SMUG CITY : 'YOU AND YOURS'

The output of a mid-morning radio programme may not be the most important thing in the world but it realy is deeply irritating and an example of the ingrained editorial attitudes at BBC radio. Undoubtedly called one of their 'flagship' programmes, 'You and Yours' (the very title makes me uncomfortable), consistently runs content that is aimed so squarely and smugly at, well, the square and the smug that it is almost provocatively banal. Endless probes into how to save that extra pound on your car insurance, to get a refund when your holiday in Barbados was not quite as inch perfect is you expect it to be. It caters, by and large, for a section of the population who are already in a relative position of comfort and security and seeks to assist them in making themselves even more comfortable and secure. It is unbelivabley smug and self-righteous, never for a moment considering that plenty of folk, myself for one, dont have any insurance, never owned a car, never go on holiday to Barbados and find the travails of those who do and the seriousness with which their complaints and whinges, nearly always to do with money, which underpins the whole exercise, completely uninteresting and facile.
Today, for example, no doubt in the interest of some beserk idea of fair handedness, there was a whole piece on how business class travel is actualy not that great and can have its drawbacks, no doubt in response to the inane comments by Nicolas Winterton MP, who, incidently has been both a dolt and yet in that job for donkeys years.
The problems associated with those poor souls who have travel business class all the time are quite simply irrelevent and a waste of airtime. You can find someone to complain about anything, and the higher the price and the more they are ment be given special treatment the more likely they will complain. On this subject one train operator has got it right by abolishing 1st and 2nd class, adjusting the fares and giving everyone a decent traveling experience while filling the trains.
This is just one example, but 90% of the programme consists of features aimed so obviously at the same decile that the major political parties aim at : the reasonably well-off middle class who actualy need the advice and support being offered far less than many, many others. Why is'nt there a programme aimed at the millions of unemployed people struggling to survive on starvation level benfits ? They are more likely both be at home listening and could do with some moral support and practical help.
I recently got a letter from the DWP regarding my JSA. It is going up in April. By how much ? By £2.60 a week.
Do a feature about that, you and your smug bastards, how was that worked out ? What difference is £2.60 a week going to make? A return ticket from where I live in Zone 2 to Waterloo recently went up from £3.50 to £4.80. And that is not travelling business class. That is lucky to get a seat class.