Friday, June 05, 2009

PlayRadioUK.com Live Blog

I'm presenting on www.playradiouk.com all day but will be updating the blog as we go along. Do have a listen but also comment here too!

Mac users should go to the homepage of Playradio below the list of stations on the left.

UPDATE: For those of you who are having trouble listening, click on this link

http://www.playradiouk.com/V4/iplayer/talk/launchradio.php

UPDATE: Click HERE for the iPlayer

Or

Click HERE to launch Play Talk UK in your default media player

It may take a few seconds to load, so be patient!

93 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely idea but completely impossible to connect to the show.

SHB said...

I can't either, get 'web site not working' error message.

Lasteddie said...

tech sucks... this is tech 101 get it sorted...

Guy said...

Glad it's not just me. PlayTalk's site is soooooo slow and stream connection times out.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are talking to yourself, Iain!

Anonymous said...

Don't work sort it out please Iain

Anonymous said...

Again can connect so slow ;( was looking forward to hearing the demise of the liebour party from my favourite blogger

David said...

Yep just hopeless. None of the links work. Very disappointing

Anonymous said...

Works fine through winamp.....

Anonymous said...

I took ages to connect but since it did connect the sound's been fine. I clicked on the "play Talk" tab then waited..... and waited....then it suddenly came up. Good to hear measured discussions.

Mark said...

No connection here :(

JuliaM said...

"Do have a listen.."

And miss Wogan..?!? ;)

Browned off said...

No reception here either. The wonders of t'internet.

Unknown said...

Seems to be working at last!

Gordon Brown said...

I'm listening through itunes and its working really well.....

Interesting comment from your mate Paul about swallowing hard to say he likes all his constituents. As a constituent, can I complain about my MP - Simon Hughes!

enuff said!

Anonymous said...

http://audio1.playradiouk.com:8490/

this worked hull daily mail reporting alan johnson is home secretary

JuliaM said...

Yup, the BBC has it now too.

Anonymous said...

Never mind widgets - The point is it seems Johnson is going to Home Office but Darling is staying a Chancellor.

Johnson is a dope - a) he will be useless at Home and b) he should have stuck the knife into Brown.

Apparently Denham to Health? What a disgrace - the last thing health needs is to break in a new minister.

How wonderful for Brown he has such a spineless cabinet. Just what job will Sugar tear himself away from his off shore bank account to do?

Gordon Brown said...

bloody hell, its a bit dry Iain. I think I'm going to go back to bed......zzzzzzzzzz

Anonymous said...

That English Democrats spokesman nearly put me into a coma.

Henry Mayhew said...

Spent half an hour this morning trying to listen. Very disappointing. Finally got through via the update. Thanks.

Tom said...

Alan Johnson as Home Secretary - exactly what I predicted earlier in the week. A succession of Ministers have left that department in disgrace with the Home Office being repeatedly described as "not fit for purpose". Given that the Brown camp see him as their biggest threat, they've taken the opportunity to throw him into the bear pit and hope he doesn't come out smelling like roses. (Even if he did manage to turn it around it wouldn't be clear enough until the election's come around and it's too late to change leader.)

Henry Mayhew said...

'keep your nipples to yourself' :-)

javelin said...

Brown is hoping the economy will recover and he can piggy back off that.

There are very contradictory signals. For example City AM shadow MPC said QE was starting to work - but the evidence, quote Reuters 2 days ago said that QE wasn't working because M4 lending only increased by 0.2% in other words lending is down from earlier in the year before QE. So I think the City AM shadow MPC are talking about non-QE signals. It's obvious banks are just filing their balance sheets at the moment with large margins on loans and will be looking to pay the Government back sooner rather than later. So either way the banks performance will improve - with a bounce later in the year. Having said that we are in a retail-hit recession with shops and consumer services being hit hard. So this area of the economy will not pick up so fast.

What does this mean for Brown - well interestingly Conservative areas - such as the S.E. which are dominated by London and Banking will pick up better than the Labour areas which are more service oriented, which will bear the brunt. So I think Brown may hope for a recovery but he will be wrong because Labour areas will be hit harder than they are now next June. I think Brown and his suppoters have fundemantally miscalculated the economy.

Trend Shed said...

I was listening on the new link......... but got booted. Is your show too popular - do you have a bandwidth problem?

Anyway - Alan Sugar as Enterprise Tsar!! Before Brown was de-railed by Purnell - was Alan Sugar supposed to be the wow factor in this re-shuffle, like Mandelson was last time?

If so - it hasn't worked.

....ooh the radio show has just come back on line again......

Therese said...

in the South East, Libertas and Jury Team are not bothering to show up for the regional collation at Southampton.
The count is in St Mary's Stadium, home of Southampton FC and each party was given a box (those that show up).
Other no-showers include Christian, no2Eu, Socialist Labour and UK First.
The one-man band of Roman Party Ave! has a whole box to himself.

Trend Shed said...

The BBC are stating that John Hutton still support Gordon's leadership despite resigning.

Thats News said...

Good news: The Titanic Deckchair Re-arrangement Committee is now being re-arranged itself

Tom said...

if Alan Sugar takes the business dept job will he be legally allowed to continue starring on the Apprentice?

Icarus said...

You did try this system before using it didn't you? Nothing there - the page won't even load.

Anonymous said...

For all those who's link isn't working go here and click Listen http://audio1.playradiouk.com:8490/

If you have iTunes the stream will connect through there.

People's Republic of South Yorkshire said...

Rumours that the Tory candidate is the frontrunner for mayor in....Doncaster.

That really would be a Labour meltdown.

I don't believe it myself, yet.

Gordon Brown said...

Hutton has gone. Surely this must be the end now?

Paul Halsall said...

Labour Win In Radcliffe West by 9 Votes:

http://englisheclectic.blogspot.com/2009/06/labour-win-in-radcliffe-west-by-9-votes.html

Turnout 2865 (35.1%)

Labour 30.7%
Conservative 30.4%
BNP 16%
Lib Dem 15%
Eng Dem 8%

Thats News said...

Latest electoral returns for Shropshire Unitary Authority

Luis said...

can these results come in any more slowly ?!

With the turnout reported to be so low, how long does it actually take to count them.

13 hours since polls closed and only 3 councils reporting. Even if they only started counting at say 8am this morning, we should have most results by now.

It is hardly enthusing people if no one can be bothered to count them. All a bit of an anti-climax so far.

Thats News said...

Yes, now Hutton has gone. Who the hell is going to be next? The Bind Moggles!

Thats News said...

If you haven't tuned in to Iain's show, do so. It is very, very good.

Henry Mayhew said...

BRILLIANT show!

Great interview with the BNP. Never heard one before. Thanks Iain.

SHB said...

Just listening to the Deputy Leader of the BNP on the show.

He is all over the place, has no coherent answers to anything and is currently being taken apart over the economy and protectionism.

What a loser.

Anonymous said...

Would be nice to listen to the show, if I could actually connect.

Paul Halsall said...

For those who cannot connect, I find it works better if I load up Internet Explorer rather than FireFox.

The Half-Blood Welshman said...

Congratulations on the interview with the BNP - for both having the courage to do it, and for absolutely slaughtering him between you!

I think I unintentionally misled you earlier - I am in Gloucestershire not Staffordshire, but they were lazy about starting the count so I was looking at Staffordshire as the most interesting one around. Sorry about that!

Gloucestershire is of course a Tory council with a slim majority - there are rumours they will lose a division in Cheltenham to the Lib Dems. The Forest of Dean results, where the local (Tory) council has hardly covered itself in glory may also be interesting. Results are expected from about 12.

Local paper has a rolling update of news and gossip here. The council website is not as useful.

Anonymous said...

tried for 15 mins can't get you via aol

Anonymous said...

I think Iain Dale and Guido should both be reshuffled. On a momentous morning like this they treat us to nothing more entertaining than deafening silence.

Please add your name to my petition.

SHB said...

I couldn't get it through AOL either.

I opened iTunes and pasted the link into Advanced, Open Audio Stream.

http://audio1.playradiouk.com:8490/

Works fine now.

Kevin Boatang said...

I might well tune in and listen to several hours of fence sitting analysis.

As the Labour party are in meltdown maybe you would like to write something longer than two paragraphs actually commenting on it?

You know, an opinion?

Unknown said...

Finally Got into the Radio once I clicked the default radio link!!!
Phew! Good to hear your voice Iain! What have I missed so far!!!

DT said...

Right, been trying to connect various ways for an hour. I'm fed up and giving up.

Anonymous said...

Why are the results coming in so slowly?

I accuse Labour of rigging the polls and corrupting the results by interference.

Dodgy, so dodgy. It's getting near pitchfork time.

Kevin said...

Hi Iain,
Dont forget about your blog readers, anyone in work who likes to keep up with developments via the blog is more or less cut off today as we cant really be heard listening to talk radio at our desks (or listening on head phones).

Wrinkled Weasel said...

FAIL Radio.

Unknown said...

OMG...you doooo sound like Rick Stein!!

Unknown said...

Folks if you have Windows Media Player, I am getting in fine on it...was totally blocked using the other links...so the default media player seems to work fine (if you have on!!) Now I must get back to looking like I am working!!!

Rob said...

You bloody do sound like Rick Stein...as long as you don't start calling for chalky!

If it's any consolation I sound like Tom Jones, except when I sing.

SHB said...

Have you got an update on the net gains and losses by party across all of the locals?

Thanks

Osama the Nazarene said...

Excellent programme so far and keep drinking the Red Bull to survive the full 7 hours.

Appreciate your comment about continuing interviews to their natural conclusion unlike Today or 5 live. Their cut offs are truly annoying.

Anonymous said...

I use VLC media player - works perfectly, every time. Gosh there's some bozo's on here, aren't there?

Heard that interview with the BNP - well done Iain for confronting him, in direct contrast to that idiot Hopeless Sense. He sounded like a little kid with his fingers stuck in his ears.

SHB said...

The BNP has grown as a consequence of the Labour Government failing to allow a grown up debate on immigration over the last 12 years.

Everytime immigration has been brought up the Labour Party has branded the instigator a racist and the debate never got started.

Andrew Allison said...

I'm off work sick today and just got up. I'm certainly finding out much more on what is going on listening to you than I am finding out on Sky News and I have some catching up to do. Keep it up. This is the way of the future for political broadcasting.

Wrinkled Weasel said...

I have IE, Firefox, and all the players, including the excellent VLC player, in all the sizes and all the colours. I cannot even get the site to load.

Everything else works on my PC so I have to conclude Play Radio is fecked.

Unknown said...

Please ask Boris why his police force are timorous fools. The real story this morning is their decision not to investigate the fee scandals "as explanations have been provided in most cases". The final par of their statement can be ignored (Reserving the right to investigate if proper evidence emerges)
There is no reason why Boris can comment on DG's arrest but not today's statement

People's Republic of South Yorkshire said...

Doncaster Mayoral elections:

It appears that the English Democrat candidate appears to be in the lead after the first round...although only just.

Recount required for 2nd place between an Independent (LibDem supported), a Tory and Labour, with the "Independent" currently looking favourite. Caroline Flint and Rosie Winterton (both present) not looking happy.

No doubt our "Independent" candidate will win on 2nd choice votes if he gets through the 1st round, although I suspect many would have cast their 2nd choice votes differently if they had known this result was likely...

Al said...

Just what is the point of this reshuffle? It's just a feeble attempt to show some kind of solidarity for Brown when we all know (as do the Cabinet) that it's only a matter of time before Brown is unseated.

BTW Playradio works fine through VLC. Just post the link (http://audio1.playradiouk.com:8490/) into the 'Open Network' section. On OS X

Unknown said...

This is the police expenses story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8085207.stm

Charges 'unlikely' over expenses

The Metropolitan Police says it is "highly unlikely" any MPs will be successfully prosecuted over expenses.

The Scotland Yard and Crown Prosecution Service statement said questions did remain in a "small number" of cases.

It said detectives needed more information on the probity of these expenses claims before further decisions on a full investigation.

It said many of the MPs who had faced complaints appeared to have provided correct information to the Fees Office.

In May, the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service set up a joint panel of detectives and lawyers to look at the reports of how some MPs were using the Parliamentary expenses.

This panel was charged with looking at whether a criminal investigation should be launched, rather than actually beginning a full probe.

Scotland Yard had received some formal complaints, including from Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon, formerly a high-profile police officer, and a tax campaign group.

Questions remain

In a statement on Friday morning, Scotland Yard said the assessment panel had met on a number of occasions over the past two weeks and considered "a large number of allegations" about alleged abuse of expenses in both the Lords and Commons.

It said that members of the panel had set out to understand the procedures for claiming expenses from the Fees Office in Parliament, the twin departments managing all submissions from MPs and peers.



"The panel's view is that, unless evidence is available which shows individuals deliberately misled the fees office, it is highly unlikely that there could be a successful prosecution," said the statement.

"Many of those complained about appear to have provided accurate information and therefore the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) will not pursue a criminal investigation into allegations against them.

"It is for the Commons and the Lords authorities to decide whether they wish to consider these cases under their internal processes and should information come to light that indicates that either Fees Office has been deliberately misled, then they will be able to make a referral back to the MPS for further consideration.

"However, there are a small number of allegations where questions remain about the probity of the claims which will require further information before any decisions regarding investigations could be made.

"We are therefore continuing to liaise with parliamentary authorities in the two houses over the provision of this additional information, so the assessment panel can make informed decisions on these remaining allegations."

Adrian said...

A scene from the new series of The Thick of It:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/

wv: outed
eek!

Anonymous said...

Great show but please stop talking about "wards" - at County Council we are dealing with "divisions"

Stephen said...

so the conservative take both devon and somerset from the lib dems!

Unknown said...

Are you sure Brown is doing a reshuffle?? Looks more like he's filling in the holes in his cabinet!! A bit like the little boy with his finger in the dyke!!

Unknown said...

Clive Soley has just stabeed Brown in the front on the BBC- "Was a good Chancellor but that's a different job from PM. He should go now"

Unknown said...

Kevin Maguire says that Brown is safe (Beeb 2.14pm)
That should lead to a shortening of the odds of a June resignation!

Jabba the Cat said...

Use the http://audio1.playradiouk.com:8490 link on a Mac and it works fine, should also work on a PC(just tested it on a PC laptop, works fine). The link bypasses all the front end non working bullshit and you can listen in two clicks.

Unknown said...

Tessa Jowell becomes Cabinet Office Minister (BBC 2.49pm-She refused to deny it when Dimleby began his questioning. Now she's just reciting the doc on Paul Waugh's Blog. Yawn. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Unknown said...

PS I assume she also gets the "Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster" gig as well

Unknown said...

Peter Hain back in the cabinet-Sec Of State Wales (Beeb sourced)

SHB said...

Another BNP supporter who is all over the place.

Doug said...

Hopi Sen is deluded if he thinks we know what Labour MPs and cabinet members think. It is patently obvious that some members of the new cabinet have bitten their tongue and in truth despise Brown. The same old machinations will continue. I find it funny that some of the Labour rebels are actually supporting Brown as I suspect a trojan horse tactic to bring back old extremist hardcore socialism to the Labour. New Labour is very much dead and they are laying the ground work for another 20 years in the political wilderness.

Hopi Sen is displaying the classic statist socialist totalitarian approach. No wonder Labour voters are moving to the BNP - they operate in the same manner.

Unknown said...

Move over darling and pass the sugar- D Mail report in March 1992 regarding the recession argument with Brown



Daily Mail

Saturday 21 March 1992

CUT OUT THE CREAM FOR FAT CAT FLOPS

Michael Walters



YOUR heart went out to him, of course. Alan Sugar, the chairman of electronics group Amstrad, wrote to the press on Thursday, referring to the 'pretty meagre' salary he has been taking - about £170,000.
He was replying to accusations by Gordon Brown, shadow Trade and Industry secretary, that he had been doing well out of the recession. Of course, he has not.
But Sugar did sell £34m of Amstrad shares at 79p a year ago (they are now 34p) and, if Amstrad holds the dividend this year, he will earn nearly £2.9m on the 205m shares he has left. So he is not doing too badly - quite apart from his other job as chairman of Spurs football club.
Good luck to him! As he says, at least he has built a substantial business that creates wealth and generates employment.
We are getting in a real muddle, though, about board pay. Incredibly, Sugar almost has a case when he calls £170,000 'pretty meagre'.
While profits are plunging and thousands of the lower-paid are being thrown out of work, pay is often actually rising at the top of big companies. And the rewards of failure at the top continue to look absolutely outrageous.

Doug said...

The problem with the radio broadcast is that Iain is doing a good job as a mostly impartial presenter with the only the odd revelling in Tory success. But Hopi Sen has an unremittingly anti-Tory angle to everything he says, suggests and implies. He si incapable of presenting anything impartially. Either Iain should be a bit more outspoken or there should be another Tory to make the more overt comments and and trash the the usual socialist bilge from Sen.

LibCync said...

A BNP councilor has got into Hertfordshire County Council by 27 votes:

http://libcync.blogspot.com/2009/06/bnp-councillor-in-leafy-hertfordshire.html

Doug said...

Let me add to my remarks. Hopi Sen is perfectly entitled when defending his politics to say whatever he likes. But Sen also has to deputise for Iain and do a bit of presenting and co-interviewing at which point he is incapable of turning off or subduing his political hackles. I think that would be a skill in that particular situation that he would do well to learn and would earn him more respect from across the political divide to boot. On the other hand no one has spoken up for David Cameron when he has been trashed on a few occasions by guests and Sen.

Unknown said...

Gibsin NOT standing as an indie (Beeb just played his statement)

Unknown said...

Gibson said that his position is untenable
Just to emphasise-Definitely NOT standing as an indie. PA confirms that and it's on Beeb tracker

Unknown said...

Gibson's statement in full-

Following Tuesday's meeting with the panel set up by the National Executive Committee of The Labour Party, and the upholding of their recommendations by the Organisation Committee, I wish to make the following statement:

“Although I was told it was not to be a disciplinary hearing, it turned out to be so. I was allowed to bring one 'silent friend' with me and Martin Booth, President of Norwich Constituency Labour Party, offered to accompany me. He has commented elsewhere that their final decision was a fait accompli and I have to agree. I felt the panel had made their mind up prior to the interview and the considerable local and national support from constituents and non-constituents, although available, was not examined. A document produced by the CLP was presented but there were no questions addressed to it. Nor were any questions asked about my personal statement which I had also submitted.

The panel asked me if I felt my actions contravened the 2009 Code of Conduct clause in The Green Book, which states that claims should not give rise to “improper personal financial benefits to themselves or anyone else”. This clause did not feature in Codes of Conduct in Green Books prior to 2009, when my daughter and her partner were living with me and when I sold my property to them, and even if it had I do not believe that there was anything improper about my actions. It still remains unclear which rule I have broken and I have not received the verdict in writing yet. I asked them to draw a line in the sand and to think carefully before taking a position on the family life of MPs, and the ways in which Parliamentary life intrudes upon family life. I was really pleased to be able to share my flat with my daughter and her partner.

The issue of my selling-on my second home below the market price begs the question why did I not sell it on the open market and make a profit? Some MPs did and, no doubt, gave or shared the proceeds with their family members. In my case I was not motivated by making a profit. I received the equivalent of the mortgage loan for the flat, namely £162,000 which was due to be repaid in November 2009. I will be required to repay an additional loan incurred by having to re-mortgage my first home in Norwich in order to buy the flat for £195,000 in 1999.

It was, and will be, my personal money and not the taxpayers which will be used to pay-off the re-mortgage. This helped to reduce the mortgage interest payments made by the taxpayer for my second home. I will, of course, be paying Capital Gains Tax on the sale of my second home, the exact amount of which will be determined in consultation with my accountant when preparing my 2008-09 tax return later this year.

I did not cover up, as implied by The Daily Telegraph, that my daughter and her partner shared my second home. Their names appeared on the electoral register. The address was only removed from my published receipts to meet the requirements of the House Authorities who were redacting, ie blanking out, members and staff addresses, telephone numbers and bank account details to comply with the Data Protection Act. Unredacted material was, of course, sold to The Daily Telegraph.

It has been my great honour to have served the people of Norwich North as their MP since 1997. I am proud to have voted with the Government on the introduction of Tax Credits, Pension Credits and the Minimum Wage etc., but equally proud to have voted against invading Iraq, ID Cards, renewing Trident missiles and the charging of University Top-Up Fees.

I wish to publicly thank the hundreds of people who sent me messages of support. The decision of the NEC leaves me today bowed but not broken. However, I believe that my position as an MP between now and the next election is untenable. And after discussions with my family, colleagues, party members and my admirable staff, I have decided to tender my resignation as an MP with immediate effect and I expect it to be accepted.”

Doug said...

Hopi Sen is again falling back to top down authoritarian control against recall mechanisms and other forms of checks. No mechanism will ever get rid of corruption. It is human nature and impossible to eliminate. The Founding Fathers understood this. All you can do is make sure as much power as possible is in the hands of the entire electorate to judge and rectify unacceptable behaviour from its representatives. Let the people decide and if we make mess of things then at least it is democratic.

Unknown said...

Gibson just being interviewed by Dimbleby

Unknown said...

"I have hundreds of emails asking me to stand as an independent but I would never desert the party. That is not me, I am afraid" (Gibson )

Unknown said...

Gibson will help the Labour candidate's campaign if he/she wants his assistance

Doug said...

Oliver Letwin had nothing to answer for despite Hopi Sen smearing him. He was presented with a statutory notice by the water company to repair a leaky pipe under his tennis court. It is entirely right that expenses would cover a cost such as that. The money didn't improve anything just returned to its previous state.

Unknown said...

Flint- "[Brown ] treated me like female window dressing"

Unknown said...

Harman just had a mental breakdown on PM programme-Sugar perfect for the job as "I notice that the Apprentice final has 2 female finalists"

Unknown said...

Some good news for Hopi. Kate Hoey on Beeb just now-Lab increased their majority in a council election in her constituency.... which is I assume very close to your new offices, Iain!

Unknown said...

Iain-Don't delete this. BRILLIANT TOUR DE FORCE. Looking forward to Sunday night...assuming that Brown hasn't declared a dictatorship by then and banned reporting of the Euro elections!