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: May’s referendum for elected mayor or keeping cabinet system what’s the difference? How, for example, would an elected mayor effect transport? Privatisation of National Health Service a step too far? Private Finance Initiative building Southmead hospital and other projects under former Labour government. South Gloucestershire council votes to reject cabinet system as elitist in favour of return to the old committee system. Ministry of Defence in talks with Serco, Babcock International, Deloitte, KPMG, Bechtel Group, Fluor Corp. & BAE Systems considering privatisation of Filton Abbey Wood procurement centre. NM Rothschild & sons get Prime Minister David Cameron to propose privatisation of British trunk roads and motorway network. What was Roosevelt’s 1930s ‘New Deal’ which lifted world economy out of an economic liquidity trap? 2012 budget: higher rate of tax was cut from 50p to 45p, Winston Churchill’s pensioners allowance hit and fuel prices will increase by 3p. Why does Iraqi oil cost $1.50 a barrel (170 litres) to get out of the ground and over 200 times more at the pump? Answer is the market is dominated by speculators. Financial crisis began in 2008 when Labour were in power. Criminalising squatting as part of Legal Aid bill considered this week in the House of Lords. After massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by drunken US soldiers, over 400 British soldiers dead and 40,000 Taliban. Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Colin Port to appear next Tuesday at the Leveson enquiry in London, questions likely to be asked about how newspapers got the name of Christopher Jefferies in Joanna Yeates murder case. Police Federation conduct ballot, seeking right to strike. News review with Cllr for Bedminster Colin Smith (Lab).
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Second hour: Discussion about this week’s Toulouse assassinations, seige and subsequent killing of Algerian origin terror suspect Mohamed Merah. Views of former Senior Intelligence Analyst at South Yorkshire Police Tony Farrell. Questions over whether the suspect was really an Islamic fundamentalist when his latest girlfriend did not wear a headscarf and he was a drinker and nightclubber. Dead men tell no tales. Similarities to NATO Intelligence Operation Gladio, a secret far-right army which murdered civilians then blamed killings on their political opponents. French intelligence services following him for several years so how did he get an arsenal of firearms? Was he in fact a ‘patsy’ serving a political purpose to highten and exaggerate the overall terror threat, possibly also affecting May’s French presidential election to increase the pro-Sarkozy DGSE security state vote. Syria civil war continues and Economic warfare as Iran is cut out of the SWIFT banking transfer system, world news roundup with former LA narcotics detective Mike Ruppert. What will NHS privatisation mean for Britain’s healthcare? Which US private healthcare companies secretly lobbied, SpinWatch ask, for this change? Is it justified economically? Southmead hospital Consultant Anaesthetist Dr Sean Hopson is considering standing for political office on the basis of reversing changes to the NHS.
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