

The modernising new Speaker John Bercow has a lot going for him. He has successfully overseen his first Prime Ministers’ Questions, earning plaudits for his timely interventions and brisk business-like manner. But in his short post-PMQs statement he repeated one pronouncement that suggests a parliament not yet in the modern world and not yet in tune with the wider public.

Bercow plans to enforce the convention that ministers should make their announcements strictly to Parliament and not on the Today programme. This means that ordinary people with a job won’t hear it – and may not even hear about it, as its news prominence could be lost. It also leaves ministers and their morning interviewers in an unsatisfactory tussle that can only damage politics further.

Surely, it is more important for the good of politics that the six million listeners to the Today programme and the several million viewers of breakfast TV hear about matters that affect them ahead of 650 MPs and the few hundred thousand viewers of the Daily Politics?

Ed Stourton's departure

The decision by the Today programme to sack Ed Stourton - a voice of calm moderation, intelligence and reason on a programme too often privy to sensationalism and pointless interruption - seems but another sign of the sorry state of the BBC these days. The manner of his dismissal - without telling him - is particularly outrageous. I think the BBC will regret it.

Of course, there have to be changes in personnel on such programmes. Personally, I think it is good - and very timely - to have someone with economic literacy on the programme in the shape of Evan Davis. I have no strong views about Justin Webb, one way or the other.

What I do know is that Ed Stourton has his supporters - perhaps a lot more than the BBC imagines. This morning a lady at my local station overheard our conversation about a newspaper story related to Stourton's sacking, and came over to say how outraged she was, and though never having written to the BBC before, planned to do so now.

I doubt she is alone. The BBC takes its listeners for granted at their peril. There is little enough on air to justify the licence fee - BBC Four and Radio 4 aside - and they can ill afford to continue to alienate the views of so many of those who pay it.

Not everyone is on the internet, Evan

Has Evan Davis (left) been drinking John Humphrys' coffee? Certainly, the environment secretary Hilary Benn (right) must have felt so as he endured a repetitive tongue-lashing from the normally mild-mannered, reasonable and intelligent Today presenter on Radio 4 this morning.

But while Evan may have been right to demand crisp Yes or No answers to his schoolmasterish questions, he was surely wrong to cut Benn off when he tried to give a helpline number on air for people who might wish to avail themselves of the government's free or low cost home insultation deals. "We haven't time, they can look at it on the website," snapped Evan, wasting more time than would have been taken reading out the number.

In fact, a third of all households are still not online and most older people have never used the Internet - according to Help the Aged, 70% of those aged 65 or over have never used the web - but are usually in possession of pen, paper and phone. So receiving the number on air would be a lot easier for them than trekking down to the library to look up the Today website. For the record, the Energy Saving Trust helpline number is 0800 512012, and it is indeed on the Today website.

When the Tories say process targets, patients say waiting lists

Could somebody explain why BMA spokesman and shadow health secretary for life Andrew Lansley was allowed to get away with such transparent obfuscation on his health 'policies' on the Today programme this morning? His made up figure of '100,000 lives saved' from Tory policies was given prominence on the news bulletins even though Lansley himself admitted that this was not a target, or even a promise, just a figure which might happen if the doctors are left alone.

Then, his pledge to scrap 'process targets' was left unquestioned. Let us be clear what he actually means.

• First, the Tories plan to allow waits of twelve hours and longer in accident and emergency wards just so they can scrap 'process targets' that require a 4 hour maximum.
• Second, the Tories plan to allow waits of six or twelve months for hip replacements and many other operations as they will scrap the 'process target' of 18 weeks consultation to surgery that the Labour government is close to meeting.
• And third, they would have no 'process target' on hospital cleanliness, despite 'clean hospitals' being one of their five main goals at the last election.

Instead, they will cross their fingers and hope that the doctors will do the decent thing. Just as happened when GPs were given a whacking great pay increase in the hope that they might provide a better service for patients out of hours. None of this was revealed on the Today programme, where Mr Lansley was allowed a freedom to say what he pleased - and talk in jargon - that is denied any minister.

The distortions of Today

We have grown used to the irritating interruptions of John Humphrys on the Today programme, Following today's exchange with Alastair Darling, Andy McSmith reveals the degree of distortion that is now deemed acceptable in pursuit of the daily row.

Time for Dave to face a few tough questions

Former PR man turned Tory leader David Cameron knows a good thing when he sees it. So it is no wonder he has taken to sharing his increasingly unoriginal thoughts with Radio 4 Today listeners on an almost weekly basis, in the sure knowledge that the questioning will be little more threatening than had he been doing the exercise for a Tory PPB. I'm with Ben Brogan on this: or is it only Labour ministers who get a tough time on Today?