It's Super Saturday in Parliament as an emergency debate and vote seeks to "break the Brexit deadlock" - either by backing any deal agreed or forcing an election/second referendum.
It's an historic day for democracy and could mark a significant turning point for future UK-EU relations. I drove to Salisbury today and wanted to listen on my commute - so, which station did I choose?
LBC was the best I heard with quality commentary and analysis, the approach you'd expect from this station, but it wasn't a rolling feed from the House of Commons floor. Similarly, talkRADIO was doing its own adaptation of this format.
5 Live becomes more of a sport station at the weekend and this didn't change, although coverage from Westminster resumed at lunchtime inbetween rugby and football.
I saw some asking where Radio 4 was in all of this, but it's hardly the natural home for such a schedule change.
This is not a criticism of any programming decisions, but it is significant to note that in order to listen to today's important proceedings - whether in the car or just in the background to soundtrack whatever it is you're doing - your only option was to use the "Audio Only" option on the Parliament Live website.
It is disappointing that radio, especially the BBC, was unable to be helpful by providing a platform for the Commons live and uninterrupted at such an important time.
For the avoidance of doubt, in 2019, it isn't essential for "radio" to beam from a transmitter (see last week's blog about the plethora of Boxing Day commentaries that will be available via the talkSPORT app) - but today in Parliament was so crucial that it should've been easily accessible on a radio device.
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