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: £600m more borrowing in July but Chancellor George Osborne is nowhere to be seen so we hear from Treasury Minister Chloe Smith. Bank of England’s own report says their Quantitative Easing (QE) is benefitting the super-rich 240 times more than everybody else. Banks to use LIBOR probe to bring an end to free banking. New Barclays Chairman says Financial Crisis was caused by banks not charging for bank accounts. Lord Jacob Rothschild tales £130m bet on the failure of the Euro. All eyes on September 12th when German court decides on legality of European bailout plan. Tory Central Office continuing control of North Somerset Conservative Association criticised by Tory Councillor and Balloon maker Don Cameron. Don’s Evidence published on UK Indymedia. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) won’t get mailshots. Masonic Filton & Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti & Park Street Temple’s Provincial Grand Secretary Steve Rawlings both promise to, then both fail to, send me the Bristol Freemasons’ Provincial Yearbook with the names of Bristol’s 2000 or so Freemasons in 50 or so Lodges. Author of Inside The Brotherhood, Martin Short: is Freemasonry a miasma of lies or pyramid selling scheme? Another Freemason, far right Norwegian Zio-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik is declared sane, found guilty, and sentenced in Norway for killing 77 young members of the Labour party. We look at his close ties to the formation of the UK English Defence League (EDL) and European ‘Knights Templar’ anti-Muslim network in London in 2002 and explore the possibility that one of the founder members of the EDL, Paul Ray, screenname ‘Lionheart’, was his mentor. Paul Ray has now ‘renounced’ the EDL and moved to the Medieval Knights Templars’ final HQ, Malta. The Pursuit of Julian Assange Is An Attack On Freedom And A Mockery Of Journalism as the Wikileaks founder ontinues to be incarcerated at the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, London. News review with Conservative Councillor for Avonmouth, Siobhan Kennedy-Hall.
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Second hour: By-election taking place in Bradley Stoke on Thursday 6th September.
UK Independence party candidate Caroline Sullivan introduces herself and explains her party’s position on Europe & immigration. The other two candidates, Paul Hardwick for the Conservative party and Robin Horsfall for Labour, were invited tonight but their party offices did not return phone calls. Syria’s civil disturbances appear to be spreading to Lebanon, we introduce Judith Brown from Arab Media Watch to discuss developments across the Muslim world in Pakistan, Yemen, Egypt and Syria, as well as UK media coverage of the Arab spring. We look too at the reporting & propaganda from Western & Arab mainstream media such as BBC, ITN, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, all pro-NATO. I advise Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) & Lebanon’s LBCI & Information ministry for some balance. Sex, Lies and Julian Assange: Australian ABC TV Documentary series ‘Four Corners’ finds out really happened two years ago in Stockholm. Mark Cambridge joins us from Bristol Remploy survivors to explain how disabled workers there are being kept in the dark with an uncertain future and morale dropping. Remploy Workers & Facebook page. 
[audio: 201208241800]