Today's show 09/12/11

You never did get your web site updated for yesterday's show. The "EU Summit" item was repeated three times, and then even that disappeared to leave, well, nothing. This is not the kind of service I expect to receive from my tax-funded broadcaster and I hope that somebody has been disciplined, or preferably sacked.

Today's issue that affects me: What should I do when the tax-funded state broadcaster provides a rubbish service, and yet complaints to them are just "entered in to the audience log" and then ignored?

Anyway, today somebody has managed to get out of bed and do their job...

1) BRITISH VETO - As the Prime Minister angers the French and Germans by using the British veto, we talk to someone who says: what’s so bad about Europe regulating the City? : Oooh... where to start. Let's start with the very obvious corporate BBC bias because, let's face it, there was no way ever that the BBC would have allowed you to write "What's so bad about Britain bailing out of Europe?". And good to see a reappearance by another mysterious "someone" who will be a person who is fully supportive of the BBC's own view of events. Again, I consider it odd that you are not speaking to "someone" who has the alternative point of view, but this is the BBC that we are talking about so a one-sided and biased half-the-story are the order of the day, and whether we like it or not. I am enjoying the spectacle of the various pro-EU talking heads going apoplectic about what Cameron has done, and if nothing else he should be praised for that. There have been some superb analogies to describe the situation, such as: "The French are very angry – one French diplomat says that Britain is acting "like a man who wants to go to a wife-swapping party without taking his own wife" (Ben Brogan, Daily Telegraph), "UK as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed", (Terry Smith) and "Britain & Hungary have jumped into a lifeboat, whilst the other 25 gaze at the String Quartet, transfixed." (@ArnieEtc). And it was Winston Churchill who said "We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked but not comprised. We are interested and associated but not absorbed" - it looks like he was right. There is, of course, a very real possibility now that we will end up as isolated as Norway and Switzerland (the two richest countries in Europe), but there is little chance of you making that point. It comes as no surprise to me at all that the BBC are making this look like The End Of The World where it is probably just Britain standing up for itself for once. I am so sorry that you and your colleagues find that so unbearable. I suggest you resign in protest. Next...

2) PUTTING A PET TO SLEEP - A man is found guilty of killing his own dog to avoid paying vet fees for having it put down. Are you someone who’s been forced to put your own pet to sleep? : We have pets and an excellent 24-hour vet, so this would simply never happen to me. Next...

3) EXTREME WEATHER - As storms lash Scotland and other parts of the UK, local newspapers are full of lorries blown over. Why aren’t high-sided vehicles banned from going out in strong winds? : Banning... yes, that's always the answer, isn't it? I bet you blame man-made global warming too. Perhaps we could have a publicly-funded government enquiry that decides which trucks can be used on which days, and taking in to account whether they are rigid, articulated, loaded, empty, body construction, route and all sorts of other variables to make some kind of unworkable regulations to be used whenever it gets more than "a bit breezy", and with the prospect of hefty fines for those who dare to venture out on to the roads. Or perhaps not. Unlike your web site maintainer, truckers do a good job. Your programme is just ridiculous. Next...

4) BIRTHMARKS - A mother is furious that a photographer airbrushed her child’s birthmark out of a school photo. Why are some people embarrassed by birthmarks? Find out more in this article from the Daily Mail : And let's finish the week with a story from the Daily Mail - hooray! Why Jeremy? Just why?

I loved your chat with Ken earlier...
JV: "... they are all interesting stories today"

Ken: "That's unusual"

Ken Bruce is a star! I really hope he reads my blog...

The Jeremy Vine Show - well, we think it is interesting