No 10's first podcast
I bring you shock news.
When the prime minister goes to an EU Summit he travels in a fast car and then in a plane. He walks very fast. Motorbike outriders stop the traffic for him - and the British ones are the best.
These, I kid you not, are the insights contained in in which the travelled with the prime minister to last week's EU summit. After years of being accused of being obsessed with process and not substance, I confess that I expected a little more.
Izzard does, as you'd expect, capture one amusing bit of "process" - the moment the pops by whilst Tony Blair and his gloomy entourage are watching England's dismal performance against Trinidad and Tobago.
To hear any substance at all, you have to wait until you're 19 minutes in (see, I did listen till the end) to hear the PM say that negotiations are part of the way we do business in the modern world.
You are not told, though, what the negotiations were actually about. Izzard's conclusion is that there's "a lot of running about... boring bits... everyone works hard... I think it works... I like it - it's good and positive stuff".
He concludes, "I hope it's been vaguely illuminating". The emphasis should be on "vaguely".
But let's be fair, we politicos - whether practitioners or journalists - are all in the business of trying to reach those parts of the electorate that are hardest to reach. The main point of access for this podcast, I'm told, won't be via the No 10 website or other political media - but via iTunes where it will be in the entertainment, comedy and politics sections.
Those drawn in by Izzard may well now know the most basic facts about Europe - like how many countries are in it or that that their PM represents Britain at summits four times a year. And he does tell his listeners to go to to learn more.
I'm 
Comments
If the second installment were presented by Mark Steel or Ian Hislop and contained some genuinely hard questions (with proper answers), I might listen, but otherwise life is too short for yet another soft-focus Blair love-in.
It seems our fearless leader is going for another hard hitting interview - he's co-presenting 606 (https://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2231&&edition=1&ttl=20060619154014) and asking for football questions. What next - an interview with Heat magazine? Tough phone-in questions on cuisine on Saturday Kitchen (sorry, "Saturday Cooks")?
A Labour Party donor (£10,000 at the 2001 election) past the peak of his career attempts to sure up a crumbling administration by attempting to inject a bit of glamour and humour. Surely the irony that 23% of Labour party members want to loose the election next time is not lost on the master of the absurd?
Ooh look at me I'm so cool, I've got a podcast and Eddie Izzard's in it and he's cool so I must be too. Sorry Tony, you're not cool, you're past it, goodbye.
Not fair to call it No10's first podcast, Nick. In fact, it's arguable that Downing Street actually invented the podcast?!
Starting in February 2000, Downing Street went through a phase of producing regular MP3 'addresses to the nation' by Tony Blair - trying, I suppose, to mimic the US President's weekly radio broadcasts. It started out as a weekly thing, then inevitably became a bit more sporadic over the summer break, and never really recaptured its rhythm.
Was it a podcast? Depends on your definition. To a purist, it isn't a podcast unless it comes in an RSS feed. But these days, the term is seemingly applied to any posting of audio content. In which case, Blair was there right at the beginning.
Relive those pioneering days at
Apart from the woefully under-utilised Mark Mardell, the 91Èȱ¬ seems to make little attempt to do anything other than "vaguely illuminate" the EU for us. There is certainly very little serious coverage of it or of political activity in its member states. Perhaps your snide report is a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
Wonder if Tony will stand up for podcasters at this week's WIPO Broadcast Treaty meeting in Barcalona?
I notice that David Cameron will be appearing on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Sums it up all up really with both Cameron and Blair at the moment trying to out do each other in terms of spin.
The media might find Ming Campbell very dull and he might be too old for the ageist media classes. But at least he is happy to appear on proper political shows and discuss politics and policy.
Also 'Brian Hughes' is spot on in his analysis of how under-used Mark Mardell is in terms of him being the Europe editor.
This is probably the most pointless drain of web space I've ever encounterd. The interview reveals next to nothing & its almost void of humour.
Izzard could have given us examples of arguments that were going on, who where the most powerful people & which sides various countries were taking but instead comments on buildings & people running arround.
About 20 minutes of my life wasted, thanks Number 10.
It is ironic really that when the Prime Minister wants to produce some strange and undescribably pointless podcast, it is you who publicises it Nick. If I wasn't a daily follower of this wonderful blog, I would have had no idea about this thing and I suspect that other than myself and the rest of us bloggers, nobody else has heard it (unless you mention it on the news)- can you really imagine people looking through itunes podcasts and seeing 'an insight into Tony Blairs visit to Europe' and being overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of spending their free time with this wiitering on in their ear- I think not. This is just another pointless exercise in the world of image politics and if mr Blair thinks this will help him now he has got a surprise coming- which will be remembered most: Tony Blairs podcast or Tony Blairs illegal war- Lets get back to talking about serious things like dead ringers!!
ps- how long do you think it will be before this blog gets mentioned on your regular dead ringers slot Nick?
I am sure the Number 10 podcast isn't paid out of the tax payes purse like some ministerial blogs is it? Of course Tory Radio has been doing this type of thing for ages. Now Nick - are you a subscriber?
Its almost shameful - you try your best to get 'news' direct from the source - hence subscribe to the No. 10 newsletter etc. and the reward?
No content of any value. At all.
So Eddie Izzard is still around, I suppose that's good, he can be funny.
Nick, when are you (and Mr. Marr if you get two get on) going to present us a series with some decent content and insight into the way government really works?
(Think West Wing meets the real world.)
Where's your sense of humour? If cynical pundits like your good self have a platform to broadcast your views, why can't the PM?
He's not the only one trying to be cool - David Cameron is on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross this week!
I was about to mention Mark Steel too, but Neil beat me to it.
The only thing is, the Prime Minister and his entourage appear so dillusional, so in denial and so obsessed with flam and flannel I don't suppose they would notice what they are being asked, as long as they could provide the right answers.
Given that they presumably have editorial control over Mr Izzard, that's not going to be difficult, is it?
Next time you are on a "Blairforce" flight Nick can I suggest you make sure where the sick bag is?
Labour can't even get its PR right.
A third rate has been, or never was, lovie to promote them? A kiss of death, more like.
All this trendy, smart-ass arrogant PM bashing just leaves me cold. Why is it so important to mock a podcast? Did we mock telephones and television, when they were first used? Must politicians be restricted to a finite number of acceptable technological devices and methods of communication? If Eddie Izzard wants to contribute, why is this a problem? In a democracy? I'm one of so many people who are fed up of those who would drive the country from the back seat of the car, but would doubtless flounder if they actually had to do the job themselves. The arm-chair government. Surely it is IMPOSSIBLE for a government of any political pursuasion to get the job of running a country absolutely right. When in the history of any nation anywhere has it ever been done properly? If it was so easy to do, surely it would be done. Imagine you did your job at work, knowing that every single thing you did was watched and commented on? Everything. The too long visit to the loo. The idle surfing. Every glance you made at your collegues, every word you spoke recorded then analysed. You would suffer incredible stress under such pressure. And you would be constantly caught-out, as your failings were exposed and riduculed, one by one. Politicians are human. Human like you. And like you, they are flawed, vulnerable and useless. And, like you, they so often get things wrong, even when they want to get thing right. Don't expect them to behave any differently to the way you would behave in the same circumstances.