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: This week’s news review with Labour Councillor for St. George West Ron Stone: Britain officially enters recession after five quarters of zero growth. Should we have a major programme of public works like we did in the 1940s and ’50s? Is Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne representing vested interests and ‘braving it out’? Prime Minister David Cameron was in Bristol on Monday promoting the Yes campaign in next week’s mayoral referendum. Is Bristol in fact a very sucessful city which doesn’t need a mayor? How would an elected mayor affect the Bristol tram, the arena or the city ground decisions? Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at Temple Quarter to launch ‘Enterprise zone’ on Friday. Bristol North Baths was closed 7 years ago by Bristol City Council after a dubious public consultation but has been re-occupied by local people in it’s centenary year. Justin and the Recession Bristol project are restoring the baths for free and providing free skills training and security. Lack of capital money from the council to look after and restore such buildings so they just rot and are snapped up cheap by the ‘private sector’. Old Grammar School next to St George Park has been brought back into community use. Groups paying peppercorn rents to the council then restoring and reusing public buildings. 2012 St Paul’s Carnival is called off over safety fears and as community groups disagree. This is the latest of several cultural events to be cancelled including the Ashton Court festival, but the Harbour Festival will go ahead. Leader of Bristol City Council Barbara Janke is to stand down, we speculate on whether she has been ‘elbowed out’ because she does not support the pro-mayor wing of her party… and ask who might take her place. Thousands of people taken off of Incapacity Benefit and told by local Lord Rothermere owned paper, The Post, to ‘get back to work’, but there are not enough jobs on offer. Cuts in benefits are ‘crashing the economy’. Respect MP for Bradford West George Galloway criticises the present leadership of the Labour party for losing touch with its roots. Social cleansing: Newham council in London proposes to move 500 families 150 miles North to live in the much cheaper town of Stoke. We hear the views of Housing Minister Grant Shapps and mayor of Newham council Sir Robin Wales. Boris Johnston and Ken Livingston have both said this is ‘social cleansing’. We spend most of our money throughout our lives on our housing. 14,534 people are on Bristol’s housing waiting list. Borrowing on Bristol’s housing revenue account is over £70m. Ron Stone wants to get pension funds to invest in social housing. Bristol’s council rents going up 8.1% this year. James and Rupert Murdoch appear at the Leveson enquiry and we hear about damning email “Managed to get some info on the plans for tomorrow. (Although absolutely illegal >:)” Back channel between Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt and News International. “Total impartiality and strict due process.” but can anybody have any confidence in Jeremy Hunt’s trustworthiness and are his acions illegal? Conservative MP for North-East Somerset Jacob Rees-Mogg also has an email which casts Vince Cable in a bad light. Compulsory microchips to be introduced to curb the menace of dangerous dogs. But our guest Ron Stone is a Crufts dog show judge and says it will not help at all.
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Second hour: This week’s world politics reconnaissance: Secret rulers of the Western world NATO far-right elitists founded by an SS officer and censored by the BBC due to meet on 31st May 2012. The Bilderberg Conference looks to be taking place in four weeks just down the road from the CIA headquaters in Chantilly, Virginia, USA. Royalty, top bankers, media moguls, big business and favoured politicians will be in attendance. Press will not be allowed near the place. BBC trustee Marcus Agius who is also charman of Barclays bank is a ‘Bilderberger’. Expect an announcement about the US presidential race in the week after Bilderberg. Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in Norwegian terror attack using the term ‘counter-jihad’ rather than Zionism which is what he really supports. Oslo based UN worker Torstein Viddal’s taboo breaking article which suggests Breivick is part of a much wider Zionist racist network which is linked to Nazism. Breivik visited the UK to meet a founder member of the English Defence League (EDL) and others back in 2002. Who was pulling Breivik’s strings and why are Norwegian prosecuters trying to pretend he had no accomplices? Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead despite fascist repression of Bahrain regime, Channel 4 news team arrested and their driver beaten. Bahrain is a crucial strategic port for a potential NATO attack on Iran. Is Formula One too close to fascism bearing in mind that former F1 chief, and regular guest on BBC Question Time, Max Mosley stood in Salford East for the Union Movement, post-war successor to his father’s British Union of Fascists, in the 1964 General Election? What is discredited Scotland Yard Anti-terror cop John Yates up to helping an arab dictatorship? France’s presidential candidates Francois Hollande versus Nicolas Sarkozy but The Economist magazine, which represents corrupt City interests, would vote Sarkozy. Gloucester born ‘extremist’ Saajid Badat met Osama Bin Laden. But is that such a big deal? Much terrorism is perpetrated by Patsies, Moles and Technicians as part of Western intelligence operations so he may well have been a patsy. National Health Service worker Mike Levine from Bristol and District Anti Cuts Alliance (BADACA) explains how the NHS is being privatised. Mike points out the problems with Foundation Trusts being too much like commercial businesses and has produced a pamphlet called ‘The Privatisation of the NHS, It Can Be Stopped If People Know What Is Happening’ Next week is traditional workers’ day Mayday and Mike talks about next Saturday’s ‘March For The NHS’ through Bristol City Centre starting at College Green at 11am. Next week’s mayoral referendum with former Sainsburys’ Home Delivery manager turned council officer and prospective mayoral Peace Party candidate Craig Clarke who doesn’t want a rich person to be mayor. Are we being bumped into this by central government? What will the powers of an elected mayor be? Mayor will be able to wade in to council bureaucracy and bang heads together. Craig recounts a conversation with Conservative Lord Mayor Peter Abraham where he was offered free labour which he turned down, then told Craig, ‘You should be a bit more selfish’. Craig found this frustrating as he doesn’t think people in the council should be selfish at all. According to Craig the inner circle of Bristol City Council’s officers are the ones who control Legal Services, Finance and Money. The only way to stop a rich person being mayor of Bristol is to vote that way. Craig hopes to stand for the Peace Party if Bristol votes ‘Yes’ next week. Julian Parry gives us more detail on his Rolling Referendum. Political parties funded from taxation but all voters allowed to switch their contribution to whichever party they wish at any time either online or by post. When ministers put forwad bad policies their funds would go to their political rivals. If government were to get less than 20% of total funding queen would dissolve parliament and call another general election. Julian and his friends’ policy to get away from the present elective dictatorship, a proposal being put to Lord Monkton of UKIP.