Home Truths

Radio 4 is deeply ingrained in my psyche. It dates back to childhood memories of the Home Service with, De Manio, Timpson, and Redhead on Today, Yesterday in Parliament and, of course, the bloody Archers (which as someone once said provided sufficient evidence to prove Marx’s theory that the peasantry were not a force for revolution).

I have to admit though, that in recent years I have drifted away from Radio 4 towards Radio 5. As one well respected commentator (well, OK, Iain Dale) said profoundly not so long ago, if your main interests are Sport and News, tuning in to Radio 5 is likely to be where you get your fix. So it is with me, although I am also driven completely up the wall by those constant commercial radio-style jingles telling me what I already know… that I am listening to 5 Live.

So, I was particularly intrigued by this shortlist of the worst programmes on Radio 4… and there is just so much here that I agree with. I used to almost worship the ground that John Peel walked upon… but I could not bear to listen to more than a few grating seconds of the execrable Home Truths. It is impossible to say how much I agree with this assessment of ‘Any Answers’…

Any Questions is bad enough, full of politicians who at least pretend to know what they are talking about. But allowing anyone who can dial the phone access to Radio 4 airwaves - anyone who doesn't have a public image to consider when voicing their opinion on immigration, homosexuality and homosexual immigrants - is not a good idea.