Friday Drivetime

BCfm’s weekly politics show presented by Tony Gosling

At five: discussing the big stories in Bristol, Britain and around the world
After six: straight talking and investigative reports with Martin Summers and Marina Morris

For all the shows back to Easter 2009 visit the Friday Drivetime archive page.

First hour: Bristol Councillors having to make freedom of information act requests to get information from council officers. Five servicemen killed this week in Afghanistan bringing the total UK servicemen killed to over 400 – council want to sell off Daisy Field and Henacre open space in Avonmouth. Bribery allegations levelled at Bristol City Football Club. Large sums of money offered to drop Ashton Vale stadium legal challenge. 2500 disabled people look to be sacked by this government; Kevin Hepworth from UNITE the union on closure of Remploy network of workshops and factories designed for disabled people; RBS offshores 300 jobs and will RBS ever ‘return to health’; Joan Ruddock MP criticises removal of disability benefits from 10 year old cerebral palsy child; Sharon Hodgson MP is policy being run by two public schoolboys that don’t care? Are all these little cuts idiotic? Privatisation of front line policing and police stations and election for new police commissioners. MPs fury as top Catholic describess gay marriages ‘as immoral as slavery’. News review with Cllr. Peter Hammond, leader of the Labour group on Bristol City Council.
[audio: 201203091700]

Second hour: Is economic growth bad for the environment? Energy bills, fuel poverty, fuel prices and profits of the big six energy companies. EDF energy today fined £5.5m by Ofgen. 400 different tarriffs offered by privatised gas and electricity firms in UK. Industry suffering chronic problem of short-termism. David Powell from Friends Of The Earth.
29:00 – Tens of billions wasted as MoD police fraud squad turn a blind eye to procurement crime: Bristol’s Abbeywood Defence Equipment and Support (DES) is the national HQ for Ministry of Defence (MoD) procurement. But we uncover systematic fraud involving the MoD and the private weapon development and manufacturing industry as the government plans to privatise procurement. Cost plus contract fraud report by former radar, sonar, Communications Command & Control and Tactical Data Systems software engineer Robert McCartney. MoD police fraud squad work for MoD so will not prosecute even when there is clear evidence of fraud saying that what MoD chiefs and other ‘important people’ say ‘must be true’. Former BAe Chief Executive Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo told BBC Radio 5 in January 2004 that BAe routinely used changes to the contract specification which doubled or tripled costs to taxpayers without any outside competition. Some of those allegedly to blame for endangering our armed forces and national security: James Arbuthnot, Michael Portillo, current LibDem Minister for Defence Procurement Nick Harvey all alleged as complicit in fraud, if only by their ailure to act against it. Also LibDem director of policy and research Greg Simpson failed to deliver improvements he promised before the 2010 election. The 2006 crash of Nimrod XV230 investigated by Charles Hadden-Cave. Is present chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge succeeding in cutting this fraud down? Mainstream newspapers afraid to publish known facts about MoD procurement fraud.
[audio: 201203091800]