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: Are Conservatives still the party of business aspiration? Will Britain be insulated from the Eurozone crsis? Prime Minister Cameron promised no top down reorganisation of the NHS before the election but it is now happening. Jack Lopresti MP is a freemason but is freemasonry a secret society or not? Jack promises Tony a tour of Bristol freemasons hall and a copy of the Bristol masonic year book. Questioning masonic oaths and whether they are compatible with public office. BAe Systems’ plans to close Filton airfield and build housing over it plus some new jobs in Jack’s Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency. Will big engineering firms such as GKN, Rolls Royce & Airbus be forced to close or move away when the runway closes? Derivatives market is a house of cards, with possibly a financial crash in the months to come. Evening Post bombshell, around 20 jobs to go as well as Saturday edition and Venue print edition. Bristol Evening Post to change its name to ‘The Post’. May’s Bristol mayoral referendum hustings held today on College Green. People of Bradford wanted a big hitter batting for them, discussing the political fallout of George Galloway win for Respect in Bradford West. George described as a ‘rock star’. Teacher Anne Lemon from Clevedon School reports back from the annual NUT conference held this year in Torquay. Teachers are nervous about big business ‘buying up’ our education system through Academy Schools which the local authorities do not control. Private schools now getting state ‘Academy’ funding and wealthy parents don’t have to pay the school fees. Prime Minister David Cameron takes a trip to the Far East, including Indonesia, with British businessmen but who are the arms firms selling arms to? Should we have private arms firms who make money out of selling weapons and starting wars? Disgraced Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates is now helping dictators put down demonstrations in Bahrain. Christopher Booker in the Daily Mail: 90,000 children now ‘in care’ and annual number being taken into care tops 10,000. 50% of prostitutes, 80% of Big Issue sellers, 50% of those in Young Offenders’ institutions and 26% of adults in prison have been through the state ‘care’ system. Plymouth resident and former nurse Melissa Franklin who is about to give birth tells her story of being harassed by social services in Bristol. Bristol is ‘bottom of the list’ for Queen’s Diamond Jubilee party applications by Evening Post reports that we are ‘in the party spirit’. BBC’s Paul Mason discusses the media ‘pyramid’ and how social media such as Twitter and Facebook has changed things. News review with MP for Filton & Bradley Stoke Jack Lopresti.
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Second hour: Ben Griffin served for 8 years in the Parachute Regiment and the SAS: Veterans For Peace committed to resisting war by non-violent means was launched on Easter Monday in London. Ben injuncted not to speak publicly but said what he wanted to about the criminal ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ programme before the High Court injunction was served on him. Jim Radford from Merchant Navy discussed & the Army Rumour Service forum ARRSE is where soldiers speak their minds. Are Afghanistan soldiers dying for a lost cause? Doubts about present conflicts among soldiers and officers. Campaigning for US soldier being prosecuted for the Wikileaks Bradley Manning. The gradual sell-off of British infrastructure into private hands: Royal Mail stamp price goes up 30% in the final stage of privatisation. Kevin Beazer, South West Regional Secretary for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU). What will be the effect of the pensions holiday on posties and the public Royal Mail is privatised? Why does the CWU support the Labour Party financially when Labour began the privatisation of Royal Mail? Dirty Cash (1990) by The Adventures of Stevie V. The strange extradition case of possible ‘patsy’, Haroon Rashid Aswat who was in touch with the alleged London Bombers in 2005 but he is potentially being extradited to the United States, former FBI special prosecutor John Loftus says Aswat was an MI6 double agent. Was alleged Toulouse terrorist Mohammed Merah an informer for French Intelligence? – if it wasn’t him then who did kill the Jewish children and Rabbi in Toulouse? NATO intelligence’s Gladio and Ergenekon networks explain it all. US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is an old 1970s chum of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Friends of the Earth Economics Campaigner David Powell’s environmental futures: government’s proposed Green Investment Bank to launch soon but it may not be allowed to borrow or lend!
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