18/04/2015
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Thought for the Day and Weather.
Last on
Clips
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Sir Malcolm Bruce: We are confident we can win seats
Duration: 05:04
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Gordon: traditional hustings meeting
Duration: 05:10
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Salmond:I would be delighted to serve under Angus Robertson
Duration: 06:38
Today's running order
0709
The Rt HonÌýSir Malcolm Bruce, Deputy Leader of the Liberal
Democrats, is standing down as a Scottish MP. In the week of their manifesto
launch, the Liberal Democrats are falling significantly behind in several
Scottish seats according to polling conducted by the former Conservative peer
Lord Ashcroft. This morning, Jim is in the North East of Scotland – in Aberdeen
– close to key electoral battlegrounds which have been visited both by the
Chancellor George Osborne and the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Nick Clegg in
the past few days. How are the Lib Dems faring in Scotland and more broadly?
0712
A luxurious five-star hotel was hit by a major fire on Friday evening which
required 14 fireÌýengines. Oxfordshire
Fire and Rescue Service was called to the blaze at the Macdonald Randolph Hotel
in Oxford city centre. The fire is not believed to be suspicious and is thought
to have started in the ground floor kitchen, Oxfordshire County Council said.
The hotel was a regular feature in the TV series Inspector Morse, where it
featured as one of the detective's favourite haunts. Assistant Chief Officer
Simon Furlong of Oxford Fire and Rescue service.Ìý
0715
10,000 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by Italian
officials over the last week. Our correspondent James Reynolds is in the
Sicilian port of Catania.
0718
The climbing season is starting on Everest. The mountain attracts more and more
adventurers - the vastly experienced and, increasingly, the less so - who want
to stand on the highest point on earth. A year ago an avalanche stopped the
season in its tracks : 16 Sherpas were killed in the biggest single loss of
life on the mountain in recent times. The dangers are as great as ever. But so is
the lure of Everest. Thomas Martienssen, is in base camp.
0730
It's four decades, almost to the month, since oil began to flow from the North
Sea. It changed the economy of the UK...and here in north-east Scotland it was
the beginning of a boom that changed the landscape and brought a new dimension
to a way of life that had long been dominated by farming and fishing. Aberdeen
prospered...and through times of recession these parts have had the protection
of an industry that has continued to create jobs. But with oil, nothing is
certain: the plunge in the price in the last six months has changed the
outlook. For exploration, and for the many companies that have been growing
here to service the industry. Jack Davidson, managing director of Fisher
Offshore, which provide subsea equipment for the oil and gas fields.
Ìý0735
Counter-terrorism police in Melbourne have arrested five men in a series of morning raids over fears of a planned attack on police officers at an Anzac Day memorial. About 200 officers were involved in the raids.Ìý Acting Deputy Commissioner of National Security with the Australian Federal Police, Neil Gaughan.
0740
If the first second of the Universe were turned in to music, what would it
sound like? That's the question behind a new work being premiered tonight in
Cardiff. More than 200 years after Haydn composed his musical interpretation of
the Bible's Creation - A Violence of Gifts grew out of a visit to scientists at
the Large Hadron Collider and seeks to evoke our modern and scientific understanding
of the creation of the Universe and life on earth.
0750
One of the adornments of the referendum campaign in Scotland was the public
meeting - debates and rallies in village halls, churches, schools across the
country. And in many seats in this election the same is true. As part of our
visits to a hundred seats in a hundred days I've been in Gordon in
Aberdeenshire - Liberal Democrat - held last time, and the seat where Alex
Salmond of the SNP - former first minister of Scotland - is trying to make a
return to Westminster.
0810
Why was Greville Janner not prosecuted over allegations of child abuse, and is
it right that he should face no trial now?Ìý His family sayÌýhe's
is a man of great integrity and high repute with a long and unblemished recordÌýof
public service. He is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.Ìý But the
Director of Public ProsecutionsÌý Alison Saunders, has told nine alleged
victims of the 86-year-old politician that a new police investigation had
gathered enough evidence to charge him with 22 offencesÌý - but because he
has Alzheimer’s the DPP has decided no trial is possible.ÌýÌý That
decision has been bitterly criticised, not least by the police in Leicester,
who've been in charge of the investigation. The DPP also admitted that there
were opportunities to prosecute Lord Janner in the past but those opportunities
had been missed.ÌýÌý One of the them was in 2007 whenÌý the Crown
Prosecution Service were contacted by the Leicester police but took no action
indeed the file was not passed from Leicester to the CPS in London.Ìý Lord
McDonald - who as Ken McDonald, was the Director of Public Prosecutions at the
time.
0820
We're in Aberdeen. The granite city - sparkling in diamond spring sunshine this
morning, I may say - and a city with many traditions, an ancient university and
a football club with an illustrious history. Stewart Milne,Ìýchairman
of Aberdeen FC and local businessman
0825
A new trailer has been released for the latest iteration of Star Wars - Episode
Seven: The Force Awakens..." There’s excitement – as the original hero
Hans Solo will be back.Ìý Many of the middle aged will remember with fond
memories the trilogy classic, it's stood the test of the time. ButÌýwhat
is it about the original 70s characters in Star Wars that get men in their 40s
misty eyed? Are strong characters like Indiana Jones and Rocky the ideal cash
cow? Will we see current films like Frozen coming back in 30 years’ time?
Marcus Brigstocke, Comedian and Star Wars fan and Tim Robey,ÌýTelegraph
film critic.
0833
In no election campaign in living memory has there been more talk - with 19
days to go to polling day - of the possible inter-party negotiations
afterwards. None of it might happen, of course : someone could have an overall
majority...and we'd put coalitions to bed, and the histories of minority
governments that have been well-thumbed in Whitehall in these past few months.
But to judge by what the leaders are saying, they think that's unlikely. And so
for all of them, positioning is everything. How you play a hung parliament is
an especially enjoyable game from the Scottish National Party, because it
believes it's going to have a greatly-increased Parliamentary group. Alex
Salmond, former leader of the SNP and former first minister of Scotland.
0840
Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service are facing fierce criticism
after dropping charges against nine newspaper journalists who'd been accused of
offences relating to the illegal payment of public officials. ÌýThe
decision followed a court ruling that for an offence of misconduct in public
office to be proved, serious harm must have been caused to the public interest.This follows the
acquittal of three journalists at the Old Bailey yesterday for paying public
officials for stories. The jury was dismissed after failing to reach a verdict
on charges against a fourth journalist, and a former immigration officer.
Joshua Rozenburg from Â鶹Éç Radio 4’s Law in Action and Graham Brough, former
Daily Mirror reporter.
0850
The Aberdeen oil industry brought a culture change to this part of the country.
By the mid-seventies, you could hear Texan voices all around the town.
Peterhead just up the coast became a kind of Klondyke for people chasing the
oil and still the industry means that the city has an international dimension.
Suzie Johnson is on the board of the American Women of Aberdeen.
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Broadcast
- Sat 18 Apr 2015 07:00Â鶹Éç Radio 4