Once a long time ago…..

Well – it has been ages since I last ventured to write something on here.

2 years in fact…or there abouts I could find out exactly, but that would seem to show that I’m more interested in the gap – than I am in what has brought me back to writing here today and in the future.

Last year – myself and two friends embarked on the idea of starting a community radio station in Maidstone in Kent.  We are still developing that idea and I plan to use this blog to continue to document our progress and share interesting stories about running a volunteering business.

Like most challenges in life – it is not easy.  But then, it shouldn’t be.  And we are not even at the end.  Nor the end of the beginning….what is it old Churchill said….we maybe at the beginning of the end!!

Will Snowden be Trumps ‘Bin Landen’ scalp?

We are just hours away from President-Elect Donald Trump taking the oath of office and becoming officially the 45th President of the United States.

I can only imagine how Ed Snowden is feeling right now.  There must have been a part of him which was hope for a Presidential pardon from the outgoing President Obama – alas, it wasn’t to come.  And so what now for America’s highest profile whistleblower and exile who has just been given leave to remain in Russia for another three years?

Well, like most things Russian – there is no such thing as a guarantee and if I were Snowden I’d be very very nervous right now.  The Russian’s will have obtained everything they need or wanted from Snowden and in fact, his presence there was merely Putin sticking a pin in the side of Obama.

If we enter into a thawing of USA/Russian relations, an easy win for Trump would be getting Snowden back to face the music for releasing millions of confidential documents.

Snowden has tweeted that he would rather be “without a state than without a voice” – soon, he may find himself in Russian state custody – whilst awaiting extradition back to the United States – facing the rest of his life in prison and finally losing the voice he cherishes so much.

In 2016 I spoke to the author James Bamford who has met and interviewed Ed.

 

Krishnan Guru-Murthy sticks the sword in

Sir Craig Oliver was the Communications Director for former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who has recently written a book about their failed attempt to win the referendum.  Channel four news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy compared his knighthood to those that have gone before, including Sir Winston Churchill, Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh and ask how his Knighthood compared to his – a reward for failure?  It’s nice to see someone squirm!!

 

Dodgy Dave is OUT – Teflon Theresa is IN

Former PM David Cameron

I do feel for David Cameron.  A month ago he was the PM who was quietly confident that he would win the referendum and would be at this point reshuffling his cabinet and getting on with his ‘economic plan’.

However, we now have a new Prime Minister and a new cabinet.  Gordon Brown declared his first cabinet as a ‘government of all the talents’.   With Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary and Nigel Hunt left in place to fire harpoons at the NHS – I think it’s safe to call this a government with some of the talents.

I’m still not sure if it is an act of pure genius putting Boris in charge of Britain’s diplomacy with the world or an act of pure insanity. But whatever happens Boris won’t be boring.  I’m not even sure if he will be in the job all that long.   He has to work alongside eurosceptic MP David Davis whose ego dwarfs the EU, but who has been given Secretary of State for Exiting the EU – working alongside brexiteer and other ego-phile Liam Fox, the new Secretary of State for International Trade.  These three will find it hard agreeing to seating arrangements around a table – never mind the intricate policy and political details of how we leave the EU.  Fun times ahead.

I understand why Theresa want’s to keep Jeremy Hunt in place.  His nose and hands are already bloodied with his back sore and scarred with the numerous whippings and fist fights he’s had with the NHS.  The Government seem to be determined to push through a new contract on Junior Doctors.  Why get a new minister’s hands bloodied and bruised – better to let Jeremy slug away in Health and then get rid of him when all the damage is done – bringing in a clean pair of hands to try and smooth things over later.

Boris Johnson reaching out…

Monday Matters 20 June 2016

MPs were recalled to parliament to remember the murdered MP Jo Cox, who was killed on Thursday. We will bring you some of the statements, many emotional, from the house.

It’s thought that over-eating could cause 7 million new cases of cancer, heart disease, strokes and diabetes within 20 years – I’ll speak to Jenny Rosborough from the health group – action on sugar – about the governments delay in tackling the issue.

Jason speaks to the author, journalist and lecturer Sarah Lonsdale – who has written a book which tells the history of – the journalist – through works of fiction and how they have been portrayed in novels, films and theatre.

Lionel Richie the Legendary R&B singer is our featured artist. He recorded such hits as “Dancing on the Ceiling,” – it’s his birthday – he’s 67.

Monday Matters Orlando Shooting 13 June 2016

Jason has more reaction to those terrible events over in America as President Obama says the Orlando gunman, who shot dead 49 people at a gay nightclub, was a home-grown terrorist. Omar Mateen’s father has condemned his son – saying he’s “sad” but also “mad” about the attack.

We will hopefully cross live to Orlando and get the latest news and reaction.
After 9pm tonight we talk about another murder – but on British soil and one that happened over 30 years ago. Hilda Murrell was 78 and an anti-nuclear campaigner – when she was abducated from her home – stabbed and left to die in the Shropshire country side. Her nepher, former naval commander Robert Green – insists that she was killed by the state and or nuclear interested parties.

There is the latest music news and we may even hear from Nigel Farage who was in ‪#‎sittingbourne‬ ‪#‎kent‬ today.

The featured artist is Paul McCartney who turns 74 on Saturday – after 8pm we have 4 non-stop songs from the man with Wings.

UK Construction firms pay out £10M after “blacklisting” scandal

The biggest “blacklisting” scandal in the UK has seen construction firms paying out £10M in compensation.

Unite, the country’s biggest union, has supported 256 workers in court after the UK’s biggest “blacklisting” scandal in history of UK construction.

Around £10M will be paid out to construction workers who were blacklisted by some of Britain’s biggest construction firms, including Balfour Beatty and Sir Robert McAlpine.

The settlement, which will be announced on Monday will see Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci paying compensation to almost 800 unfairly targeted workers who are being supported by Unite Union. The GMB Union say the amount could reach £75M for 771 claimants.

The blacklist resulted in hundreds of workers losing their jobs and left unable to secure new ones, after being deemed troublemakers while raising legitimate workplace issues.

Over 3,000 building workers were monitored through a shadowy organisation called the Consulting Association, which was eventually raided by the Information Commissioner’s Office after earlier revelations in the Guardian. The blacklist is believed to have been operating for 30 years, with secret files seized by the Information Commissioner’s Office apparently including defamatory references to workers such as “will cause trouble, strong TU”, “ex-shop steward, definite problems” and “Irish ex-army, bad egg”.

Len McCluskey, General Secretary of the Unite Union said: “The massive scale of the agreed damages shows the gravity of the misdeeds of major construction companies which created and used the Consulting Group as a vehicle to enable them to blacklist trade unionists.

“The sums to be paid out go a considerable way to acknowledge the hurt, suffering and loss of income our members and their families have been through over many years.”

Unite said payouts under the latest settlement could range from £25,000 to £200,000 per claimant, depending on factors such as loss of income and the seriousness of defamation.

Tim Roache, General Secretary of the GMB Union said: “Preventing 3,213 workers earning a living to support their families was a gross injustice, and government and employers’ organisations must never forget this sordid episode. Without strong regulation and penalties holding them to account, employers will always be tempted to put profit above people.”

New community radio licences awarded

Ofcom has announced the award of five new community radio licences in south east England covering Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and East Sussex.

The 5 new stations are:

Bexhill FM

Who will provide a service for the whole community in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.

 

Hailsham FM

 

 

 

Will be a service for the general population of Hailsham in East Sussex. Speaking via their twitter account the team said “We are hugely excited to announce that we have been awarded a 5 year FM community radio licence by @Ofcom today”

Red Kite Radio

Will be for the people of Haddenham (Buckinghamshire) and Thame (Oxfordshire). Their website announced the winning bid by saying how they “won the five-year licence after convincing the body that this area deserves and can sustain a full time version of its successful Summerfest Radio broadcasts”.  General Manager of Red Kite Radio Pete MacFarlane told Haddenham.net “Summerfest Radio began nearly four years ago and has grown ever since, heavily supporting the beer festival which has grown significantly during the three summers we’ve been on the air”.  It is anticipated that Red Kite Radio will broadcast 24 hours a day with community news updates & information, interviews with community representatives, local people and organisations.

Witney Radio

Will serve the community of Witney and surrounding villages in Oxfordshire.  The station tweeted their thanks to Ofcom via their twitter account and said “Proves all the hard work does pay off in the end and the community benefits are huge!”

 

Wycombe Sound

Is for people aged 35 and over in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.  The station’s Managing Director Chris Phillips released a statement via their website stating “We’re all absolutely delighted. After completing three successful pop-up broadcasts we’re looking forward to putting the service onto a permanent footing. There’s so much going on in this town, we want to share all the good news coming from our community.”

Wycombe Sound will broadcast a mix of local interest interviews and features, together with local news and phone ins. There will be lots of great music too, plus specialist programmes and outside broadcasts.

Community Radio

Community radio services are provided on a not-for-profit basis, focusing on the delivery of specific social benefits to a particular geographical community or a community of interest.

 

10 years of community radio

Community radio, which offers thousands of volunteers the chance to get involved in broadcasting across the UK, is ten years old.

The last decade has seen the number of community radio stations increase from just a handful to more than 230 stations, each reflecting the local needs and interests of its audience.

In March, Ofcom announced its intention to simplify the way community radio stations record their Key Commitments. This revised approach reduces the administrative burden for licensees, and provides these stations greater flexibility to serve their target communities and deliver valuable social benefits.

Saturday Breakfast 05 March 2016

On 106.9 SFM in Kent every Saturday morning – the breakfast with Jason McCrossan.

On today’s show: Kyra is in control of all the contacts and communicaitons and Jack has the news.

Who is the voice – between 7am and 8am – can you guess the mystery character?

After 8am -Dickie and Feather return for Play Your Celebrity Cards Right

After 9am – it’s pick of the number one pops- the songs we play were number on that day.

 

Monday Matters EU Referendum Show 22 February 2016

On Monday Matters for the 22nd February, it’s been announced that the EU referendum will be held on Thursday June 23rd. But apparently, we Brits are 60 times more likely to talk about reality TV with our friends than discuss the merits of the EU.

The prime minister presented his case for Britain to stay in the EU today in the commons. Well have more on that later. Yesterday Boris Johnson said he’d campaign for Britain to leave the EU – we will hear his statement after 9pm.

George Harrison who would have been 73 years old this week, as it was he died of cancer on November 29th 2001 – aged 58.