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
For all the shows back to Easter 2009 visit the Friday Drivetime archive page.
First hour: News review with Cllr Lesley Alexander (Con); Election figures: 1st: George Ferguson 31,321 – 35.13% + 2nd round total 37,353; 2nd: Labour Marvin Rees (Lab) 25,896 – 29.05% + 2nd round total 31,259; 3rd: Geoff Gollop (Con) 8,136 – 9.13%; 4th: Jon Rogers (Lib) 6,202 – 6.96%; 5th: Daniella Radice (Grn) 5,248 – 5.89%. George Ferguson’s £25m cuts are unnecessary and effectively ‘suicidal’ as the City of London is playing out its own political agenda. Sue Mountstevens sworn in as Avon & Somerset Police Commissioner, promptly runs in to ‘Tit For Tat’ dispute with Chief Constable Colin Port who announces he will not be renewing his contract saying he ‘refuses to apply for his own job’. Election Expenses: £21,000 maximum, must be in by Thurdsay 20th December. Spat on BBC Question Time between Work and Pensions Secretary of State Iain Duncan-Smith and Independent columnist Owen Jones over disabled people facing destitution over ATOS assessments and being told to apply for work in a market of less and less jobs. Disabled rights campaigner Karen Sherlock dies and 11,000 Disabled people facing homelessness. Black Triangle campaign for disabled people fighting back against the DWP ATOS assessments. Housing benefit bill is out of control so we have to build homes and create real, well paid jobs or we are going back to Victorian and Medieval times of mass injustice and poverty. Tata cutting 900 steel jobs across South Wales and the UK. Fall in UK steel demand has been steeper than in any other European country. Banks are bankrupt but being kept afloat by public money. UBS ‘Rogue Trader’ Kweku Adoboli jailed for 7 years while his bosses walk free. City of London is the ‘heart of darkness’ for the financial crisis globally. Who runs Britain, the banks or the government? Free market solution: not a penny for bankrupt institutions! Rolinda Sharples painting: The Stoppage of the Bank. Criminal gang in Murdoch newsrooms & Downing Street? Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson face more charges, this time over bribery with the implication of a masonic crime ring in Scotland Yard and government institutions. The Queen comes to Bristol and gets a lacklustre reception, Chrstina Robina reports for BCfm from outside the Old Vic on King Street.
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Second hour: No sailors witnessed the ‘sea burial’ of Osama Bin Laden from the USS Carl Vinson on 1st May 2011, just a handful of senior Admirals and Generals. Was the ‘killing of Bin Laden’ last year just staged for the Western public and did Bin Laden really die in Afghanistan way back in 2001? Elite Intrigues and Military Purges: It’s Not About Sex, Stupid! Fallout in US over the murder of US Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi: Petraeus-Benghazi-Gate, the new Watergate moment that may shatter Obama’s presidency. Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan & whistleblower Craig Murray invited onto the BBC 32 times and then has appearances cancelled including on BBC1 Question Time. Mysterious forces behind censorship of whistleblowers like Craig by the BBC despite the fact that he is, for example, Foreign Office expert on Maritime Law. Bristol University students Jamie Melrose & Tim Saunders criticise their vice-chancellor Eric Thomas who is openly embracing privatisation of Bristol university. Bristol university and students already being sponsored by private military firm BAe Systems and bailed out Spanish bank Santander. This week’s under-reported student demo of about 6,000 students in London; Author and political/media analyst professor Anthony J. Hall from University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada: Earth into Property: Colonization, Decolonization, and Capitalism.
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WARNING: The BCfm website is having mysterious technical problems serving this specific second hour mp3 file with the Craig Murray interview.
An alternative Radio4All download page is here or a direct mp3 (right click ‘save file as’) download link here
Investigative Journalist
NOT The BCfm Politics Show 
Its quite simple really, all goverments want to keep the population at work, poor and quite sell us all if you’re good, work hard, you can go up in the world. The West has sold this way of keeping the populations around the world in check. Once people realize the people protesting around the world we are all protesting about the same thing, goverments treating everyone with distain, all the arab spring, canada spain, greek spring its time for a complete change the way the world is run. I’m sure if we can make weapons of mass distrucktion we can feed everyone on earth.
I love this show Tony you are going to be rewarded in heaven keep up the fantastic work cant you do more shows this stuff needs to be heard.