27th December 2013

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: news review Inside Housing front page: 300% increase in rising damp: landlords report a surge in mould complaints as squeezed tenants under-heat their homes, buy-to-let bubble is being reheated, general housing discussion; despite what leader of the opposition Ed Miliband says will Labour party really be able to intervene in energy markets? 30 years of idiotic policies have brought us to the brink of disaster; is Britain a democracy? Does the government ever decide on policy and how democratic is our first-past-the-post voting system? PM doesn’t have a majority of the votes and gets told what to do by the banks; London mayor Boris Johnson draws analogy between money and intelligence; Boris manoeuvring to be next Tory leader. ‘Boardroom greed is good’ appeals to the Tory party’s city funders and some voters. Cornflakes pack analogy. Spirit of envy is good. London is the ‘soft power’ capital of the world. Ex-soldiers jailed for six years for firebombing Grimsby mosque after Lee Rigby’s murder. US nuclear weapons boss Major General Michael Cary is sacked as commander of US 20th Air Force of ICBMs. Anders Breivik was not followed by Oslo police helicopter. Were private firm Craft security behind the Boston bombing? 25 years on what was really behind the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988. Is it flu research or germ warfare in disguise? EU H5N1 flue vaccine tests could kill millions of people. Russian oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky who tried to do deals with Israel for Russian oil is released. Councils making £600m of surplus profit around the UK from parking charges. Councils being run like businesses. Protesters gather to fight plans to close 22 of Bristol’s 23 public loos. British society must not revert to “times of Charles Dickens” and leave the nation’s poorest families in desperate need of food and clothes, Action for Children has warned. It said the nation has already reverted to the poverty of the 1940s, and “can’t go back” further. Prisoners across Britain are banned from getting parcels and packages from families on the outside. This Christmas sees three times last year’s usage of Food Banks says the Trussel Trust. Western backed Egyptian military government declares majority group, the Muslim Brotherhood an illegal terrorist group.
[audio: 201312271700]
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Second hour: review of 2013 ‘Privacy matters’: US NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gives his Christmas Message comparing GCHQ and the NSA to George Orwell’s 1984 totalitarian states warning us of ‘the end of privacy’. O2 changes Cameron ‘porn filter’ after charity sites blocked. Open Rights Group (ORG) is monitoring UK blocking and filtering on new website www.blocked.org.uk Snowden story broke on the first day of this year’s Bilderberg meeting in Watford, UK. Michael Meacher MP explains why he felt politicians inside should report back to parliament and he insisted on the first parliamentary Bilderberg debate. Tony Crofts arrives to announce his office buildings to housing organisation AEOBhousePeople  now has £150,000 invested and money is rolling in at £10k per week, any investment from £50 to £20,000 is welcome. Death of US Investigative Journalist Michael Hastings, was he assassinated by the man he was investigating CIA Director John Brennan who has been using the US military to spy on the press. Independent Diplomat founder Carne Ross gives his views on the danger of hypocrisy of holding the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. “You have to attack civilians, the people, women, children, far away from any political game so authorities can bring in a state of emergency” Daniel Bushell on Russia Today interviews Daniele Ganser about Operation Gladio. We hear telephoned death threats against Tony Gosling recorded with an app., from a terrorist group affiliated to the English Defence League (EDL) called the Jewish Defence League (JDL) classed as a terrorist organisation. Avon & Somerset police trace the number withheld call and interview the owner of the London house where the call originated.
[audio: 201312271800]
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHXjO8wHsA&w=420&h=315]