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1940 says David Cameron. PM listeners had other ideas here and in iPM tonight we have more suggestions.
If you have one of your own, feel free to add it.
Click for detailed breakdown of which counties fall into which bit of our map...which might help, especially if you're in that mysterious weather area, central southern England.
Every day a dedicated team of people work very hard to make PM as good as it can be. Today the team is led by Rupert Allman and Fiona Leach, photographed in our office this morning.
After 1800, while we sit in a Glass Box in our office, discussing what worked and what didn't, why don't you let Rupert and Fi know what you think?
Please confine your comments to the production of the programme.
Rupert Allman, who has been a tower of strength on this and other programmes in our stable for many years, is editing his final PM tonight...at least for a while. Rupert has been fired for the offence of "over-use of comedy clips during programmes" which as you know is rather serious.
As you can see from the photograph below (taken for tonight's Glass Box), Rupert and his deputy today, Fiona Leach, are having trouble coping with this emotional and trying day. Please be patient and understanding with them, and with all of us on the programme at this difficult time.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
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Every weeknight at 1800, in a full size glass box, the PM team gathers to discuss what worked, and what didn't.
This virtual glass box is your chance to do the same.
The Press Association reports that Jersey is fed up being left out of the weather forecast. Read more for yourself after the jump.
But I'm wondering whether you live somewhere that you think is neglected by the weather...?
?
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
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Every day a dedicated team of people work very hard to make PM as good as it can be. Today the team is led by Rupert Allman and Lucy Sheppard.
After 1800, while we sit in a Glass Box in our office, discussing what worked and what didn't, why don't you let Rupert and Lucy know what you think?
Please confine your comments to the production of the programme.
So said David Cameron on Radio 4's Today this morning.
Is he right?
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..a to our interview last night.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
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Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went. THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Fiona Leach and her trusty number two Dan Mitchell to read.
Right here.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Rupert Allman to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
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Eight weeks ago, we offered the chance to win Hugh. You sent in ideas, we invited Hugh to choose one and record a special piece for iPM.
After reading the two hundred ideas we received, Hugh chose the idea from listener Chris Jones. He suggested "the pressing issue of Peak Oil". Hugh went to meet the people who believe we're running out of oil.
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If you sent an idea, thank you, and it may be that you haven't heard the last from us. Now that I write that, it sounds like a threat...but no, we're following up on many of your ideas.
And we've already picked up on a suggestion that we should visit The City of London Migraine Clinic. We recorded interviews at the clinic and gave them to another listener who asked if he could put some of our stories to music. Random I know, but we like random at iPM. Here's the result.
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Find out more about and about migraines on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Health website.
If there's something you'd like to hear in the programme email ipm [at] bbc.co.uk
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versus .
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Here are some of the faces - and others too - from Hugh's report from Kabul last night, which you can hear above. Hugh writes: "This is Aid Afghanistan Education's 'School Number 2' in Kabul. It's a 'catch-up' school for women whose education was set back by five years and more as a result of the Taleban banning most education for girls:
Above: the teacher in the report, Sivito Yussufzai.
And below is one of the women who spoke to us - Sara, who is 17.
Big smiles. End of the day - time to go home:"
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
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You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
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THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Eloise Twisk to read.
There are more details here.
What do you think?
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
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You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Eloise Twisk to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
We're very proud of the PM weather forecast with its clear descriptions of location followed by the weather.
You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
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THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Rupert Allman (seen here with colleagues) to read.
?
PA reports: "Nationwide Building Society have confirmed they will not be renewing their
sponsorship of the England team. The move had been widely predicted over the last couple of weeks, leaving the Football Association to find a new partner just three weeks before a friendly with Hungary at Wembley where swathes of empty seats are anticipated following the disappointing World Cup performance."
Any thoughts on who might be a good new sponsor?
Andy Wood has sent in this:
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
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You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Roger Sawyer to read.
Foreign ministers from the USA, the UK and more than thirty other countries are gathering in Kabul for the international conference there tomorrow. Hugh Sykes will report for us tonight and sends these words and images:
"Incomplete ring of steel. A suicide bomber got through it on Sunday, and killed three people in a market near the US embassy. Or perhaps he was already inside the ring. When security was tightened in Baghdad, insurgents started assembling their bombs inside the cordon of checkpoints.
The Taleban caused chaos at the last big conference - they launched rockets at a peace 'jirga' last month. None of the delegates were harmed, but there was an embarrassing gun battle - and the interior minister and the head of the intelligence service resigned. Following each attack here, parts of Kabul grow to look more and more like Baghdad:
But there is optimism here too:
Hiol Ahmad Rahimi (left) sells carpets and Afghan coats. He drives around the country buying stock, and has had no trouble so far. He says he's had no reason to go south to Kandahar, but that he would go there if he had to.
Ghulam Mustafa is also confident about the future. He's renovating his shop, where he sells rifles for hunting.
Cinema Park, central Kabul. It was closed down by the Taleban, but they didn't destroy it.
The manager, Halilullah. He started working at Cinema Park 32 years ago. He lived in Pakistan while the Taleban were in power here. The Taleban destroyed the old equipment. These are new, carbon-arc projectors made in India. Hallilullah does not believe the Taleban will come back to power.
Projectionist Wahidullah, rewinding a spool for return to the distributor.
A haven of calm in busy, dusty Kabul - Bagh-e-Babur. And children in the garden:
And this is Boumi, a cooperative where women (and men) make handicrafts:
Latifa, who says US and UK forces must stay in Afghanistan. If they leave, she told me, "the Taleban will come back and I will have to stay at home". The other women at Boumi did not want me to photograph their faces:
means 'indigenous' in Farsi. Their goal is to make products with raw materials produced in Afghanistan.
On iPM this Saturday on Radio 4 at 17.30, we'll announce the winner of our competition to win Hugh (entries are now closed). And on last Saturday's programme Hugh talked to me about how he works. You can hear that below:
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Hugh Sykes in conversation. In the studio, not bellowing down a sat phone.
He is the prize in our Win Hugh Sykes competition. We'll announce the winner next week.
But after 354 years asking questions for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, and now that he's being put at the disposal of a listener, we thought it was time to ask Hugh some questions.
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Hear the full result in iPM, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4 on Saturday at 0545. Or podcast, or iPlayer or just don't listen see if I care.
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THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Jeremy Rawlins to read.
All week the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's economics editor, Stephanie Flanders and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's business editor, Robert Peston have brought us essays about the euro.
You can read and hear them here.
MONDAY - Stephanie.
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The eurozone crisis has caught many people on the hop. But there are those who would say it's been waiting to happen since the euro began, and a collection of economies decided to operate with one currency and one monetary policy - but very different everything else.
Many Germans were lukewarm about the euro even then. If it happened they wanted tough rules for entry so only the fittest economies would get in. But there was a bait and switch: in the end it wasn't just a hard core. For political reasons, softer Club Med types - like Greece, Italy and Portugal - somehow squeezed in as well.
Fans of a smaller, fitter euro had their doubts - the debate inside Germany about joining the euro was almost as vigorous - and sceptical - as the one in the UK. But they took comfort in the Growth and Stability Pact limiting national deficits, and the celebrated no bail-out clause (which Germany insisted on putting in). The rules said that countries weren't allowed to run up big deficits - and if they got into trouble they were on their own.
But right from the start, investors decided not to believe the small print. In effect, they decided that being part of the euro gave countries not just the same currency as Germany but nearly the same credit rating as well. They didn't pay much attention to the thought that countries in the eurozone could still, technically, go bust.
Ordinary people and businesses in the Club Med countries were happy to go along - a place at Europe's top table and German-style borrowing rates? What's not to like? But their government didn't mention the catch - that having the same exchange rate as Germany also meant you had to be as productive as German workers and stay that way. In a single currency, you couldn't devalue your way to matching their price.
In the end, the newcomers borrowed a lot - and reformed rather less. Their workers fell behind the hard core, running large trade deficits with the rest of the zone.
Brussels wasn't too worried because most of those deficits came from private borrowing, not governments. But right at the heart of this crisis is the recognition - first by investors, and then by governments that this basic judgement was wrong.
The lesson of past crises is that if a country can't pay its way in the world and is running up larger and larger debts, it doesn't matter much who is doing the borrowing. Sooner or later the problem is going to come to a head.
When a newly elected Greek prime minister stood up last autumn to announce that the old government had been borrowing far more than previously thought, investors finally started to ask themselves whether there was a risk to lending to Greece after all. And, looking around, they noticed that a lot of private borrowing in the boom years was now showing up on other governments' balance sheets as well. Spain had a budget surplus of 2% of GDP in 2007. Just two years later, in 2009, that surplus that had turned into an 11% of GDP deficit.
From then on, it's all been about the end game: what will happen to all that debt, will governments get bailed out, and what will all of it mean - for the eurozone economy and the messy compromises on which the single currency was based. That end game still has plenty of time left to run.
TUESDAY - Robert
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The great fear of any sovereign borrower - that's a government trying to borrow - is that one day its request for money will be turned down.
Which would be a disaster. Because like the rest of us, when a government can't borrow, it can't meet its financial obligations, such as paying civil servants' and teachers' wages.
So why would investors - such as banks, pension funds or ordinary savers - stop lending to a government? Well (to state the obvious) they might come to the harsh realisation that said government has already borrowed more than it can afford to repay.
Earlier this year, Greece came within a whisker of suffering just such a strike by its lenders - which would have bankrupted the country if other eurozone governments hadn't agreed a 110bn euro rescue package.
What made Greece particularly vulnerable was partly its huge hunger for new funds - its annual deficit - equivalent to around 10% of its GDP on average every year from 2009 to 2011.
Also it has to repay big existing debts, worth more than 13% of its annual GDP, its output, both next year and the year after.
So - perhaps understandably - investors increasingly worried they wouldn't get their old loans back, and were reluctant to provide even more debt. They saw Greece as the equivalent of a family whose main bread winner has lost its job but which maintains its lifestyle by borrowing, in the hope that something will turn up.
One consequence was that the price of Greek government debt or bonds plummeted, such that the implied interest rate on this debt soared to a punitively high 40%.
That was the moment when Greece was more-or-less bust - and had to be rescued by the rest of the eurozone.
But what about other European countries? Are any others at serious risk of being shunned by investors.
Well those with the biggest deficits are Spain, Portugal and Ireland - and they're certainly the countries viewed by analysts as most financially fragile.
But a slightly different picture emerges when old debt due for repayment is added to the requirement for new borrowing.
On this basis, Belgium, Spain and France all face serious financing challenges - they all have to raise money equivalent to about 19% of their GDP this year. And Italy has to find a similar amount both this year and next.
As for Portugal, it faces its biggest financing test in 2011.
By contrast Ireland looks much better placed, because it has very little old debt due for immediate repayment.
However, before you get carried away with the idea that these eurozone countries are kaput, it's as well to provide a bit of international context.
As it happens, both Japan and the US are this year financing and refinancing much more debt relative to the size of their respective economies than any eurozone country.
And yet they're perceived to be much less likely to face an imminent financial crisis.
How so?
Well Japan has a vast captive population of small savers, all keen to lend to their government, intermediated traditionally by the postal system (as it happens, Italy looks like the Japan of Europe, with a substantial national debt financed by indigenous savers, via the banks).
And at a time of global uncertainty, the US is still the place where risk-averse investors place their money - even if that's not especially rational.
The great paradox is that eurozone governments are typically the most sceptical about the benefits of global financial capitalism - and yet they tend to be more at the mercy of international investors than other rich countries.
WEDNESDAY - Stephanie
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Seasoned Europe watchers say there only two ways out of this crisis for the eurozone - it could pull countries closer together, or it could break them apart. That may be right. But in past European crises, there's usually been a muddle-through option - that's what many eurozone governments are hoping to get away with now.
Crucial to how this turns out will be Germany - where many are furious at the way things have gone. They don't like the idea of bailing out other countries at all.
Bailing out Greece - a country that only qualified for the euro on dodgy budget numbers - is about as bad as it gets. The German chancellor has told them they have to support the massive new safety net for the eurozone, because the future of the euro is the future of Europe - and of Germany.
But the real reason for Germans to support the single currency is that it has served them very well. As other countries have become less and less competitive - German companies have sailed ahead. Nearly all the growth the Germany economy has had in the past 10 years has been from exports - most of them within Europe. German exports to Greece have risen by 130% in the past 10 years. Greek exports to Germany have risen by less than 10%.
German and French officials also tend not to mention that it was lending by their domestic banks and investors that helped Greece, Spain and others to live so long beyond their means.The biggest economies in the eurozone are rallying round the big support package agreed in early May, because they think a default by a European government could be bad for everyone. But it's also because they know it would be particularly bad for the French and German banks who are sitting on a large amount of Greek and other sovereign debt.
Supporters of a closer and deeper union say this is the way that European integration has always gone: the economic ties come first, and eventually, the politics has to follow. But it's difficult to see much public appetite coming out of this crisis for deeper political integration within the Eurozone, or massive budget transfers between states. Then again, most within the eurozone don't much like the break-up scenarios that some are painting. My personal favourite, appealing to tidy-minded but impractical economists, is the idea of having one euro for the super-competitive Northern Europeans and one for the South. (Imagine the fun that France could have deciding which to join.)
So yes, everyone really wants to find a way to muddle through. But if the eurozone is going to get through this without radical change it's going to have to find a way to grow. Spain, Greece, Portugal and the rest all now face a long hard slog re-balancing their budgets - and their economies. To make the numbers add up, they need a strong domestic recovery elsewhere. Right now no-one can promise they will get one.
THURSDAY - Robert
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In the assessment of whether European banks are strong enough, a really important issue is what kind of discount or "haircut" should be applied to their holdings of government debt. The final details are still being agreed. But bankers have disclosed to me that they have been told to assess the strength of their balance sheets on the basis of the following haircuts.
Greek government bonds would be written down by around 17%, Spanish sovereign debt by around 10/11%, UK government by a marginally smaller discount than on Spanish debt, French by 6%, and German by 4 or 5%.
Now two numbers stand out for me.
First, that the discount on Greek debt is only 17% - when many analysts believe it needs to be written down by nearer 50%.
And then there is the almost identical haircuts applied to Spanish and British government debt.
Now the rationale for applying similar haircuts is that both Spain and the UK had very large public sector deficits in 2009: 11.2% for Spain and 11.5% for the UK.
But, as I've pointed out before, the UK has two advantages lacked by Spain when it comes to the affordability of its debt.
First, the maturity of its existing debt is much longer than for Spain: so on top of needing to borrow to finance the gap between spending and revenues, Spain also has to refinance maturing debt equivalent to 8.7% of GDP next year, compared with 3.8% for the UK.
So from that point of view, Spain is more exposed to the whims of lenders than the UK.Also, most economists would argue that the UK's ability to service its debts is helped by having an independent currency, which adjusts to perceptions of its economic strength, rather than being locked into the euro - as is Spain - whose value is only partly determined by the performance of the Spanish economy.That said, according to Eurostat - the EU's statistical arm - the UK's national debt at the end of last year was 68% of GDP, compared with just 53% for Spain.
In other words, and in the round, it is difficult for the UK to argue that a significantly smaller discount should be applied to its sovereign debt in the stress tests than would apply to Spain.
Even so, it's arguably quite embarrassing for the new coalition government that European regulators believe the UK's sovereign debts are of equivalent quality to what Spain has borrowed - and significantly worse quality than French and German government bonds.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
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Copy from Torin Douglas:
"The new Controller of Radio 4 and Radio 7 is to be Gwyneth Williams, who was until recently director of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's English programming. She will take over in the autumn from Mark Damazer, who is moving after six years to become head of St Peter's College Oxford.
As Director of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service English, Gwyneth Williams has been responsible for all the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's international radio programmes in English. Before that as head of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Current Affairs and editor of the Reith Lectures, she was in charge of programmes such as File on 4, Analysis, From Our Own Correspondent, Crossing Continents, and In Business. She started her career as a trainee at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's head of audio and music Tim Davie said she was a passionate supporter of Radio 4 and brought vast experience to one of the biggest jobs in broadcasting. Gwyneth Williams said Radio 4 represented the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ at its best and it was a privilege to be asked to lead it."
1255 UPDATE: The new controller will be interviewed live on Radio 4's The World at One.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
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Every week listeners send us a sentence of news about themselves. Here's last week's:
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Got a sentence about your week? We could use it on this week's iPM. Please email ipm@bbc.co.uk.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
We're very proud of the PM weather forecast with its clear descriptions of location followed by the weather.
You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Joanna Carr to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
We're very proud of the PM weather forecast with its clear descriptions of location followed by the weather.
You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Rupert Allman to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
...writes one listener about her husband in response to government plans to raise the state pension age to 66. She wrote after we read out an email from Margaret Cox who welcomed the changes, saying:
"I'm running a university research project, singing in two operatic societies and, am still able to spend time with my grand children. I can think of nothing worse than spending 20 years or more in retirement."
Our listener says that's not how people in manual jobs feel.
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We invited Margaret to expand on her original email to us and explain her thoughts more fully. She's an academic at Kings College London.
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The 'I'd Like To Win Hugh Sykes' competition is now closed. We're working on report and will announce the winner soon.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Lucy Sheppard to read.
We're very proud of the PM weather forecast with its clear descriptions of location followed by the weather.
You probably know where you are - this map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
If you want to HEAR more about how we got to this new forecast, click HERE. And there's some press reaction here.
Our original posting is here.
But it inspired a lot of people. Phil Hanman in Penzance for example: "So I'm not the only one. Here is my 1936 Desmet.
They were made at a factory near Lille and I bought this one near Arras. This radio has a history. It was hidden from the Germans during the war as there were severe penalties for listening to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. The Desmet factory itself was blown up by the Resistance in 1943, with more than a little help from London, because it was making radios for the Luftwaffe and electronic firing devices for the German artillery."
Fraser Speirs has been "enjoying the programme recently on a 1940's Marconi valve radio, while working in my loft. No stereo, no FM, but splendid reception and clear reproduction of the spoken word."
Bob Moore says "I often listen on a Philips 654A radiogramme, circa 1956. Always a solid signal, unlike the DAB in the kitchen, which I now only use as an MP3 player. With the Philips I can still walk around without the audio-kinesis effect!"
Stewart Orr has now discovered a Vidor VHF/FM battery 6valve portable, dating from 1957 or so (below). Used to belong to Dick Bagnall-Oakley, local naturalist and regular ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ East television contributor of about that time.
And get this from Sally Burgess:
"Thought you might like to see my beloved Selena, Vega Selena 215 is her name. Actually she is a SW radio but has all the bands on her & her FM is fine. She was manufactured in Soviet Russia, Siberia, to be precise & was bought by my father in the early 80's. Still working perfectly, I use her on a daily basis & I'm listening to PM on her right now.
I will be mortified when FM is turned off, of course because I won't be able to use Selena any more but also none of my other seven radios (I'm a single person with a two bedroom flat), not to mention the car. I'm a radio addict & totally against this mass digitisation, I think it's madness & I'm wondering how everyone will deal with replacing car radios, not cheap I'll wager. I've also wondered how emergency messages will be relayed if possibly half the population could be stuck with no radio in their cars, I thought the radio was one of the main sources of getting important information disseminated to the public at large, it's a rare car that has no radio."
Keith Saunders thinks the earlier old radio posting was "an impressive radio show or rather show of radios on the blogs. Bob the Gerbil's 1957 Ferranti Radiogram is the posher version of my 1955 model which, incidentally, sold for 59 guineas (remember them - they were pounds plus 5% - a sort of sales tax that went to the seller!).
I doubt if any of the pre-1954 radios shown in the blogs received VHF so I guess my 1955 model must rank with the most elderly."
Gervase Charmley updates us on a previous posting witha photo of the "Philips Stella
22RB212/22Z radio that I listen to PM on.
This radio was bought new for my grandmother, and has faithfully worked since the early 1970s. The sound quality is still excellent. What modern DAB digital radio will still be working after more than 35 years? Very few, I think!"
Nigel Tomlinson listens to PM on this
"mid-60s Clarke and Smith schools' radio. Beautiful tone and enough power to fill a hall. Also an effective room heater. I agree with other listeners' comments about DAB - the quality is inferior and the technology is already dated. Internet radio already serves those who want access to thousands of stations. So why is DAB being promoted so strongly by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and others through radio 'amnesties' and the like? Sinister forces are at work."
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Roger Sawyer to read.
Last night on the programme, we talked about the switch off of good ol' stereo FM.
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Our chat with former Capital Radio boss got people writing about old radios. John Lloyd was first:
"What about my 48 year-old transistor radio, will it still work?"
And then Simon Cook who wrote about his 31 year old FM radio which "still produces faultless quality listening all over my house". You can see it below:
So we wondered on air which PM listener had the oldest FM radio in the land.
Emma St Clair told us that her transistor radio was her grandfather's and had survived for 73 years. Andrew Wighton has a "working 53-ish year old FM radio - no stereo. An enormous radio with great tone."
Maurice Herson says: "Mine was bought second-hand in 1971 - it previously belonged to a friend who arrived at college with it in 1968. It is a Mainz AM/FM radio and I heard you wanted to know about this on it where it is on constantly in my kitchen." And he's sent this picture he admits is fuzzy - but the sound isn't.
Bob the Gerbil wrote: "How about my 1957 Ferranti all valve radiogram? (two snaps below) 12Watts RMS out from a pair of EL84s in Push-pull. Eddie, you sound wonderful!" It's always nice to get a compliment from a gerbil.
John sent his email from Herts while on the hoof: "My radio has home light and luxbg on it and I used it when I was a kid I'm now 53"
Elizabeth Balsom is mad as hell. "I'm mad as hell at the prospect of having to replace my radios One is part of a Pioneer music centre bought in 1980, another is a Grundig bought in the 1970s, and there are others, all a few decades old and all providing excellent reception. I have a radio in each room, even the bathroom, though I concede that reception isn't wonderful. And as I'm a pensioner, I really don't appreciate having to divert scare funds to buy new radios."
Mike Sells has a Quad 2, part of a vintage Valve HI set manufactured in about 1960. Rachel, listening in Shrophsire told me: "I'm listening to you on my bakelite Bush radio from pre 1950 - it's a lovely sound, Eddie, really suits your voice, and I'm gutted to think it might be rendered obsolete in a few years...." Here it is:
Clearly some older radios need a bit of help. Andrew Slattery told me: "My grandmother has a transister radio over fifty years old that now only works if you stand near it"
Nick Green in Manchester has a "Leak Troughline 2 FM tuner; all valves original as far as I know; sounds superb.Made between 1960 and 1964." I love those old names. A Leak Troughline.
Dr J. Timmermann is another listener with reason to be grateful to a relative. "My grandfather bought my Philips valve radio as a Christmas present on 23 December 1961 for 500 Marks. Being German, my mother kept the receipt as well as the manual. It's a wonderful old thing with four stereo speakers."
Bull Harrigan (best name so far) writes: "Monsieur Eddie, I have 3 valve radios, one here and two at my little maison in the west of France. They are all from the 1940's - so ....... should I throw them all away?" NO Bull. No.
Paul listens occasionally these days "on my 1936 CatEye radio that my grandparents brought from Austria before the war. Radio 4 is just past Linz in the dial"
Mark Spurlock has an "old black Bush DAC90, with smooth knobs (the rarer!). These came from the old age of austerity of 1946; it stll works well and you can warm your hands on the top of it (valve technology) in the winter....sad, eh?" NO Mark. No.
"These were one of the first sets made after the war, and featured in the 'Britain Can Make It' exhibition of 1946; they were sold in black as a mark of the time of austerity and post-war feelings. Problem was, they were designed to be used in the typical family kitchen, but the first made had smooth knobs - with wet hands, common in the kitchen, the grip on the knobs was poor, so all later sets of this model had milled edges to their knobs. Great old set; gets nice and warm due too the valves, plus has a lighted dial - show me a set today that has that!" This is it:
Tim Ritchie listens to Radio 4 "on my old Zenith FM / AM mains radio, made in 1955." Mike Boggis writes - "I won't win the prize" - Mike there is no prize - "but I am listening to you on FM in my office on a Rotel RT-320 tuner which I purchased in 1970. It has been in more or less daily use since then, has analogue-style tuning (i.e. a bit of string attached to a knob), and still sounds great, connected to an amplifier only a few years younger."
John Healey writes: "Our current bedside radio is an Armstrong AF 208 valve AM/VHF receiver, mid-fifties (?), bought for £1 at a jumble sale in Suffolk 30 years ago."
Dr B. Boothroyd has a leak too. "Our Leak mono radio was bought in the 1960s and was FM from the start of FM broadcasting."
And what about this from Michael David Edwards? "I still have my Grundig Yacht Boy Transistor radio in my bedroom which was the first thing I bought when I went to work in Sept 1968. This makes it nearly 42 years old. It is still in excellant condition and has a quality of sound that is unsurpassed. It is a trusty companion when I wake in the early hours. What will happen to the hobby of constructing crystal radio sets? I spent many happy hours making these and learnt much in my teens about radio design, wiring and soldering. I remember constructing a mast made out of my father's bamboos and running an aerial along the length of the garden and in through the bathroom window!"
John Topping inherited his from his dad. "It's 5 feet long called the coffin affectionately. It still has stations listed like Luxembourg. And it has valves in." Zoe Stewart often listens to Radio Four on "my Dansette Transistor Radio 111." David Hewitt writes: "I frequently listen to PM on a 1937 McMichael radio (on Long Wave of course) and my oldest working FM radio is a Bush VHF41 dating back to around 1955."
Anthony Prior takes us into a whole new area with this: "My radio's not that old but it still works with electrons that are 13.7 billion years old. Predating the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's first radio transmission by several weeks I think :-)"
And what about sheds? MMM? Adrian Backshall writes: "Dear Eddie, I was in my shed when you asked who was listening to you on the oldest FM radio. Well, I was listening on a 1957 Ultra valve radio which is three years older than me! is solar powered and the radio runs off of a 230V inverter clipped to my car batteries. It`s lovely sitting in my wife-free shed with a cup of tea, the radio and a plate of biscuits :o)"
Huw Finney in Maidenhead says: "I still use a 1929 Cossor to listen to radio 4 on occasion, here are some pictures, I have displayed it in the kitchen as a conversation piece." And here it is:
And below: "Early fifties we think!" From Mike and Becky in Sheringham.
Note the mix of old and new technology in Pam Hunt's photo below. She writes: "I listen to PM on a 1932 ( I believe) HMV Wireless set - Long Wave 1500 metres. It says Droitwich on the dial, just between Kalundborg and Berlin. You can't beat the Thermionic sound. I dread the thought of them switching off the transmitter."
"Hi, I have a Roberts radio that works. It is older than me, my parents had it before I was born and I am 53! Janette Taylor"
"I have a Philips AM/FM Receiver Type G63 which I bought in 1959, so it must be at least 51 years old. It has valves which take some time to warm up, and a light illuminates the dial. It still works. Yours, Sydney Gibson"
Paul Neilson says "when you asked about old radios being used to listen to PM, I was listening on an early 1970s wooden cased German Normende Spectra Phonic 4005 which I was given by a German WW2 veteran in Nuernberg in the 1988 so that I could listen to the World Service on short wave in the days before ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer.The reception was so bad I had to learn German to find out what was going on in the world. is a picture of it.
And what about this beauty from John Sykes? "This classic Hacker Mayflower 1 was made in the late 50's. s/n 1014. You are, of course, marked as "³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ". Sounds better than any other stand-alone radio which I've tried (and I currently own quite a few!)."
From an email address including "gromlangley" we have this, circa 1935:
Tony Wheal writes: "My bedside Danish L&L Piccolo Box 625 FM, AM & SW radio was bought in 1958 on HP for £2 5s 6d a month for 3 years. It has a beautiful solid rosewood cabinet and remains unrivalled for clarity of tone. Our National transistor portable (also FM,AM & SW and a rather unattractive product of its time) was bought around the same time or a bit earlier and adorns our bathroom windowsill, also working perfectly."
Sue Kelly "Hi, I just rushed to the 'Vintage Bush Radio'' Web site and found that my lovely old model ( bought in a charity shop in Hove as a birthday treat ) is a VHF 64 and dates from 1956-57. It works really well and the old music stations especially sound much better on this model than any other radio in the house."
Claire wants to make it clear she is NOT middle-aged: My radio certainly won't be the oldest... it's not that old but it is a full hi-fi set which I love, including double auto reverse cassette tape deck and a working record player, along with CD player and of course, radio. I have included a picture which seems to have turned itself sideways on on my screen, so if it turns up upside-down or something then sorry! (Please re-send the photo Claire!) When I'm not listening to the radio I'm usually listening to my favourite record (Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA) or plugged into my walkman listening to the Beatles (which annoys my friends greatly) And in case you're wondering, I'm not middle aged and I haven't got stuck in a past era of good music and retro technology. I'm actually thirteen years old... and I also have an iPod!"
"This old Philips (above) is still in service in my otherwise high-tech lab. In a flashback to a time when stations and frequencies were carved in stone, the scale still correctly reads "Droitwich", although the frequency has since changed from 200kHz to 198kHz. Unfortunately even this little treasure is being retired in favour of internet radio. It was a high price to pay to evade Test Match Special, but it had to be done. Yours, Bruno (Rotselaar, Belgium)"
Above is a "GEC Stardeck I bought by my wife Ruth in approx 1976 and still used every day Has outlived the company I used to work for!" from Alan Page in Coventry.
Louis Backer writes: "My trusty 1956 Ekco C273 FM radio (below) which is still going strong, is used on a daily basis, and one of three I have about the house. A superb retro piece for a contemporary home, but above all, a sound superior by far to that of either of my warbly DAB sets. I even re-broadcast Radio 7 through it with my iPod transmitter!
P.S. I do go out and lead a normal life too."
Ronnie Punnett wrote to me to say she "has been listening to you on my x husband's radio, which was an 18th birthday present; he was 53 on Sunday, making the radio 35 years old."
Philip Hanman says: "FM? That's all a bit new fangled for me. I listen to PM on a 1936 valve set made by a company called 'Desmet'. 1500 metres Long Wave (I don't do Kilohertz)."
Chloe Evans writes: "I don't know exactly how old this radio is (see below) as I acquired it during a lab clearout when I was doing my PhD in the 90's. It had been my supervisor's whilst she was researching her thesis so I think it must be from the early eighties. We weren't allowed radios in the lab after an incident with a postdoc with OCD, so I took it home and love it and take it on holiday often DAB in Oxford is like listening through coffee percolating, so I am worried about the death of FM and I'll particularly miss the sound of this little, but dependable radio."
Alan Makepeace has a "Murphy baffleboard radio set driven by valves which is in regular use and has better quality sound than any of my transistor radios whether digital or analogue. It was purchased in 1956."
Jennie Aron is the "proud owner of a transistor radio with FM. The model is Cathay R1412. Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly when I acquired it, but I do know it came up to University with me in 1963 and I heard the news of President Kennedy's assassination on it. My father brought it back from the States in either the late 50's or early 60's. It still works."
Paul Mackilligin was listening "on a Hacker 'Herald' portable FM-only model RP37A produced in the 70's (?) specifically for Open University students I believe. Has output socket for 'tape recording'. I've used this radio and another identical one for live theatre performances and the sound quality is superb."
Rod Hall has "a valve Philips Sirius 433 1960 Radio which is FM Stereo. It produces great soft sound which has a better quality than transistor radio's that replaced them. (due to superior amplification). Every change, from valve to transistor to DAB has reduced the quality."
Adrian has "a working Bush VHF 54 valve FM set dating from around 1954/55, used almost daily." Pat Sheehan very attached to "my clock radio... was one of the first items my husband and I bought together in 1973. The marriage is long gone and the clock no longer works as it's gummed up by a wine spillage but the radio continues to provide me with Radio 4 in the mornings and evenings and Radio 3 during the Sunday Service.
It's dodgy reception and over bright digital clock has seen me through the night feeds of three children and I don't want to have to buy a new one before it finally gives up the ghost."
Mike Hall has "a Quad hi-fi FM tuner of circa 1970 that is still used regularly, particularly for listening to CD review on Radio 3 on Saturday mornings."
Above is Richard Wilson's "faithful Grundig Record Boy portable transistor. Bought, I think, in about 1976 or 1977 it is still in daily use (to listen to your goodselves in the evening and your colleagues on Today in the morning). No problems or breakdowns in that time and apart from smelling somewhat of bacon (too many years sitting on a shelf in the kitchen while I listen during breakfast and dinner) it is as good now as it was when new."
John Archer (above): This old(ish) portable "wireless" was bought by my father in the mid 1950s to use in his car, never a success as radio suppression was not part of the make up of his 1930's Chevrolet. I have had the radio in constant use since he gave me it (the radio, sadly not the car) in 1973. Several similar and smaller models were made over the years - in different colours - ours was, I believe, an "EverReady" - but the little logo tag got lost many years ago.
Howard Williams tunes in "on a 1936 Ekco AC97. Back then it was in the shops at £13 and 13 shillings, and boasted the new-fangled "Mystic Eye" atop it's tall glossy black Bakelite case. This glows an eerrie green when tuning is spot-on."
Above it's Duncan Kirkwood's "Eddystone Statesman EB35 Mk III circa 1975 and made in Birmingham ... whilst not the oldest at a mere 35 years young it is one of the finest and most durable FM receivers and was installed in ocean liner cabins for passenger use. This is in full working order and is tuned into Radio 4. "
Bryan McAlley says "you'll be hard pressed to beat my 55 year old Pye FenMan - named to emphasise that it really was designed for FM reception when it was first sold in 1955.
As you can see from the owner's manual, (below) Pye described this set as "offering a completely new standard of faithful radio reproduction with much greater freedom from interference". One of 3 FenMen which I have restored, this one has pride of place in our home - it is, as you can see, as good to look at as it is to listen to and no DAB radio I have seen can touch it for the warmth of its tone.."
Stuart Orr: "Please find below a photo of my Quad (Acoustical) valve system. The VHF/FM tuner is the second unit down in the panel. It was purchased when I was a teenager in 1963, which makes it some 47 years old. Later the stereo decoder was added. This is a bolt-on addition on the back of the tuner.
Also in the photo are the two massive loudspeaker power amplifiers with their "Bottle" valves, and at the top of the panel the separate pre-amplifier control unit. The lowest unit is an AM radio receiver, with long, medium and short wave capability. Not in the picture, but suspended from the ceiling (I live in a small barn!) are the two electrostatic speakers - a 21st birthday present from my mother and grandmother in 1966.
We got this from Gordon Craig: "Mine is 52 years old, from the time when FM was called VHF and Radio 4 was the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Service. It's still working well, although I did repair it a few years ago."
Keith Saunders: "I have a Ferranti radiogram model 355 of 1955, given to me by a friend many years ago. Aged 55 and still operating on FM (I've just tried it on The Moral Maze) this beats your 48 year-old reported today. I still have its accompanying leaflet describing Model 355 as a 6 valve superhet. 'With FM' it says 'there is a new standard of clarity - no interference whatever, no buzzing, no crackling, no 'sea shell noises'. Reception is crystal clear'. It is, still, pretty good."
Catherine Lamb: "my mother and father (Malcolm and Mary Berry) have a VHF only Ekco Valve Radio in a wooden cabinet which they bought in 1957. It is still in working order and has a lovely tone enabling the listener to enjoy broadcasts on the Light Programme, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Service and Third Network!"
The two snaps above are from Phil Harris. "I am a vintage wireless enthusiast and regularly restore old valve radios to working order. I owned an Ekco U243/1, made in April 1955, but after I restored it I gave it away to a colleague who was ill, to help cheer him up, so I don't expect to get the radio back. The earliest VHF sets you are likely to find will date from 1954, and were released ready for the start of official ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ FM broadcasting on 2nd May 1955 from Wrotham in Kent."
Phil also points us to the "thriving vintage radio restoration and collection movement in the UK, and you can find more about it from the .
The Rev. Gervase Charmley is worried the switch off would "silence the Philips Stella 22RB212/22Z radio that I listen to PM on."
Les Ewing regularly listens "on a Bush VHF61 from 1956ish, probably not the oldest set though. Viva FM!"
Eric Stubbes listens to PM "on my Leak Troughline II mono tuner (valve) made in August 1963, serial NO.379. The Leak tuner without a 'plug- in' decoder delivers wonderful FM mono."
Thomas Chippendale: "Oldest FM radio? I have my stepfather's Ultra AM/FM radiogram which he bought in 1951. Its still working. FM radio was fitted but not yet transmitting at that time. A whip aerial on the roof completed the outfit. Its all valve and produces the best sound reproduction of any other set in the house."
Below - Mike Merchant's "Roberts Radio, bought second hand in St Andrews in 1964, with which I am still known to listen to PM when it's on long wave. It (the radio) has a wooden box and a lovely oval speaker."
And we had the photo below from Ken Gill: "Thought you would like to see a couple of my radios - the large one (Telefunken Concertino 7) was made in 1956 - 54yrs old and the much newer (Hacker Sovereign 2) dates from 1972 both used on a daily basis and tuned to Radio4 especially between 5pm and 6pm.The sound quality is execpitional and yes I did have a Roberts DAB it worked reasonably well when I was in the loft otherwise sporadic reception and quality down here on the south coast in Bournemouth."
We got this from Paul Schimmel: "Ok, so it's not FM, but I genuinely heard your appeal for the oldest FM radio whilst eating dinner yesterday listening to you on AM using my 1933 Ultra Tiger!!" See below:
Jonnie says: "Here are two lovely sets, The Sony Captain has been with me for 34 years - very sensitive FM tuner and great on SW. It was confiscated by the DTI or equivalent in 1976 when I contravened the Wireless telegraphy act. The Roberts on the left was circa 1984 but a nice little set that is still used.." - see below:
Barrie White writes: "Our Bang & Olufsen Beomaster 900 is still in daily use after 42 years. It cost about £53. I even remember buying and fitting a stereo decoder when Wenvoe started stereo transmissions. DAB? No thank you. Audio quality is poor and reception is inferior to FM"
Adrian has "a working Bush VHF 54 valve FM set dating from around 1954/55, used almost daily."
Stephen Perkins sent this: "We moved to Bournemouth in 1955, and soon after that my father bought this radio. We took it to Australia from 1966 to 1968; no FM there then! It is now owned by my brother and has been in continuous use since then. My grandfather had an identical set. It was not used for some years after his death, but I restored it about seven years ago and still use it now. With any luck both will still be serviceable at the end of FM broadcasting."
Bob Anderson has a "Murphy valve radio in working condition that receives FM, long and medium wave and I estimate its age to be 55 to 60 years old. It is of course not in stereo but otherwise has a clear sound."
Edward Bean thinks he has "the only example of the earliest battery-powered, UK manufactured, FM radio - the Ever Ready Sky Monarch AM/FM of January 1955. This was released some months prior to the official commencement of FM broadcasting in the UK. This radio is still in working order with excellent sound reproduction. Despite being battery powered, it is a valve radio, in a large tabletop walnut cabinet, with no less than ten 'low consumption' valves including a 'magic-eye' tuning indicator."
Peter Kwan points you to his "51 year old radio still in working condition is a 1959 valve radio. A Murphy U512 which apparently cost £16 5s. 6d in May that year. It is still working but I use DAB now because that has a pause and rewind feature".
David Dunk's brother "has a Bush valve 'wireless', which we know to be at least 65 years old. It is used everday in his joinery workshop and visitors often comment on the quality of the sound."
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
The PM weather forecast features clear descriptions of location followed by the weather. So where are YOU? This map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Rupert Allman to read.
1310 update .
Richard Black writes:
"Climate scientists at a top UK research unit have emerged from an inquiry with their reputations for honesty intact but with a lack of openness criticised.
On last night's programme we were joined by the delightful Lester Capon who told us about his work with the . He promised to send some of his photographs - and here they are. You can also listen to our interview below.
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You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
The PM weather forecast features clear descriptions of location followed by the weather. So where are YOU? This map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Joanna Carr to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
This map should help most people. But what if you're on the border between weather regions? Click for information which might help.
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Roger Sawyer to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
First came:
"This week I found out the quango I work for wasn't going to be abolished - yet. Phew!"
Then three hours later:
"I take back my earlier news: we've just been told we are being closed down. Sigh."
With news that 600,000 public sector jobs could go within the next five years, we asked our listener to jot down some notes on the death of a quango. From a change in toilet roll (4-ply to 2-ply), tea bags (PG Tips to 'value') and a shift in office culture, our listeners observations are read by actor Sean Baker from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Radio Drama Company.
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AND. You can still Win Hugh Sykes. You send an idea. We send you Hugh Skyes. Simples. You have until 8 July. Email ipm [@] bbc.co.uk
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Jeremy Rawlins to read.
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
faintly amusing is happening in the one Beach post seems to be multiplying like a mutant virus. Each time I delete six, another five appear.
Where is Doctor Who?
faintly amusing is happening in the one Beach post seems to be multiplying like a mutant virus. Each time I delete six, another five appear.
Where is Doctor Who?
faintly amusing is happening in the one Beach post seems to be multiplying like a mutant virus. Each time I delete six, another five appear.
Where is Doctor Who?
Every night at 6pm, the PM production team gathers in a large glass box to talk about how the programme went.
THIS is your opportunity to do the same. Please leave your comment for tonight's editor Amanda Lewis to read.
Specifically, the government wants to know three things.
Which current laws you would like to remove or change because they restrict your civil liberties?
Which regulations do you think should be removed or changed to make running
your business or organisation as simple as possible?
Which offences do you think we should remove or change and why?
The government website is .
You may have read your morning paper and listened to the radio, and have some ideas you want to hear on PM tonight.
Perhaps you have a question about something in the news you would like answered - or better still, direct experience of something topical. Or maybe there's an aspect to a big story you haven't heard explored that you would like to hear.
The PM team will meet in a real glass box at 11am. Why not be part of the meeting by sharing your thoughts in this virtual glass box? We don't really look in after 11am so please be prompt! And if you want to simply drone on about something, please try somewhere else.
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PM The evening news and current affairs programme presented by Eddie Mair.
iPM The programme that starts with its listeners. Join the discussions online and contribute ideas for a weekly programme presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey.
Read the final report of the PM Privacy Commission.
Meet the commissioners, view the terms of reference and hear the Commission Chair Sir Michael Lyons explain his approach.
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