Friday 13th July 2018

BCfm’s weekly Politics Show presented by Tony Gosling

At six – discussing the big stories in Bristol, Britain and around the world
After seven – straight talking and investigative reports with Martin Summers

Listen live http://www.bcfmradio.com/player or http://stream.bcfmradio.com:7017/live.mp3

BCfm audio files usually available 1hr, Radio4All 3-4hrs, after TX
Any probs mp3s should be on alternative links below by then

First hour: news review: with Labour councillors Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing and Afzal Shah, also housing campaigners Simon Jones and Rick Carey. Bristol City Council goes to court to evict tent city homeless to make way for Ethical Life Festival on College Green. The campaigners have been there for a week and a half. People camping out on College Green in protest at Bristol City Council’s proposed changes to the way they deal with people living in tents and vans face court action to evict them by Saturday – because an ‘Ethical Life Festival’ is due to take place there. The homelessness campaigners were issued with a notice on Tuesday afternoon telling them that the council would be seeking a court order to throw them off the space in front of City Hall. The campaigners have been camped out in front of the council offices for a week and a half, ever since the council launched a consultation on what to do about the city’s growing number of people living in tents and vans throughout Bristol. The campaigners said they want to highlight what they see as a crackdown on people who are forced into vans parked in residential streets across Bristol as a result of the city’s worsening housing crisis. Bristol City Council Vehicle Dwelling Encampments consultation: The council is formalising its approach to vehicle dwelling encampments on the highway. Vehicle dwelling is increasing significantly in Bristol. The council must balance the needs of those vehicle dwelling with those of the local community, and those needing to use the highway and adjacent facilities. Our aim for those vehicle dwelling is to ensure a measured approach, demonstrating tolerance whilst also being willing to take action when issues reach an unacceptable level. To find out people’s views on the proposed approach, whether it balances the needs of those living in vehicles with those of settled residents, whether the criteria for assessing the impact of an encampment are the right ones and to get feedback about some alternative options for managing encampments. You can complete the survey at http://www.bristol.gov.uk/vehicledwelling
Radio4All download pages
BCfm audio file
Radio4All audio file

Second hour: Investigative reports: Bob Nichols from Bristol against the Arms Trade discusses militarism and arms firms in the city ahead of Sunday’s walk around Bristol’s arms firms which starts at 11am. Drones: A £1m military drone flew over a packed primary school sports day – then there was a crash: The Watchkeeper drone crash was the fifth to hit the troubled development project – and it has led alarmed villagers in Penparc, West Wales, to demand the MoD change the flight paths of the unmanned aircraft. The Ministry of Defence wasted £33m on botched attempts to semi-privatise the £14bn budget agency that buys military equipment, according to report being published by the National Audit Office today. The Government had wanted to bring in a consortium of private sector experts to run the Bristol-based Defence Equipment & Support, but abandoned the reforms in late 2013 as only one group, led by the US engineer Bechtel, was interested in bidding. Margaret Hodge, who chairs Parliament’s powerful Public Accounts Committee, today criticises the MoD for “throwing away” taxpayers’ money on the much-criticised plan.   What I learned from visiting 15 Israeli settlements, by Johnny Harris: The result has been a consistent growth in the settlement population, which is now estimatedat 400,000. All of this means that any negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians must now take into account this growing number of settlers, as their communities weave through any future Palestinian state. And as such negotiations languish in a standstill, the settlements continue to grow, making any hope for peace dimmer with every new neighborhood built.  Spot the contradiction: Zionism’s Jews that don’t believe in God – Gilad Atzmon: The only ‘true Jews may be Palestinians! Theodore Herzl was open to many ideas for a Jewish homeland, the first Zionist congress, he was told it must be Palestine and when he pointed out that they weren’t religious he was told ‘we are not religious but this is what our identity is all about’. Israel’s role in creating and promoting antisemitism.
Radio4All download pages
BCfm audio file
Radio4All audio file