Archives for September 2008
A Conservative councillor's view
Shelagh Marshall was a guest on Breakfast and here she gives her impression of what she has seen and heard so far at the Conservative conference:
"Hello, I'm Shelagh Marshall and I'm a Conservative councillor in North Yorkshire. I came to conference this year to see if the leadership of the party could prove they've got what it takes to run the country. It's make or break time and we've got to give people the confidence that Conservatives can bring change and do the job.
David Cameron on Breakfast
"We have answers to these big questions that we face in our country today"
Conservative leader David Cameron tells Nicky Campbell that he has the team and the experience necessary for government in tough economic times. Listen to the interview:
It's in the bag....
or how to make a serious point with a Daily Telegraph carrier bag on your wrist.
Nicky Campbell is at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
BabySafe Campaign
Atomic Kitten's Natasha Hamilton was in today to support the 'BabySafe' campaign - a series of free courses designed to help parents cope with babies and young children in an emergency.
Here's Natasha with Dr Hannah Shore from The Royal Lifesaving Society and the mannequin used to demonstrate resuscitation techniques. 10 BabySafe courses will be held in various places from November 2008 to March 2009. More details are available from www.tesco.com/babyclub.
Name the day.....
More mayhem on the money markets and for the banking industry.
So how will we remember today?
Just another Manic Monday. Andy, London
Bank Folly-day Monday !! Steve in Stockport
Its a bank horriday! Says alan in reading
How about brown monday? It's all smelly and controlled by gordon!
'put a smile on Lenin's face' Day. Nigel grimsby.
Squeeky bum monday. Andrew
A billion-dollar brainstorm
We've got three experts on Breakfast this morning to talk about the crisis in the world economy.
We put them in a room together to try to thrash out what the problems are - and to give their verdict on some of the possible solutions.
They are Richard D North , Dr Alistair Milne and Dr Sarah Churchwell hosted by our own Stephen Chittenden.
You can listen to the final part of the discussion below as well as read our highlights of the debate from throughout the morning.
0638 Alistair Milne "This hasn't just come out of no-where - we've been taken by suprise at how deep the rot has gone"
0640 Stephen Chittenden "Wish us luck and we'll try to crack it".
0646 The panel are discussing transparency - how it's only because of the crisis that the world has got to see how the system works
0701 Stephen Chittenden says talks have nearly broken down in the think tank - the sticking point is over what to do about the Wall Street fat cats
0708 Talks are continuing....
0711 This discussion is on R-words - Regulation and rewards - are there enough regulations and too many rewards - leading to rot at the heart of the system?
0713 Dr Milne "No-one has done any pre-planning for this and that is reprehensible"
0720 The order has gone out for bacon sarneys
0726 Things turn technical - they are now discussing Friedmanite economics
0740 Who is culpable? Which politician is to blame? Did George Bush and Gordon Brown forget to police the markets properly.
0742 Dr Churchwell "There are some Republicans saying that the Poulson plan is a Communist plot and anti-American"
0745 The bacon sandwich has arrived. Interestingly Richard D North was the only taker. He went for brown bread and no ketchup. The other two are surviving on tea (with no sugar)
0755 Don't panic! Richard D North says the flap is only amongst bankers. Most people are still happily going about their business.
0801 Richard defends the public's right to be ignorant - we pay our politicians to worry for us. The fear is they haven't been worrying enough. Sarah seems to disagree with almost everything he says.
0806 Business editor Robert Peston says that it looks as if some Republicans are set against the deal. He tells us the markets are still very unstable.
0808 And this is what we don't want to hear. Robert says "all of us will pay the price".
0811 Sarah Churchwell "People are better off knowing more rather than less and we are seeing some of the consequences of blind faith."
0812 Sarah on George W Bush offering the banks a bail out. "When I heard that I knew things have gotten very very bad indeed"
0816 Sarah's into her stride. "I am an American. ....I don't believe in government intervention....what we are seeing here is the way capitalism can go wrong."
0822 Alistair's cracked it! Lock the bankers in a room and force them to sell these toxic investments to each other. That'll jump start the system
0840 Conclusions were - to solve the crisis go along with Alistair's plan at 0822....Richard and Sarah want to avoid a repeat of this crisis. More openess with the banks forced to tell the public what they are doing. Sarah wanted to get rid of the underlying problem which is the Republican administration in the US.
PM in the a.m.
Gordon Brown will be on Breakfast tomorrow morning. Nicky's heading to Manchester for a face-to-face interview which you'll be able to hear on Wednesday's programme.
They'll be discussing the reaction to Mr Brown's speech at the Labour Party conference - and Nicky will be asking about the on-going questions about the PM's leadership style. If you missed it you can listen to the full speech below.
=== UPDATE: 0820 Wednesday 24 September 2008 ===
You can listen back to our interview with Gordon Brown below.
From little Acorns...
For Thursday's programme Shelagh will be sitting, not in the studio, but at a breakfast table inside Acorns Children's Hospice in Worcester. Breakfast loves outside broadcasts and we've covered a lot of ground in recent years, but when this was suggested there was a natural reticence.
Would Breakfast work from somewhere where very sick children are around? Would the show be depressing? Would the families who use the hospice even want us there? What about the difficulties of talking to the children?
We started talking to Acorns in Worcester in September 2007 and it soon became apparent that I knew nothing about children's hospices. I had been fortunate never to have the need for them, and had a very simplistic idea that they helped sick children at the end of their lives.
What I now know is that there's so much more to them than that. Eight of the ten bedrooms at this Acorns are for little holidays for the kids - short breaks as they're called - during what can be many years of life.
Acorns is precisely the opposite of depressing. It's staffed by people who not only deal with disabling illnesses on a daily basis, but lobby for funding from government, form partnerships with big organisations like Aston Villa, go out to help in the children's own homes, and run marathons to make sure they can continue to keep those beds in use.
Can the Breakfast show work from Acorns in Worcester? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
New Labour - New Shelagh
We had to have a change of plan over talking to three Shelaghs during the party conferences. Our Labour Sheila - Sheila Dore - has been unable to travel to conference so her place on the programme has been taken by teenager Shelagh Dale
In the red corner...
It was a star-studded show this morning, with a legendary boxer and a seminal film director topping the bill.
We wanted to find out if the current banking crisis that's rocking the world economies might be signalling the death knoll for capitalism. We spoke to the film director Ken Loach, a well-known socialist figure, to get his views... Have a listen back to the interview below.
The banking crisis - your questions answered
Hello, I'm Andy Verity and I'm going to try to answer some of your questions about how the banking crisis could affect you. If you've got any questions, post them here, or text 85058 while the show is on, and I'll try to answer as many as I can.
Q: How does short-selling work?
Here's an example. Trader John borrows a thousand shares in the Campbell Bank from Fund Z at £1 per share. He immediately sells all those shares to the market, making £1,000. The Campbell Bank share price then falls, as John expected, to 60p per share. John buys back a thousand shares (a total of £600) at this price and returns all the shares to Fund Z, along with a small borrowing fee.
At the end of it, John has made £400 and Fund Z has collected the lending fee for twiddling its thumbs.
Q: How can you sell what you borrow as it is not yours to sell? What a crazy world, trying to make money for nothing - despicable. No sympathy if we allow such a crazy practice. It is a greed driven immoral practice. Dave in Glos
Andy's answer: You can sell shares you borrow if you pay them back when they're due.
The investment managers who lend shares to traders who want to short sell generally know why the shares are being borrowed - so both parties are happy with the morality of it. Once you borrow the shares, your only commitment to the lender is to return the same amount of shares at an agreed date. What you do with them in the interim is (within reason / regulation) up to you. It's effectively a gamble.
The risk is that the share price will rise instead of falling and you'll end up having to buy back at a higher price to return the shares to the lender, meaning you lose money.
Alternatively here's a view from a fellow listener:
Johnny in Blackheath, which seems to broadly answer these sort of questions:
Short sellers that borrow stock to deliver to buyers, usually borrow it from long term holders of that stock e.g. pension funds. They pay the pension funds for this privilege.
Short sellers only make money in falling markets. We didn't demonise them when they lost money, on average, over 10 years of rising markets.
They are a necessary "evil" as they contribue to market liquidity. Banks are collapsing largely because of flawed business models - short sellers are exposing not creating their flaws. The FSA and Emperor Prudent should concentrate on regulation of basic banking operations first before headline grabbing, populist bashing of "over paid" traders. Jonny (Blackheath)
When banking took a spanking...
It's been a rough week in the world of banking, not least for people who work for Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) .
Customers too may well be wondering what all this chaos in the money markets means for their savings, mortgages etc.
So 5 live's Andy Verity will be logged in here on Friday morning to answer any questions about what's been going on.
You can leave your questions about the banking crisis below and Andy will do his best to answer them in the morning.
Flooded for the fourth time
Roger Gough farms land near Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire - which last week was hit by flooding for the fourth time in 13 months. A week on, and his land is still drying out.
He gave 5 Live Breakfast's reporter Phil Mackie a tour of his waterlogged fields - see a slideshow by clicking the picture below.
What's our "LibDem Shelagh" been up to at conference?
Heading early into the conference hall to bag a seat for the Make it Happen debate, I'm just in time to catch Cllr Monica Whyte, a fellow Haringey Councillor, speaking passionately against the broadcasting of court proceedings. She believes that bringing cameras into courts will work against the interests of justice - and says "I did not become a barrister because I wanted to be a personality on reality TV."
Lib Dem Conference, unlike the other parties, still has open and frank debates on policy, and proposals stand or fall on the votes of delegates. This is hugely valued by members and activists, and I think remains one of the huge strengths of the party.
Delegates voted against the broadcasting of court proceedings, and a buzz ran round the hall as we moved on to debate Make it Happen, the party's statement of vision and values. The opening speakers, both MPs, both committed to tackling poverty, put their arguments in front of delegates and asked them to decide the party's approach. Danny Alexander MP said "I trust this party." Paul Holmes MP said "You decide policy in this party." And 100 other activists put their names forward to have their say in the debate, on equal standing with the parliamentarians.
That's how it works in the Liberal Democrats.
The curse of the shirt sponsor
Northern Rock sponsor Newcastle's shirts - and the bank has had to be nationalised (and Newcastle are in a right mess); XL Holidays sponsor West Ham's shirts and the holiday firm has collapsed and now Manchester United's shirts sponsors AIG are said to be in difficulty.
Mitch texted us In the past an indicator of a companies decline was purchase of a private helicopter, today its the sponsorship of a Premier League club (XL, N.Rock, AIG)
Watch this space
"Who's that?"
Five Live Breakfast got all gooey over baby Millie when she visited the studio with her mum Beth and her grandmother Linda. Eleven-month old Millie helped raise the alarm that her mother Beth had collapsed by answering her mobile phone.
Millie repeated in her best phone answering voice 'who's that?' for us in the studio and I took this picture of her eating the headphones. I think you can forgive the coos.
Meet the (other) Shelaghs
There's only one Shelagh Fogarty - but for the party conferences we've recruited three other Shelaghs (two with a different spelling admittedly) to guide us through the political events.
Liberal Democrat Sheila 
My name is Sheila Rainger. I'm 37 years old and live in North London. My hobbies include chocolate, knitting and motorcycling! I've been a parliamentary candidate in Glasgow, and a Haringey Councillor since 2006. I think Nick Clegg brings huge energy to the party and a massive commitment to parliamentary campaigning as the springboard to success. If I could change one thing, I'd abolish tuition fees.
Labour Sheila 
My name is Sheila Dore. I'm 58 and grew up in the East End of London. My father was a prominent local councillor and politics was in my blood. I joined the Labour party at 14. I'm currently vice chair of the SEA (Socialist Educational Association). My hobbies include theatre, walking and reading. I love Bob Dylan and hate reality TV! I think Gordon Brown needs more time. He is facing global issues and I admire his strong convictions and principles. If I could change one thing, I'd abolish selection in education.
Conservative Shelagh
My name is Shelagh Marshall. I'm 73 and live near Skipton in North Yorkshire where I'm a county councillor. I have both children and grandchildren and my hobbies include photography, walking and baroque music. I feel passionately about rural matters and older people. Older people tell me they don't want anything no one else has got, just the same as other people. Although I've never met David Cameron, I've heard him speak and he's very impressive. If I could change one thing, it would be this government.
Holiday chaos
We're leading this morning on the story of XL - Britain's third largest holiday company - which has gone into administration. It's blaiming rising fuel costs and the economic turn down.
More details here
"We had a bit of a brain f**t"
We heard a new term on Breakfast this morning. Talking about his team's performance at the Paralympics, coach Murray Treseder said his team had what he called a "brain fart" when a "some guys came in off the bench and made the game a bit exciting".
Investigation shows it's not the first time the term has been used. In fact there are 476,000 references to it on Google (other search engines ae available).
This on Wikipedia
brain fart (plural brain farts)
(idiomatic, US, informal) A lapse in the thought process; an inability to think or remember something clearly.
(idiomatic, US, informal) Something ill-considered and said or done impulsively.
Could Shelagh pull off a pixie cut like Posh?
On the day we're being assured the world is NOT going to end, it does seem a tad self indulgent to declare that my hairline is the bane of my life........but it's true. It grows in a funny upwards direction at the nape of my neck, on one side, and creates a kind of shelf of hair!!
Only when I have long hair is the problem solved. Right now I have very short hair - not quite a Posh Pixie Crop, more early Cilla. So imagine my delight when Have-a-Go Hair Supremo Nicky Clarke offered to sort it. "Drop into the Salon" - my favourite words!
Nicky takes a look at Shelagh's hair
Nicky tells Shelagh to drop by his salon for a trim
What will the end of the world be like?
That's the big question on Wednesday morning's programme.
We'll be reporting how scientists will be conducting an experiment which hopes to reveal some secrets behind the Big Bang and the start of creation.
Some doom-mongers reckon it could all go wrong and lead to the End of the World. (The boffins say that won't happen).
Which conveniently means we have got time to consider just what the end of the world will be like when it does happen? Will Earth go out with a bang or a whimper? And when might that be?
Tune in early...in case none of us exists by 9am.
Robert Plant's 60th birthday
Robert Plant captured headlines around the world last year for putting on a one-off show. It turns out he has organised another.
Speaking to me at the rehearsals for the Nationwide Mercury Prize he revealed that a couple of weeks ago he assembled a special line-up to celebrate his 60th birthday.
Led Zep at the O2, this was not.
Instead he booked out his local pub in Worcester and the bill consisted of his favourite comics - Black Country funnyman Tommy Munden and the legend that is Frank Carson! Yes that one.
Events took an even stranger turn when whose tourbus should pull up outside the venue, but Robert Plant's good friend Lenny Kravitz!
The thought of Lenny Kravitz watching Frank Carson! It's a cracker.
Hear Robert Plant's take on events as well as his answer as to how long he'll keep working with Alison Krauss and which act he is most delighted to be alongside on the Mercury shortlist.
First-class Fogarty
You may not thank me for mentioning this, but it's only 108 shopping days left until Christmas. And if that signals a busy time for the country's postmen and women, at least they shouldn't be as cold - or as hard to see - as previously.
The Royal Mail's national uniforms manager, Bob Taylor brought in the new uniform that postal delivery workers will soon be wearing and Shelagh tried it out.
Have you got the British spirit?
"There is nothing that is bad about Britain that cannot be overcome by what is good about Britain, as long as we keep faith with our belief in fairness" So says Gordon Brown in a document for the Labour party conference. "Throughout our history, this nation has repeatedly demonstrated a proud spirit of cautious and practical optimism and we call on that spirit once again."
On the programme this morning we're hearing about some things that embody the British spirt - suggestions include the Spitfire fighter aircraft, the British bulldog, and helping others and being a good neighbour.
Team GB on the road
Not our multi-gold winning Olympians, you understand.
The GB is Gordon Brown and his "team" is his cabinet who will today hold their latest meeting in England's second city.
One of the things they could go to see is the statue (pictured) at the Bull Ring shopping centre.
Where else could GB take his team on their awaydays?
U got the boos?
It's a bit like the panto season come early.
John McCain turned the Excel Energy Center in St Paul into something more akin to the Sunderland Empire as he got the crowd booing everytime he referred to the policies of his presidential rival Barack Obama
There was boo-ing at the US Open too as Novak Djokovicbeat Andy Roddick
And today's weather is enough to make anyone boo.
When did you last boo?
Nicky and a rock icon
This morning we had an iconic item of rock memorabilia in the studio, Jimi Hendrix's guitar. Not just any Hendrix guitar but the first one he ever set fire to, on stage at the Finsbury Park Astoria in 1967.
Nicky didn't waste the opportunity to get his hands on the beautiful Fender Stratocaster which goes under the hammer at auction today and seized the once-in-a-lifetime chance to follow in the frets of a rock'n'roll legend.
You can read more about the story on the BBC News website: Hendrix's burnt guitar at auction
Are you on the party bus?
On the programme this morning we've been hearing how free bus passes for the over-60s are causing a problem. They're so packed with free-loading wrinklies, there's no room for paying customers and it's making routes uneconomic.
Keep your stories coming ...
My mum and her friend have recently turned 60 and are planning to travel the length of the country on their new free passes! They already have travelled Brighton to lands end totally free. Free bus passes have opened up a new world for many people and from the tales of bus sing alongs and the many characters they met it sounds like its worth every penny! What better way re-engage and empower pensioners on lower incomes and pensions! Brilliant! I'd give up my seat for that.
The 11am sheffield to buxton/bakewell 218 service- standing room only for the non-pensioner! Chris in Sheffield.
In bournemouth they dont really care about bus services for the public. The Yellow buses company have already cut a number of bus services despite pleas from oap s . They have even cut the open top coastal bus service much loved by oap s and holiday makers alike. Peter . Bournemouth
Noel Gallagher on Man City's takeover
Entertainment Reporter Colin Paterson has yet again bagged another classic interview with Noel, this time about his beloved Man City. Here's Colin on about how it came about:
"Last night I was out covering the GQ Men of The Year Awards, where I interviewed Man United fan Mani (Primal Scream and Stone Roses). I asked him what he'd been making of the goings on over in the blue half of his home town. Mani revealed that Noel Gallgher had been texting him from Canada and that the Oasis Guitarist was buzzing. Worth a go at getting him to speak then."
"At one o'clock this morning Noel agreed to chat to me once he got to his hotel in Ottawa. An hour later, he was clearly still 'buzzing' at what had been going on at Man City while he was in one of the countries in the world least interested in football. In fact I got to update him on the latest developments - Man City's plan to bid for Ronaldo in the January Transfer window. His thoughts were as entertaining as always and well, well worth a listen."
"His quote that 'It's nice to know every gallon of petrol a Man U fan buys will be going into Man City's transfer kitty,' could become as much of a classic as Wonderwall."
You can listen to the interview on the 5 live Football Player, along with all the rest of the latest football news, interviews and reports.
Would you intervene?
Britons are the least likely of all Europeans to intervene to try to stop a crime according to Reform says we've turned into a nation of bystanders.
True?
I had a go at 12 teenagers throwing stones at a cornered pidgeon! They stopped then became child like again blaming each other! I got 2 my car and i woz shaking with fury. U dont always think b4 u intervene, its a gut reaction! Jayne in Fareham
I'm a twenty stone Yorkshireman, I would happily challenge a group of northern youths but would leave the knife weilding gangs of our fair capital alone. Rob in croydon
I have intervened twice when i have seen a group beating someone up. Both times in very public places. One time i was arrested but then released with tha nks from both police and victim. Second time victim fled and i got a proper beating. I would again but its always a gamble. John
I told a group of youths off for vandelising our local sports pavillion but i did have my 2 german sheperds with me the youths went away without a word s aid jill
Feel good?
Hurricanes, floods, the credit crunch, knife-crime, teenage alcholism - there's more than the usual amount of doom and gloom around this Monday morning.
But there's good news out there too ....we asked people to help us find the feel-good factor...
10 months ago i was a hopeless drunk, unable to work or even walk. Today a responsible citizen, going to work, sober, happy and fref of illness. A good news story. Dave. Wareham Dorset
Been married for 18 years today and have 4 lovely children and a wonderfull wife. Alec in manchester
Hi im feeling great we have just booked a last minute holiday to the sun what ever that is! Dave newcastle
Big reason to feel good - I'm back at work and fighting fit after 8 tough months dealing with breast cancer. Hurrah for me and the NHS! Jane in Rye.
Feeling good coz there's only 5 days to the weekend. Richard in Q on the M25.
Feel good I cleared my mortgage arrears this morning Neil from Welling
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