[speaker001:] On 102 F M, this is the Fox Report, with Jane Markham
[speaker002:] Tonight, three people are found dead at a house in Buckinghamshire. The talks to end the ambulance dispute continue in London, and the crisis at Banbury's Horton General Hospital; the unit manager says there's just no more cash, so operations have to be cancelled. Also on the programme, a local teacher says an A-level Business Studies exam is too easy. Upper Heyford's plans for this year's air show, and an Oxford chef bids to become young chef of the year, that's all on the Fox Report with me, Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle]
[speaker003:] The 6.00 news, this is Annie Webster, Police investigating a triple murder in Buckinghamshire are tonight trying to persuade a man hiding in nearby woods not to kill himself, Paul Chandler reports:
[speaker004:] The family, mother, father and their 16 year old son were found battered to death at their home in Upper Ridings, Beckonsfield. Police are now talking to a 30 year old friend of the family, who's up a tree in the nearby woods, threatening to jump off a branch with a rope round his neck. Sergeant Allen Bovington Cox says specialist teams are involved:
[speaker005:] We've got our own trained police negotiators there at the scene talking to him, and also we have a doctor and a psychiatrist standing by for any assistance they can give us.
[speaker004:] Police say the man is in a stable frame of mind, and they are confident of talking him down. Paul Chandler, I R N, Buckinghamshire.
[speaker003:] Gas Prices are going up in March by 7.5%, another Building Society, the Halifax has put up its interest rates, although first time buyers are being spared the increase, and the Chancellor, John Major says the gloomy news isn't over, because inflation isn't coming down as fast as he predicted. Neil Kinnock agrees; he says high mortgage rates and the poll tax are bound to push up inflation rates even more. But Mrs Thatcher has told him in the Commons the Government's not to blame:
[speaker006:] As the Right Honourable Gentleman is aware, our top priority is to get inflation down, and I would also hope that he would be aware that the aim of doing that in the longer term has to be by making the price of money more expensive. If he doesn't know that I'm very surprised.
[speaker003:] Americans will be able to make up their own minds about former president, Ronald Reagan's testimony, in the trial of his former National Security Adviser, Admiral John Poindexter. In video-taped evidence, Mr Reagan has admitted he approved the covert arms for hostages operation, that became known as the Iran Contra affair, although he says he didn't authorise his staff to break the law. Now, as Nick Peters reports, the testimony is to be made public:
[speaker007:] Federal Judge, Harold Green, ordered the immediate release of the transcript, saying the public has a right to know what the former president said. Mr Reagan says he cannot recollect many of the key events surrounding the scandal, which he says was as much news to him as everyone else. Admiral Poindexter, charged with lying about his role in the affair, says he was acting under Mr Reagan's orders. His trial begins on March the 5th. Nick Peters, I R N Washington.
[speaker003:] Shell U K will have to wait until tomorrow to hear what sentence it receives for causing a 30 mile oil slick which polluted the River Mersey. A judge at Liverpool Crown Court has adjourned the case after asking for details of Shell's profits. Vicky Henman reports:
[speaker008:] Shell has admitted full responsibility for the spillage of a hundred and fifty tons of crude oil into the Mersey last August, and has apologised for the slick which killed 300 birds and injured 2,000 others. The company revealed in course it expects to pay out £1,412,336 in compensation, as well as the clean up operation, which is still going on. The court also heard that a decision by a senior manager to pump water into the leaking pipeline from Tranmere terminal, to the refinery at Stanmere Port, actually made the situation worse. Nicky Henman, I R N, Liverpool.
[speaker003:] The Court of Appeal has just ruled that councils that trade on the money markets with rate payers' cash, are acting legally. But the court says that deals are only allowed to protect rate payer's money from fluctuations in interest rates, and can't be carried out for trading purposes. Crucial talks are continuing in London between ambulance management and unions, with the resolution of the 6 month pay dispute at stake. And the rail unions have begun pay rise talks where they're asking for rises approaching double figures. Britain's newest T.V. satellite station, B S B, has announced a star-spangled line up for its launch in April, celebrities such as Mike Smith, naturalist David Bellamy, Juke Box Jury host, Jules Holland, will all be in the forefront of the drive for viewers. B S B chief, John Gowe, says the stakes are high, and competition with Rupert Murdoch's Sky Channel will be tough:
[speaker009:] Difficult to know whether er Rupert Murdoch will want to sustain what is obviously going to be a fairly bruising battle for 3 years. But I think if we don't get the audiences in 3 years, you know, we'll go bust.
[speaker003:] Independent Radio News. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Thursday the 22nd of February 1990. First a look at some of today's main stories in a bit more detail. The Unit General Manager of the Horton General Hospital in Banbury says there's no end in sight to the cash crisis which is about to affect patients in the area. The hospital has overspent its budget for this financial year by £70,000. It means it will be no treatment for 150 routine patients over the last 5 weeks, and that starts on Monday. Last August the hospital had to close 26 beds because it couldn't afford to staff them. Horton General Manager, Denis Baston, admits he's again facing an embarrassing situation.
[speaker010:] We're very sorry to have to curtail our services er in this way. We're having with effect from next Monday to reduce er our service to urgent cases only: accidents, emergency cases, those that need urgent medical care, they will be dealt with, but patients who are awaiting this type cases, for orthopaedics, gynaecology, general surgery er will have to be postponed for a period of about 5 weeks. Our budget er is at the present time overspent er something of the order of £70,000, and we're required by the Health Authority and by government, er to manage within our existing cash limited budget.
[speaker011:] Do you accept that, regardless of the background, is poor management on your behalf?
[speaker010:] No, we have in fact done a great deal to conserve our resources here, er and as I say we have treated er something like 500 patients by the end of this year, addition to what we treated in er the previous year, and that can only be as a result of good management, both nursing and medical.
[speaker011:] But nevertheless, there's going to be a month period, plus there'll be five weeks where people won't be able to be treated for routine operations here.
[speaker010:] Exactly so, because we haven't got the money to do it.
[speaker011:] Who do you blame?
[speaker010:] er Well it's very easy to er blame government for not allocating resources, er but er the pure fact is that the health authority has insufficient resources to allocate to us to meet the increasing demands of this area.
[speaker011:] Is there any guarantee that this situation might not be repeated er a year from hence?
[speaker010:] I think if we get the same budget next year, we will have to consider very carefully what work load we undertake in the next financial year, yes.
[speaker011:] What do you hope you can do in terms of providing or possibly squeezing out at the eleventh hour, the cash that you need from the Oxfordshire Regional Health Authority, to try and stop er routine patients not being treated from Monday?
[speaker010:] Well, I don't think there's any action that's likely to be taken by the Regional Health Authority in time for next Monday. Er. Obviously if we get any additional cash allocation from any source, it will be deployed in er such a way as to treat the patients as soon as possible. But we're in the hands obviously of the Health Authority.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Banbury's M P, Tony Baldrey says he's also very concerned about the Horton's cash crisis. Although he claims nothing can be done immediately to prevent the cancellation of non-urgent admissions, he's convinced the hospital will be one of the beneficiaries of the proposed N H S reforms.
[speaker012:] The budget of the Horton generally puts day to day work has got to better reflect the fact that there's a growing district Hospital, and has got to better reflect the size of the population it serves, and then also about a third of the patients that are treated at the Horton come from Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire, but actually the Horton is funded as if every patient there comes from Oxfordshire, and that's clearly crazy, and we've got to make quite sure that cross-boundary flows of patients are better reflected by cross boundary flows of money. And that will happen under the proposed N H S reforms, when the rather complex formula for allocating money within the N H S, is replaced by a much simpler formula. So yes, er I mean the difficulties of the Horton are a reflection of the kind of crazy way in which we allocate money within the N H S at the moment. And the Horton I think will stand to benefit as much as any hospital, by the proposed N H S reforms in insuring that er money follows the patients, and that we don't have these sorts of situations arising again, whereby when hospitals treat more patients they simply run out of money more quickly.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's 9 minutes past 6. There's still no news from the talks in London which are trying to bring about an end to the ambulance dispute. Nick Thenotsy is chairman of Oxfordshire's NUPE, Nick do you think this is good or bad news that they're still talking?
[speaker013:] er It's very difficult to say. I think er they're still talking at the moment. There may still be a few sticking points even at these late stages. Er. Having said that, if there isn't any pay formula included in this deal, er no matter what the percentage increase over the two years, I think er the strength of feeling across the country, people will not be happy with this and if it is balloted on it will be rejected.
[speaker002:] Now, it's the pay formula er that is that is the problem in your mind, er have you got any suggestion that they aren't talking about that?
[speaker013:] er Again it's difficult to say, the information has been leaking out from the talks, er it doesn't look as though a pay formula is being included but Roger Pulne, er even on the onset of this dispute guaranteed the members er that any deal that was struck with management would include a pay formula and er if the deal doesn't come out with a pay formula after the ballot as I say, I think people are going to be very disappointed and let-down by our union negotiators.
[speaker002:] Now what sort of pay formula would you like to see them come up with?
[speaker013:] I think er it's got to be er linked certainly to the rate of inflation, er and in some way linked to the way that the fire service er has their pay formula, and they're actually linked to 25% of the top 25% of schooled manual workers, er we'd be looking at some sort of deal like that, or if it wasn't er tied up with percentage rates I think we need, definitely need an independent pay review body for the ambulance service.
[speaker002:] So, even if the talks break up tonight, I say break up, but if they er if the talks have a positive mood when they finish, you're saying that that might not necessarily be the end of the dispute?
[speaker013:] Oh no er necessarily not, because er depending on the details of the er formula that all the words that er come out of the discussions today, er it's got to be discussed by the members at grass-roots level, and if we're not happy with it, we will be sticking to the action er certainly up until when the ballot is taken and if it is voted against er any deal that is struck at the moment, we will continue the action, and I think this will be not only in Oxfordshire, but up and down the country, the strength of feeling nationally is very strong.
[speaker002:] Nick Thenotsy, thank you very much. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker014:] All the routes out the city are very very busy this evening down the Botley Road, up the Woodstock Road, and down the Abingdon Road. As usual for this time in the evening, it's very very hectic indeed there. The local area or the area run locally is the Stratfield Break its virtually bumper to bumper stuff there in both directions, that's between the Kidlington Road roundabout and the Banbury Road roundabout. Pear Tree, well, serious congestion there as well, it's not getting away with it this evening. Bad in all directions there, particularly heading north on that A34. Elsewhere the A401 still very heavy in both directions between Abingdon and Dorchester-on-the-Thames due to an accident a little bit earlier on this evening. If you are thinking of heading on towards the Capital there's no such problems there, the M4 the M40 and the M25 running quite nicely this evening. Mark Newson, A A road watch.
[Fjm:] British Rail tells us that the 5.51 Sheffield to Paddington train is 15 minutes late this evening, but I've nothing to report so far on the buses. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come, 8 men are found guilty of one of Britain's biggest ever drug trafficking operations, and rail unions warn they're prepared to strike over this year's pay claim. For a summary of today's local news, here's Lucy Bonner.
[speaker016:] The Tory MP for Aylesbury, Timothy Raisin, is calling for a fresh look into the way the social fund is operated. It follows a ruling in the High Court that the government's guidance to officers that operate it is too strict, limiting awards of grants and loans to poor people. But Mr Raisin says he doubts the Labour Party's criticism that the budget itself is too small.
[speaker017:] I'm not sure whether that's true, I mean I think the argument er in this particular case is about the amount of money which a particular area of the Department of Social Security can operate, and presumably looking at this, Nichola Scott will have to er match up if you like the total quantity and make sure it's effectively allocated. It may be that some areas are running out of money er which clearly need money, maybe there's other areas are in surplus with the demands on them that aren't so great, so the answer may simply be to find a way of operating with greater flexibility within the total cash limit.
[speaker016:] Labour Councillors in Oxfordshire have been hitting back at Tory critics, who claim their actions have inflated Poll Tax figures. The conservatives on the county council say the budget approved, which is supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, has forced Poll Tax charges above the government estimate of £278. The Vale of White Horse district council has become the first to set its Poll Tax at £412. But Labour Councillor, Tom Richardson, defending his party's chosen budget says the problems with the Poll Tax have been the government's own making:
[speaker017:] If they'd been wise and told their government that this tax should not happen, as indeed many of their former ministers, like Michael Heseltine said, they'd said it was incredibly complicated although seemed sounding easy, and would in fact bring higher levels of taxation to the lowest income people, then er if the local tories had actually acted on that and put pressure on their central party, perhaps their government wouldn't be in such a mess about this issue now.
[speaker016:] Any study on the effects of radiation should include Harwell, according to a Labour County Councillor. Margaret Mackenzie says 4 children in the area have Leukaemia and the region around Harwell Nuclear Base should be re-examined, the last research was conducted in 1982. Ms Mackenzie first approached the Environmental Committee last May, but so far the result hasn't been encouraging.
[speaker018:] Well, they approached other authorities and other organisations er in order to find the funds, and the other authorities and other organisations refused to cough-up, because there had been a report in 1982, er as a result of some research at that time. I think that research is now out of date in the light of new information on Sellafield, Dounreay and Aldermarston.
[speaker016:] The managing director of Oxford United said the club will fight on for a new stadium, despite planning problems. Two proposed sites in Blackbird Leys have been included in the Green Belt, which could hinder the commercial development United says will be needed to help pay for the new all seater stadium. But although recent decisions by Oxfordshire County Council and South Oxfordshire District Council have gone against the club, managing director, Pat McGere, says he'll press on with efforts to have the club relocated from the Manor Ground.
[speaker019:] Nobody wants er a stadium in their own back yard. Er. What we're trying to do is to provide not only a stadium but something that everybody will want to use. Er. It will be an asset to Oxford and Oxfordshire, and will be enjoyed by er an enormous number of people, the local people. That's what we want to provide, and that's what we're going to fight for.
[speaker016:] Fox F M news, Lucy Bonner reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's 18 minutes past 6. Eight men have been found guilty of running one of Britain's biggest drug trafficking organisations. The convictions follow a 2 year joint customs and police investigation, code named 'operation doorman', that spanned 8 different countries in Europe and Africa. The men will be sentenced next month along with two others who'd admitted the charges. From the Old Bailey, Simon Israel reports:
[speaker020:] For five years from 1983, the organisation swamped Britain with more than £18 million worth of Cannabis. There were 14 shipments in all from Africa, the drugs hidden in coffin-style bundles of wood. Senior Customs Investigator, Michael Packham, says the breakthrough came with a tip-off:
[speaker021:] The organisation had put in an innocent manager to take delivery of a consignment of wood. They'd rented a forklift truck which was incapable of actually carrying the wood. And in the process of unloading one of the bundles, it split open and the manager found the cannabis concealed inside it.
[speaker020:] The enquiry took officers to eight different countries, including the Ivory Coast and South Africa, where the drugs were packed for shipment. The brains behind the organisation were 52 year old Roy Crack from Surrey and 42 year old Paul Newmann from South London, who both went from 'rags to riches' on the profits from the drugs. Detective Inspector, Tony Smith from Number 9 Regional Crime Squad, says Newmann was able to finance his passion for top class motor racing:
[speaker022:] He's a very well spoken, he's er a well educated man, speaks fluent French, er was living in a very large house, very much involved in the er racing fraternity er car racing, motor racing fraternity, was regularly seen at Brans Hatch, er mixed with er a lot of well known personalities in that field, er generally speaking his life style er was very good indeed.
[speaker020:] All funded from drugs?
[speaker022:] We can't find any legitimate source of income.
[speaker020:] Mr Packham says the organisation was highly sophisticated, using bogus companies and false names and addresses.
[speaker021:] I would say this is probably one of the most significant policecustoms joint operations that we've er undertaken for quite some time.
[speaker020:] The entire gang will be sentenced next month after customs officers apply to the courts to have the organisation's assets seized, an estimated £3.5 million. A solicitor who cannot be named for legal reasons faces trial in the summer accused of laundering much of the drug money.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's 20 minutes past 6. An environmental pressure group in Oxfordshire is disputing the reasons for Harwell Managers closing two of the testing reactors. The management says they were closed for commercial reasons. Pluto and Dido will be closed by the end of March. But the Banbury environmental research group which has given evidence to the select committee on energy over Harwell says the reasons for the shut-down are more complicated. Their spokesman, Paul Mobbs, says the cost of replacing the reactors is prohibitive on safety grounds:
[speaker019:] Well at the moment, the Harwell laboratories are having their exemption from Nuclear Survey at 1965 removed. Er. Because of that the reactors had to undergo a licensing procedure from Nuclear, Now that survey, which they have been carrying out for a number of months now, almost certainly would require that a number of major improvements be made to those reactors, and they just haven't got the money to do that at the moment. Therefore, they were left with the option of investing millions of pounds or closing them, and perhaps looking at the building of a new reactor.
[speaker002:] What Harwell's saying is that it's purely on commercial grounds that Dino and Pluto are to close. Have you any evidence to gainsay that?
[speaker019:] Technically, it is on commercial grounds, and they cannot recoup the money made from the everyday operation of the reactor to pay for the refurbishment of the reactor, that is true. But, as we have evidence going back a number of years the reactor is in such poor condition that there is no way they could safely operate the current requirement of the modern government standard.
[speaker002:] Why do you say that? Where's the evidence?
[speaker019:] The evidence comes from a number of sources, for instance, the ex-head of reactor designer research at Harwell, Mr Denis Dorson, he on a number of occasions tried to institute a great number of changes into the reactors to make them safer. For instance, these reactors are the only ones in the country with power over one megawatt which do not have an independent shut-down system. They are one of the few reactors in the country which, if anything went wrong with the core in any way, could not be shut down.
[speaker002:] So, do you see as the real reason for the shut-down of Dido and Pluto really a win for the arguments long standing of the environmental lobby.
[speaker019:] er Not exactly of the environmental lobby. I myself would seemingly represent the environmental lobby, but there have been others, many ex-members of Harwell, who have been campaigning for a long time now, many years, to get these reactors shut down, and it has just been a very long slog, and eventually the truth has had to come to light to shut these reactors down.
[speaker002:] You are listening to the Fox Report. Union leaders of the largest union in the Fox F M area are warning that they haven't ruled out the possibility of taking strike action in pursuit of their pay claim. National Negotiations started today between the National Union of Railwaymen and the National Railway's Board, in London. Last year there were six weeks of stoppages for passengers before the union settled for an 8.8% figure. The Divisional Officer for the N U R, covering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Phil McGarry says he's looking for a fair deal:
[speaker019:] We haven't put a figure on it, but our claim is for a substantial increase in basic rates of pay with a reduction in the working week.
[speaker023:] Can you be more specific than a 'substantial claim'?
[speaker019:] Well, no, we are governed by our Annual General Meeting, but it's not unrealistic to ask for double figures, because basically we were talking in that vein last year, and of course we eventually settled for 8.8.
[speaker023:] But surely you can't expect the government, now that the ambulance dispute in the public sector is in its sixth month to get what you'd call a substantial, possibly double figured settlement?
[speaker019:] Well, with the greatest respect, the ambulance workers' argument in the question of a pay review er is a different argument totally. We have got a well established machinery instituted, we work under that auspices and I believe it is not unreasonable to ask for a substantial wage increase, because after all, a lot of our members depend on family income supplement and rents and rates rebates. Some of the councils who have set the poll tax budgets in relation to the government's community charge is far in excess of their estimation, and you know it's absolutely ridiculous. I don't know how working class people can manage to survive. We have got to depend on state hand-outs to live, and I think that's shocking to say the least.
[speaker023:] Last year there were six weeks of industrial action, and if needs be, are you prepared to do the same again?
[speaker019:] Well, we cannot rule out that possibility. It's early days yet to say what er we are going to do. I think it all depends on what the British feel the response is going to be, either today or in the future.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. There's still deadlock between British Rail Managers and Oxford City councillors over access for the disabled at the city's station. The council's planning committee is urging major alterations, including lifts between platforms. Otherwise they say both the able bodied and the disabled will face severe problems. But chairman of B R, Bob Reid, who's disabled himself, has intervened, a move that was welcomed by the council. There's to be a meeting with directors from Network South East. Meanwhile, Labour's John Power, who's head of planning on the city council says there are major problems to overcome:
[speaker024:] British Rail have refused to put lifts in, we've managed to persuade them to put ramps in so that people could actually carry luggage up the stairs, and people could be wheeled up the stairs. They've now taken the ramps out, which is a breach of the planning condition again, so we intend to pursue them on that, and they are offering, believe it or not that disabled people can be taxied from one side of the station to the other side of the station.
[speaker002:] How seriously are British Rail treating the problem?
[speaker024:] Well, up until we'd received this letter from er the new chairman designate, er Bob Reid, not seriously at all. We put immense pressure on them, we tried everything we could, we raised it with the Transport Users consultative committee at National Level, we wrote to the minister and all kinds of and they didn't budge at all, you wouldn't think they were a public body. It now seems that because there's a disabled managing chairman, they're now prepared to talk to us, and we've got to talk to the director of Network South East about these problems. And I hope they can now be resolved.
[speaker002:] What is their reason for not complying with these regulations?
[speaker024:] They claim that it would cost £300,000 extra on the station. Now I find that nonsense, because the planning committee have just approved a major development station, which is for a 150 bed hotel on a housing development. And by any estimate that's a development that's worth £20 million at least to them. I don't know the exact figure, but certainly several million pounds, and if you can't find £300,000 for the disabled, it seems to me quite shocking. And particularly when British Rail have a declared policy of improving access for the disabled. Now if you don't improve access for the disabled when you build a new station, you'll never improve it.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's 28 minutes past 6. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker014:] Well, those traffic lights on the Stratfield Break's definitely giving us problems again this evening, of course, there's road works going on there, traffic is still virtually bumper to bumper up there, very, very slow indeed. Also Pear Tree roundabout, in all directions, particularly heading north, er from the A34 and continuing on that A43 up towards the Kidlington roundabout. Very, very slow moving there indeed, and it's going very very slowly heading out on to the A40. Usual congestion down the Botley Road still, and down the Abingdon Road, that's nothing unusual for this time in the evening. And if you're coming in towards Oxford City Centre on the A40, coming in towards the Headington roundabout, you'll find at the moment that it's er about a mile and a half to two miles of very slow moving traffic approaching the roundabout itself. The A415 still very heavy in both directions between Abingdon and Dorchester-on-the-Thames, due to an earlier accident there. Once again, all the routes running towards London are running normally, the M4, M40 and that stretch of the M25 in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Mark Newson, A A road watch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us they've no problems or delays at the moment. On the buses, everything is running smoothly, except for buses heading down the Headington Road out towards the Green Road roundabout because of the accident there. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] It's 6.32. Police investigating a triple murder in Buckinghamshire are tonight trying to persuade a man hiding in nearby woods not to kill himself. The bodies of a couple and their teenage son were found battered to death in their Beckonsfield home. Gas prices are going up in March by 7.5% and the Halifax Building Society has put up its interest rates, although first time buyers are being spared the increase. Meanwhile the chancellor, John Major says the gloomy news isn't over, because inflation isn't coming down as fast as he'd predicted. The Unit General Manager at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury says there's no end in sight to the cash crisis which is about to affect patients. The hospital has over-spent it's budget for this financial year by £70,000. It means it will be no treatment for 150 routine patients over the next 5 weeks. That's starting on Monday. Last August the hospital had to close 26 beds because it couldn't afford to staff them. And Shell U K will have to wait until tomorrow to hear what sentence it receives for causing a 30 mile oil slick, which polluted the River Mersey. The weather in the Fox F M area, well, exceptionally mild weather will continue for another 24 hours at least. Tonight's going to be dry, with variable amounts of cloud, and temperatures will fall no lower than 7 degrees celsius, that's 45 degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come, the W I protest about food irradiation, but first, Oxford teacher, Chris Seawright is claiming that the A V A-Level exam in business studies is too easy. He says he can guarantee a student will pass after just 3 weeks cramming. Chris, who runs the Oxford School of Learning, says he's had some students who've passed the exam in a week.
[speaker025:] I think there's two things here. If somebody studies A-Level Economics, then business studies A-Level is quite possible within one week or two weeks tuition. And that is happening currently with people in schools in Oxford, who come to me for Business Studies, for just about one or two weeks tuition, they then go and pass. Alternatively, you can study Business Studies from scratch in four weeks, providing you have Maths or English G C S E grade B or above. It's a fact, whether or not it seems easy depends on how it is approached, how it is taught. And remember, this is not education, this is very fast cramming.
[speaker026:] Would you say that, perhaps it shows a flaw in the examination system if someone could do this?
[speaker025:] To do A-Level Business Studies can take a year quite easily for even the averagely competent student. And yet it is the same level at the end. This would suggest that Business Studies, along with other subjects such as perhaps Sociology and History, perhaps have to be re-evaluated, compared to other subjects such as Maths and Physics and Chemistry.
[speaker026:] Would you say that the current system is perhaps unfair, and that it should be reviewed quite urgently?
[speaker025:] Well, it must be remembered that the Business Studies that I'm talking about is A E B, which is Associated Examining Board. If one studies for the Cambridge Board, that is much harder, it is modular, it involves a project and involves a Maths paper. I think it is time for people to look at again at the pass rates, the standard of teaching, the standard of students who actually do this Business Studies. If people can get a grade A after one week, which is what has happened, because they do economics, then the system is weak somewhere, yes.
[speaker002:] You are listening to the Fox Report. Hundreds of members of the Women's Institute have been lobbying MPs at Westminster today over their fears about food irradiation. The protesters say they want to know more about the process, and that it's a mistake for the government to legalize irradiation without proper research. Clive Mirey reports:
[speaker027:] The protesters want the government to carry out more wide ranging and detailed research before food irradiation is legalized. At the moment, the technique of bombarding food with ionizing radiation, similar to X-rays, in order to kill dangerous organisms to preserve the food longer, isn't allowed. But if the government's Food Safety Bill, which is currently before parliament gets through, the sight of food in our shops with the label 'Irradiated'on it, will become commonplace. It's a thought that concerns mother of three, Maureen Gerard, a Vice Chairman in the Women's Institute:
[speaker028:] Well, I'm a farmer's wife as well, and the most of the farming community don't want irradiation either. We say that if food is good and wholesome in the first place, we don't need irradiation. It is all to do with, more to do with the food hygiene and the food preparations that's causing the problems, and if that's sorted out, we don't need irradiation. We can't find anyone that wants it really, that's the question that, we can't understand who wants irradiation.
[speaker027:] Well, the British Nutrition Foundation does. They represent the food industry, and say irradiation is perfectly safe and an excellent way of preserving food. However the protesters lobbying MPs at Westminster today say they're not convinced.
[speaker029:] As it is because I have always practised ordinary, normal methods of hygiene, I feel that er fresh food well cooked is not a danger to anybody. But if it had been irradiated, well, let us put it this way, I wouldn't buy food if I knew it was irradiated.
[speaker027:] If you had to give your husband or family food that was irradiated, you'd be concerned.
[speaker029:] I would most certainly be concerned. I would not do it if I had the choice.
[speaker030:] If I go to buy some fish, for instance, and it's been irradiated, it won't smell. That's very basic. Er. There is a poison in potatoes that turns them green, which is very dangerous to pregnant women. And the green won't be there if it's been irradiated. So they're very ordinary signs that ordinary people can understand. That frightens me. We don't know what it can do to us, that's the worrying part.
[speaker031:] Yes, things that we were told 20 years ago that were perfectly safe, it's now being proved that they're not safe.
[speaker032:] Oh, I stood outside the primary school this morning and spoke to the other mothers, and none of them want anything to do with it. You know, I think that's the general feeling, we're the people that buy the food, really, women, aren't we?
[speaker027:] Meanwhile the Food Safety Bill created in the wake of the recent food scares, concerning salmonella and listeria, continues its passage through the commons.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's 22 minutes to 7. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come, a French Chef, from Oxford bids to become Young Chef of the Year, and a new twist in the mystery surrounding the disappearance of band leader Glen Miller during the war. Financial Report, in association with Barclay's Bank, Oxford's business bank. The U K stock market was in a lethargic mood today, despite an encouraging start to Wall Street. A few optimistic features managed to pull the Footsie One Hundred Index out of an initial 8 point fall to end the day up 9.5 points at 2269.9 in a very quiet turn over. At five o'clock, only 396.6 million shares had been traded, and Wall Street stood up 22.08 points at 2605.63. Sterling seemed to mirror the stock market, ending the day unchanged at $1.7145 and up 0.7 pfennig, at 2.865 DM. I C I, which many regard as a barometer for the general market, reported final figures ahead of market expectations, helping bolster market sentiment and lift the shares 14p to 1040 p. News that the French insurance giant, U A P, has been suspended until Monday, pending an announcement, lifted the U K insurance sector, which has been anticipating a European bid approach for one of its companies. Elsewhere, Midland Bank reported profits much in line with expectations, helping the shares to a 4 pence rise to 351 pence, while Courtald lost 5 pence to 377 pence on concerns over their proposed textile de-merger plans. Amongst the major shares today, Abbey National were unchanged, at 176. British Aerospace stayed at 502. British Airways were up 1 at 198, B P up 2 at 341, British Gas down 1 at 219, British Steel up 1 at 133, British Telecom up 1 at 296, Rolls Royce up 1 at 169 and T S B up 1 at 136. With a look at what's been happening on the sport's front today, here's Andy Smith:
[speaker033:] Ireland's Aiman Darcey has broken the course record to take the lead in the Dubai Classic. 37 year old followed Ampey's record breaking round in Portugal last week by firing a record 64. That's 8 under par. Australian Peter O'Marley set the early pace with a 4 under par 638. With the first test against the West Indies just two days away, and after the humiliation suffered last summer at the hands of the Aussies, in regaining the ashes, the Test and County Cricket Board has launched a scheme of excellence so that the country's test prospects can be spotted that much earlier. The basic idea is to try and form the nucleus of England's test team, and with the players in their teenage years. With plenty of youngsters, ability already known to county and country life, It will be so much easier for England's Chairman of Selectors, Ted Dexter
[speaker034:] This time, the Test and County Cricket Board which is really the professional armour of the game, have seen the need to combine with the National Cricket Association, er to streamline the opportunities for these young players. To coach them better, to give them better opportunities, to give them better opportunities to play at a higher level, to be more competitive rather earlier in their lives.
[speaker033:] Ricardo Betrasey and Belgian Tiary Bootson, are testing the new formula one engine, which is being fitted exclusively to the cars of the Didcot based Williams team. The new engine, known as a V ten R S O two, which is lighter and smaller than its predecessor could make Williams a leading force to the McClarens this season. Tragedy marred the opening race at Folkestone this afternoon, when runner-up Diddy Seat, collapsed and died after a heart attack in the winners enclosure. The Grey, trained by Colin Campbell, and ridden by Stephen Deasley, was taking part in his first race for nearly 2 years. Wales have arranged a friendly against World Cup qualifiers Costa Rica, the game, the first ever between the countries, will be played at Ninion Park at Cardiff at the end of May. The F A saga continues for Abingdon town, with their first possible entry into the sixth round still eluding them. After 4 attempts to play the 5th round tie, the match with Hythe eventually went ahead last night, ending in a one all draw, so Abingdon face a trip to the Kent Coast on Monday at 7.30. French number 3 seed Janek Noah made an early exit from the Stuttgart classic A T P tournament today, complaining he was finding it hard to stay motivated for top class tennis. The 29 year old world number 14 was convincingly beaten 6:2,6:4 by Sweden's Jona Spenson ranked 30 places below him in the second round of the $1 million event. And schools in Thame are to get more help encouraging pupils to play more football under the Oxford United School Community Programme. It's being helped by a £1,000 donation from Leyland-Daf, based in Thame. The money will pay for promotion material and prizes, as well as encouraging women to take up the sport. Fox F M Sport, Andy Smith reporting.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's a quarter to 7. A singing teacher says the problems of the world could be solved if international leaders sat...
[speaker035:] peaceful and relaxed and enables you to go deeply within yourself and to feel very much in harmony with yourself with others who you do it with, and with the world in general.
[speaker036:] Do you think it would help world leaders if they did some?
[speaker035:] Oh, there's no question that it would. It would enable world leaders if encountering opposition world leaders to come into harmony before they started. Er. It would enable them to really allow the greater selves in themselves to be the people representing their people, their country, er so it would allow them to become statesmen in a sense, you know, it would allow the wise part of them to come forth, and for them to be in harmony with each other. And it would allow them to be in tune with higher forces, and er the better principles of the world.
[speaker036:] Can you really see President Gorbachev and Mrs Thatcher chanting round a table, though?
[speaker035:] Well, I think it would be a great idea, yes, I think it would be the best thing. Er. You know, some pre-literate tribe somewhere, with the medicine men of the tribes meeting an opposing medicine man of a tribe, they would have done some kind of ceremony beforehand. er Mrs Thatcher and Gorbachev don't. Er. But traditionally such people would have done, er and perhaps in earlier times you know, er maybe Mrs Thatcher does say some prayers, I don't know, but maybe prayers would be said. And this is a way of doing it without having to, you know, log-in to er a specific tradition, but to invoke, sort of a wider, more general principles.
[speaker002:] Well, there you go. Now we know. The forty-five year old mystery disappearance of American band leader, Glen Miller, has taken a new twist. A Bedfordshire housewife's memories have persuaded author Martin Beaumann to believe that Miller was linked with a top secret propaganda campaign. In a new book, the 'Bedford Triangle', Beaumann alleges that brain washing messages were sent out to German listeners in Miller's radio shows. Bob Weinberg reports: bw: On December the 15th, 1944, Captain Glen Miller vanished. Author Martin Beaumann:
[speaker037:] The general legend is that he took off from Twinwood's airfield, flew over the channel and was lost over the channel; his plane iced up. But there have been stories that he actually landed, Bovingdon is one place that's mentioned. He got out, some the plane went on without him. There's no records actually published of the actual aircraft used. There was a missing aircraft report issued, I think about 8 days after he actually went down. Now that report usually had to be filed 48 hours after he went down.
[speaker038:] 60 year old Connie Richards, who grew up near to the U S depot where Miller was based clearly remembers meeting an American photographer at a Glen Miller dance.
[speaker039:] My mother used to do the washing for the Americans, and er we had a photographer friend of ours that used to bring the washing-up to the house, which the story is in the book. He wanted to take me to the dance, you see. I then told him how old I was, and he thought I was older than I was, so that was the end of that relationship. Er. But I did meet him down there.
[speaker038:] Years later, Connie was told by U S officials that her photographer friend didn't exist.
[speaker039:] I tried many many times, and hundreds and hundreds of ways to find him, and the man just doesn't exist, or I've been told he doesn't exist. But I've got a photograph of him, and I know he after the war was over he went back and married a nurse. er sent us a photograph after the war was over, but since then, since we've tried to find him, we've been told the man's never existed at all.
[speaker038:] Martin Beaumann believes Miller's disappearance may be tied up with secret activities at the Bedfordshire base.
[speaker037:] I would guess that he originally came over for morale of the troops. He then probably went into the propaganda warfare. Because he did a programme actually on the B B C called the 'Vermarkt Hour', which was beamed at German troops, and then possibly the third phase was the possibly the psychological warfare. That we don't know too much about, but the assertion that one or two people have made is that his music was being used in the subliminal message under the music technique.
[speaker038:] Now, after 6 years of research, Beaumann believes one of the great puzzles of the Second World War will never be solved.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's 10 minutes to 7. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker014:] Traffic still very busy on all major routes going out of the city, it's not as bad now, though as it was there the last time I spoke to you, but still, very very busy this evening. Pear Tree roundabout's still congested in all directions there, particularly heading up the A34 on the North bound carriageway. So it's still about a half a mile of very slow moving traffic approaching it. Stratfield Break, well, it's very busy there again, virtually bumper to bumper stuff, it's very slow moving there indeed this evening, owing to the temporary traffic lights there, and because of the road works — that's between the Kidlington roundabout of course, and the Banbury Road roundabout. Still busy coming in on the Headington roundabout there, the A40 from the direction of Wheatley, and continuing along down the A41 full too. As far as traffic is concerned, heading towards the capital, there's no delays there on either the M4, the M40 or the M25, at the moment. The A415, that's the Abingdon Ring Road, that's very busy there this evening, the junction with Colwell Drive there's reduced [?] there because of the road works, and also very heavy traffic in both directions between Abingdon and Dorchester on the Thames owing to an earlier accident. Mark Newson: A A road watch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing adverse to report on either the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Details have been announced for Sky Pageant 90, this years open day at R A F Upper Heyford. The event, which is set for Sunday May 6th has extra significance this year, as it coincides with the 20th anniversary of the United States' twentieth tactical fighter wing being based in Oxfordshire, and master sergeant Bill Fonten is predicting even more crowds will turn up for the day when the U S base throws open its doors.
[speaker040:] At present we're scheduled to have about 30 different aircraft that will be on static display, we will have er aircraft er Upper Heyford's own F1 11Es performing simulated airfield attacks on the station. It's just going to be a great day for families, if you are an aircraft enthusiast, or a flying enthusiast a great fun day.
[speaker041:] What exactly will the mock attack involve. I mean, is it going to be dangerous in any way?
[speaker040:] Oh, no, no. We've got to realise that there's going to families out and about, and what we'll do is the aircraft er I haven't seen the scenario on paper, but just off the top of my head, I can tell you that the aircraft will make their approaches to the base as if it were a real target. The aircraft will not be armed in any form whatsoever. Our safety regulations er dictate that they be a certain distance from the crowd, so that if anything did go wrong, the aircraft would be able to er get out of the way, but no, there is not going to be any danger at all, they'll make their approaches to the base as if they were attacking, and then we'll have simulated ground bursts, a large fire as it were, on the ground, it will be going off, providing the sound effects for it, but it's going to be just a great thing to sit and watch.
[speaker041:] Now, as well as actual planes flying in the skies, are there going to be anything else that people can actually feel and touch and see?
[speaker040:] Yes, we'll have, at present we're scheduled to have about 30 aircraft on static display, and these are aircraft from er the third air force bases, the bases within the United Kingdom, you're just about assured of being able to see an F15, up close, an F16 up close, an A 10, and some other aircraft that are stationed in and around er Europe. As I said before, there's aircraft from the United Kingdom. And then some NATO aircraft too, of course, we're in Great Britain, so it wouldn't be fitting and proper if we did not have any of the aircraft from the Royal Air force. Er. And quite possibly some non-NATO this year. Er. We're still in the process of finalizing everything and making invitations, or receiving answers from invitations from countries, so er it's going to be a great day!
[speaker002:] A young chef from Oxford has been chosen as one of 30 top chefs to take part in the final of the Young Chef of the Year competition. Tomorrow, he's going to be travelling to Birmingham to cook a meal in front of a panel of experts. Tierrie Molignengo, who is 23, works at the 15 North Parade restaurant, and he hopes he's going to win through to the National Finals which take place in April, with his menu for four, which has by the rules of the game, to cost less than £35.
[speaker042:] I've got to cook the meal in three hour and to [?] in Birmingham in the College of Food, and it will be [?], I think, T V I hope.
[speaker002:] So, er tell us what the menu is. I'm dying to know!
[speaker042:] My menu is [?] by a fish, a meat course and a sweet. The fish course is Dover Sole, souffle with Morel mushroom on an orange, er the meat course is a trilogy of meat, which is beef lamb and veal, with a port sauce, and the sweet is a citrus terrine, with a mint cream sauce.
[speaker002:] Have you practised this er menu?
[speaker042:] er I practised it er twice already, and I er have to do it in front of the jury.
[speaker002:] Are you hopeful? Do you think you're going to win?
[speaker042:] I will have some chance I think, but er everybody is quite good at this er level of the competition, because we er only 30 top chefs er selected and 2,000, which is quite good, I think.
[speaker002:] Do you think being French helps?
[speaker042:] It helps maybe in this country, because France is regarded as er the best country in the world who produce good food. But what I think now is France want only French chefs, but England you have selected er sort of chef from all over the world, which is good, and we can't compete.
[speaker002:] How long have you been cooking?
[speaker042:] I've been cooking for 7 years now, including my school, my cookery school.
[speaker002:] Is it something you've always wanted to do?
[speaker042:] I always want to do it, and er well, I'm a food lover if you want.
[speaker002:] And we wish him the very best of luck tomorrow in Birmingham. Finally a look at today's main stories once again, the Unit General Manager of the Horton General Hospital in Banbury says there's no end in sight to the cash crisis which is about to affect patients in the area. The hospital's overspent its budget for this financial year by £70,000. That means there'll be no treatment for 150 patients who were expecting to have routine operations over the next 5 weeks starting from Monday. And police investigating a triple murder in Buckinghamshire are tonight trying to persuade a man hiding in nearby woods not to kill himself. The bodies of a couple and their teenage son were found battered to death in their Beckonsfield home earlier today. And that was the news for Thursday the 22nd February, 1990. Join us again for another Fox Report tomorrow night at 6 o'clock. That will be with Andy Smith. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker003:] The seven o'clock news, this is Annie Webster. Police investigating a triple murder in Buckinghamshire are tonight desperately trying to stop a man who's threatening to kill himself. The bodies of a couple and their 16 year old son were earlier found battered to death at Beckonsfield. A 30 year old man who's a friend of the family is now threatening to hang himself in woods nearby. A neighbour of the victims, ten year old Alexander Ray, has seen the drama unfold:
[speaker043:] There's this man on this tree, it's about 50 feet tall, the tree, and he's er he's just crouched on there, sitting there now, with a blue rope round his neck, and it's tied on to the tree. And he said that he's threatening to jump off and er I haven't seen the bodies of the dead people though.
[speaker003:] Ten year old Alexander Ray. Gas prices are going up in March, by 7.5%. Another Building Society, the Halifax, has put up its interest rates, although first time buyers are being spared the increase, and the chancellor, John Major, says the gloomy news isn't over because inflation isn't coming down as fast as he predicted. Talks between Ambulance Management and Unions to settle the 6 month old pay dispute have become bogged down, but as Peter Russell reports from the Whitley Council Meeting, both sides are still cautiously optimistic.
[speaker044:] Management and unions have been talking throughout the day, they may be talking into the night as well. The chief union negotiator's press secretary, Lynne Brian is being cautiously optimistic.
[speaker016:] Well, they're in detailed discussions, and negotiations are likely to go on for some hours.
[speaker045:] Have they got bogged down?
[speaker016:] I can't go into that, they're negotiating, and they'll continue to negotiate.
[speaker044:] The unions want not only a pay rise but a proper pay mechanism for the future, and that's where the talks could still fail. Peter Russell, I R N, at the Whitley Council Meeting in South London.
[speaker003:] A beautician has been telling a court she thinks Olympic javelin thrower, Tessa Sanderson, is a bitch for stealing her husband. Mrs Jule Evans said she was devastated by the affair, she thinks her husband was mesmerised by the athlete, who he saw as the woman of his dreams. Simon Israel reports from the High Court.
[speaker020:] Mrs Evans says she had no idea at the time of the nights Ms Sanderson and her husband Derek spent together. When she did discover they were lovers, she was bitter. 'I thought Tessa was arrogant', she said. The athlete has told the court that the Evans' marriage was completely over before she became involved, but Mrs Evans said she had no right to comment, since she was an adulteress, she added that Ms Sanderson is going around schools parading before children: 'If there's any of the children's fathers there that she fancies, will she take them', she asked. Ms Sanderson is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for stories which quoted Mrs Evans as accusing the athlete of being a marriage wrecker. Simon Israel, I R N the High Court.
[speaker003:] Americans will be able to make up their own minds about former Ronald Reagan's testimony in the trial of his former National Security Adviser, Admiral John Poindexter. Video taped evidence, in which Mr Reagan admits he approved the covert Arms for Hostages operation, that became known as the Iran Contra affair, is to be made public by the trial judge. Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker046:] And it's just after 7.00 Thursday night on Fox, thank you for choosing us for tonight, now until ten. You're going to love the music. er The overnight low, 7 degrees celsius, 45 fahrenheit, Friday remaining dry, cloud amounts rather variable, and we might see a little hazy sunshine as well, especially in the centre of Oxford, and especially to the east as well. Temperatures reaching 14 degrees, 57 fahrenheit. Here we go: [recorded jingle]
[speaker047:] The 6 o'clock news, this is Howard Hughes, the official report into the Marchioness river boat disaster is blaming the crash on the failure of the look-outs on both boats. The document which has been leaked says they didn't spot the danger in time, and the noise from the disco on the Marchioness prevented the alarm being raised. It also says three earlier accidents had been largely ignored because there had been no fatalities. Ian Philpot, whose girlfriend was one of the 51 people who died, says Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson must now call a public enquiry.
[speaker048:] It is no trouble now for Cecil Parkinson to turn round now and say 'okay, we've made a mistake, let's have a public enquiry'. He would help the families of the bereaved immensely, and he would guarantee the future safety of people travelling on the river Thames.
[speaker047:] A savage rapist who preyed on blondes is beginning a life sentence for the murder of Austrailian heiress Janie Shepherd 13 years ago. St Albans Crown Court heard how 50 year old David Lashley raped and killed the 24 year old leaving her body dumped in the Hertfordshire countryside. Peter Plisner reports:
[speaker049:] Dubbed 'The Beast of Shepherds Bush'for a string of sex attacks on blonde women in 1969, Lashley expressed no emotion when the guilty verdict was read out. It took police 13 years to bring him to justice. Charges were eventually brought after he confessed to fellow inmates while serving a prison term for another offence. Janie vanished from West London in February 1977. It was over 3 weeks before her body was discovered dumped on wasteland in Hertfordshire. Janie's distraught mother Angela Darling explained what had been going through her mind during the case:
[speaker050:] Just praying er just praying that it would happen for her.
[speaker049:] Jailing him for life, the judge told Lashley: 'You are an appalling and dangerous man'.
[speaker047:] The Home Secretary, David Waddington, has told Parliament a special war crimes squad is being set up to investigate alleged atrocities committed by nazis living in Britain. He made the announcement in the Commons as he moved the second reading of the War Crimes Bill which makes prosecutions possible. A former Manchester policeman jailed for 17 years for armed robbery and firearms offences has been freed by the Appeal Court. Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane said P C Tom Cawley had already served 2 years for offences he certainly never committed, on fabricated evidence. The court hear how detectives bribed convicted criminals to frame P C Cawley, whose conviction was declared unsafe and quashed. Mr Cawley says his time in jail was sheer hell.
[speaker051:] Clearly I'm gratified that the Appeal Court has cleared my name. I have lived through a long nightmare and am shattered by what was done to me. I will have to do what I can now to pick up the threads of my life. It's bad enough to be in prison for something you haven't done, but to be in prison and to be an ex-policeman as well is er something else.
[speaker047:] First results from yesterday's elections in 5 Soviet republics show reformist and separatist candidates have again done well. The 2 Baltic states Latvia and Estonia appear to have backed Lithuania's declaration of independence earlier this month. Meanwhile the surprise winners of East Germany's election, the Conservative Alliance have suffered a set-back in their plans to reunify the 2 Germanies. They need the support of the Social Democrats who have rejected their offer to form a coalition. A coroner has warned television programmers to be more careful following the deaths of 3 young brothers trapped in a freezer. The day before Benjamin and Nicholas Dovey and their 3 year old half brother Ryan died an episode of 'Neighbours' showed a similar incident. Tony Attwater reports:
[speaker052:] The South Shropshire coroner, Tony Sibsey, said it would never be known whether the boys had watched the episode of 'Neighbours' when a young boy got trapped in a trunk trying to hide from his father. But Mr Sibsey told T V programme planners to think carefully before showing scenes that might be watched by impressionable young children. A Home Office pathologist told the hearing that the brothers would have died within minutes after the self-locking freezer door shut on them. He recorded verdicts of accidental death and urged anyone who dumps a fridge or freezer to make sure the door hinges were smashed so the tragedy couldn't be repeated. Tony Attwater, I R N, Shropshire.
[speaker047:] Independent Radio News [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Monday the 19th of March 1990. First a look at some of today's main stories in a little bit more detail. The family of murdered heiress Janie Shepherd are celebrating tonight after waiting 13 years to see her killer put behind bars. Rapist David Lashley is beginning a life sentence for brutally murdering Janie in the Hertfordshire countryside in 1977. St Albans Crown Court heard how 50 year old David Lashley raped and killed the 24 year old after earning himself the reputation of a habitual rapist. Police charged Lashley after he'd confessed to fellow inmates in prison while he was serving 18 years for rape. Peter Plisner was in court:
[speaker049:] It took 13 years to bring Lashley to justice for the murder which he committed during 10 months of liberty while on parole from prison after a string of sex attacks in 1969. At that time he was dubbed 'The Beast of Shepherds Bush'. The court heard how in February 1977 he'd jumped into Janie's car while it was parked in West London and forced her to drive to the countryside at knife point. The Barbadian-born driver was a powerfully-built body builder when he raped, murdered and mutilated the Austrailian heiress. When her body was discovered on waste ground in Hertfordshire her neck had been crushed with great force. The breakthrough in the case came when Lashley confessed the murder to fellow inmates while still in prison. The man in charge of the hunt, Superintendent Ian Winned, gave his reaction to the verdict after it was announced:
[speaker053:] Very pleased. It's very satisfying after a very long investigation. Not just by myself but by officers from Hertfordshire and the Metropolitain police. A lot of officers have worked very very hard on this enquiry.
[speaker049:] As time passed did you ever think you'd catch anyone for this particular crime?
[speaker053:] I was always hopeful. We never give up in any murder investigation.
[speaker049:] How many officers were working on the case at the height of its investigation?
[speaker053:] Initially, in er 19 er 77 there would be a great number, but it was only 12 in recent times.
[speaker049:] Was there a major breakthrough when this confession did come to light?
[speaker053:] Of course it helped, yes.
[speaker049:] Janie's mother, Angela Darling, clearly distraught, took time out to praise the police who'd worked so hard on the investigation.
[speaker050:] Oh, it's er been absolutely fabulous. And we couldn't have had more support. At all.
[speaker001:] Mrs Darling, what was going through your mind when you were waiting for the verdict?
[speaker050:] er just praying er just praying that it would happen for her.
[speaker049:] Passing sentence, the judge told Lashley: 'You are an appalling and dangerous man, and the real issue is whether the authorities can allow you your liberty in your lifetime'. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The reunification of Germany looks set to happen before the year is out after the Conservative Alliance victory. East Germany's entry to the Common Market looks a little less certain. Mrs Thatcher said there'd have to be a long-term transition. Subsidised goods couldn't be allowed to flood into the E E C as that would ruin western businesses. Herr Lothar De Maiziere of the Conservative Alliance says he wants East-West German relations cemented soon with the introduction of the Mark. Former Foreign Secretary and S D P leader Dr David Owen says the election result's a personal triumph for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
[speaker054:] I think one's got to give credit where it's due. He has seen right from the start that the majority of Germans wanted unification and that the pace of events was dictating a much more rapid move towards unification than most people, either inside, and certainly on the outside, had realised, and he put all his authority into the campaign, campaigned extremely effectively and has had a ringing endorsement.
[speaker011:] Well obviously there is er an emotional drive for unification, but the mechanics of it are quite complicated. Do you think it can be got through without too many hitches on either side?
[speaker054:] I'm absolutely convinced it can, and particularly now that you'll have a government in East Germany which will be, on all the important questions, in total accord with the government in West Germany. So there is now no need to have anxiety that a united Germany will be neutral. It certainly will not. And it will choose to be a member of NATO. That's one of the very important advantages of this election result, and personally I think the Social Democrats in Germany made a great mistake by being equivocal on this issue. They really must realise that time and time again being equivocal on defence when you're on the left of centre means that voters somehow don't vote for you, and I think they've had to learn this lesson yet again and I only hope that by the er December elections in West Germany the Social Democratic Party who I've got a great deal of er sympathy for on most social issues will be firm and clear about a united Germany not being neutral and within NATO. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The House of Commons is debating the War Crimes bill for the second time. It'll go to a free vote later this evening and if the bill is passed it'll mean prosecutions could start against at least 3 alleged war criminals almost immediately. Local historian Count Nikolai Tolstoy, who has himself given evidence in the war crimes trial of John Demianuk, says he's in favour of prosecutions. But he's worried about the changes to British laws of giving evidence necessary if the bill is passed.
[speaker013:] What I find very frightening is the campaign by Sir Thomas Hetherington in particular who erm as reported in the newspapers has said that there are er a handful, 3 or 4 people whom he has singled out, and he says the evidence is prima facie evidence against them, is so overwhelming that the law of England must be radically changed in order to bring a prosecution against them, and, as Lord Shawcroft said, well how, in such circumstances, could such people have a fair trial when we've had the er Hetherington the former Attorney General saying, in effect, we know these people are guilty, we're changing the law to prosecute them, and now you members of the jury mustn't on any account er think er in er you must judge completely impartially.
[speaker023:] You're saying that you're er fully in support of the trials of war criminals in this country as long as the evidence is good enough, as long as the evidence is convincing prima facie evidence?
[speaker013:] If it's fairly done, yes exactly. I mean for instance on the question of identification after 45 years it's very difficult, I saw that in the Demianuk trial, to get satisfactory er evidence, but of course er I think British rules of evidence probably would simply mean it was excluded if that was the case, and it was fairly done and the law weren't changed and it was the law as it stands er then I'd be in favour of it. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's 11 minutes past 6. I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] Still to come: alternatives to the Poll Tax. A local Tory euro MP says European taxation systems should have been looked at. And on the day that a massive increase in registered drug addicts is announced, we look at the situation in the Fox F M area. Local news now, here's Robin Powell:
[speaker055:] Oxford Crown Court's been hearing how a British Airways stewardess from Thame was threatened with death when she tried to end an affair with her boyfriend. The jury heard how Lynn Harding of Glenholme Road in Thame decided to end her affair with Nustafa Assin who also works for British Airways and lives in Watford. When Miss Harding decided to end the 18 month relationship Assin wrote her letters and poems and when these failed the prosecution alleged he made a phone call and threatened to kill her. Miss Harding told the jury she was so frightened by the call she immediately rang the police fearing Assin had become unbalanced. The trial continues tomorrow. A leading brewery in the Fox F M area has confirmed it's to offer financial help to pub managers faced with high Poll Tax bills. But the majority of pub landlords and landladies look unlikely to receive similar treatment. Jane Markham reports:
[speaker002:] Morrells Brewery says it's planning to offer managers at its pubs extra cash to cover the tax which is due to be introduced in just over a fortnight's time, but the Oxford-based firm says it'll only pay the equivalent of the initial government estimates for the charge, which in most cases falls well below the actual figure. The brewery insists, however, that pub managers won't be out of pocket. The situation for tenants remains the same with many facing bills up to double last year's rates demand.
[speaker055:] Businesses in the area are being advised to make sure their accounts are up to date before tough new rules on VAT come into force. From April 1st anyone found not to have followed guidelines on making VAT claims and payments will be liable to a penalty that could cost them and extra 30% plus interest on any unpaid tax. Doug Gordon from accountants Grant Thornton says even ignorance of the new laws won't make a difference.
[speaker056:] The problem can be quite severe, er we've had a number of penalties introduced by customs and excise over the last few years but what we're going to see from the 1st April in this year is interest being charged on overdue moneys paid to customs and excise and also a penalty charged where people make a mistake on their VAT returns, even where they make those mistakes quite innocently.
[speaker055:] Police have recovered the body of a 21 year old Abingdon man who leapt into the river Thames 5 weeks ago. Members of the Thames Valley Underwater Search Unit retrieved the body of Christopher Snuggs just north of Culham lock. 2 men sacked from Oxford-based printers Nuffield Press have settled the case with their former employers. Bob Redman and Peter Stanborough, both members of printing union the National Graphical Association, were to ask for reinstatement at an industrial tribunal in Reading this morning after being sacked for refusing to sign new contracts. But the 2 men are reported to have settled amicably with the Robert Maxwell-owned printers. Oxford United player Les Philips has been banned from driving for 3 years by magistrates in Banbury after being found guilty of drink driving. Philips was also ordered to pay a fine of 250 pounds. The charge relates to an incident in February when he was stopped by police near Middle Barton. A proposed rail link between Oxford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes has moved a step nearer reality this afternoon with the decision by Buckinghamshire County Council to invest in the project. The Council has agreed to a request from British Rail for financial help for the scheme. Eleven middle managers in the Health Service in the Oxford region are among the first to take part in a new management training programme. 'Managing Health Services' is a management development programme arranged jointly by the N H S Training Authority, the Institute of Health Service Management and the Open University. The first tutorial was on Saturday and someone who hopes to get something out of the course over the next 6 months is assistant medical administrator in Oxford Claire Flanagan.
[speaker057:] It's really good because management's the same no matter where it is, but in the Health Service there are sometimes specific problems and this course is geared to people working in the Health Service and that can only be a good thing. And what I'm going to get out of it, well I hope it's a step towards me obtaining a degree at the Open University and hopefully I can get promotion eventually.
[speaker055:] Fox F M news. Robin Powell reporting. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's 17 minutes past 6. A local Euro MP says the government should have looked more closely at its European neighbours before introducing the Poll Tax. In just over 2 weeks bills for the charge will start dropping on doormats across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and the Tory Euro MP for the Wantage area, Dr Caroline Jackson, thinks more time could have been set aside by officials at the Department of the Environment to look at alternatives.
[speaker058:] Well I think any change from one system, a total system like rates, to another total system like the Community Charge er would have given rise to misgivings. I mean, the real problem is that the rating system is out of date, it's based on a rating valuation which was last updated in 1973 and hasn't been updated since. Consequently people are comparing the Community Charge which they've got on their hands now er with an out of date rating system and they should probably add about 200 pounds to the rates they're paying in order to get a better comparison. Er. But I also think that er the Community Charge as it is being brought in is probably being brought in too sharply which means that it isn't actually taking account of some of the marginal cases where people are going to face a very steep increase in Community Charge bill, er and the Community Charge itself is rather a blunt instrument. I think that if we'd been looking for some rather more er refined instruments of taxation, I nearly said torture, er from the continent then we might have looked er and found some rather better means of getting local money in to finance local government.
[speaker026:] Do you think that there's any scope for perhaps going down that road in the future?
[speaker058:] Well I think what people have said to me very often about the Community Charge is that they can see the er they can see the point of having a community charge which everybody pays and which actually brings in to the local taxation system the hundreds of thousands of people who were previously not paying any rates at all but were benefiting from local services. The difficulty is that the Community Charge is insensitive to people's ability to pay and I would like to have seen er some people go rather more into the possibility of a local income tax.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report. The nationwide protest against the Poll Tax has taken on historic proportions. Yesterday hundreds of demonstrators marched on Downing Street following the same route as those in the Peasant's Revolt which forced England's leaders to drop plans for a similar tax. That was more than 500 years ago. Graham Magin reports:
[speaker059:] The Peasant's Revolt ended at the Tower of London. Yesterday's march, organised by the Borough of Newham, went to the Tower too, but there were speeches not executions. However, local MP Tony Banks says they wanted to get across the same message.
[speaker012:] It really isn't surprising that we're following their footsteps because the only way in the end to get anything done in this country is to protest about it because this government seems to be totally oblivious to rules of natural justice or decency. The only thing they'll understand are people out on the streets demonstrating. And that's what they're going to get.
[speaker059:] Fellow MP Nigel Spearing agrees about the historical significance of the route.
[speaker060:] That's right, and it's no coincidence because people in the east of London on the whole get it in the neck whatever happens, and particularly with this government. So we're showing it in a peaceful way because in the end of course we can destroy by the ballot and not the bullet.
[speaker059:] About 200 joined the march along the Mile End Road. Many said they were there simply because they wouldn't be able to pay.
[speaker029:] I'm a one-parent family, I've got 2 children, there is no way I can afford to pay er the Poll Tax. It's very difficult now with all the other cutbacks, I just don't know how I'm going to manage and whether or not I'll have a roof over my head by the end of the year or what will be happening. And I'm not the only one, there's lots of other one-parents.
[speaker059:] Unlike some Poll Tax demonstrations, this one passed off without any violence, protestors were satisfied with handing in a petition to Mrs Thatcher's front door. Mr Banks says they were warmly received:
[speaker012:] She gave us an IOU for three million pounds and told us to get lost. What you'd expect. Yes, get back to Newham you working class layabouts, she said. Typical what you'd expect from the Prime Minister.
[speaker059:] Whether Mrs Thatcher really was at home no-one quite seemed to know. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] There's been a massive increase in the number of registered drug addicts in Britain. Latest figures show a 17% rise. Many of the new addicts are on crack. Graham Magin has this report:
[speaker059:] No-one disputes that the real number of drug users is much higher than the official figure. It's estimated there are 150,000 addicts in the country as oppose to the 16,000 who have registered. Home Office minister David Mellor says the fact that the official figure is starting to catch up shows that more people are coming forward for help.
[speaker061:] We've made a determined effort to try to get more er drug addicts to come forward, to accept treatment and so on. We still fall well short of that, I mean er it's bad news that anyone is addicted to drugs but what is important is that we should actually know who is and so we can help them. So in a way I welcome the fact that these figures bear a little more relationship to the real situation er than last year's did, but we're still a long way short of knowing exactly what's going on.
[speaker059:] Another worrying figure is the increase in the use of the so-called killer drug crack.
[speaker061:] It's cocaine use generally that troubles us. Of course er crack is just a form of cocaine, the worst form of cocaine. But, you know, the real enemy is cocaine. But certainly it appears that around 1 in 10 of the seizures of cocaine in Britain now is in the form of crack. Er. Of course if you smoke cocaine as crack it's a much more potent way of taking the drug. And obviously we are troubled at the experience in America on cocaine and want to try and make sure that we don't get that kind of problem in the U K.
[speaker059:] The government's soon to host an international summit on drugs. Mr Mellor says they're doing everything they can.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the fox report. To coincide with these worrying figures, Oxfordshire Health Authority and Oxfordshire County Council's Social Services department have published a report by the N H S Drug Advisory Service. Nick Welsh is from the Social Services and Rosalind Green is the Drug Service coordinator in the county. Rosalind, what is the situation in the Fox F M area?
[speaker062:] In Oxfordshire with regard to drug misuse, well, as it says in this report er the main drug of misuse is alcohol, and we also have quite a problem with minor tranquillizer dependents. Er. In terms of illicit drug use, cannabis remains the most er available drug and the most used drug, but having said that it doesn't present us with problems to the service. We get one or two people who perhaps get er psychosis or paranoia from using it very regularly, but most people seem to be able to use it without too many difficulties, er amphetamines are probably the next most common drug, and that's probably because it's manufactured quite locally, er it's quite easy to make, it's quite cheap, and it's very popular, particularly among the younger age group. What we are concerned about though is the amount of injecting that goes on and obviously the sharing of needles and syringes because of the risks of H I V, the AIDS virus, and of course other health risks like hepatitis and abscesses er septicaemia, whatever. Er. Heroin is still er quite available in Oxfordshire, and tends to be injected more than smoked or sniffed, so that's another area for concern.
[speaker002:] Now are you seeing the increase that the national statistics are suggesting in this area?
[speaker062:] er No. We're not. I think what those statistics indicate is that more people are being notified to the Home Office and that may well be that doctors are more aware of the need to notify. Er. These figures have always traditionally been very unreliable, but I'm hoping that it also might indicate that across the country and also in Oxfordshire we are developing what we call out-reach services and the idea is for people to get in contact with drug users who probably don't want a lot of the time to stop using drugs. They may not be looking for treatment or rehabilitation but er what we can offer them is clean injecting equipment er free condoms, because H I V is transmitted sexually as well, probably more than, more often than in Oxfordshire, er and also we have been prescribing from an assessment clinic in the city centre. So even people who don't want to stop using drugs can actually have a healthier drug-using lifestyle through contact with us.
[speaker002:] Now that sort of policy does have its problems because some people would say that is allowing people to break the law, it's turning a blind eye to people who are breaking the law.
[speaker062:] Well, we understand that conflict, er but basically, at government level, it's been determined that er the risks and the dangers of H I V the AIDS virus is actually more er more dangerous to society and the individual than drug misuse itself.
[speaker002:] Now Nick what er can the Social Services department do about the problem in the area?
[speaker007:] Well we've been very concerned to try and develop our policies and services and we find this report very helpful because it has given us a very clear lead as to the sort of things which are necessary, and in many ways it's supporting the ideas which we've had. Er. We've been concerned on the AIDS-H I V front to try and develop home helps, home care services, and to get more social work help in with the general medical services that deal with these er diseases. Er. On the level of er drugs and alcohol though we're concerned to provide more social work time and support for the voluntary er agencies that are working in this field and also to provide direct services to people who are using drugs. Er. They have a lot of family problems, a lot of other personal social problems, and it's very important to see really the person as a whole and not just a focus on one particular aspect of their problems. So that's really what the Social Services department is trying to do.
[speaker002:] Do you think enough is being done?
[speaker007:] Well of course, no, I mean more can be done all the time er clearly there are some quite difficult areas about priority and where people would choose to invest their money, but certainly in the long run AIDS H I V is a crucial issue facing society, drugs misuse or drugs use is an absolutely integral part of that whole problem. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's 6.31. The official report into the Marchioness river boat disaster is blaming the crash on the failure of the look-outs on both craft. The document which has been leaked, says they didn't spot the danger in time and the noise from the disco on board the Marchioness prevented the alarm being raised. A rapist who preyed on blonde women is starting a life sentence for the murder of Austrailian heiress Janie Shepherd 13 years ago. St Albans Crown Court heard how 50 year old David Lashley raped and killed the 24 year old, confessing to fellow inmates while in prison on a previous rape sentence. Home Secretary David Waddington has told parliament a special war crimes squad is being set up to investigate alleged atrocities committed by nazis living in Britain. He made the announcement in the Commons as he moved the second reading of the War Crimes Bill which makes prosecutions possible. A coroner in Shropshire has warned T V producers to be more careful following the deaths of 3 young brothers trapped in a freezer. The day before Benjamin and Nicholas Dovey and their 3 year old half brother Ryan died an episode of 'Neighbours' showed a similar incident. The weather for the area: the rain's going to clear in the middle to late evening, and that's going to be a dry night with cloud becoming broken. The lowest overnight temperatures are going to be around 5 degrees celsius, that's 41 degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come the future of the Jet project at Culham. First, the Royal National Institute for the Blind is launching a wide-ranging attack on the government's Student Loans Bill. It's due to receive its second reading in the committee stage of the House of Lords today. Gary O'Donaghue who's a blind student preparing to finish his final year at Christ Church in Oxford says the government's plan will cause havoc if it's given the go-ahead.
[speaker063:] It looks like that not really a great deal of account has been taken of the extra costs that are incurred by visually handicapped people in courses of study, such as paying for er expensive, extremely expensive, computing equipment which isn't a luxury, it's a necessity quite often for many people, especially doing science courses. And other costs, such as readers and having to buy books because you can't borrow them for long enough from libraries to get them recorded or brailled, er those sorts of things really aren't taken account of and you're simply going to have to borrow money er to pay for your disability in effect.
[speaker064:] Does it surprise you that the government seemingly has got into a rather insensitive and delicate position over this?
[speaker063:] Well, I mean, it's a sticky wicket for them anyway politically and I suspect as with a lot of legislation quite recently they simply haven't spent the time in committee and in consultation to iron out the details and they've come unstuck when it's come into the public domain and it's been easy for people to throw up the paradoxes that are coming up from the legislation, the moral paradoxes. And so yes I don't think, there doesn't, there wasn't a great deal of consultation before the Bill was published with representatives of sort of disabled students and that sort of thing, so in a sense they've reaped what the've sowed. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Meanwhile, Higher Education minister and local MP Robert Jackson has revealed that the government is to offer disabled students extra benefits. The measures to be outlined in the Lords later on where the Student Loans Bill is at committee stage will mean they'll be entitled to claim housing and unemployment benefits which others can no longer claim.
[speaker065:] The student loans is going to replace entitlements to housing benefit and social security for er students but not for disabled students. So disabled students will continue to get all their benefits and will get the loan on top of that. They will be the only category of students, the disabled students, who actually have loan in addition to benefit, so the loan is going to provide considerably more money for disabled students while they're studying. Er. I don't know whether that is widely understood but I think it's quite and important feature of our proposals.
[speaker064:] Nevertheless it is still a loan that of course has to be repaid. Is it perhaps not more difficult for a disabled student even with a degree to get employment in order to be able to repay that loan?
[speaker065:] Yes, I think there is a fair point there but er I don't know whether you listeners appreciate that nobody at all, whether disabled or not will have to repay the student loan after they've graduated if their income is below 85% of the national average wage, which is currently 11,500 pounds, er we are recognising that they do face some additional costs er when they've graduated and that should be taken into account and that will be one of the things in our concession. But like all students, disabled students will benefit from being able to defer payments if their income falls below 11,500 pounds. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Rebel forces in Ethiopia have given permission for tons of food to be taken to thousands of starving people on the edge of death in the famine-hit country. A group of aid agencies and churches have banded together and succeeded in getting the cooperation of the rebels and the government in the long running civil war. Before, vital food supplies weren't allowed through by the rebels and the people were left to die. Jodie Bordan from Christian Aid says thousands of lives will be saved.
[speaker066:] A colleague from Christian Aid phoned me from Addis Ababa last night and he reported what had happened in the Red Sea port of Assab on Saturday which was when 15 trucks and trailers were loaded each with 22 tons of U N grain and there was a little ceremony as they left at 12 noon for Desai. Those trucks belong to the Joint Relief Partnership which is a grouping of 3 church agencies — the Ethiopian Orthodox church, the Ethiopian Catholic secretariat and the Protestant church there. And it is that grouping, the J R P, that have got agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Tigre People's Liberation Front to move food for the first time from the Ethiopian government areas into the areas controlled by the Tigre People's Liberation Front.
[speaker067:] Now, it's obviously very good news that all this aid, that is there it's just not getting to the people that need it, that it is now on the move but it isn't as simple as that is it? It's going to be a really tortuous journey.
[speaker066:] No those 15 trucks and trailers will move from Assab to Desai and they should arrive in Dessi this morning, and then in Desai they'll have to be transferred to er a certain amount of food to smaller trucks, and we think that the first group of trucks will be just perhaps 5 trucks that will really test the road from Desai up to Waldia in the area controlled by the rebels to see if there really is a safe passage agreement and to see if er there are bridges out on that road or whether there are land mines left on the road, to see if it is actually possible to move food across those lines.
[speaker067:] The people involved in taking those trucks are taking quite a risk are they not?
[speaker066:] Yes, but the churches are quite convinced that they have got the Tigre People's Liberation Front's agreement to it, and that there will be no harassment from their side. Everybody is very concerned to actually get food to people who are really absolutely desperate now. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Two local MPs are keen to see the Jet project at Culham extended for a further 4 years. About 200 scientists are working on the project which is hoping to develop an alternative energy source which would use nuclear fusion. Work is guaranteed there until 1992, but it's hoped that the experiments will now continue until 1996. Spokesman for Jet John Maples say although there's no immediate threat to jobs he's pleased that Michael Heseltine and John Patten have spoken up in Culham's favour.
[speaker068:] The Jet project is formally er continuing until the end of 1992 but in recent months we've had some very great successes in Jet, the work we've done is of very high quality and, and certainly world leading, and we can see the way ahead to building an experimental reactor after Jet but there are some very important experiments that need to be done before then. And Jet is about the only machine in the world capable of really tackling these problems. So we've therefore put some proposals through to the Commission of European Communities, which eventually will go to the Council of Ministers to extend Jet's experimental programme into the end of 1996. And on Friday of last week we had Vice President Pandolfi from the Commission here and he was very impressed with our work and we are therefore very hopeful, very optimistic that our work will continue until at least 1996.
[speaker069:] But obviously the support of these MPs and M E Ps is certainly welcome then?
[speaker068:] We are very grateful for their support and their continued interest in our programme and I think they were er conscious of the fact that Vice President Pandolfi was coming here and so they have contacted him saying how essential they think it is that the work should continue here. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come: who needs God? And Charlbury's station master gives a few tips on how to become station master of the year. The day's sport. Oxford United's new er 150,000 pound signing from Doncaster Rovers, Les Robinson, will be eligible to play in Wednesday's home fixture against Leicester City, providing the proposed fee is received by the Football League by Wednesday morning. Les, who spent his first training session er in Oxford, spoke to Mickey Unotta afterwards.
[speaker070:] Well, it's a lovely place. I enjoy training and nice set-up. I enjoyed it.
[speaker071:] Now can you tell us a bit about yourself? Now you're a versatile player.
[speaker070:] That's right. I started off playing mid-field er and I was switched to full-back by Billy Bremner at Doncaster half way through this season, and I been playing full-back since like.
[speaker002:] Still with football, news just in: Millwall have signed the Norwich City striker Malcolm Allen for 400,000 pounds. The weather has already struck the Oxford Cheetahs. Their challenge meeting away to Wolverhampton this evening has been rained off. The Cheetahs lost 47 to 43 at Bellevue over the weekend, but despite that defeat hundreds of supporters turned up to see world cup er world champion Hans Nielsen in training last night relieved and smiling that their hero was staying in Oxford.
[speaker072:] Well, including mine. I mean I'm very pleased that I'm staying with Oxford. I've been very happy with Oxford the last 6 year I've been racing for them. And the supporters been treating me well, the promotion been treating me well, so obviously I never really wanted to move but we had a few problems with the negotiating with the contract and the financial terms wasn't quite right so but I'm glad to say we've got it right now and you know we both sort of gave a bit and we came to a settlement er which I'm very pleased about.
[speaker073:] And you had a good ride over the weekend as well at Bellevue?
[speaker072:] Yeah, not too bad. We er we got very close to beating Bellevue at Bellevue which was okay I mean everybody's a bit rusty so and we were experimenting with tyres and everything and er it was only a challenge, but it was nice to get the first meeting on the way and er I was very impressed by some of er the team members of what I saw, I knew er team mate Dean Bargger was doing particularly well scoring 11 points and er he's really a promising er youngster which I think we can get a lot of use out of, and er in general I mean you know Ellis Stevens was doing particularly well as well, so if those two can keep doing well during the season, then okay mine had a few problems, she only scored 3 points, but that was just a one-off so yeah I thing we look quite strong on paper again now.
[speaker002:] the West Midlands has hauled a seven and a half ton truck from Great Ormond Street hospital to Birmingham Children's Hospital to raise money. The Burleigh group set off from London on Friday morning and they're hoping their efforts have raised up to a million pounds for the 2 hospitals. Fund-raising organiser Anton Stewart says they proved a lot of people wrong.
[speaker033:] A lot of people said no it can't be done, it's a total impossibility, but er basically we've hacked it, so we feel good about it, very good. The only thing is now er the reason we've done this is because the hospital that we're standing outside now is er desperately in need of another operating theatre and in addition to that there's a tremendous amount of work needs to be done at Great Ormond Street hospital. Frankly there just isn't the money to go around, and kids are being made to suffer for long periods of time er for operations which really could be done if only they had the money. Therefore we er we needed to do something that stands out from the crowd if you like to bring this to people's attention.
[speaker002:] 122 miles you've just pushed this seven and a half ton truck I believe yet what was the one moment that really stood out or really got you going?
[speaker033:] Okay, well the first, the first moment was definitely St Albans. er There is a hill in St Albans, I think it's called er St Peter's Church hill, and it is very, very severe to say the least, and everybody said to us 'oh you're going up the hill? Forget it'the A A said, 'forget it'the police said, 'forget it', everybody in the town said 'forget it, it's hard enough to walk up'and we took the truck up at a bloody run. So er you know that's another thing that we hacked.
[speaker002:] And quite a few blisters bursting out all over as they say.
[speaker033:] er Yeah, only a lot, only a lot, er but it was worth it. Some guys aren't going to be able to walk for a week — they've got tattered feet, but er nobody begrudges it, nobody begrudges it at all.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's 11 minutes to 7 [pre-recorded blurb] The long arm of the law is reaching a bit too close for comfort if you're taken short in sunny Singapore. The authorities there are so obsessed they've already got toilet detectives ready to pounce on and arrest anyone who doesn't treat public conveniences with respect. Now they've even topped that by installing special censors inside lavatory bowls which detect whether the user has flushed the loo. As Di Webster reports from Singapore, if you don't flush you're in hot water.
[speaker074:] Music to the ears of Singapore's Environment Ministry. But it's a tune authorities are apparently not hearing enough. The government last year announced that those who forget to flush public toilets will be fined up to 500 U S dollars. Toilet detectives were stationed at strategic points around the city to nab offenders. Maybe it wasn't the most satisfying job in the world but the men on loo patrol will no doubt be distressed to hear they're being replaced by a machine. Unflushed toilets are already setting off censor-operated devices in the Environment Ministry building and some of Singapore's open air sewage centres. Authorities are remaining tight-lipped about how the censors operate. Perhaps, say some observers, they follow the same principle as the elevator urine detector now in widespread use throughout the country. Singaporeans caught short in the lift are electronically locked in until the police arrive. Lift urinators are not penalised under the non-flushing law. Government controlled Straits Times newspaper last year ran as an invaluable community service its own toilets of shame campaign listing each day the country's most offensive loos. Singapore has long been known for its campaigns against littering, smoking, spitting and jay-walking, but it may be the only place in the world trying to toilet train an entire nation. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] 'Who needs God?'That's the title of a new book which is already a best-seller in the United States. It's written by Rabbi Harold Kushner who comes from Massachusetts. He's been visiting Oxford to promote his book and he hopes he won't just be preaching to the converted.
[speaker075:] No I especially hope it will be read by sceptics, by people who have grown up with a kind of psychologically inspired dismissal of religion, people who've become so sophisticated, so busy they have no time for it, people who are so bemused by technology, by the greatness of human achievement, the computers, the moon rockets, the medical advances, that in their worship of human talent they forget that there's a point where human power ends and the power of God begins.
[speaker002:] You are a Rabbi. Have you written it totally from a Jewish perspective or are you aiming at a wider cross-section of the population?
[speaker075:] Well both Jane. I er I can only write it from a Jewish perspective, it's the perspective I stand at, but it seems to me that beyond a few superficialities there is no such thing as Jewish spiritual truth any more than there is Jewish mathematical truth. Human nature is the same. Human beings have certain needs, certain problems, and I think that all religions in their own way have found ways of coping with those problems as different languages may differ grammatically, and they're all trying to help people do the same thing. The basis of the book is that we are unfulfilled because we've grown too sophisticated for God, we're lonely, we're morally confused, and I think God is the answer for this, it fashions, religion fashions the kind of community in which you're redeemed from loneliness, it gives you the sense that when you come close to the end of your life you don't have to panic that you have wasted your life because religion can show you that you have made a difference to the world. Oscar Wilde once said something marvellous, he said 'the nicest feeling in the world is to do a good deed anonymously and have somebody find out'er I believe from a religious perspective that every good deed I know somebody finds out and that it's, it's not really lost.
[speaker002:] er We are living in a very sophisticated time, how can you, how can you make people see things more simply?
[speaker075:] Well I'm not sure it's simple, it's a way of getting back to eternal verities. All I can do is offer them personal witness, and not just me. But I would say to each of your listeners I sure you know people who find a tranquility, a centredness, a source of strength and confidence in their religious faith, they are the representatives of what religion can do, not the Ayatollahs, and not the fanatics, and not the people on television, but the people who spend their lives trying to be good and helpful, and one day they'll look around and realise that happiness has snuck in the back door when they weren't even looking for it. Those are the people we ought to emulate.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. British Rail's Superstaff awards are to be presented in May and the Transport User's Consultative Committee is taking nominations for the most customer care conscious employee. Last year the award was won by Ernie Acker at Charlbury station, and we asked him what he thought of the awards.
[speaker076:] Well I felt very honoured that er that people should recognise er the fact that you know you did the job and they enjoyed coming down here to travel from Charlbury. But nothing, I didn't do anything different really, it wasn't anything exceptional really, it's just I think people really want to er be treated properly and er and then get the service that they're looking for, basically speaking that's right.
[speaker036:] So what was involved? Did you have to go, did you have to go and meet the Chairman of British Rail?
[speaker076:] Oh no no, nothing quite like that. The local manager came down, the provincial manager, and er made the award or was present when the award was made by the T U C C, and er a presentation was, took place on the platform, and er my wife and I had a weekend, we er we er, we had a weekend in er in York.
[speaker036:] What did the wife think?
[speaker076:] Very nice, yes, she thought it was great, yeah.
[speaker036:] So, do you treat her differently?
[speaker076:] Oh, ah, that's the problem see, yeah, she thinks that I charm people down here and er leave it all down the station.
[speaker036:] So you have to watch it at home?
[speaker076:] Oh that's right, yeah, yeah.
[speaker036:] So, what's you're secret then Ernie?
[speaker076:] Well I haven't got one really, no, no. It's nothing, this is the way I deal with it, if I treat this job, if I go in to a shop or ask for any service I expect, you know, the same that I give, and basically speaking then I'm pleased. And if I don't get that then well it's depressing because it's great to be treated as a person when you go into, in those places, and that's really what I do.
[speaker036:] So how do you manage to be cheerful all the time, even when the weather's like this?
[speaker076:] Oh, I do have our off days.
[speaker036:] So do you get on well with the passengers?
[speaker076:] Ah yeah, er they're great. They are. I think people will respond if you treat them properly.
[speaker036:] And have you got any message for this year's winner?
[speaker076:] Well, I would suppose that the person they're looking for is similar in character, but if they're going to er if they're looking for that person I think they've just got to act normally, and it's not a one-off thing, I think it's built up over the years. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] And that was the Fox Report for Monday the 19th of March 1990. I don't know whether he'll win the award again, we shall have to wait and find out until May. It's 25 minutes past 6. A national report by the second largest teaching union says its members are being increasingly driven to drink and drugs because of stress. The N A S U W T says about a quarter of its teachers face problems brought on by poor pay and extra responsibilities. John Hollis is a member of the union's national executive and the representative covering the FOX F M area. Mr Hollis says the figures nationally are bourne out locally and he says he's not surprised by the findings in the report.
[speaker077:] The government's own team have recognised that morale in teaching is low and that the position this year is significantly worse than last, yet the government have for this year ignored the findings of that particular report and it's all tied up with the whole issue of pay, workload etc..
[speaker001:] It may be that the government has a proportion of the blame but you're not surely condoning teachers who have these problems being up in front of children in the classroom?
[speaker077:] Well I don't, you see this is where I think it's been sensationalised. I don't think for one minute that there are teachers who are drunk in charge of children in the classroom. I don't think that there are teachers who pop out to the staffroom for the odd fix of some hard drug. But what I do think occurs, and this is bourne out er in my own case, I mean I'm extremely reluctant to go into my staffroom simply because of the amount of smoking which goes on there. I'm a non-smoker but er colleagues who do smoke seem to be smoking more than they did before. Now that's not particularly sensational, and that's where the drugs and the alcohol abuse level comes across, and that is the emotive term, but what I'm saying really is the symptoms which that teachers are displaying of stress manifest themselves in an increase in er abuse of alcohol which could only be the odd extra drink, or the odd 5 cigarettes a day, and sleeping tablets, and that becomes an issue when you haven't got a teacher who's not in control the following day, but you certainly have a teacher who's not 100%, and that's where the effect on the child tends to occur.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. The last and perhaps the most potent symbol of the division between East and West Germany is due to be demolished. Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point set up in the early 1960s between East and West Berlin is to be opened to millions of people on Wednesday. The Tory Party's prospective candidate for Oxford East, Mark Mayall, is in the city. He says Berliners are now counting down to the historic moment.
[speaker078:] Well I think it's very significant. We're seeing the end of a long period of Cold War which effectively the West have won because they have kept their defences up, er and I think as Tom King, he was out here last week, has said we need to keep a strong force here to make sure that the Soviets keep their side of the bargain and er start a withdrawal at some stage.
[speaker011:] Don't you think it's a little unrealistic now that the British aren't thinking more in concrete terms of bringing troops back home from Germany?
[speaker078:] Well I think that that may come, er certainly there are already rumours about that. I think it would be a great error to start major troop withdrawals at this stage until we're very sure about what's happening in Russia, and indeed the state of East Berlin and East Germany.
[speaker011:] Do you think there's a danger that the West could undermine Gorbachev's position particularly with the delicate situation over Lithuania, if it's not prepared to support moves to try and get tension reduced between the two blocks?
[speaker078:] Well I think that we have shown that we're prepared to support Gorbachev in so far as er peace reform in the Soviet Union, but I think we've got to look towards our own security in the West and we've done very well with NATO, with the defensive block NATO over the last 40 years or so, and until we can have cast iron guarantees that Gorbachev is going to be secure and that he's actually going to carry out his promises we've got to keep our guard up. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Prisoners still controlling part of the riot-torn Strangeways prison in Manchester have raised a banner on the roof of the accommodation block saying 'no dead'. More than 100 prisoners are still on the loose in 5 wings of the jail though police and warders today regained control of some sections including the remand block. Home Secretary David Waddington has been speaking of his sense of outrage at Saturday's Trafalgar Square riots saying it brought some of the most ferocious violence ever seen on to the streets of London. He said the savage and barbaric acts could be blamed on a hard core of trouble makers. An earth tremor measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale has shaken a large part of Britain including Oxfordshire, causing people to flee their homes as chimneys collapsed and windows cracked. The worst hit areas were in North Wales, the north west and the Midlands, although no-one's been hurt in the mini quake which was felt in districts as far apart as Devon and Scotland. The Government's hinting it could cut defence spending because of a reduced threat from Eastern Europe. In a White Paper Defence Secretary Tom King says spending over the next 3 years will rise by only 1.2% and after that it could fall. However he says while everyone welcomes the changes in Eastern Europe, the West shouldn't get complacent. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: plans for a new swimming pool in Didcot, and job prospects at the newly united Culham and Harwell laboratories. First, a new initiative aimed at giving practical support to East European young business people and politicians is being launched today under the patronage of Oxford University's Chancellor and other prominent political leaders. 100 work placements will be provided in British businesses and political organisations for Czechs, Poles, Hungarians and East Germans under the age of 35. Chairman of the initiative Danny Finkelstein says the people involved range across the whole political spectrum.
[speaker079:] We've got all the political parties involved. Not only have we got young people from all the political parties involved, but we've also got Sir Geoffrey Howe, John Smith, David Owen, Lord Jenkins, in other words one senior representative from each of the major political parties has agreed to be a patron er so that shows that it is a cross-party initiative.
[speaker011:] And you don't anticipate any wrangling.
[speaker079:] Well, we haven't had a single row er between the political parties or between the young people involved so far. There's a tremendous er community of purpose amongst the groups, we've very much enjoyed working together, it's been one of the most fun things I've done in politics, er and I think that all the other young people on the committee agree.
[speaker011:] What's in it for the businesses?
[speaker079:] What's in it for the businesses is this: at the moment they can see Eastern Europe as an emerging market, but it's very difficult to get in there because the hard cash and the skills that they need don't exist in those countries, but they want to do something, they want to demonstrate their interest, they want to make contact, and what Enterprise Europe gives them is the opportunity to make a good business contact amongst one the young generation of er of business leaders in those countries er in order, and keep those contacts in order that when they do have an opportunity to go into those markets they've got some young people there to start off with.
[speaker002:] Harwell Laboratories says there's no need to worry about the possibility of job losses as a result of this weekend's merger with Culham Laboratory. 150 people finished work there on Friday but Harwell spokesman Nick Hants says there are always jobs for qualified scientists and that Harwell is actually taking more people on. He's been telling FOX F M's Robin Powell that most of the job losses have already occurred.
[speaker080:] We have announced a number of job losses over the past 12 months which have arisen as a result of er an internal cost cutting exercise to make our research more er cost effective, and also as a result of decisions by the Government and the electricity supply industry who have cut down their funding for basic research into reactor technology. The numbers involved are about 700 and most of these job losses have now happened and indeed the bulk of them happened on the last Friday of the financial year which was last week when about 150 people took early retirement.
[speaker055:] So how many more jobs will be going from now on?
[speaker080:] I'm not sure of the exact figures but we have not declared any more than the 700 that we've er announced in the last 12 months. Most of these have now taken retirement, there are a few more to go, er but we are still recruiting specialists in the areas where we have work and where there are plenty of jobs going, so it's not all bad news.
[speaker055:] 150 went on Friday. Is it with any sadness that Culham and Harwell have seen these people go?
[speaker080:] Yes, it's always sad to say farewell to colleagues that have been with you for a number of years, but all things have to come to an end, we say farewell with sadness and er fond memories to those who've been with us for so long, but we welcome all those who are joining us and we can promise them a thriving future.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. People in Didcot could be getting a new swimming pool. It's estimated that it would cost around 3 12 million pounds, and South Oxfordshire District councillors will need to discuss the possibility tomorrow. A working party's recommending that the existing outdoor pool at Edmunds Park should be shut and that an indoor one should be opened to replace it. Ian Gill, who's a Labour member on the Council representing the Didcot area and on the working party, says he's confidant about the outcome.
[speaker081:] Well I think there's every chance that it will get the go-ahead er I mean obviously er there are money restraints but I'm sure that the District Council will be able to come up with the appropriate amount. er As you know, it's been bandied around that there's the possibility that it could cost in the region of 3 to 3 12 million pounds, and obviously that's down to the rate payer.
[speaker023:] Is that value for money?
[speaker081:] Yes, it is value for money. Er. I mean we've er the working party's actually been around the country looking at various other swimming pools in the areas and er just to get an idea on what we thought Didcot would really like. Er. And obviously we've come up with a plan which I hope that Didcot people would enjoy.
[speaker023:] Are you confident the facility will be used?
[speaker081:] Oh yes, yes, highly confident.
[speaker023:] Why's that?
[speaker081:] Well, it's something er I mean obviously a lot of people like the idea of going over to the Swindon Oasis, now er we've had at the back of our minds, if it was at all possible to er put something similar at Didcot, obviously nothing as grand as the Oasis, but something quite similar, and obviously they would come to Didcot and not bother to go over to Swindon. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come: rambling through Oxfordshire, and 'Noises Off'in Banbury. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] The summer arrived at the weekend. I'm not sure where it's gone today, but for the energetic a new book of Oxfordshire rambles has just arrived in the bookshop. Nick Channer has put together 14 country walks. Nick, a ramble sounds a rather pleasant little loiter round Oxfordshire, how, how severe are these rambles you've put together?
[speaker082:] They're not really severe at all, I mean, they're very much intended for, you know, the weekend er type of people, you know, somebody that just wants to get out on a Sunday afternoon with the children. They're not intended for the dedicated hiker.
[speaker002:] Now this isn't the first book you've put together of this sort is it?
[speaker082:] No, I've had 2 other books published er previously by the same publishers, er one was in Berkshire, one was in Hampshire, very much along the same sort of lines, er I think the longest walk I did probably would be about sort of 7 or 8 miles with those, er just as, you know, er the walks in, in, in this particular book are no more than 7 or 8 miles.
[speaker002:] So, you're not totally local to Oxfordshire, how did you set about deciding where your walks would be, what you'd do?
[speaker082:] Well, after the er publishers had approached me and, and asked me if I would be interested in doing this book er the next thing to do was actually get hold of all the Ordinance Survey maps for Oxfordshire, er you know, quite a big county, so er once we'd done that er the next thing to do was to actually just work out exactly where we wanted the walks to be, and they've obviously, for commercial reasons they've got to be fairly evenly spread throughout the county, but you can tell quite quickly and quite easily by looking at an Ordinance Survey map, you know, where all the paths are, they're all clearly marked, er public footpaths, public bridleways, that sort of thing, and the next step was to actually create from the maps, circular walks to fit in with the requirement.
[speaker002:] Did you try out more walks than you eventually used?
[speaker082:] er Only a couple. I was very pleased er when I came to put the book together to find that er most of er most of the actual walks corresponded with what was on the paper, which was nice, so I didn't have to waste much time.
[speaker002:] You've got all sorts of detail in the books, little historical facts and things... ... I mean, that takes a bit of research to find out these things?
[speaker082:] Yes, I mean that's something that I enjoy doing, it's, it's quite a lot of fun in, in, in, in, coming to, to actually research each walk afterwards, er one for example, the Rollright Stones up on the Warwickshire border, that was particularly interesting because there's quite a, quite a legend surrounding the Stones up there, er then there's one at er a place called Hampton Gay just off the Banbury road, the Midlands-North railway line er goes quite close to the village of Hampton Gay, and towards the end of the last century there was a major railway disaster on that track killing about er 30 people I think, er so, you know, things like that which are perhaps not er that well known, you, you, you stumble across when you come to do the research.
[speaker002:] Yes, people love a sense of the macabre, don't they. Is it er
[speaker082:] Adds to the atmosphere.
[speaker002:] Is there a serious point behind these rambles at all, I mean, or is it just for fun?
[speaker082:] Not a particularly, er well no they're not, they're not just for fun, I mean, but there isn't a particularly serious point. What I'm, what I'm trying to do is, is just er highlight er paths where they are, and, and, and drawing people's attention to er to, to rights of way in the county, er obviously a lot of people probably wouldn't be, maybe people that've just moved into the area, that sort of thing, people like myself who weren't too familiar with Oxfordshire before, er those sort of people probably wouldn't be aware without a book like this that there were a lot of paths on their doorstep, and some very pleasant countryside as well.
[speaker002:] Do you have a favourite amongst the 14?
[speaker082:] er I've got several favourites, er the one at Thrupp, Hampton Gay which I mentioned, where the train disaster was, that's a particularly nice one because it's along very nice stretches of canal and river, I like the one er up at er the Rollright Stones, and, and I like the ones in the Chilterns as well, there's a couple in the Chilterns, one at er Watlington Hill, just outside the town of Watlington, and er one which goes through the grounds of Stonor Park, but er superb scenery up there obviously with the beech woods and so on.
[speaker002:] Nick Channer, thank you very much indeed.
[speaker082:] Thank you. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] On Wednesday the Banbury Cross Players take to the boards with Michael Frayn's hit comedy 'Noises Off'. It ran for 6 years in London's West End and is still being performed professionally. The Banbury company is one of the first amateur groups to be allowed to get to grips with it. It also marks director Tony Neil's 25th production for the Banbury Cross Players. I asked him a little bit more about the play.
[speaker083:] It's about a professional company, theatrical company, not of the best, who is embarking on a tour of Weston-Super-Mare, Goole and Stockton-on-Tees. Now why those places should be funny, and we have to apologise to all the people who live there, but it does sound funny, and they er they just er the trials and tribulations they have when their own rather complex personal lives get mixed up with the play they're doing. The play that they're doing is a play called 'Nothing On'and has all the horrors you might think of a play with that title.
[speaker002:] Now you've been doing this for 25 years, that's quite a long stint isn't it?
[speaker083:] Well, well, more than that. This is the 25th production. My first production was in 1959, so er it's more than 25 years.
[speaker002:] What was that?
[speaker083:] That was a short play by John Mortimer called 'What shall we tell Caroline?'.
[speaker002:] Have you ever been tempted to go professional?
[speaker083:] No not really. I've now retired but I was a lawyer, a solicitor, and er I enjoyed doing that and er when I was a lot younger I had lots of er friends who er were all interested in the theatre, and some of them went into it professionally and some er some stuck with the amateur world as I did. But the ones who went into it professionally, I see them often on the telly advertising things and I don't really want to do that.
[speaker002:] So, when is it all happening, when can we come and see it?
[speaker083:] It starts on Wednesday, and, you know, I'm taking time off from searching for props at the last minute and dress rehearsing to come and talk to you. It's all very much on the go at the moment.
[speaker002:] Yes, I'm very impressed 'cos these things always get rather fraught nearer the end.
[speaker083:] Ah yes, this one's been, we've all been very organised on this, you know, so it's been better than most, but, 'cos er you were, er you've seen it and your listeners who've seen it will know it's a very complex play, so it's made us get more disciplined to start with.
[speaker002:] It must be quite an interesting thing to rehearse because you're rehearsing a play about the back-stage life of another play, it's almost like a mirror and a mirror and a mirror...
[speaker083:] That's right, and, and the first act of the play is a rehearsal and it keeps stopping and the director keeps sort of straightening them out and they're dealing with little problems, and when you're actually rehearsing it you find yourself sort of repeating the play because it's so ac... Michael Frayn who wrote it has so accurately observed what happens er when you're directing a play that er you find yourself re-enacting the play and, and suddenly find a discussion you've just been having has part... sounds as if it's come out of the script. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The London marathon approaches, would you believe, and one of those who'll be taking part is Clive Guthrie from Bicester. It's the first time he'll have run a full marathon, but he's jogged into FOX F M this evening. Clive, why on earth did you decide to do this?
[speaker084:] Well, like I say, it's not erm an ambition really of mine it's a challenge of a lifetime because I've never liked running and I decided that as I started running two years ago that er the marathon was the ultimate, and as it's the ultimate challenge I thought what I'm asking and why I've asked to come in to FOX F M is to er ask the businesses of Bicester to help me er raise money for the er Bicester Health Centre, and also for the Bible School boys sponsoring me. I'm sending this letter out er to every business that I can possibly get one round to.
[speaker002:] Yes, I've heard that you've been doing more than sending it out, you've actually been taking it personally haven't you?
[speaker084:] Yes, my employer offered to er you know send this letter, the postage and everything, I said no, you know, if you help me I'll er run round put these letters through the letter boxes it'll, you know, assist me in my training, and if, you know, if I'm successful in raising over 500 pounds those funds will go to the Bible School for the mentally handicapped and children with learning difficulties.
[speaker002:] Have you had any response from any of these people yet?
[speaker084:] Yes I have, I mean, firstly my colleagues have been very supportive, and my company, Sea Search Editions, but the er local businesses, the other local businesses have started to respond and although I've only put, I've got piles of envelopes at home to deliver still, I am getting some success, I'm rapidly getting near that 512 pounds.
[speaker002:] Oh well that's not bad, so the jogging has served a double purpose so far, or I shouldn't call it jogging really, it's training isn't it?
[speaker084:] Well yes, training, I mean it's more of a jog, I've had a little injury problem with a knee, but er like I say er, it really is a challenge and I'm not going to let anything get in my way. I'm having physiotherapy as well at the moment. Any of my old school friends in Wallingford that know me er well they'll just never believe that I can run 26 miles because I don't know if when you were at school, but when er when we used to have a cross-country run I was the one at the back and usually the P E instructor used to go round and whack us with a slipper, you know the slow ones and I was unfortunately one of those, but er now I've been running with the Bicester Road Runners for what 2 years, er half, I've done a few half marathons, nothing anywhere near 26 miles, I've, my furthest run until yesterday was 16 miles, and yesterday, injured, with a bandage round my knee, I managed 18 miles, and I'm pleased to say it's still holding out and I'm quietly confident that I'm going to complete this, and like I say, if I can er well, just get the local businesses in Bicester interested and to support me, I say however small, just a, you know, if they, a penny a mile from just a few of the businesses in Bicester and, well, the Bible school could have, you know, a few pounds coming to them, which I'm sure they'd be, you know, greatly received.
[speaker002:] You sound as if you're a bit of a masochist really after all this.
[speaker084:] Well, crazy, I suppose I'm crazy, I've always thought runners were crazy, I've always, you know, said friends and colleagues that used to run were mad, it only started off to get fit for skiing, and well, I hit, you know, I've got the bug, and er well it's going to be my first marathon and it's definitely going to be my last marathon.
[speaker002:] So you've made, you've done 18 miles, now, erm you've got another what 8 miles to stick on the top of that. Are you er convinced that you're going to make it?
[speaker084:] I'm absolutely positive I'm going to make it. I mean, now I've got several hundred pounds resting on it if I have to walk in the last few miles I will, but er pride I'm sure I'll keep going.
[speaker002:] Well, we wish you all the best. How many, how long is it till the marathon now?
[speaker084:] It's well just under 3 weeks now.
[speaker002:] Well, in those 3 weeks I hope you er leap ahead in your er training, and er let us know how you get on.
[speaker084:] Will do. Thank you very much Jane. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Tonight, Lord Scarman hears the first submissions to the independent enquiry into the future of Rover at Cowley.
[speaker085:] Our job is to listen to everybody, and in the end find some formulation of some policy which the Council can adopt to deal with the problem.
[speaker002:] Douglas Herd on the importance of English in Eastern Europe:
[speaker086:] Our aim, Ladies and Gentlemen, is to replace Russian with English as the second language throughout Eastern Europe.
[speaker002:] And also on the programme, Rainbow's Jeffery, Bungle, Zippy and George visit Oxford after 18 years together.
[Zippy:] It's a strange sort of er family really; a hippopotamus, and a bear, and a Zip. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker003:] The 6 O'clock news, this is Annie Webster. Customs Officers have revealed that company officials from Sheffield forgemasters are among those arrested today over the Iraqi supergun affair. Senior staff from a Midland Steel firm are also being questioned over an alleged attempt to illegally export the huge weapon. James Matthews reports:
[speaker002:] A swoop by customs officers has netted up to 15 people so far. A number of others are still being held for questioning. The operation follows the seizure at fort of supergun parts bound for Iraq. Those detained include at least one senior member of staff from Sheffield forgemasters. A designer with the company has already appeared in court in connection with the affair. Three officials with the firm Walter Summers, based near Birmingham, are also being questioned. It has supplied a with equipment, Its engineers believe may have been used to make the supergun.
[speaker003:] President Bush is to visit Lithuania to get a first-hand report on the situation in the rebel Baltic republic. The White-house says the meeting on Thursday with the country's Prime Minister doesn't signal a change in U S foreign policy. Meanwhile President Gorbachev has been booed and jeered out of Red Square today during the first May day parade not controlled by the Communist party. There was a noisy popular march through the square with demonstrators calling for freedom for Lithuania. From Moscow, Sue Jameson:
[speaker088:] 'Freedom for Lithuania'shouted the demonstrators, many of whom carried the yellow, red and green national flag of the republic as they marched past Morsoleum. The President and his aides watched tight-lipped while the television coverage ended abruptly about 15 minutes into the unofficial march. Some carried painted blood-stained banners denouncing the Party, and cried 'shame, shame'. Today's radically different May day parade means the communist party domination of the event is clearly at an end. Sue Jameson, I R N, Moscow.
[speaker003:] Mrs Thatcher and Neil Kinnock have clashed in the Commons over the poll tax, but there's still no word from the Government on how or when it might soften the tax. reports:
[speaker089:] Mrs Thatcher told M P's that the Government was looking at possible adjustments in the community charge. 'Will you change it in this Parliament?'said Neil Kinnock. 'When in fact we have a statement to make we shall make it....''We'll certainly have more details than you have given about the roof tax'she said. The Labour leader told her that no matter what changes she had in mind, nothing would make the poll tax fair. 'It must be got rid of even if it means that the Prime Minister goes down with her own flagship'. It was a good knock about but no-one is any the wiser at the end of it. I R N, Westminster.
[speaker003:] Defence Secretary, Tom King, is denying that Britain's Shackleton early warning planes have been grounded because of a technical fault. Ten R A F crewmen were killed yesterday when one of the Shackleton's crashed into a hillside in the outer Hebrides. The R A F says its other Shackletons aren't flying today, but Mr King says that's out of respect for the dead crewmen, not because of any technical problems. A high court judge has halted the trial of two veteran peace campaigners accused of springing soviet spy George Blake from prison in 1966. In an unprecedented legal move, Mr Justice Hodgson ordered a judicial review of the case to decide if Michael Randall and Pat Pottall should stand trial. From the high court, Simon Israel:
[speaker020:] It's the first time the high court has stopped a criminal trial from going ahead. It was due to start tomorrow. The two men argued that's it's an abuse of the legal process for the case to come to court 24 years after they allegedly helped the soviet double agent escape from Wormwood Scrubs, but Mr Randall has mixed feelings about their victory.
[speaker090:] My feelings are ambiguous about it. We would really like to see this thing over and done with one way or another, and to be able to put our case.
[speaker020:] Both are pessimistic about the outcome of any review and could face a maximum of 7 years in jail if found guilty at a future trial. Simon Israel, I R N, The High Court.
[speaker003:] A jury has decided that a man accused of going on a shooting rampage at a seaside town in which 1 person died and 17 were injured, is mentally unfit to stand trial. Newcastle Crown Court had earlier heard that Robert Sartan suffers from acute schizophrenia. Sartan was arrested after the shootings after the shootings at Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear last year. A former Swindon town football Manager, Lou Macarr, is being questioned by police in Bristol about an alleged plot to defraud the Inland Revenue. Club captain, Collin Cauldewood, former Accountant, Vince Farrow, and former Chairman, Brian Hillier, were also arrested. Independent Radio News. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] It's Tuesday May 1st, MayDay 1990. First a look at some of today's main stories in a little bit more detail. Thousands of soviet radicals have jeered and booed President Gorbachev in Red Square during the first non-communist MayDay celebrations. There were incredible scenes with people shouting 'shame'and 'down with the empire of red fascism'. Reporting from Moscow, Sue Jameson:
[speaker088:] Well we started off traditionally enough except it was distinctly in low key. departure indeed from last year where the official parade went on for around 2 hours and there was really very little hint of even a bit of descent. Well this year all that has changed quite dramatically. Not totally unexpectedly though. The official parade was cut back to just under an hour and it was preceded by speeches from workers and politicians. And after that came this unofficial parade organized by Trade Unions and also, Moscow Voting Associations, so we had this peculiar spectacle of this radical Mayor of Moscow, newly elected Gavrielle Popov, standing up there, shoulder to shoulder with President Gorbachev and Yigor Ligicharf and er Defence Minister, Mick Dimitriargo, amongst others. Well after the official parade. The unofficial parade started to come through. We'd been told there would be no anti-constitutional slogans or ones that er that called for violence of any kind. However what happened instead was the cat-calls and the boos and the jeers started almost as soon as this procession came came into Red Square, and there were plenty of banners calling for freedom for Lithuania, there were cries of 'shame, shame'. Many carried the red, yellow and green banners; the national flag colours of Lithuania. And President Gorbachev stood up there for about 15 minutes or so before the television pictures were cut. They really only showed the official part of today's procession and cut it pretty speedily, in fact as the more alarmist banners started to come into view. President Gorbachev then left, as the boos and hisses reached the Podium, but in fact it isn't absolutely clear that he was only going to stay for part of the demonstration, or if he was only going to stay for part of the demonstration or if he really was only going to be there for about 20 minutes.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX report. The cause of the plane crash in the outer Hebrides yesterday which killed the ten-man crew of and R A F Shackleton aircraft, may never be fully known for the plane is too old to be fitted with a black box flight recorder. A board of enquiries begun its investigations into the tragedy on the Isle of Harris. Reporting, Mark Leashman:
[speaker091:] It's become apparent that had the plane been a few feet higher it would have hill. It crashed into the peak and flipped over, although the tail section is recognisable, wreckage is scattered down the hill over a wide area. People in nearby northern village, felt their homes shake. Alexei Campbell says he knew the plane was in trouble:
[speaker092:] It kind of sounded like a car with no exhaust, you know, but much, much louder, you know.
[speaker091:] And so you opened the window to have a look and what happened then? Well I couldn't see anything, er because there was a lot of cloud, and then I just heard this sort of bang, and then it was just silent. Flying officer, Alan Watt, who was one of the rescuing team, was one of the first men on the scene. He realized some of his best friends were among the men dead on the ground.
[speaker003:] Well obviously it's er really hard-going when it's you're own people from your own station, er very er close station and obviously we know a lot of people er who have been involved in the accident, but the moral of the men is excellent.
[speaker091:] They just want to get the job done then?
[speaker003:] Basically we want to do the job as fast as possible, and er our feelings are for the people back at.
[speaker091:] An R A F enquiry team is now sifting through the wreckage. They could be there a week. The men are undertaking their grim task in blazing hot sun, but the weather is far removed from their mood.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX report. Local Government Minister, David Hunt, met Tory Councillors in the trouble-torn West Oxfordshire constituency today in an attempt to some of the fears surrounding the Poll Tax. Two months ago, 18 disillusioned Conservative Councillors left the Party in mid-concern over the combined affects of the Poll Tax and reinforced rise in Council rents. At the Witney Conservative Club, Mr Hunt explained why he made the trip down to Oxfordshire:
[speaker086:] Well it's part of er nationwide tour I've been making, putting across the message that if you're fortunate enough to have a Conservative Council, it costs you much less money. If you've got a Labour or S L D Council, it costs you a lot more money. What I am seeking to do is to go and support Conservative candidates up and down the country and I'm supporting many of them during this local election campaign.
[speaker002:] What do you think of those resignations though?
[speaker086:] Well I was very sad about them at the time and if you may remember, I did say publicly er that I very much hoped the Conservatives would think again and rejoin the Conservative Party. Since then I'm very pleased that two of them have done so, and I very much hope that the others will as well and I've always made it clear I'm perfectly prepared to explain any situation to any Council or Councillors who want to talk to me — my door is always open.
[speaker002:] Do you think though, perhaps you could have done more to keep them in the Party?
[speaker086:] I don't know, they didn't ask to see me before they made this decision. It may well be that some of them regret having made the decision. As far as I'm concerned, I would ignore that er I'm perfectly prepared to talk to anybody who wants to talk to me and to explain why, certainly in West Oxfordshire, the problems are caused by an over-spending LabourS L D County Council that accounts for 90% of the. West Oxfordshire accounts for just 10% and West Oxfordshire has always been a prudent careful Council, and if Oxfordshire followed West Oxfordshire's policyS L D over-spending policies.
[speaker002:] But also, City Councillors have said, in Oxford, the safety nets put £50.00 on the top of the Poll Tax bill there. What do you think of that?
[speaker086:] I think there's some misunderstanding about the safety net. for many years there's been what's called the 'Rate Equalization Subsidy'which has gone from areas of high rateable value to areas of low rateable value such as the middle of Lancashire — central Lancashire, and other parts of the country. With the move to the new system, we're abolishing that subsidy, but we're doing it in two goes: 50% of it this year and all of it will go next year. Now some people call it a contribution to the safety net. What it is actually, is about half the subsidy being phased out in these two goes.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX report. It's 11 minutes past 6. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker093:] Traffic's still very busy at the moment, and all the major routes leading out of Oxford and Oxford City Centre still busy. Abingdon, Aylesbury not so bad now, but do watch out for traffic on the A34; that's still pretty busy there. A41 that's also busy and the A40. M4, that's pretty busy too, although traffic is slowly starting to ease up along there. Ascott, there's a race meeting there tonight and the Police tell me that it's chock-a-block, so obviously try to avoid that if you can. In Reading, Wokingham Road, that route is closed because of a fractured gas main and it's gonna be closed until about 8 'o clock this evening. Got to find an alternative route around there. A34, there are road works at the Cheavley interchange, that's junction 13 of the M4, and that is causing delays in both directions but nothing too bad. The A43 to Northampton, that's busy at the moment but nothing untoward. The A34, OxfordWoodstock, that's the Luke farm roundabout. Grapes roundabout at Yarnton, busy there but no major problems. The Banbury Inner Relief Road; various restrictions for road works on the junction of the A41 and the A422. So allow a little extra time for your journey there. This is Joanne Zorin, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker094:] British rail tell us that the Scotland to Brighton train which is due to call at Oxford at 5.35 is running 2 hours late this evening, but I have nothing to report to you from the buses. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come a look at the opening shots in the Independent Enquiry into the fate of Rover's Cowley works and the questions that Bicester's friends of the earth say you must ask any candidate in the local elections. First a look at today's local news, here's Robin Powell.
[speaker095:] Oxford East M P, Andrew Smith, has challenged Mrs Thatcher over the Poll Tax in Prime Minister's Question Time today. Mr Smith asked her to outline the Government's plans for the community charge and whether she took responsibility for the effects of the tax:
[speaker033:] Does the Prime Minister accept responsibility for the chaos and confusion at the heart of Governments over the Poll Tax? Doesn't she owe it to this house and to the people before they vote on Thursday, to give a straight answer to a straight question: what precisely is she going to do about the Poll Tax?
[speaker095:] Meanwhile Oxford against the Poll Tax is holding a meeting tonight. Speakers of the meeting in the Northgate Hall in St Michael's Street will include the city councillor for south ward, John Tanner, who stated that he will not pay the tax. David Scholls acting secretary of the organization says the meeting will help focus action:
[speaker096:] It's basically going to be on the Poll Tax in the elections and how Oxford against the Poll Tax sort of considers to be the most important element sort of determining people's decision when they go in to vote on Thursday. We will hopefully be informing people about Oxford against the Poll Tax, which is you know very important at this time with Poll Tax bills being sent out next week and it will be hoping to basically raise the profile of the campaign with the elections in mind. Two men have been arrested following a break-in at the Kenton Theatre in New Street, Henley at lunch time. The two are being held in custody at Reading Police Station. A cyclist has been taken to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital after an accident on the A423, north of Kidlington this afternoon. He is believed to have collided with a lorry near the Wise Alderman pub and the ambulance service is asking parents to warn their children about the dangers of climbing trees. The plea came after a child broke his leg after falling out of a tree at St John's School in Cherwell Heights in Banbury. Fire crews have been tackling a blaze at a company in the Old Station Yard at Bicester. An acre of grassland and 100 railway sleepers caught fire but now have been put out, however the rest of the building is understood to be on fire. The new headquarters of the actuarial education service have been officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Oxford. The service has been relocated from London to Mafier House in Worcester Street. Spokesman Ken Gardiner says Oxford was the natural choice.
[speaker097:] First of all it's a very civilized place to live, which is not an overriding factor, but it certainly pleases me. Also, we are an academic institution and Oxford's reputation as an academic town is of course unique. There also is the possibility in the future of combining with the University.
[speaker055:] And finally a 40 strong choral group from Oxford have been singing their hearts out today in a bid to win a place in a national competition. The teenagers from Cherwell School are up against some stiff competition from 11 other schools in the regional final of a national choral event being held at the Wytham Theatre in Swindon, and although confident they'll do well, choir mistress, Anna Haxworth isn't assuming her score will win a place in the London final next month.
[speaker098:] Depends on what the competition is like. We're a school choir — if there are many youth choirs, who can draw from several schools around the area there then the chances of our getting anywhere are slim but if it's large school choirs then I think we probably do stand a fair chance. FOX F M news, Robin Powell reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's 17 minutes past 6. The Independent Enquiry into the proposed closure of Rover's Cowley works is now underway. Public hearings are being held in Oxford Town Hall for the next 3 days, chaired by the industrial relations expert, Lord McCarthy of Headington. It's thought that up to 10,000 jobs could be lost if British aerospace close the Plant. Rover has provided written evidence for the Enquiry but won't be represented at the hearings. Steve Wright reports:
[speaker099:] The Enquiry is backed by the city council and other local groups. It's expected to look at the affect of the closure and what can be done about it. Although Rover will not be represented at the hearings, chairman Lord McCarthy says the Enquiry is valid.
[speaker100:] Our job is to listen to everybody, not just Rover, but everybody; the unions, the city council and in the end, find some formulation of some policy which the council can adopt to deal with the problem.
[speaker099:] The first speaker, Canon Ron Mitchinson, industrial commissioner for the of Oxford, says he's concerned about the effects on the families involved.
[speaker101:] The way the work-force has been treated over the last few years, the uncertainty that's been created and the lack of consultation, the impact on their lives of such a closure on people who have been expecting to be there until they retire — their jobs may well go, and the impact on that, both for their own lives as well as their families.
[speaker099:] Many city councillors are involved in the campaign to prevent the closure. It's not clear what notice will be taken on the results of the Enquiry which will be published in the Autumn, but leader of Oxford city council, Barbara Gatehouse, is worried what will happen if the plant is closed.
[speaker102:] I think it'll have drastic effects on the life of Oxford and the quality of life for the people that live in it.
[speaker099:] The hearings will continue all week with various bodies represented including the University and Oxfordshire Health Authority.
[speaker002:] John Power is Chairman of the Planning Committee on Oxford City Council, he was at the Enquiry today. John, what was discussed on this the first day?
[speaker024:] Well I think you've heard some of it already in your programme, but in the afternoon session which was extremely interesting, the City Council and Oxford University and the Vale of White Horse District Council and West Oxfordshire District Council have jointly financed some major research for independent research bodies and that research was put forward yesterday, this afternoon rather, to the Panel, and it concerned the economic order, social order and what should come next and so on and so forth, and those academically research papers, not politically prejudiced papers, showed that there would be a loss of 6,150 jobs if these plans went ahead, with an estimated loss to the Oxford economy of between 8 and 17 million pounds a year. So it's an impact outside of just closing down the car factory, and on the question of the effects on the community. The conclusions of one other major research was that it had substantial social implication of personal family in community lives so these papers were discussed in great detail. Many questions were asked on these papers by the Panel, and the other thing that I thought was very revealing, is one point that I've been hammering away at, is the fact that they actually produced these figures for U K car registrations over the last 10 years, 10 years ago there were one and a half million, last year there were nearly 2 and a half million. I mean — it's almost a 60% increase in the market over the last 10 years and that market is growing and here we have the one and only major car company owned by the British being threatened with closure when all the Japanese and the Germans and the French and the Americans are trying to expand to meet this growing market and it doesn't make sense and that point came out very very strongly this afternoon. We're not dealing with an old dying structure industry like the steel industry or coal, we're dealing with a mass consumer industry with high technology and in the middle; in our town we have British Rover closing a company which was financed for 14 years by public money; by public of this town paying their taxes to keep that company going and now in the middle of a massive boom for cars they want to propose closure and that point was dramatically highlighted this afternoon.
[speaker002:] Why do you think Rover has chosen not to appear in person?
[speaker024:] Because they've got something to hide, that's why. Because I have on good information and I'll say it for the first time on this programme, I intend to give this in my evidence tomorrow, that Rover intend to close not the south works first, but the north works first. The north works will close first in order that they can put his whole assembly process over in the Body Plant and that has major implications. They've something to hide which is why they won't turn up and indeed they did submit, they have submitted er as a mission to the structure plan; try to get the County Council on their side. The structure plan is essentially about where jobs and housing should be, not what sort of jobs and housing, and they've made this submission to the structure plan. They could have easily made that to us the local planners who have to determine what kind of jobs go where and we could have discussed it with them. They have something to hide. And the other reason they don't want to turn up is primarily because they do know that we have compulsory purchase powers and the planning — the paper put forward by the Chief Planning Officer today was a vindication of wage for a good many years, a good many months rather, that we do have compulsory purchase powers and we are able to use them and it was specifically asked at the Panel today, by both Monty Finnist and Sir Monty Finnist and Tony Christopher, why doesn't the City Council market this site and use its compulsory purchase powers and that's one question to address tomorrow as a politician who could make that decision.
[speaker002:] Now there are 3 days of the Enquiry, what do you think will come out of?
[speaker024:] Well, one thing I think will come out of it is that the Enquiry will say that this closure will have fairly cataclysmic affects on the economy of this city, I think that's clear, and I think that will come out of it. In the paper prepared by the Trade Union Research Project which the Panel considered, they outline 5 options, one is a new model, two is a switch to high technology industry and the Panel will come up and say well they either support one or two or three of these options and then the council will have to consider which of the options they adopt, and then have to consider what their planning powers are in relation to it. But it must become clear, I'll make this point clearly to the taxpayers and the people who live in this city, it must become clear, at some point this company must talk to this planning authority.
[speaker002:] John Powell, thank you very much. [pre-recorded blurb]
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[speaker064:] Your home is at risk if you do not keep up payments on a mortgage or other loans secured on it.
[speaker067:] The language barrier lesson 1: how to ask for motoring assistance in French.
[speaker032:] R A C
[speaker067:] Correct, and now in German.
[speaker032:] R A C
[speaker067:] Right again. If you let the R A C sort out your motoring insurance holiday, they'll book the best ferry crossing, fix your accommodation and ensure you're looked after if you run into any difficulties. So let's recap in French, Spanish, Italian, German......
[speaker032:] R A C
[speaker067:] Word perfect. Visit the R A C offices in Summertown or call Oxford 53443. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's twenty five minutes past six. Foreign Secretary and MP for Witney, Douglas Herd, wants English to be the second language in Eastern Europe rather than Russian. On his trip to Poland he's announced Britain will be giving £400,000 towards training so that Poles can become English language teachers. Mr Herd says that the people of Eastern Europe are crying out to learn English.
[speaker086:] Our aim, Ladies and Gentlemen, is to replace Russian with English as the second language throughout Eastern Europe. That is our aim and it is the aim of the Government's and I believe the people's in the countries which I have visited and certainly here. The British Council is well known here and already has a substantial programme. Mr Chadwick is here to answer any questions about it. I can announce today, a new scheme of the Know How Fund on top of the ordinary British Council programme to help Poland on the ambitious Polish aim of achieving 20,000 new English language teachers by the year 2,000, and as a contribution; as a help, an immediate help to that scheme er we; the Know How Fund will provide on top of the British Council programme £400,000 for the teacher training colleges in Poland. I can announce the second scheme on the industrial side; a joint scheme financed by the CBI [Confederation of British Industry]. British firms and her Majesty's Government. This is for 300 man years of training; industrial training beginning with 60 managers; Polish managers training this year alone.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Voters in the City of Oxford, Cherwell and West Oxfordshire will be going to the Polls on Thursday to elect 50 District Councillors. Bicester Friends of the Earth who describe themselves as politically neutral are trying to encourage all the parties to improve their green records. They have come up with a list of questions to ask candidates when the come canvassing to your door to check how green they are. Catherine Beader from Bicester Friends of the Earth, what are these questions, what should you ask?
[speaker104:] Well we have 5 questions er I'll go through them if you like. The first one: do you use public transport and do you promote it? We're asking the Councillors if they actually get out of their cars and get on buses and travel to and from council meetings and er shopping, that sort of thing for public transport. er the second one: do you promote recycling and do you use recycled products? There are a lot of ways that er both the Councillors can get into the habit and recycling is quite habit forming of recycling and from that er home use of recycling they will learn that there is a lot of products they can use in their councils; recycled plastic makes very good er roadside signs that don't rust and don't need painting. Number three, do you encourage energy efficiency in your home and in the work place? er becoming aware energy efficiency at home turning down the heat so that we don't live in a... it's hardly appropriate today is it?— er we don't live in hothouses: spins off from their place of work, and if they're being energy efficient at work, they're being energy efficient with our money. Number four, do you avoid tropical hard woods and are you aware of the variety of alternatives?; there's huge alternatives to tropical hard wood er again recycled plastic makes a very good alternative to er tubs for plants in the public er parks. Number five, what are you and your family doing to protect the environment? What we're really asking voters to do is ask searching questions of their candidates to really find out how they feel and how they personally feel about the environment and how that spin-off would become part of their council thinking.
[speaker002:] Now there are other issues involved in this elections. er if they don't give you what you consider to be the right answer to those questions, are you saying that you should totally disregard the other issues that are...
[speaker104:] Well no, voting is when somebody goes to the polling booth they have to weigh all the pro's and cons of all the information that they've been told. We're asking that you test the temperature of your politicians that offer themselves up to stand on the councils, and we believe that being a good environmentalist aids all of their political life and er saving the environment now will save money in the future.
[speaker002:] I would think all political parties realise the value of greenness, er have you been canvassed yet, have you had to try out any of these questions?
[speaker104:] Well actually the ward that I live in, we're not having an election but there are in the Bicester area electors, so I haven't actually been approached. er sorry I forgot the question you were going to ask.
[speaker002:] Sorry I asked if you'd been approached, so you've answered that.
[speaker104:] No I haven't been approached, but obviously the candidates are going around asking people and I would like them to ask them. er how the candidates feel really about environmental issues, there's a lot of lip service paid to environmentalism er popping green petrol in your car is not the way to save the planet, it helps but it's not the only answer. There are a lot of ways.
[speaker002:] Only 'cause looking at your first question: do you use public transport or do you promote it — there are of course all sorts of arguments sort of for and against that sort of scheme that people have to use their cars.
[speaker104:] They have to for some journeys yes, but there are a lot of alternatives and I think if the councillors were actually to rely more on public transport they maybe would feel more comfortable about putting subsidies into buses instead of subsidies into car parks. In the centre of Bicester we have a car park that is subsidised. er perhaps if they took that off and subsidised the buses then er it would be a little happier for people travelling to Bicester. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker036:] Confuseurs say many hands make light work, I say Feros Lighting, Banbury make light work; make little joke.
[speaker041:] Absolutely. At Feros Lighting, Parsons Street, Banbury, you'll not only see the largest selection of domestic lighting in the area, they can also advise you on the best way to light your office, so if it's one lightbulb, your whole home or a complete office, for the complete look go to Feros Lighting in Parsons Street, Banbury. [recorded jingle]
[speaker045:] It's Spar 8 till late week. Until the 7th May there's lots more happening at your 8 till late. Lots of big savings, lots of fun. Buy the Daily Mirror every day except Sunday and get money off coupons on popular products. Take them along that night between 8.00 and 10.00 to your local Spar 8 till late and enjoy the savings. They'll be fun too for all the family. The kids will love the free balloons, hats and badges. You'll enjoy the advantages of Britain's most local and convenient stores with opening hours that suit you and a huge range of all the products you'll need. We'll be open late, so don't miss out on the savings. [recorded jingle]
[speaker093:] The traffic is very slowly starting to ease up now. Oxford City Centre getting a little bit easier and Abingdon, Aylesbury; no problems to report there. M40, East and West bound; no problems reported, no serious delays. The M4; the same. A34; do watch out for that problems at Yarnton where they're re-surfacing but no reported problems though it might just cause you a little bit of delay. There are road works at Cheavely interchange junction 13 of the M4 and that is gonna cause just a little bit of delay, it was a bit chock-a-block earlier er that was during the rush-hour but it should be easing up. It's affecting traffic in both directions. In Reading, Wokingham Road is still closed and is likely to remain so until 8 o'clock this evening, and Ascott race meeting; still lots of traffic around that area. If you know that you can avoid that then you're advised to do so. The A43; still running well to Northampton. Banbury in the Relief Road; no problems reported there but do take care as you approach the road works at the junction of the A41 and the A422. This is Joanne Zorin, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us that the train that should arrive at Oxford at 5.35 from Scotland is going to be two hours late this evening but I've no problems to report to you from any of the bus companies locally. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] It's 6.33. Customs Officers have revealed that company officials from Sheffield forgemasters are among those arrested today over the Iraqi supergun affair. Senior staff from a midlands steel firm are also being questioned over an alleged attempt to illegally export the huge weapon. President Bush is to visit Lithuania to get a first-hand report on the situation in the rebel Baltic republic. The Whitehouse says the meeting on Thursday with the country's Prime Minister doesn't signal a change in U S foreign policy. President Gorbachev's been facing his worst Mayday parade and the first one not to be completely controlled by the communist party. He was jeered and booed out of Red Square by angry demonstrators demanding freedom for Lithuania and an end to communist domination elsewhere. A high court judge has halted the trial of two veteran peace campaigners accused of springing Soviet spy, George Blake from prison in 1966. In an unprecedented legal move, Mr Justice Hodgson ordered a a judicial view of the case to decide if Michael Randall and Pat Potell should stand trial. The weather; it'll be a warm and sunny evening. The night'll be dry with clear skies, however it's gonna tend to become rather misty during the early hours possibly with the odd patch of fog around dawn, especially in the Banbury area. Lowest temperature; 9 degrees celsius with light winds. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] A local animal rescue worker is calling for people in the Fox F M area to lobby his M P's or her M P's in an effort to bring about a dog registration scheme. Last night, a move to introduce such a scheme was defeated by just a dozen votes. Organizations like the R S P C A say they're disappointed but promise to continue their battle for a scheme to be introduced. They claim thousands of dogs are currently having to be put down after being found wandering on the streets around the country. Albert Honey, who works for Thames Valley Police, agrees and thinks the regions M P's should be made more aware of the problem.
[speaker105:] I know that the R S P C A will be campaigning vigorously to get this through Parliament. The only thing that I would ask everybody in Oxfordshire is to write to our M P's here because er yes it's true that I don't know what the returns are from last night's voting, but I do know that er the only local MP that I can see on the voting on the last occasion was John Patten, here in Abingdon, and he voted no. Er. An R S P C A Inspector, Chris Simpson and myself had an audience with the then Home Secretary, Douglas Herd, last August. er we both met him to try and make a plea to him to try and change his views and it's fair to say that he doesn't know or didn't know what was going on in his own backyard and John Patten I feel is the same as is the rest of the M P's in the Oxfordshire area. They do not realise what is going on in their own backyard. Once and if they learnt of what was going on in their own backgardens, they may change their views. So I would urge everybody in Oxfordshire that our responsible dog owners [because that's the only people that are going to help this campaign] is to write to their M P's so that we can stamp out and take away the mess that their in with stray dogs because we are in a mess.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. St. Tiggywinkles in Aylesbury, the hospital for sick animals, has been awarded at the title of Lauriot in the International 1990 Rolex Awards for Enterprise. It's actually been given to Les Stocker who runs St Tiggywinkles. I've always loved the name Les, where did it come from?
[speaker085:] It was just out of the blue really. After Beatrix Potter's Mrs Tiggwinkle and er the St Bartholomew's and St Thomas's hospitals for humans, why not St Tiggwinkles for old hedgehogs.
[speaker002:] Well congratulations on your award.
[speaker085:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] What did you win it for?
[speaker085:] It's the title on the, it's for establishing Europe's first wildlife teaching hospital which is what we're building at Haddenham pretty shortly.
[speaker002:] So you're even more like St Thomas's in that case.
[speaker085:] Yes, yes, yes. It'll be much nicer though. It'll be a hottish hospital.
[speaker002:] So who will you be teaching?
[speaker085:] Well it's to teach everybody really about caring for wildlife. Nobody really knows anything about it. er what we've learnt over the last 1213 years is that there is no records of wildlife care. We've learnt a lot er and people can come along to the hospital for courses for various standards of course to learn the techniques we've learnt and we can learn off them. You know, it'll be er people er R S P C A Inspectors, VETS, whoever you know, anyboday that wants to come really.
[speaker002:] What sort of techniques are we talking about?
[speaker085:] Well just the sheer handling of for instance hedgehogs. I mean I get phone calls everyday all day long from VETS who are saying I've got this prickly ball, what the hell do I do with it, you see, and I can explain to them how to try and unroll a hedgehog and then what to do when you get inside the hedgehog. You know this sort of thing and all British wildlife has got its own little characters, every species is different er and you know thousands of animals we've taken in over the years we've just learnt different things about different animals that suit different animals.
[speaker002:] What sort of animals? I mean hedgehogs obviously, but what other animals have you given help.
[speaker085:] Well for instance deer are a classic. We are getting a load of deer at the moment. We've discovered that if you don't give — when a deer comes in; a road casualty or anything, we don't give them a massive shot of steroids, it'll die, so we can advise people giving them massive shot of steroids and er the deer live then you can start worrying about his injuries erm baby birds; there's classic ways of rearing baby birds which are very, very important at the moment 'cause there's thousands of them around. er we learnt from America that er a lot of birds that have been caught by cats, die, and everybody's always assumed it's shock but the Americans were doing some tests and they found it's septicaemia from the cat's teeth. So we can now advise people that if they take a bird in that's been injured by a cat, they give it a shot of antibiotics — great, cures the septicaemia. All little things like that, you know little tips. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come a look at the day's financial news and er sports news. Starting with the sport, Oxford United Manager, Brian Horton is confident his side can end the season on a high note. Away to beaten Littlewoods cup finalists Oldham athletic tonight. Micky Yornutta is not so sure, so he asked Brian what exactly he expects from his side and Brian, as ever, decided not to sit on the fence, but the main concern being for his side to pass the ball as opposed to kicking it, but first Brian says that long ball to John Durnin is all wrong.
[speaker106:] But there's times when we can go say from our middle third dink over the top for John Durnin. That's where he grabbed the ball. He ran off side 7 times in the night. 7 times. He should run off side once and if he gets caught, he should be able to run across the line and get to.... I'm not being critical of him, I'm just saying now that he's got to pick his time to go over the top. There's times when he can go over the top. The ball from Gascgoine to Ball the other night when he scored his great goal was a little dink just over the top, outside of his fort and it was a little one over the top of there wasn't it? One touch in the net. That's a clever ball over the top. Not a great big 60-odd ball that is gonna be straight on the centre of the Z. That ain't over the top that's — that's a crap ball. Get back to playing it, get back to playing it smartly, look for mid-field players first before you're gonna clonk that ball, that's your last option. If mid-field players are on it, give it to him. If the wing is on, give it to him. If Mark Stitton's onto his feet, give it to him. Your last option, if everything is closed off, is knock it on the top and try and lead into chase. Your last one. I just want us to go there and maybe we can come back from there with a win and make people think well they ain't so bad are they. I don't want them to pity them, we can get hold of them and win. I've been there before and played well, and Dunwell, Withall; there's no reason why not and then bring Port Vale back here and give them a good — they're a good side Port Vale, they've done exceptionally well. Miles better probably than the Manager ever anticipated; he's delighted they're up there, I tell ya and you know, it's my old club and I'm pleased for them in that way, but I wanna see us finish off well, but pass the ball. Once you start kicking it you've no chance, you've got to pass the ball.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. Also playing are Witney Talent to bulldock in the second division of the Beezer Homes League while Abingdon town makes the short track to Maidenhead United in the Vauxhal League division to Falf. Cricket; excuse me, and in the Benson and Hedges Cup, the Combined Universities team are 170 for 7 after 51 overs in this first match of their round group. They're chasing Lancashire's 210 with 4 overs to go. [recorded jingle] Financial report; In association with Barclay's Bank, Oxfordshire's business bank. The Stock Markets shrugged off yesterday's worries and staged the best rise for more than 5 weeks. Trading volume was fairly healthy and by 4.30pm 367.7 million shares had been traded. At the close of business the Footsie 100 index was up 14.5 points at 2117.9 while Wall Street opened stronger up 7.89 points at 2664.64. On the foreign exchange market the pound was stronger in quiet trading against the dollar, it firmed 0.4 of a cent to $1.640 whilst against the Deutschmark it rose to DM2.7568. Ellis and Everard, the chemicals distribution group fell 16 pence to 180 pence after announcing a 29 million pound rights issue and the acquisition of 2 companies in the U S Elsewhere, S T C firmed 9 pence to 243 pence after a favourable Annual General Meeting statement. advanced 4 pence to 939 pence on hope that it will shortly sell the Crest Hotel's chain and a favourable Broker's recommendation. Other shares on the move today included Rolls Royce which benefited from continued overseas demand and British Steel which rose on news of a major contract with Iran. Amongst the major shares, Abbey National were up 5 to 184; British Aerospace down 6 at 518; British Airways down 2 at 195; B P up 1 to 305; British Gas went up 4 to 191; British steel were up 2 at 138; British Telecom, they were up 5 to 250; Rolls Royce, up 2 to 200 and T S B they were up 1 at 126. Now the European Community is hoping to phase out the green pound by 1992, along with the M C A's. Angus Charmers is from the accountants: Grant Folton. Angus first, we saw often here about the green pound but what actually is it?
[speaker092:] Well, I'm going to keep it simple. I certainly don't want to lose anybody, especially me. er if I go back one stage to the E E C and talk about the common agricultural policy. er this is really aimed at controlling agricultural prices and trying to have a stable market within agriculture. er as suggested in the title it's common to all countries and it therefore has a common denominator which is the European currency unit. er all agricultural prices are set with the B C U and er what we're er hold on do we just try and organize myself. I knew I'd lose myself somewhere. er yes, so we've got the European er currency units and all agricultural prices are set by this unit and in fact the green pound er is used to translate this er E C U into pound sterling. er this rate is fixed and can only be changed by agreement with Brussels er and as we've seen in the last few years, our normal currency exchange rate has fluctuated quite a lot er and in fact has er become fairly weak, but the green pound has stayed the same so there's quite a difference between our exchange rate and the green rate.
[speaker002:] So it's not very popular with the farmers basically.
[speaker092:] No, it's not, no. It's er what this means it means is that the guaranteed price in this country is a lot lower than it is in other European countries.
[speaker002:] What about these mysterious M C A's I mentioned.
[speaker092:] Well M C A's are really connected with the green pound. They er they try and compensate the difference between the intervention price in one country with the intervention price in another country. er so for example, in this country our guaranteed price is quite low and in Germany it's quite high er so what it does was whoever exports or imports between the two it tries to level the prices up.
[speaker002:] Does it work?
[speaker092:] er it's very complicated and it's very cumbersome. er the E C has really bought upon itself with the common agricultural policy a big animal that is very slow to move and it's not really any advantages of each individual.
[speaker002:] So what difference will the fact that it's likely to be phased out, make to farmers in Britain.
[speaker092:] Well the farmers for the last couple of years have been arguing that they want this green rate devalued er to try and bring it line more with the market rate er and what this would do would er increase our guaranteed prices in this country and in fact on Friday this happened er the green rate was devalued by 60%. er and so I've done a few calculations er and for the farmers that are listening and er may understand this er if he was selling his grain in November 89 he would be getting about £99 a ton, whilst if he sells it in November this year he'll be getting £110 a ton. So really it's given a 9% increase to farmers which I think is long overdue really. Er. I think we can take it one step further on er with a growth margin basis. If the price goes up 9% and his costs stay about the same maybe up 5% or so, er his actual bottom line is his income at the end of the year will in fact increase by about 60%.
[speaker002:] So it's good news.
[speaker092:] It is, it is good news.
[speaker002:] Angus, thank you very much indeed. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker107:] Do you fancy a big bottle of bubbly for just answering the phone? Put your name, address and the number you're gonna be at between 10.00 and 2.00 on Sunday on a postcard and send it to me, Adrian Love, Fox F M, Brush House, Pony Road, Oxford O X four two X R and then keep running with the Fox. Do it today, 'cause we're talking magnums. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker093:] Traffic's slowly beginning to ease up on all major routes coming out of Oxford, Abingdon and Aylesbury and no major problems to report in the centres either. M40 running well East and Westbound the M4, the same but do remember that there's an Ascott race meeting tonight and traffic is very, very busy around that whole are. It should be er finished by about 8.30 this evening, so you should be alright after then, but until 8.00 tonight, Wokingham Road at Reading will be closed er that's because of a bust gas main so allow some extra time for your journey. If your following that particular route, find an alternative route. 8.30, 4 roadworks at Cheavley interchange; not causing any problems at the moment but they have cause delays earlier, so approach that area with caution. A34 not causing any problems at the moment although traffic is steadily moving round those road works. The M25, that's very busy now between junctions 16 and 15, that's the M40M4 sheer weight of traffic and an earlier accident causing a lot of congestion around that area, so allow extra time for your journey if you're heading that way. Do remember you can't get on at junction 18. This is Joanne Zorin, A A Road Watch.
[speaker002:] Nothing to report to you now on the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Many British managers are workaholics. A nationwide study has revealed that the managers surveyed are of those Managers nearly 80% don't take the holiday their entitled to. These revelations come from talking to Personnel managers who admitted they often have to force over-stressed employees to have time off. The survey was carried out for Personnel Today magazine and its editor, Adele Kimber, says holidays are a good thing.
[speaker108:] Talking to our readers, Personnel Managers, we find that they're having to force most of Britain's bosses to take time off over less than a quarter of British managers regularly take all their holiday entitlement.
[speaker109:] Now when you say bosses, do you mean Boards of Directors, Chairman, Chief executive and so forth, or are you actually talking about the Managers below them?
[speaker108:] We're talking mainly about the Managers below them.
[speaker109:] And why aren't they taking their holidays?
[speaker108:] er mainly because of workplace pressures. They're finding er as business becomes more competitive, targets are harder to meet and they're finding they're becoming more reluctant to stay out — to get away from the office, to take time off.
[speaker109:] Why this reluctance? Do you think that perhaps in many cases they're frightened of losing their jobs?
[speaker108:] er partly and there's also some evidence that they don't trust others to carry without them.
[speaker109:] You mean they're not capable of delegating?
[speaker108:] Yes, I mean there is some evidence to suggest that senior staff we found are very rarely completely away from the office. Over 80% are contactable by phone even if their on holiday in Britain.
[speaker109:] I thought a good Manager was supposed to be able to delegate.
[speaker108:] Exactly, I mean that's what they should do, but this evidence suggests that they're not doing that.
[speaker109:] Now is it just the Managers, what about the rank and file of the workforce?
[speaker108:] Most rank and file workforce are taking their holidays. We found over 80% regularly take all their holidays.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. Today scenes of celebrations in the centre of Oxford to mark May Day. Tradition dictates that pubs open in 5.00 in the morning. Morris men take to the streets around Carfax, and Magdelen College choir sing their hearts out. This year, FOX F M was there for the first time and Phil Angel managed to catch Dr John Howard to explain what it all meant.
[speaker077:] It's got a long history, lots of it confused as you'd expect in Oxford of course. er it goes back at least 300 years er possibly longer than that, it may be that when they finish the tar they had services up there to celebrate it or to remember one of the benefactors. But certainly by the end of the 17th century there was a huge concert up there at this time of the morning going on for an hour. Then in the 18th century, either the choir was awful or the weather was awful, er nobody's too sure which, but they then settled for just seeing the one thing they knew by memory which was this Eucharistic hymn: Todaym Parchym that they sang in the hall every night as a grace, and that's how it's gone on. er it got terribly out of hand in the 19th century; people throwing eggs from the top of the tower, the choristers and the people from the town blowing trumpets and all sorts of things, really riotous. er so it was reformed in 1844 er no more rotten eggs then and we do it very much as then; facing the rising sun which was beautiful [choir music]
[speaker002:] There you go. Finally Rainbow is in town at the Apollo Theatre. Jeffery, Zippy, Bungle and George will be doing their stage show every afternoon this week. Abbey Donalds spoke to Jeffery and Bungle who were looking forward to their stay in Oxford.
[Bungle:] I always look forward to doing the show 'cause we meet all our friends that watch us on television, don't we Jeffrey?
[Jeffrey:] You're right we do.
[speaker050:] And you like to be out and about do you?
[Bungle:] Oh it's lovely isn't it? Meeting everybody.
[speaker050:] How do you like Oxford?
[Bungle:] I've not been here before, but it's really, really pretty and there's some very old houses aren't there Jeffery?
[speaker036:] Very old Bungle. In fact I'm gonna take you around the city later on.
[Bungle:] Ooh. On one of those buses? I saw some buses Jeffery, with no roof on.
[speaker036:] They're sightseeing buses.
[Bungle:] A whatseeing?
[speaker036:] Sight seeing.
[Bungle:] Ooh can we go on one of those then please?
[speaker036:] Of course we can, yes.
[Bungle:] Ooh.
[speaker050:] So you're gonna have a nice time here then?
[Bungle:] I think so, yes.
[speaker050:] If Jeffery's good to you.
[Bungle:] Oh well he's always good to us. He's very, very kind. Except when he gets cross with us sometimes. But that's usually when we've been naughty isn't it?
[speaker050:] Are they naughty very often?
[speaker036:] er most of the time, yes.
[speaker050:] They're difficult to control are they?
[speaker036:] Very difficult. That's why I thought we'd have a quite afternoon after the show. Go along by the river and the pond, it'll be nice there.
[Bungle:] Oh it's a boat is it?
[speaker036:] A boat, yes.
[Bungle:] Oh, ohh that'll be fun I can splash Zippy.
[speaker036:] No. No playing about on the — it's dangerous on the river. You've got to be very careful, sit still.
[Bungle:] Oh alright Jeffery.
[speaker036:] So we'll get an ice lolly.
[Bungle:] And they you'll punt us.
[speaker036:] I'll punt you.
[speaker050:] Oh doesn't he treat you well.
[Bungle:] He's wonderful. I wouldn't want to live with anybody else.
[speaker050:] So you like living with them, do you?
[speaker036:] Yes.
[speaker050:] Are they alright to handle?
[speaker036:] er well it's a strange sort of a family really; a hippopotamus, and a bear and a Zip. But somehow we get by, don't we?
[speaker002:] I suppose you could say going from the Magdalen choir to Jeffery and Zippy, we're going from the sublime to the ridiculous. And that was the FOX Report for Tuesday May 1, May Day 1990. Join me tomorrow, I'll be back with another FOX Report at 6.00. [recorded jingle]
[speaker016:] Tonight Oxfordshire tycoon Richard Branson warns hundreds of Gulf refugees will die without more aid, and local charity Oxfam launch their appeal and say the situation could get worse.
[speaker011:] The fear is that people will start to flood out of Iraq at the same time, in which case we could be talking about up to 2 million people leaving Iraq through Jordan.
[speaker016:] Scientists at Chilton release a report on X-ray radiation and a couple describe how the Beatles have destroyed true love.
[speaker023:] To be honest it's been seven months of hell. As much as I love her I didn't realise what I was taking on, she's absolutely obsessed with Paul McCartney. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker047:] The six o'clock news, this is Howard Hughes. The British women and children seized in Kuwait yesterday while trying to join a convoy to Baghdad are now being transported in a fleet of buses to the Iraqi capital; from there I R N's James Baize reports.
[speaker112:] It's now thought a hundred and eighty people were detained by the Iraqis as they made their way to the pick up point for the last British convoy from Kuwait. They're now being taken in Iraqi buses to Baghdad and are expected here in the early hours of the morning, the authorities say they'll then be free to leave the country. Meanwhile tomorrow another British convoy again of about a hundred and eighty women and children is expected to make the long hot journey from Kuwait to Baghdad. And an Iraqi airways jumbo chartered by the British Embassy is expected to fly the three hundred and six people who are already here in the Iraqi capital, to Jordan. James Baize I R N Baghdad.
[speaker047:] Virgin Airways chairman Richard Branson says hundreds could die waiting to get home from Iraq because the international relief effort is not working. He was speaking after one of his planes with just over a hundred Britons on board left Jordan with more half the seats empty because of diplomatic red tape. Saddam Hussein is calling for an Islamic Holy War against American forces in the Gulf and their Arab supporters. He wants the Arab people to rise up in revolt against rulers like King Faed of Saudi Arabia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. In a message broadcast on Iraqi T V, Hussein speaking through an interpreter has urged all Arabs to support him.
[speaker113:] We call upon all Arabs each according to his potentials and capabilities within the teachings of Allah and according to the Moslem Holy War of Jihad to fight this, this U S presence of non-believers.
[speaker047:] Soviet miners are going to Scotland Yard tomorrow to give the fraud squad details of Arthur Scargill's alleged mishandling of a £1 million gift. Mr Scargill says the Soviet pitmen's present was intended for international purposes, but the Soviet democratic labour movement says it meant to ease the hardship of striking British miners. Sergei Koslov who's leading a four-man Soviet delegation to Britain is accusing Mr Scargill of betrayal.
[speaker114:] I think Arthur Scargill's handling of the affair has been despicable and I feel that he should be brought to justice for acts which we consider to be verging on the illegal. The money should be transferred to the N U M and if it is not longer needed by those families, we would suggest that they give it back to help the formation of the independent labour movement in Russia.
[speaker047:] A man's been remanded in custody for a week charged with the murder of two women found strangled in a car in London. Thirty four-year old Michael Shorey entered no plea to charges that he murdered Patricia Morrison and Elaine Forsyth in Holloway in July. A teenager has walked out of hospital a day after plunging 200 feet from the Severn bridge in an accident that killed two of his workmates. The three men were working on the bridge when a cradle supporting them collapsed; nineteen year old Mark Seaton from Chepstow in Gwent says he knows he's lucky but what he feels most is anger.
[speaker115:] Extremely, you know I mean if, if it had been checked over regular maybe or something like that, I don't know how often it gets checked over or anything but you know er that gantry's supposed to be you know, kind of really safe, so many sensors on it which are supposed to stop that from happening. I'm lucky, very lucky indeed you know just to come away with bruised ribs.
[speaker047:] Last winter's storm damage pay outs have battered profits for the big insurance companies, and that threatens to push up house cover premiums. Half-year profits for Sun Alliance show the firm £119 million in the red compared with £191 million in profit at the same time last year. And Eagle Star has been badly hit for the same reason; their profits are down 170,000,000 to just 9,000,000. Gay men and women are staging a so-called kiss in this evening beneath the statue of Eros the God of Love at Picadilly Circus; they see it as a challenge to public decency laws. The organisers say current legislation is offensive to homosexuals and to lesbians. Independent Radio News. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker016:] Its Wednesday September 5th 1990. First a look at today's main story in more detail. More than fifty British hostages were on a freedom flight from the Gulf to Gatwick airport today for an emotional reunion with relatives. The women and children were among ninety two Westerners on board a Virgin Atlantic plane from Jordan sent by Oxfordshire tycoon Richard Branson. Peter Stewart was at Gatwick to see the homecoming.
[speaker116:] Yesterday Virgin's Gatwick-based 747, the Scarlet Lady the flagship of their fleet, left Britain with 30 tons of medical and food supplies for refugees on the Jordanian-Iraqi border. The plan left Amman, Jordan's capital, just after midnight and landed at Gatwick shortly before eight this morning; on board 57 Britons, 29 Americans, 4 Australians and 2 Canadians. Seventeen year old Ritu Vasudeva spoke of how her family sheltered in their house for a month for fear of being taken to one of Saddam's guest hotels, then they had to forge exit papers to enable them to escape.
[speaker117:] Well we travelled through the night mostly, we got to erm no we got to no-man's land that's when it got bad. It was really hot and dusty.
[speaker026:] Did you have to hide in your flat in Kuwait?
[speaker117:] Yes and that was four weeks [people talking]
[speaker026:] How did you survive?
[speaker117:] We had friends who were able to — like a Lebanese friend I've got, he was er arranging — he used to bring us the food and water and things like that.
[speaker116:] The man who flew the hostages out, Virgin Chairman Richard Branson spoke of the human misery at the airport.
[speaker095:] Just ten minutes from the airport you've got erm thousands and thousands of Bangladeshis wanting to get home er and it's embarrassing I find, being erm and the press find, being er at the airport er seeing all the attention on a few you know, western faces.
[speaker116:] And Virgin's boss says there's a great deal that has to be done to stop more deaths in the crisis zone.
[speaker095:] You've got a hundred — a hundred degrees in the day time and you've got freezing conditions at night and literally just, people are lying, lying on the floor shaking at night time, erm they're beginning to lose children, they haven't had an er epidemic of disease yet, you know they're definitely going to get one, er and then the other big problem is er to coordinate a massive air lift, and it's going to have to be an air lift, you know as, as big as say the Berlin air lift.
[speaker116:] And he says the mood on board the freedom flight, the Scarlet Lady was a mixture of relief and regret.
[speaker095:] And some people, you know they, they managed to, you know they didn't have their husbands there and they were going home and they were wonderfully relieved and for others obviously it was, you know there is still a lot of emotion.
[speaker116:] On their return, children played with toys and games in private rooms at Gatwick airport, while their parents underwent debriefing by Foreign Office officials.
[speaker016:] You are listening to the Fox Report. As British women and children continue to fly out of the Gulf, the Oxford based charity Oxfam is trying to increase awareness of other foreign nationals they've left behind. Oxfam says the problem is that while wealthier nations can afford to bring their citizens back in large numbers, there are poorer ones who can't. It's particularly concerned about conditions in Jordanian refugee camps which two of it's Middle East staff, sent on a fact finding mission, have described as grim. Ramsay Jameel who saw the camps at first hand, has been telling Robin Powell that refugees are putting up with appalling circumstances.
[speaker065:] They are living under loose tented accommodation, some of them don't have tented accommodation erm the, the country is hot, erm there is a shortage of water, not just at the camps but also to er Jordanian towns themselves at the moment. In the border zone camps the situation is very much more grim; er there is an acute shortage of water although the Jordanians are trucking water in 24 hours a day, it isn't at the moment, enough to keep those camps going. erm it's very very hot, it can reach 40x or 42x centigrade, sand blown, inadequate shelter and at the moment, something like 10,000 more people coming across the border each day than are leaving the country.
[speaker116:] Who are these people generally — where are they from?
[speaker065:] The vast majority of them are non-Kuwaiti nationals leaving Kuwait, erm Bengalis, Thais, Sri Lankans, Phillipinos, erm never mind Arab nationals who have been leaving to Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan themselves. erm the fear is that people will start to flood out of Iraq at the same time, in which case we could be talking about up to 2,000,000 people leaving Iraq through Jordan.
[speaker116:] How long can they reasonably be expected to last in conditions like that?
[speaker065:] The Jordanians are doing a magnificent job, keeping, keeping the show going erm people in those camps in many cases have been there for 4,5 or 7 days. We're hoping to help the authorities upgrade water supply and storage and shelter to those camps, er it's hard to say, but the situation is grim. There is a shortage at the moment of food and medicines, er a lot could be done by governments I think to help the Jordanians in that, at the same time perhaps wealthier governments could help poorer governments bring their people home.
[speaker116:] Meanwhile Oxfam has launched it's own appeal.
[speaker065:] This is correct. We've launched an appeal, at the same time we are sending out large stocks of water supply and water storage equipment, shelters and blankets.
[speaker116:] What would be your message to people thinking of helping?
[speaker065:] Lobby the governments to help poorer governments bring their people home. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker118:] It's a little bit slow on the A43 this evening at Weston on the Green, it's because of the roadworks which are going on tonight; other than that, no serious delays to report, just between the city flow of traffic around the ring road, certainly around the Oxford City centre as well as out on to the A43, the 423, the 34 as usual. Roadworks may affect your journey if you're travelling through on to the 423 at Bunkers Hill, there's lane restrictions there plus some temporary traffic lights in operation this evening. Also if you're moving through to Wardington on the 361, resurfacing again has left some temporary traffic lights, that's just to the north of Banbury there, between in fact Banbury and the Daventry road. Er. If you're moving also through Banbury, of course we have our usual restrictions; the high street is affected and also if you're moving through finally on to the A422, I would mention, in Warwickshire, the Stratford to Alcester road, that has some temporary traffic lights at Taylor's wood. A bit sluggish on the motorways; the M40, the M4 especially at the Thames Valley interchange with the M25, there are some delays there, it's making heavy traffic eastbound on the M4, also we've just heard an accident on the clockwise carriageway of the M25 at the M4 interchange and there are delays both ways, clockwise and anti-clockwise. Nigel Ansell, A A roadwatch.
[speaker016:] And I've nothing to report on either the trains or the buses. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come; a chemical weapons expert warns London could be an Iraqi target. First with a look at the day's local news here's Robin Powell.
[speaker055:] A former Chief of Staff of the United Nations, now living in Oxfordshire is calling for a peaceful resolution to the Gulf crisis. Brigadier Michael Harbottle from Chipping Norton wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper which was published this morning, asking for an Arab alternative to war in the Gulf. He'll be explaining his views at a meeting on the crisis at Oxford Town Hall this evening.
[speaker119:] I think that there is every reason to suppose and hope that that kind of approach is what most people want and er even er Mr Bush and Mrs Thatcher and others have said that er the last thing they want is a war. There is always a danger of war when you have a face to face confrontation that is building up in the Gulf at the moment.
[speaker055:] A west Oxfordshire firm charged with causing a pollution scare, has pleaded not guilty. The National Rivers Authority is prosecuting Harcross Building and Timber supplies over an incident in March in which a quantity of timber preservative was detected in a tributary of Stutfield brook at Childury. The case has been adjourned until November 7th. A man's been taken to Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital following an industrial accident at Bicester in which his arm was badly injured in machinery. The man underwent initial hospital treatment this afternoon, ambulance service spokesman Brian Chambers explains the situation.
[speaker005:] The job is now finished, but er when we got the call in the control room, we immediately dispatched two paramedics to the scene.
[speaker055:] How long is the man likely to be kept in hospital?
[speaker005:] That is a question I am afraid that is impossible to answer at this stage, that won't be known until he's had a thorough investigation by the surgeons at the hospital who er probably won't be able to answer that for a day or two yet.
[speaker055:] Final preparations are underway for an Oxfordshire convoy heading for Roumania at the weekend. Churches in the north of the County have joined forces to provide relief supplies for people left in need after the revolution there. The organiser of the convoy is the Reverend John Evans who's a priest in charge of 3 churches in the Bicester area, he says the project had humble beginnings.
[speaker120:] We started off just looking for a few cuddly toys and a few pounds to send them across to the folk in Roumania because we were all very touched by the need of the children there. And the thing just snowballed and we've managed to accumulate something like £6,000 and about 40 tons of gifts in the form of children's clothing, children's toys er medicaments of one sort or another, various creams recommended to us by pediatricians, er shampoos and other things like antibiotics and so on which we're taking over on behalf of er a medical team from Banbury.
[speaker055:] And finally Oxford Cheetah speedway stars have made a taped message which it's hoped will bring a little boy out of a coma. Ten year old Dean Goldsmith fell off his bike last week and is now in the intensive care unit of the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. His parents hope the tape which was taken to the hospital this morning by the Cheetah's co-promoter Peter York will help Dean regain consciousness. Fox F M news, Robin Powell reporting. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker016:] It's a quarter past six. One of the country's foremost experts on chemical warfare is warning that London could be attacked by Iraqi terrorists using the deadly weapons. Evelyn Lachennes widow of a British war-time spy, Pierre Lachennes has devoted the last ten years to studying the effects of chemical weapons on civilian populations wherever they've been used. Defence correspondent Paul Maurice asked her just how much of the threat to Britain had increased since the start of the Gulf crisis.
[speaker121:] I would say it's gone up 100 per cent, where before there was a logical argument to say that it's negligible, that argument no longer exists; it is not negligible, it is there, it is upon us now, and it is likely to er lead to considerable er hazard for our civilian population and civilian populations of all NATO countries if we do not address it. It is therefore time now that the policy about this be reassessed and that the government acknowledges that this threat now exists and must be addressed.
[speaker019:] Do you think it's possible the Iraqis here living in this country could have some of these nerve gases that they could explode if the situation in Iraq gets very bad?
[speaker121:] My immediate reaction, my automatic feeling to that is yes. Er. These agents are unfortunately fairly easy to come by and the Iraqis have already proven themselves to be masters of er subversive acquisition, er given that they are also now fired with a certain amount of fundamentalism, and should they find their backs to the wall, that even be accelerated. Er. I, I fear that the use from any stockpiling that might have taken place er in this country is a very real hazard.
[speaker019:] So how much would it take to cause tremendous damage in this country — would they need gallons of it or not?
[speaker121:] No not at all, er for the nerve gas tabun for example, if you had a litre of that, and you've only got to look at erm a container of milk to see how little that is, er on a very busy day in London, that could possibly wipe out about a quarter of a million people. So you are talking of something very substantial there.
[speaker019:] Have other European governments taken precautions?
[speaker121:] er France has erm not a bad policy towards this, it's er though half-heartedly, er nonetheless over a period of er perhaps since the war it's had what I call a tick over policy of making quite sure that every year they do produce a bit, do produce a bit. So from that point of view they are in a better position er than we are, er but of the European erm powers, or countries, er the two er neutral countries of Sweden and Switzerland, er they are what I call classic examples. Er. For the last twenty years it has been the government policy in both countries to er protect their civilian populations against these weapons and the potential use of them by er terrorists or a hostile force. And er they have got it now to a state of what I would imagine almost perfection, and that is that every man, woman and child of the population of those two countries er has got adequate protection and even a woman er who wishes to go out and do shopping in the contaminated er environment has the possibility of, of suiting up and putting a special er cover on the pram of her child and actually pushing this child with a special ventilator out. Er. So that's er quite erm a success story for those two countries.
[speaker016:] You are listening to the Fox Report. A former United Nations Chief of Staff will be addressing a forum of peace campaigners in Oxford this evening, calling for a peaceful resolution to the Gulf crisis. Brigadier Michael Harbottle along with other local experts will put forward alternatives to a war in the Middle East at the meeting organised by the local peace group — Campaign against war in the Gulf. One of the organisers of the meeting, Nuala Young says it's important that people realise the seriousness of the situation.
[speaker122:] We were concerned that er what's happening now in the Gulf isn't a simple issue, and it needs to be dealt with very carefully. Er. The core issue really is the control of natural resources and as the resources become scarcer, then there's a greater possibility for conflict. We use oil in so many different ways in our lives that our lives are going to be affected by any crisis in the area where the oil is produced. We are concerned in fact that er the western nations didn't rather deplore earlier er Hussein's actions against his own people using chemical weapons, and we think it's a shame for us that we've only come in at this point, and we must come in carefully I think.
[speaker016:] What are your main concerns what, that would be discussed tonight then?
[speaker122:] Well, we're anxious that there isn't an escalation of this crisis, that it may be dealed with as Brigadier Harbottle has written in a letter to the Guardian today, dealt with, er more through first of all an attempt by the Arab nations to come to some agreement amongst themselves and agreement which will satisfy them and be a more long-lasting one. Er. Then secondly this should be supported by the United Nations who, if this fails, may have to intervene then.
[speaker016:] So you'll be discussing all this tonight, and is it open to the public?
[speaker122:] It's open to the public yes, and we'd like to have as wider range of views, we're all open-minded at the moment because we need to be informed, and this is what the meeting is for.
[speaker016:] And the meeting is open to the public and starts at half past seven at Oxford's Town Hall. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] It's twenty one minutes past six. Patients across the country are receiving widely varying doses of radiation during X-rays according to a report out today by the Oxfordshire-based National Radiological Protection Board. The N R P B at Chilton has produced the report with the Royal College of Radiologists, and it's revealed patients in one region, may receive up to twenty times the radiation dose of patients in another region. As a consequence, the report is calling for more attention to the reasons and procedures governing X-rays. Doctor Paul Shrimpton at the N R P B says it's sometimes a question of updating equipment or simply revising procedures, but he's stressing patients who are X-rayed aren't in any real danger.
[speaker116:] We estimate that er of the er the current level of collected dose from medical radiology, about half of it could in fact be reduced by implementing the recommendations of the report. In half the cases examinations could have been carried out using less radiation. But we have to say that the er the individual risks to patients from the radiation used in examinations are very very low.
[speaker016:] Has your survey shown that hospitals are performing X-rays without any real justification?
[speaker116:] Well certainly examinations should only be carried out where er there is a benefit likely to accrue to the patient, and er this should always be greater than the risk from the radiation itself. Now we find in fact for the levels radiation that used, the risks to the individual patients are very very low indeed er generally less than one in a thousand chance of some adverse effect.
[speaker016:] But you are saying that hospitals must pay more attention to the justification of, for performing an X-ray?
[speaker116:] Yes, the Royal College suggested that maybe twenty per cent of all examinations that are carried out er maybe don't have benefits for the patient, and in that sense are unjustified. And if this er component were reduced then this would er give a considerable saving in a collective dose.
[speaker016:] But if patients aren't in danger, why have you done this report at all?
[speaker116:] Well I think it's a case of just er being prudent and keeping all risks and doses down to the minimum possible. At the levels er that we find in diagnostic radiology, the individual levels of risk are very very low. But if we can get the same information for an even lower level of risk, then that is really what people should do.
[speaker016:] You are listening to the Fox Report it's twenty four minutes past six. The National Rivers Authority has been celebrating it's first birthday today in the Fox F M region. The twelve months have been fraught with pressures from nature, such as flooding and drought as well as artificial problems from chemical pollutions. It regards itself as the guardian of the water environment and has successfully prosecuted thirty polluters so far, with many cases still pending. I asked Les Jones, the region's general manager whether despite success in prosecution, the courts were still enough of a deterrent.
[speaker123:] Clearly if, if the fines were more that would help, but I do think now because of the consciousness of the general public and because of the involvement of the media in, in the environment, er that firms are not keen and the third parties, whoever they may be, are not keen to be fined in court for pollution, because public opinion is such that it's very much disapproved of. And I think the weight of public opinion is a great thing in our favour in our battle against pollution.
[speaker016:] It could be argued that people in our region have actually lost confidence in their water, they've suffered from cryptospyridia, blue-green algae, we're now in a drought period, how would you reassure the public?
[speaker123:] Well I mean I can assure them that the, the National Rivers Authority in the Thames region is monitoring rivers on a daily basis throughout the year and that we would hope to deal with pollution incidents as they occur, and we would hope with our monitoring and the pressure we put on third parties to er actually over the years, to improve things from what they are at the moment and to make things better.
[speaker016:] So you would agree that there have been significant hiccups this year?
[speaker123:] I mean there have been the usual number of pollution incidents and they seem to increase every year, er and a lot of those to deal with er as you say, I think one of the things which is, which is good is that public consciousness has been raised and people are much more aware of what they drink and what's in their rivers. That can only help us in our jobs.
[speaker016:] Why do you believe the incidents have become more frequent?
[speaker123:] I think it's the pressure of modern living. The Thames region supports about 12,000,000 people, er and just the pressures of modern living are adding pressures to the environment, I mean that's happening all around us.
[speaker016:] The local council in Banbury have just recently passed the planning application for the Coca Cola canning plant there, is this something you would welcome given problems with pollution up in Banbury anyway, before?
[speaker123:] I mean what we would do is, is very rigorously look at er more of whatever was going to be discharged from any company who, who came into our region. We would then give them a consent to discharge into the river and we would make sure that that consent if it were complied with, did not deteriorate river conditions, river quality conditions.
[speaker016:] And finally, I you looking forward to the next year?
[speaker123:] Oh yes! I mean er we, we have er a great job to do, I mean we're all about improving the environment, we're all about working with very pleasant things like rivers and we're all about doing important things like protecting people from flooding. Oh yes, very much looking forward to it.
[speaker016:] This is the Fox Report. More than a hundred scientists from around the world have gathered at St John's College, Oxford, for a major conference. The scientists hope to compile an electronic data base of human genes, so doctors around the world can have locations and descriptions of all known genes. Doctor Ian Craig the organiser of the human gene conference told John Walmsley what it hopes to achieve.
[speaker124:] Well this conference has been assembled to bring up to date our information concerning the position of human genes in the human chromosomes. We have about 140 international specialists in human gene mapping coming together to use a new data base system developed at the John Hopkins university in collaboration with people in London at the I C R F Labs and that data base will provide information on all those genes we have already identified and mapped. There are something like 50,000 individual genes providing the genetic blueprint for each individual, and our task is really to find out where each one is on human chromosomes and to isolate them and to characterise them. So far, we've actually managed to characterise about 1600 of that 50,000 and so we've got a very long way to go.
[speaker125:] Is the first time the scientists have all come together for one specialist meeting?
[speaker124:] No indeed, this is in fact er about the twelfth meeting in a series, the first meeting was in 1973, where 75 scientists came together to deliberate about 50 genes which were known at that time. Here we have 140 scientists, who are deliberating about 2,000 genes. So this is er a milestone if you like or a watershed in the development of human gene mapping, but we have got er a very long way to go in the future.
[speaker125:] So once you've characterised all the genes, do you hope to stamp out deformed genes?
[speaker124:] I think it's almost an impossibility to stamp out deformed genes, new defective genes are arising in the population all the time. What we are doing is providing information for perhaps clinicians to act on, we also in the future hope to develop the information we have into something useful, and in some cases the information we have already. So certain genes enables us to do just that, because knowing the gene enables us to manufacture the product which the gene should make normally in people, and in those people who can't make it normally, then you can supply the defective product to them. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker126:] Mainly er an accident and incident free night through the Fox F M area this evening, certainly no serious accidents er reported, nothing from our Fox patrols either tonight. We've had a steady flow of traffic away from Oxford City centre, indeed through Banbury and out from Aylesbury on the A41, the A413. Just a case of reminding there were some problems it's been a little bit slow because of roadworks on the high street in Banbury as usual because of that water board work that's continuing. Also more roadworks may well affect your journey to the north of Enstone on the A43, that's because of some resurfacing work, and if you're travelling through on the 417 at East Hendred er near the Hare public house, there's more temporary signals in operation too this evening. Bunker's Hill, the A423 there resurfacing and lane closures and more temporary signals, apart from that, not too bad, the motorway routes still continue to run well; the M40 is certainly looking good. The M4 has been a bit slow although only eastbound, and the M25 is still a bit sluggish at the Thames Valley because of an accident, mainly on the clockwise carriageway by the M4 interchange, it's just er a little slow with a couple of miles queue either side of the M4 interchange itself. Nigel Ansell A A roadwatch.
[speaker016:] British Rail tell us that the 6.30 Aylesbury to Marylebone train service has been cancelled this evening, while the buses continue to operate a trouble-free service. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty one. The British women and children seized in Kuwait yesterday while trying to join a convoy to Baghdad, are now being transported in a fleet of buses to the Iraqi capital; authorities say they'll then be free to leave the country. Virgin Airways chairman Richard Branson says hundreds could die waiting to get home from Iraq because the international relief effort isn't working. He was speaking after one of his planes with just over 100 Britons on board left Jordan with more than half the seats empty because of diplomatic red tape. Saddam Hussein has gone on Baghdad T V to call for a Holy War against U S forces in the Gulf, and the overthrow of Saudi Arabia's King Faed. He blames America and Israel for U N sanctions which mean Iraqi children would die because they have no food, milk or medicine. Last winter's storm damage pay-outs have battered profits for the big insurance companies, threatening to push up house cover premiums; half-year profits for Sun Alliance show the firm £190,000,000 in the red, compared with 191,000,000 in profit at the same time last year. The weather: cloudy with light rain tonight, but becoming dry and clear later, lowest temperatures are expected to reach around 8x celsius, that's 46x fahrenheit, and tomorrow should be sunny and windy but fairly cool. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come; gay activists are holding a demonstration in London tonight, but first there are calls for doctors and surgeons infected with the AIDS virus to be forced to declare their illness to patients. A court in America has heard claims that a woman became infected with the virus after a visit to the dentist. But Dr David Shanson, a senior consultant microbiologist at the Westminster hospital, says even if surgeons are infected, that shouldn't matter unless they're incapable of operating.
[speaker096:] If the surgeon though is unable to perform his duties properly, for example if H I V infects his brain and he's demented or he's coughing up tubercle bacilli because of pneumonia, of course these are extreme complications, and there's no way a hospital would allow a surgeon to continue to operate under such circumstances. But that er to actually get to the stage where every health care worker's H I V status or every patients' is made public knowledge is clearly not in anybody's interest.
[speaker016:] Are doctors and surgeons regularly tested for H I V?
[speaker096:] No, er perhaps they should be in the future in anonymous research studies, er just as at the moment er every patient is
[speaker016:] But then how can you say it's safe if they're not regularly tested?
[speaker096:] We do need, this is a fair point, that we do need more data all the way through here, at the moment none of us is suggesting any compulsory tests for anybody. All the time when there is an H I V antibody test it must be with informed consent from the patient or staff member.
[speaker016:] Are the precautions that are carried out during surgery or general practice adequate — for example the wearing of three rubber gloves and gowns and so forth?
[speaker096:] Well the evidence for transmission in the operating theatre is very very low; it's strong circumstantial evidence that a patient, that certains are at high risk with certain types of surgery like wiring of jaws, or er very bloody major operations. So we, the answer is we don't really know but it seems common sense to apply barrier precautions and to do everything you can to modify the type of surgery so that the chances of having an injury with a sharp instrument are reduced, and people have made some constructive proposals along these lines. [recorded jingle]
[speaker016:] This is the Fox Report, it's twenty five minutes to seven. A delegation of Soviet miners is to meet officers from the fraud squad tomorrow over Arthur Scargill's alleged mishandling of funds donated during the year-long pit strike. The four-man team from the democratic Labour movement claim more than £1 million given by Russian miners, was intended for their striking British colleagues. Speaking through an interpreter, the leader of the delegation Sergei Koslov accused the N U M leader of betrayal.
[speaker114:] The money that er we raised in the Soviet Union was intended for the families of miners who had suffered as a result of the strike.
[speaker064:] And what do you thing of the way Arthur Scargill has handled the affair?
[speaker114:] I think Arthur Scargill's handling of the affair has been despicable and I feel that he should be brought to justice for acts which we consider to be verging on the er illegal. This is a wide er feeling and er a feeling of great anger er because only recently we have been told the truth of how this money was used.
[speaker064:] Mr Scargill has blamed the Soviet miners for the confusion over this whole affair, could that be correct?
[speaker114:] That is totally incorrect; there is a quite clear position of the miners. We were told that this money was being collected for the families and we gave this money through the official trade union for that purpose. The money has not been used for that purpose.
[speaker064:] So what should happen to the money which is now held by the I M O in Paris?
[speaker114:] The money should be transferred to the N U M, and if it is not longer needed by those families, we would suggest that they give it back to help the formation of the independent labour movement in Russia.
[speaker064:] And what will you be doing to ensure that the money doesn't stay in Paris?
[speaker114:] er We will be er speaking to the police and will be giving evidence er that we have collected.
[speaker016:] This the Fox Report. Around a hundred homosexual couples will risk arrest tonight by gathering in London's Picadilly Circus for a kiss-in. The demonstration arranged by the Lesbian and Gay Direct Action Group, OUTRAGE, is to challenge public decency laws which it claims are being misinterpreted to criminalise public shows of affection between gay couples. One of the organisers Peter Tatchell told Clare Martin that the weight of public opinion is behind the demonstrators and it's time the laws were changed.
[speaker127:] We'd like to see the er government give a very clear signal to er the police that they want these laws not to be enforced in this prejudiced and discriminatory way. We'd like them to say that the laws like the 1986 public order act, which after all was introduced to combat football hooliganism, and not to control people's sexuality, should not be used to drag lesbians and gay men before the courts simply for showing their love for each other.
[speaker016:] Have there been instances then, when this has happened?
[speaker127:] Yes there's been many cases where lesbian and gay couples have left a gay bar, have given each other a goodnight kiss at a bus stop or at a tube station or in the street and they've been arrested under public decency laws and dragged through the courts and fined up to £200. Er. There's also been a particularly extreme case; last year in July when a Northampton man was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for merely kissing and fondling another man in a churchyard in the middle of the night. Now I think that the way the law is used in this country against the gay community is really making Britain the laughing stock of Europe. We are the only country anywhere, east or west, where lesbians and gay men are criminalised in this way.
[speaker016:] Your plans to hold this demonstration of public affection between homosexual couples have already drawn criticism. Is this really going to advance your cause?
[speaker127:] Well I think the first thing is, we have to bring out into the open the way in which the law is being misused. You see, none of these laws actually mention homosexuality at all; they're all interpreted by the police and the courts to criminalise our affection. And we really have to in the first instance, get public opinion to realise the way in which our lives are so pervasively subject to criminal prosecution, that's the first step. The second step is that really frankly the history of all great civil rights and human rights movements has sadly been that it's often only through challenging the law, indeed even breaking the law, that injustices are put right. And we've been campaigning for years to try and get these laws changed, no-one seems to have been listening very much and that's why we've adopted this more upfront direct challenge to the law. We think it's the only way we can actually show the seriousness with which we believe we are being criminalised and persecuted, and in order to draw public attention to the need to change these laws. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker016:] Still to come the day's sporting action, but first financial report in association with Barclay's Bank for your financial needs. In spite of a heavy fall in Tokyo overnight, the London market proved resilient this morning with bear closing a firm future's market and the weight of institutional cash providing support. The one hundred share index was 17.4 points higher at one stage, but finished the day well below it's best level, 4.2 points higher at 2152.2, at 4 o'clock the volume was mediocre at 321.7 million shares. On the foreign exchange market sterling made progress against both the U S and German currencies, rising 2 cents against the dollar to £1.8945 and 0.27 pfennigs against the Deutschmark to 2 Deutschmark 9690. Amongst the majors, Abbey National up to up 10, British Aerospace up 4 at 544, British Airways down 1 pence at 169, B P up 1 at 370. British Gas was up at 1, at, up 1 at 223, British Steel was down 1 at 125, British Telecom was up too at 284, Rolls Royce was down too at 187 and T S B was up 1 at 130. Moving on to sport now and Oxford United face Reading at the Manor tonight in the first round, second leg of the Rumbelows League Cup, the of a one-goal advantage from the first leg at Elm Park; covering the match this evening is Mickey Inotta who saw Oxford's bubble burst on Saturday as they went down 3-1 to Nott's County. And there does seem to be some speculation about who will now play in goal. Mickey, do you have the latest team news?
[speaker128:] Yes I do, there's still injury doubts over Alan Jedsa, Paul keeps his place in the side, he didn't have a particular good game against Notts County; one horrendous effort — error there, but he has played well generally and especially the same side that started that match at Notts County, so we can expect to see both full backs pushing up and really hopefully an open game like the one against Port Vale.
[speaker016:] And of course Oxford supporters don't need reminding that last season they led Fulham 1-0 after the first leg and they lost 5-3 at home. Do you think history can repeat itself?
[speaker128:] Well there's that awful saying in football Lucy that it's a funny old game, it often bears the truth. If the same thing was to happen tonight, I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall in the Oxford dressing room. But really I don't think so, although I did speak to the Reading manager Ian Porterfield a few minutes ago and he does seem relaxed and so do his players, so you know I am a little worried now, now we're getting nearer kick-off I'm beginning to get a little more worried.
[speaker016:] Thanks Mickey. And one other match taking place this evening is the preliminary round F A Cup replay at Railway Cuttings between Banbury United and Solihull Borough, and if you're thinking of popping along, the message from Banbury is to get there early as another bumper gate is expected. Oxford Cheetah's Ace, Simon Wigg is urging Oxford speedway supporters to get behind their team for tonight's Sunbright League clash against Bradford at the Oxford Stadium. The Cheetahs supported by Fox F M, are facing the indignity of finishing bottom of the British League after winning the championship last year.
[speaker099:] We're out there riding as hard as we can and if that gives any of the supporters any sort of er consolation, I don't know if it does or not, but it — we're really giving our best all the time and er win, lose or draw you'll always find us every time we've got a doing our best and er although often some people might shout and scream and give us a hard time, er it's not for, for lack of trying, I mean nobody wants to finish last and er me even more than most, so just get behind us and shout and scream and we'll try our hardest.
[speaker016:] Tomorrow at Christchurch sports ground Oxfordshire County Cricket Association take on Warwickshire in the final of the National Cricket Association's County Championship. Warwickshire are the current holders of the Championship, while Oxfordshire have won it once in 1979 and were runners up in 1984. Leading Oxfordshire as ever we're with the England amateur captain Phil Garner; Phil, tomorrow's match — with the weather unsettled, can we expect to see the spin attack of Rupert Evans and Ian Curtis turn the tables again?
[speaker129:] Well I should think you'd see that spin attack turn the tables whatever the weather was really, and we've also got Peter Bradbury who's taken more wickets in the Cherwell lead than anybody this year, so we've got three first line County standard off spinners er or rather two off spinners and a left arm spinner. And I'm sure you'll see them in operation tomorrow, we've got six bowlers in all so we're fairly confident that we'll er bowl whatever the conditions.
[speaker089:] So it's looking good. Well how difficult a season has it been so far, I mean for instance, in the minor County Championship a lot of matches were drawn I think that last season you probably would have won?
[speaker011:] Yes, the difference of course is that in two day cricket you can't necessarily guarantee a result er and forcing wins was what we didn't quite manage to do, it was er it was a season of what might have been for the County Cricket Club er a very good season but not quite as successful as last year. Now in this particular game it's a limited overs game; fifty overs a side, one side will win tomorrow er so there will be a definite result, and we think we've got a strong side. Er. We finished erm a close second in the semi-final of this competition last year so we're looking forward to playing this er last year's winners and this year's
[speaker089:] Tonight, Winnie Mandela is charged with kidnapping and assault. A British expert says it could put pressure on Nelson Mandela's negotiations with the South African government.
[speaker011:] To be an acute embarrassment to Nelson Mandela and to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.
[speaker089:] Atlanta, Georgia is to host the 1996 Olympic Games, the city's mayor shrugs off the disappointment of the Athens contingent who were hot favourites.
[speaker023:] We're going to put on the Olympic Games in '96, we're going to make everybody including Athens proud.
[speaker089:] And a new exhibition of water colours at Oxford's Old Fire Station, but what inspired the artist to take up painting?
[speaker026:] Sitting on a beach in Cornwall and being utterly bored, wanting something to do. [recorded jingle]
[speaker103:] 24 hours a day on 102.6, this is Fox F M. [recorded jingle]
[speaker003:] It's 6 o'clock, this is Annie Webster. Petrol prices are on the way up again with Shell pushing prices at the pumps to more than £2.34p. The latest increase of 3.2p a gallon takes effect from tomorrow and other oil companies are bound to follow suit. It means prices have surged by an average of more than 30p a gallon since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Shadow Energy Secretary Frank Dobson says the treasury has made a killing out of the increases.
[speaker130:] The government's er oil revenues have gone up by £345 million, er that's an average of £7.1 million a day, since the Gulf crisis started, and er they're now running at over £13 million a day more than they were before the crisis commenced.
[speaker003:] Atlanta Georgia will host the 1996 centennial Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee rejected bids from Manchester and the sentimental favourites Athens, in favour of the Southern American city. Tim Knight reports on the surprise choice from the I O C meeting in Tokyo.
[speaker064:] Atlanta. [people cheering]
[speaker131:] An Olympic movement looking ahead rather than reflecting on it's noble past was how one I O C Committee member described Atlanta's win over Athens, Bobby Charlton part of Manchester's bid wasn't so sure.
[speaker005:] It's not so long since it was in the United States and er I'm quite shocked really, but I'm er I mean Manchester did a terrific job really.
[speaker131:] Manchester was unlucky to be in the strongest ever field of candidates for an Olympic Games, Jim Knight I R N Tokyo.
[speaker003:] Manchester MP Tom Pendry says the selection process ought to be tougher next time and based on merit not money. Mr Pendry one of Labour's sports spokesman isn't claiming foul play by Atlanta, but he says the rules at the moment can easily be bent.
[speaker132:] I think we should press for the International Olympic er Committee to look at their rules and see that er to ensure that you cannot buy the Games, you, you win the Games on merit. And I think that's got to be part of the British Olympic Association's er philosophy, to ensure that we have an even handed approach to it. I'm not saying Atlanta did anything untoward, but I think the rules are so open that er you could if you wished.
[speaker003:] Security forces in Ulster have recovered the body of Constable Louis Robinson near Crossmaglen. He'd been kidnapped and shot by the I R A at the weekend; from Belfast, David Stokes.
[speaker096:] The body of Constable Louis Robinson was removed from the roadside in South Armagh late this afternoon after a day-long security operation. A statement from R U C headquarters tonight says that no words can fully convey the feeling of the force and all decent people at the manner of the murder. Not for the first time says the statement have the killers shown any trace of humanity or respect for public opinion. Meanwhile the I R A in a statement from Dublin have admitted they shot and seriously wounded an army careers officer in North London yesterday evening, and they've warned of further attacks in Britain. David Stokes, I R N, Belfast.
[speaker003:] Nelson Mandela's wife Winnie has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and four of assault; the charges follow the death of the teenage black activist Stompie Moeketsi. The government has ordered an investigation into procedures used by Social Services over the handling of allegations of the Satanic abuse of children in Rochdale. Seventeen adults were arrested, but even though police now say there's no case against them, many of the twenty children taken into care have not been allowed home. And the government has lost a high court battle over the poll tax with one of the London charge capped councils; the Court has upheld Lambeth Council's decision to set the community charge at £521 rather than the £493 figure sought by the government. Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson is hitting out at the dirty habits of the British public; he says mountains of litter dumped along motorways is forcing the government to spend £3 million a year cleaning it up. Speaking at the motor show in Birmingham, Mr Parkinson said '5,000 tons of rubbish is collected every year from the motorways' . Independent radio news. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Tuesday September 18th 1990; first a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The African National Congress faces a new crisis with the charging of Winnie Mandela, wife of the A N C deputy leader on four counts of kidnapping and four of assault. As David O'Sullivan reports from Johannesburg, the crisis comes as the A N C debates the future of negotiations with the government.
[speaker054:] The A N C was locked in a crucial national executive meeting to discuss the issues of township violence and the possible arming of it's members in the strife-torn zones. It's expected to discuss it's future involvement, if any, in negotiations with the South African government on power sharing, if the government doesn't take emphatic steps to stop the violence. But the meeting was only a few hours old when the news broke that Winnie Mandela would face serious charges arising out of the murder in January 1989 of 14 year old activist, Stompie Moeketsi Seipei. Seipei's killer Gerry Richardson was sentenced to death two months ago, during his trial, Mrs Mandela was implicated in the abduction of Seipei and three others and their subsequent assault at her Soweto home. The A N C has reacted calmly to the charges; it said Mrs Mandela shouldn't be given any special treatment, but western diplomatic sources in Johannesburg said earlier today, 'the trial will place strain on the negotiation process' . It appears unlikely the A N C is to make a political issue out of the attorney general's decision to put Mrs Mandela on trial. When the Richardson sentence was handed down, a blaze of publicity focused on Mrs Mandela, appeared in the media. Nelson Mandela was quick to condemn this and indicated his wife should be given the chance to defend herself.
[speaker133:] They don't want to charge her so that she can have the opportunity of proving to the court that er she is innocent. It is a method of making the press charge my wife before she is even found guilty by the press.
[speaker054:] Mrs Mandela will appear in court on the 24th of September; the attorney general says he has received an undertaking from her lawyer that she will cooperate with the investigation and she will not be taken into custody.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report. An expert on South African affairs says the charges against Mrs Mandela could be a problem for Nelson Mandela and the A N C. Professor Jack Spence of Leicester university has just returned from a fact-finding tour of South Africa.
[speaker134:] It would be an acute embarrassment to Nelson Mandela and to the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress. It'll complicate negotiations between Mr DeKlerk and Mr Mandela if at the same time as those negotiations continue, er Mrs Mandela is on trial which may of course be prolonged. In a sense I suppose, er what DeKlerk's government has demonstrated is that they [LAUGHTER] are trying as it were to be impartial and not allow political considerations to influence their judgement about whether Mrs Mandela should go on trial. When I was in South Africa the attorney general of the Transvaal who has brought the charges made it abundantly clear that he was not er going to be influenced by er political issues, and I'm not surprised that he's taken the line that he does. Except that it's significant that she has not been charged with being an accessory to the murder of Stompie Moeketsi er some months ago.
[speaker002:] You're listening the Fox Report, it's eight minutes past six. The chairman of Rover cars has admitted the company is no longer a mass manufacturer. Speaking at the motor show in Birmingham, Sir Graham Day said he doesn't want it to be. In spite of recent disappointing financial results, Sir Graham says the company in now doing well, but he's warning the workers there's no easy ride ahead, suggesting there'll be no reprieve for the Cowley operations.
[speaker135:] It's been too easy to stick a label on us in the past which says volume car maker. Now we produce erm about half a million or 550,000 units a year, that is not volume in world terms er we acknowledge that we compete in some of the volume sectors, but increasingly as our new products are introduced, we're very careful to put them in discrete market segments or in niches. So in that sense, we are not a volume car producer and er the company historically, I mean back through the seventies and sixties was a not very successful volume producer. We now believe we're becoming a, a much more successful er niche player.
[speaker064:] The H registration year hasn't been a good one so far for the car industry, but you have some successes. Can it go on, this sort of success?
[speaker135:] Well, we, we as you correctly say er with the whole industry had a, had a difficult August, I think the good news for Rover is that we fell less in volume terms than most of the competition, and indeed we marginally increased our market share. So in comparative terms, we performed well er in August. Er. I think that the competition will continue to increase, I mean this is not an industry where one has a soft trick and a lie down as we used to say in shipbuilding, I mean it really is a grind and a slog, and I think it's important for all of our employees to understand that er there never will come a point in time when we can say 'right we've got that done, we can lie back'. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker136:] Generally busy traffic across the whole of Oxfordshire and west Buckinghamshire during the rush hour this evening, especially on the M40 though between junctions 2 and 7, it's very heavy traffic due to the various roadworks there in operation this evening, especially at junction 2 Beaconsfield where the contraflow is in operation. On the Buckinghamshire section of the M25 clockwise traffic at junction 16 with the M40 is still very heavy and slow due to the amount of traffic that is on the M25 this evening, most places along 25 are quite heavy. On the M4 junction 4b to 5, that's the M25 Langley interchange, the inside lanes are closed in both directions for overhead cable work, and on the A34 just south of Newbury, it's down to single lane traffic due to the roadworks between Swan roundabout and Sandalford roundabout but traffic's not too heavy there at the moment. On the A41 finally, London road in Bicester in Oxfordshire, the roadworks there by the level crossing with the temporary traffic lights are causing a fair bit of congestion this evening in both directions. Mark Rise, AA road watch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us their services are running to schedule this evening and I've nothing to report to you from the bus services in the area. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come; Atlanta Georgia is to host the 1996 Olympics much to the chagrin of Athens and Manchester. First with a round up of the day's local news though, here's Robin Powell.
[speaker055:] A reward's now on offer for anyone who can help police track down a man who mugged a 64 year old woman paying respects in Banbury cemetery. The incident happened between 1.30 and 2.40 on Saturday afternoon; police want to speak to a young man seen on a pedal cycle in the area at the time. He's described as being in his late teens, 5'8'tall and of slim build. P C Mike Patching crime intelligence officer at Banbury and head of the crime stoppers organization in the town, says it was a despicable crime.
[speaker021:] Criminals aren't too bothered about the er problems they cause victims in the commission for their crime, but er as a general rule er they do draw a line somewhere, but I think to er rob a lady who is er presumably grieving over the loss of a relative, at the graveside, has got to be plumbing some new depth of er depravity and er I'll expect the erm vast majority of the citizens of Banbury will think similarly.
[speaker055:] A man's been taken to hospital with a chest injury after a road accident near Bicester. Two cars collided outside a service station at Baynard's Green at about 2 o'clock this afternoon, one casualty was treated on the scene, the other was taken to Oxford's John Radcliffe hospital. A new traffic report published today says that the British public aren't satisfied with parking regulations and their enforcement. Peter Jones who's the deputy director of the traffic studies department at Oxford University and the author of the report says that people don't think the rules governing parking are strict enough.
[speaker137:] It's clear that the majority of not only motorists but other road users, pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers do feel that there are serious problems in urban areas, that they do need to be tackled and that one major thing that's necessary is better enforcement of existing regulations, particularly in two areas: one, drivers that drive badly and cause danger to others and secondly, the inconsiderate parker.
[speaker055:] An Oxfordshire branch of a travel agency which has announced it's going out of business says it's continuing to trade. Exchange Travel in Chipping Norton will continue to do business in the meantime. But manager Andrew Taylor says the company is calling in an administrator.
[speaker138:] Well the position which I've been told by my company directors is that we are still trading, er a er an administration order has been taken out and we are continually, continuing to trade and er that er rules. Er. Trust fund accounts have been set up for the protection of clients and their, and their moneys.
[speaker055:] Finally Buckingham MP George Walden is writing to Agriculture Minister John Gummer about the land war crisis, to tell him what local land farmers think about it. Mr Walden has spoken to farmers in his constituency about the issue and has been explaining what he'll be telling Mr Gummer.
[speaker139:] My farmers are very responsible about this, they don't want counter demonstrations against the French here; they certainly don't want a tax on French lorry drivers here, we've had one or two of those. Er. They want the thing to be sorted out properly in Brussels and they want the French authorities to be told in no uncertain terms that it's their job to control the activities of their farmers. [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's a quarter past six. The Southern American city of Atlanta has been chosen as the venue for the 1996 Olympic Games. The announcement in Tokyo has shattered the hopes of hot favourites Athens and of course Manchester which had spent £2 million campaigning to be the host. Roy Garner reports from Tokyo.
[speaker140:] The I O C's choice of Atlanta, Georgia to host the centennial Olympic Games has not only shocked and disappointed the Athens delegation here in Tokyo, it has brought disappointment to the team from Manchester who'd worked for several years to fulfil the dream of bringing the Games to the U K for the first time since 1948. One of the leaders of the Manchester bid team David Scott told I R N that he also shared the concerns of some of the Greek delegation that the choice of a U S venue reflected the influence of commercialism and big business in I O C decision making.
[speaker096:] er I'm slightly worried about the effect on the Olympic movement of Atlanta being chosen only in the sense that er that this is the, I think the sixth time in 25 years that a North American city has got it and it does look rather as if the er pressures are now, on the financial side, are now coming very much from the North American continent and I'm not at all sure that that's really good for the Olympic movement. But they won a fair fight and they took a tremendous lot of trouble and they really did a very good campaign, there's no question about that at all.
[speaker140:] The disappointment in the Athens camp has bordered on bitterness and I asked the mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson for his reaction to the words of one Athens delegate who described the Atlanta decision as a win for Coca Cola and a loss for the Olympic ideal.
[speaker141:] Well I'm sorry that the gentleman from Athens said that, but we have to understand that people right now are going through some very strong feelings and I'm sure they're disappointed. But Athens gave the Games to the world, and we're looking at the next one hundred years and if the I O C wants to do something special with Athens in '96 and if Athens wants to do it, we assure them that Atlanta will support that effort one hundred per cent.
[speaker140:] So the hundredth birthday party of the Olympics — Atlanta is the place for it?
[speaker141:] er I don't know how to answer that question, all I can say is we're going to put on the Olympic Games in '96 and we're going to make everybody, including Athens I hope, proud.
[speaker140:] The I O C meet continues in Tokyo until Thursday when I O C president Juan Antonio Samange will give an address on the present status of the Olympic movement.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. As petrol prices are er reported to be rising again the oil companies are blaming the crisis in the Gulf. There have been few new diplomatic moves though in Baghdad today, meanwhile the families of two women shown in a video recorded in Kuwait, are pleading with the Iraqis to let them bring their newly born children home. Jenny Stenton and Christine Pedley were recorded by a Palestinian doctor who was invited into Kuwait by the Iraqi authorities. James Baize reports.
[speaker112:] The video was filmed by Muhammad Said, a Palestinian doctor who was invited into Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. The Britons told him they want western governments to negotiate with Iraq.
[speaker115:] I think my message really is quite clear. I do hope that very shortly er the governments can get round the table and sort out this crisis er in a diplomatic way.
[speaker112:] A similar message was given by Trevor Pedley from Dudley whose wife Christine gave birth to their first child at the weekend. But Trevor's brother Tony says the family doesn't believe he was allowed to speak freely.
[speaker142:] We feel that er Trevor was virtually told what to say, er we don't think it was er a true picture of what er happened out there to be honest. If you can understand what I mean.
[speaker112:] What did he actually say in the video?
[speaker142:] Well he, he didn't really say a lot, er they asked him a question and er he, he just turned round and said er we hope, we hope it's er a peaceful solution, that er virtually saying he hoped it didn't come to war, and Christine turned round and said 'yes we want a peaceful solution'. And that's all that was said on the video.
[speaker112:] I believe er Christine is expecting a baby?
[speaker142:] er She's had the baby. My mother had a phone call from the foreign office and they just said that er Christine had given birth to a baby girl, er we don't know much more about it, and that they're both fine.
[speaker112:] He says he's praying Suddam Hussein will show compassion and let the couple bring their baby daughter home. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker143:] I'm in the Flying Fox and I've just spent some time hovering at just a thousand feet over Bicester and the town centre looking good there. The two main approaches, that's the A41 from Banbury [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The United Nations Assembly is now deciding the future of Cambodia's status within the U N. The Assembly's meeting in New York at the moment to decide whether Cambodia's seat will be given to the newly agreed Supreme National Council; a move which would please many people and organizations such as Oxfam and Christian Aid, who were opposed to the Phol Pot regime. Today Andrew Smith, MP for Oxford east, Bruce Kent, prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford west and Abingdon and Oxford authoress Margaret Drabble among many other well-known figures, showed their support for this measure in a full page newspaper advertisement. Frank Judd chairman of Oxfam says he would like to see a number of new developments in the Cambodian situation.
[speaker144:] Hopefully we will see er Khmer Rouge with it's Phol Pot leadership removed from the seat at the U N, and the new Supreme National Council which is at least more representative of all the elements in er, er Cambodia, taking it's place. We've launched this appeal today together with er Christian Aid, er Cafod, the Cambodia Trust and World Vision, er an appeal supported by many distinguished individuals including local people here in Oxford itself, distinguished writers and politicians. And that appeal is really calling for three objectives: first that all member states of the United Nations do all in their power to curb Khmer Rouge military aggression and the terrorizing of civilians, secondly that the British government should take the initiative in urging member states and the appropriate U N agencies to give essential development and reconstruction aid for Cambodia and thirdly that the British government should do all within it's power to help secure the safety of the hundred thousand Cambodian refugees in Khmer Rouge camps in Thailand, by calling for their transfer to neutral camps under U N supervision. I might just add that what we are deeply disturbed by, is that as the fighting continues in Cambodia with Phol Pot trying once again to get into control, already a hundred and fifty thousand people have been displaced by that fighting and that er the number of amputees has reached something like a thousand a month which is twice last year's figure.
[speaker073:] You yourself have visited the camps out there, and what are these people going through?
[speaker144:] Well I've visited both Cambodia itself and the camps, er first of all in the camps, the situation is appalling because there are very many people who do not want to be in those camps and are really in effect being held there against their will, and what has been extraordinary until this year, is that the people who've been holding them there against their will have been the Phol Pot dominated so-called coalition government and on the basis of the people being in the camps, that, that, that regime has gone on to claim recognition at the United Nations; an appalling situation. So that we really do hope that when the news comes through today, it's going to be positive and the international community, if I can put it this strongly, will have come to it's senses and said this cannot go on, we must have a more representative political presence at the U N.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Government inspectors are to investigate Rochdale Social Services after twenty children were taken into care following allegations of ritualistic abuse. Seventeen adults were arrested in connection with the allegations, but Greater Manchester Police have announced there's not enough evidence to bring criminal charges. Health Minister Virginia Bottomley says the Inspectors will examine the overall practices of the Rochdale department and not the individual cases as the children are wards of court.
[speaker145:] We're looking at the policies and procedures adopted by the local authority because decisions about those individual children are entrusted to the High Court, the family division. Those expert judges who make the complex and subtle decision about how best to protect the welfare of those individual children. It would not be right frankly, for ministers to issue edicts about particular children, whether they or not they should or shouldn't be in care. That is for the High Court to do, not for ministers.
[speaker002:] But the police have announced that they aren't bringing criminal charges against er seventeen adults that were arrested in connection with these allegations. Shouldn't the children be allowed to go home?
[speaker145:] It's a very important distinction and one that isn't properly understood: the police have to have clear concrete evidence on an offence. What the High Court or what the local authority have to consider is how do we protect the welfare of those children? Not only has there or hasn't there been ritual abuse or sexual abuse or physical abuse, but the context of neglect, deprivation or support; is this a child whose welfare will best be served. Is it in that child's interest for it to go home or is it in the child's interest er for the responsibility to lie with the local authority or the High Court? The different test, our aim, our priority, the key job is to protect the child's welfare.
[speaker002:] But the parents believe this is another Cleveland. They say their children should be, should be brought home immediately.
[speaker145:] er Parents predicament is understandable, there have been many tragedies in the past where local authorities perhaps took too much notice of the parents and too little of the children. Some of the cases where children lost their lives, Jasmine Beckford, Kimberly Carlisle, Tara Henry, where somehow the child's need has slipped through the net. It's important to get the balance right, so we will be looking to make sure that the policies and procedures, not only follow our guidelines with regard to the welfare of the child, but do also make sure that the parents are fully involved er and informed about the process as it moves through.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. An Oxford scientist says new information about the H I V virus which leads to AIDS could mean that a vaccination won't be forthcoming for a long time. Doctor Martin Novak's team believes the virus doesn't lie dormant as had been thought up till now, but rather copies itself or mutates. Doctor Novak believes that eventually so many of the so-called mutants are created, that the human body's immune system can no longer fight against the disease. It's at this point that AIDS develops.
[speaker014:] This new virus now might have been mutated in such a way that the er antibodies which are present at, at the moment, are not able to recognize and destroy this new virus. And therefore the new virus can grow and the immune system again has to learn to suppress this virus.
[speaker069:] It sounds as if the virus is com, is impossible to hold down, could there be a vaccine created for such a changing virus?
[speaker014:] The problem with the AIDS vaccine might be that if you have a vaccine which would be able to suppress a particular virus strain er which would induce immunity against a particular virus strain, then necessarily you do not have a vaccine which can provide immunity against another virus strain.
[speaker069:] Is there a chance if it changes so rapidly, that there could never be a vaccine for the whole strain, for the whole H I V virus.
[speaker014:] I think we have to learn a lot er of, of how to treat the AIDS virus, but er hopefully, er the scientists might succeed to find the vaccine. I think it's very difficult to assess at the moment whether or not it's impossible, I wouldn't say it's impossible.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary has developed new technology that could save lives: it's called image link and it allows images from hospital scanners to be transmitted down the telephone line to a consultant at the Infirmary. Richard Kerr is consultant neurosurgeon there, Richard tell me a bit about this, what, what sort of things does it allow you to do now that you couldn't do in, in the past?
[speaker146:] It means that we can be involved straightaway with patient's management when they're admitted to hospitals within the Oxfordshire region, and so decisions can be made between the referring doctors and ourselves as regards the best policy of treatment.
[speaker002:] So if for example, a patient was brought into Banbury, they could use the scanners there, and that, the images on their scanner, you could actually see?
[speaker146:] We can, unfortunately Banbury doesn't have a CT scanner, but there are many other hospitals in the region
[speaker035:] That's' a good example.
[speaker146:] And so we yes, we can use the information that we can see to advise on how best to treat the patient.
[speaker002:] Now I know in some of the newspapers today it's been suggested that you would be doing sort of long distance surgery as it were, but that's not the case?
[speaker146:] No, it's not the case, they are X-ray images that we are looking at and it means that we can have er real time conversation with the doctors at the other end to advise whether the patient should be transferred to us or stay within the, in the hospital where they are, er whatever's best at the time.
[speaker002:] I suppose in the past, this sort of consultation was done just verbally on the telephone was it?
[speaker146:] Yes, we would be dependent on the referring doctor's interpretation of the X-ray films, and they would relate that to us on the telephone and we would then have to form a, a mental image of what the problem was and then advise on how we thought things ought to go on. But this obviously makes it much easier for us to, to help straightaway.
[speaker002:] I know I said at the beginning that it could help save lives, am I er overstating the mark there?
[speaker146:] No I think it could save lives, because it means that we have immediate access er to what's going on and so on rare occasions, life and death decisions can be made down the telephone.
[speaker002:] Now, now Radcliffe Infirmary has developed this, this er image link
[speaker146:] It's not a new idea, but there's a, a electronics engineer and computer er enthusiast called Dermott Dobson who's brainchild this particular technology is, and he basically put it together in his back room. er and then came forth to us with it. And it, it means that images can be transferred very rapidly, and the images that are transferred are of a very high quality.
[speaker002:] So at the moment this is only available at the Radcliffe Infirmary, is there, is it likely to go to hospitals in other parts of the country?
[speaker146:] It's, it's certainly er available nationally and I know there's been some international interest already as well.
[speaker002:] So you could have done research of er very clever nature in his back room basically?
[speaker146:] Yes, he's a very bright chap Dermott Dobson.
[speaker002:] Now I, I mentioned that you, you're a, a neurosurgeon, we were talking about neurosurgery, but does it have applications for other parts of, of medicine?
[speaker146:] Wherever CT scans or the new MRI scans or even ultrasound scans are involved in the management of patients, the images can be transferred down an image link.
[speaker002:] Richard Kerr, thank you very much. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker036:] The motorways through Oxfordshire and west Buckinghamshire are quite er busy this evening, the M25 Buckinghamshire section at clockwise junction 15 to 16 the M4M40 interchange has very heavy slow traffic on it at the moment, it would be best to avoid that section if you can er to avoid fairly major delays this evening. On the M40 in Buckinghamshire, London-bound traffic is very heavy and slow approaching the M25 interchange, due to the weight of traffic travelling on it this evening. On the M4, junction 1, that's the Chiswick flyover, it's very heavy indeed in both directions, and on the M4, junction 4b with the M25 to junction 5 at Langley, the inside lanes are still closed in both directions for overhead cable work and currently traffic is very heavy and slow in both directions. The A34 just south of Newbury is still down to a single lane due to the roadworks there, between the Swan roundabout and Sandalford roundabout and the A41 London road in Bicester has roadworks by the level crossing, temporary traffic lights there, expect some congestion which is reasonably bad at the moment, but it is beginning to clear in both directions. Finally, in Kidlington on the A423, Langford Lane at the junction with Banbury Road, the temporary traffic lights there for resurfacing work prior to the traffic lights being installed, are creating one or two delays this evening. Mark Rise A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] But it's not too bad if you're on the trains or the buses, I've no delays to report. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty four. The cost of a gallon of petrol is going up again from tomorrow, Shell is increasing the cost of the petrol by 3.2 pence a gallon to more than two pound thirty-four pence and other oil companies are thought likely to follow suit. The Southern American city of Atlanta has been chosen as the venue for the 1996 centennial Olympic Games, the announcement in Tokyo has shattered the hopes of the sentimental contender Athens and of Manchester which spent £2 million campaigning to be the host. Security forces in Ulster have recovered the body of Constable Louis Robinson near Crossmaglen, he was abducted by the I R A at the weekend, interrogated and shot. Meanwhile the I R A have admitted a serious of attacks on so-called soft targets in Britain, including yesterday's shooting of an army sergeant outside a careers office in north London. The victim, Bernard Cox is recovering in hospital. Fox F M's weather — it'll be a dry evening and most of the night, but towards morning rain will spread in to the Banbury area extending down to the Berkshire Downs on Wednesday morning. The minimum temperatures — 13x celsius, that's 55x fahrenheit with moderate south-westerly winds. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty five. Drivers who pass their test in Banbury in the next few months are being offered the chance to learn how to drive on the motorway. Their instructors will be the real experts at the police driving school; it's part of a pilot scheme and if it's successful it could be extended throughout the area, and it's free. At the moment most drivers have no official training on how to cope with motorway conditions, I asked Sergeant Bill Clarke from the Forces Driving School why it wasn't part of the driving test.
[speaker005:] There are still many areas in Great Britain where there are test centres who are an awful long way from the motorway, and at the moment, Banbury is in that position, so the driving test would have to be at least something like 2 or 3 hours duration by the time they got out there and driven. There are also pitfalls of training; you can't just take someone on, on test and say 'you are on test on the motorway', that there's got to be training. Now er as you appreciate at the moment, mum or dad can teach son or daughter to drive er without any real training other than what they've received in the past. Is this a good idea or is a bad idea, so there are problems, yes the, the test, some people will say the driving test is out of date but I think at the moment it's the best we can offer given all circumstances.
[speaker002:] Now how will people who have just passed their test know about your scheme?
[speaker005:] What we've done in the Banbury test centre, everyone who gets the coveted pink slip will get a letter inviting them to ring us er on a telephone number where they can book their place on the driving course. There has been coverage with such as yourselves and er the local papers, and we are getting word of mouth enquiries now, but we, we have said it's for the newly qualified driver and since we've started this scheme, I would put newly qualified in inverted commas, because we've had two or three ladies ring us up who've had four and five years driving experience as such and they're frightened to death to go on a motorway and haven't been on a motorway.
[speaker002:] It's a very different style of driving.
[speaker005:] Very different style of driving — not too difficult if you know the rules and the pitfalls.
[speaker002:] Do you think people should have some form of training before they're allowed on the motorway, because, I mean once you've passed your driving test you can go out there on your own can't you?
[speaker005:] That's right and this is one of the biggest problems that we've got. er Yes there should be some form of training, maybe people should be issued with a log book that they can cross off certain things. How the heck we prees it, police that sort of thing, I don't know. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come — sample a little cardio-funk in Oxford University Press relaunches a classic series of paperbacks. First, financial report in association with Barclays Bank for your financial needs. Continuing, continuing concerns over the soaring oil prices and the effect this will have on the U K economy dampened enthuses, enthusiasm on the U K exchanges this morning. Small losses soon accelerated when the U S reported trade gap figures of 9.033 billion dollars, far worse than the city forecast. At the close of business, the one hundred index had managed to rally from it's low but still ended down 30.3 points at 2064 and volly remained light with only 379 million shares traded. In the U S the Dow Jones opened sharply lower and dealers marking down stop, stocks on the back of widening def, the widening deficit figure. At four thirty the Dow Jones Index was off 33.42 points at 2533.91. On the currency front, the pound enjoyed a strong flourish, gaining 1.4 cents against the dollar to 1 dollar point 9195 and pushing.87 of a pfennigs firmer to 2 deutschmarks point 9704. British Aerospace was amongst the features today when it lost 12 pence to four hundred and fif, five hundred and forty one pence on rumours that the Saudis had cancelled some Tornado options. Amongst the major shares, Abbey National are down 1 at 212, and as I've just mentioned, British Aerospace went down 12 to 541, British Airways were down 2 at 158, British Gas were down 2 at 217, British Steel down 2 at 119, British Telecom down 9 at 276, Rolls Royce down 5 to 175 and T S B down 2 at 119. You're listening to the Fox Report, and senior employers in Oxfordshire have won a £7 million government contract to improve local skills and prosperity. The contract's been awarded to the Heart of England Training and Enterprise Council, which says the money will enable them to train local people and help them set up and run businesses. Chairman of the Oxfordshire branch of the Council, Julian Blackwell has been telling Robin Powell that he's delighted.
[speaker112:] We're very pleased, we put in about 18 months really hard work on this, we've er done our development funding, we've put in our plan which is said to be one of the best plans in the country, we worked very hard, we're very pleased.
[speaker055:] £7 million is not to be sniffed at, what's that going to be spent on?
[speaker112:] Most of that will go on delivering the programmes er and most of that is existing funding and so we're going to have to use a lot of it on that, but we want to do new things as well. I think our real job is to change the attitudes of everybody from school governors, head teachers, teachers, parents, young people, employers and employees to education and training. You see we're way behind from about sixteen onward, we're way behind the foreign competition, and you may say 'competition, what competition?'. There may be now perestroika, everybody teaming up over the Middle East problem, but we are actually at war economically with all the countries outside this country and most of them, the young people are better trained, people, and better educated, longer educated, higher standards and also at work, there is much more training at work. The Germans are a generation ahead of us with their apprenticeship and their meister or master system; we've got to try and catch up.
[speaker055:] The government has been criticized in the past over training, that there is a skills gap between us and the rest of say the European Community. Isn't this an indication that the government is trying to do something for training in this country?
[speaker112:] Yes, they have been doing a number of things in the past, I think the Y T S or new youth training as it is now, was a good thing, it had a lot of criticism. They have been spending a lot of money on training, but what they're doing now is localizing it, so training for Oxfordshire, which is different from training for somewhere like Liverpool, it's got a lot more unemployed, it's now not in the hands of the old training agency or manpower service commission, and we are looking at it completely afresh.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report; sport now and starting with football, there's a host of matches involving sides in the Fox F M area tonight. In League division 2, Oxford United are away to Plymouth Argyll, the manager Brian Horton may spring a surprise and include John Durning who is fit again. The ewes have lost their last three League games. In the premier division of the Vauxhall League, Aylesbury United are at home to Wokingham Town and in division 2, er division 2,2 south that is, Abingdon Town meet Ruislip Manor at Culham Road. Witney Town replay their F A Cup first qualifying round tie against Tilbury at Marriot's Close, while in the same competition, two teams from the Fox F M area clash at Fort Meadow where Buckingham Town are facing Brackley Town. The match is also our featured game in tonight's Red Fox and covering the match is Mickey Ianotta. Mickey what's it looking at like, er up there at the moment, are the crowds arriving?
[speaker128:] They are indeed. One of Buckingham Town's biggest ever gates in their history is expected for this local Derby Cup Tie, jane gripping stuff indeed, and Buckingham, they start as favourites needless to say. They're beezer homes material whereas Brackley Town, they're not. But having said that of course, Brackley, they have nothing to lose; looking at the two sides, the majority of the players would you believe it are ex of Banbury United a side, you can never keep out of the news Jane. In fact I'm surprised they never made a bid to stage the next Olympics. And also playing for Brackley, a name that won't mean much to you, is Clifford Heath. He came up to me a few moments ago and said 'Do you remember me?'I said 'no'. He said'I was in 4j with you at Drayton Hall in Banbury'. So there's a surprise.
[speaker002:] Absolutely fascinating Mickey. [LAUGHTER] erm This is a replay am I right in thinking?
[speaker128:] Sorry Jane?
[speaker002:] Is this, is this a replay?
[speaker128:] That's right, it is a replay.
[speaker002:] So they, so they've drawn before?
[speaker128:] Yes, they drew one all on Saturday with a nervy type of game, a player got sent off, so it's all to play for again tonight.
[speaker002:] Now er the Buckingham manager, Phil Lines was manager of Brackley and er apparently, as you've told me in the past, he guided them to their best ever season. Er. Are the other side a little bit upset that they've lost him?
[speaker128:] Well they are, it's a long story, again it brings Banbury in it again because when Phil was at Banbury a few years ago, he left to join Brackley Town. Not only did he take about half a dozen players, he took the manager, the tea lady and the backroom staff, and for all I know, the main stand, because that's not at Banbury any more. And he did the same thing at Brackley Town, he guided them to success, their best ever season, he's gone to Buckingham Town, took a few players with him, so Brackley Town, they're not too pleased and they're going to be out to beat Buckingham Town tonight, but I'm going to sit on the fence and go for Buckingham 3 1.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Well that sound like sitting on the fence to me Mickey. We'll hear from you again [LAUGHTER] throughout the evening on the Red Fox and we'll find out how it's really going. Rugby Union now, and Mark Eagon, the Oxford University rugby captain has invited Errol Norwitz who gained blues in 1988 and 1989, to be his vice-captain for the coming term which includes the University's pre-season tour of the Far East which began last week. Catching up with the latest news of the boys here's Mickey Ianotta again.
[speaker001:] Business into liquidation and throwing people out of jobs.
[speaker147:] Thieves steal historic chair from Stanton Harcourt Manor.
[speaker023:] Monetarily, I haven't any idea what it's worth, er it's not everybody's cup of tea, it is a cockfighting chair, but it's very very interesting.
[speaker147:] And an Oxford University academic says no to admitting students on sports ability alone.
[speaker026:] The fundamental requirement must in the end of any prestigious academic institution, to be a place where academic standards are maintained. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker003:] The six o'clock news, this is Annie Webster. Petrol prices are set to go up again; traders in the world oil market still worrying over a war in the Gulf, today pushed their prices to their highest for ten years, at more than forty dollars a barrel. The rise sent shares to new lows in the City only hours after dealers had cheered up briefly at Britain's better than expected trade figures. Although Britain is still well in the red, the latest deficit's down to one point one billion pounds, that's the smallest trade gap this year and a big improvement on the July figure of one point seven billion pounds. Even so, Labour's trade spokesman Gordon Brown says the figures are no comfort for the Chancellor John Major, who's still facing huge problems with Britain's economy.
[speaker148:] The tragedy is, we've done nothing about the exclusive reliance on interest rates, we've done nothing about the continuing erosion of jobs, and particularly so in the regions, er and this government has er wasted the summer months; when it could have taken action it has merely compounded the problems that are of it's own creation in the mismanagement of the economy.
[speaker003:] President Gorbachev has been granted extensive new powers as the Soviet Union prepares to switch to a market economy. But once again, the Soviet deputies have postponed making a decision on exactly how the new system will be introduced. From Moscow, Sue Jameson reports:
[speaker088:] President Gorbachev will now be able to push through some of the most unpalatable parts of a programme to take the country into a new era governed by market forces. He said the powers were necessary to make a real change in people's lives even though earlier, deputies yet again failed to back immediate implementation of the five hundred day plan to transform the economy. However, many in the Republics including Russian President Boris Yeltsin, will be wary of the powers and fear their burgeoning independence is under a new threat. Sue Jameson, I R N Moscow.
[speaker003:] The Environment Secretary, Chris Patten has suffered his most serious defeat yet in his battle with local authorities over poll tax levels. The Court of Appeal has blocked his attempt to force Lambeth Council to obey government charge-capping orders. Simon Israel reports:
[speaker020:] The government had imposed a limit of four hundred and ninety-three pounds, but Lambeth, predicting that fifteen percent of people wouldn't pay, revised that level to five hundred and twenty-one pounds. The three Appeal judges ruled that Lambeth was right and it's Labour leader, Joan Twells says it's an important victory.
[speaker149:] Parliament did not give the Secretary of State the power to fix poll tax levels. He's told everybody he was fixing poll tax levels, and he hadn't got the power to do that.
[speaker020:] The government was ordered to pay all legal costs and the Court refused the Environment Secretary leave to appeal to the House of Lords.
[speaker003:] The High Court has appointed a senior judge to hear the cases of wardship involving twenty children taken into care after allegations of satanic child abuse. From the Court hearing, Helen Costello:
[speaker150:] Sir Steven Brown, the President of the High Court family division said the case involving the children had attracted a great deal of publicity. He said Justice Douglas Brown, an experienced High Court judge would hear all cases involving twenty children and six families. Solicitor for the families, Joanna Kay revealed after the hearing that two children would now be allowed access visits.
[speaker151:] Just as regards two children, that was all agreed by the parties.
[speaker150:] A date for the hearing has yet to be set. Helen Costello I R N, the High Court, London.
[speaker003:] A task force appointed by the government to balance the needs of tourism and the environment, has held it's first meeting in Westminster Abbey. The team's looking for ways of improving tourist facilities at historic sites without causing damage to the environment. And police in Paris have arrested an art thief who had a knack of strolling into galleries and then strolling out again with some of their most valuable works of art. Tim Marshall reports:
[speaker042:] Armed only with a false beard, a small knife and a lot of cheek, Mr Vendu would cut the paintings out of their frames and walk off with them; he even took a Renoir from the Louvre. When police raided his house, they found a fifteenth century Bastiano which he'd stolen from a gallery in Venice last week. After explaining his love of art, he gave the police the opportunity to see some classic paintings for themselves by directing them to his parent's house in Lyons where they recovered the Renoir and several other works. Tim Marshall, I R N, Paris.
[speaker002:] Independent radio news. [pre-recorded blurb] It's Monday, September the twenty fourth, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories. Oil prices are moving to a record high, the stock market is moving lower. But there's been better economic news today on Britain's trade; the trade gap in August was the smallest so far this year, just one thousand, one hundred and thirty million pounds in the red, nearly six hundred million better than last month. Here's Robin Amlow:
[speaker152:] It's a silver lining the Chancellor desperately needs amidst the current spate of doom and gloom, most recently this weekend C B I report showing industry in recession. In some way, those trade figures reflect that recession; they've improved because of a drop in imports while exports are still rising. It's the first sign the Chancellor's squeeze is actually having the desired effect, not just on industry, but on the country's Achilles heel, and brings nearer the day when the Chancellor can cut interest rates, but probably not before Christmas. Shadow Chancellor, John Smith says that's both stubborn and short-sighted. He says rates must be cut if Britain's to avoid a slump and become competitive in Europe.
[speaker112:] Our interest rates are almost double those of the Germans and almost double those of the United States. How are we going to get the investment up for nineteen ninety-two? How are we going to prepare ourselves for that competitive market er if our interest rates are such that they're starving industry of it's investment and pushing business after business into liquidation and throwing people out of jobs?
[speaker152:] Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown says the improved trade figures mean Britain should now join Europe's exchange rate mechanism as soon as possible. He says Chancellor John Major should ignore Mrs Thatcher's prejudices.
[speaker143:] The battle between the Prime Minister, the split indeed between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor which is a re-run of the appalling split between her and Nigel Lawson which is the origins of our present problem, is something that must be brought under control. It's a time when the Chancellor of the Exchequer must put Britain first and the Prime Minister's private prejudices and the good of the Tory party second.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Well, those trade figures were better than expected, which was good news after yesterday's warning from the Chancellor John Major that Britain could be heading for a recession. Although that, the country is still well in the red, the latest deficit, as I mentioned earlier is rather better than the trade gap that was reported in July. David Goldsworthy is from Halpern and Woolf; David, what do these trade figures mean? I mean we've got the Chancellor saying we're going into recession, and now, now we seem to have some good news. Where do we stand?
[speaker056:] We have some good news, yes, but it's not going to have any immediate benefit on the man in the street — the local trader. Er. It did result in er an improvement in the share situation and in the er strength of the pound, but I understand the share prices have dropped rapidly again following further news of oil price increases. As regards recession, it's interesting the Chancellor is at least admitting that we're close to it. Er. We at Halpern and Woolf believe the recession has been with us for some months already; the C B I takes the same view and they're pressing for interest rate reductions now to restore business confidence. The recession really has crept up on us and it's strangling companies and businesses at quite a frightening rate.
[speaker002:] Are we talking about just small businesses or is it happening across the board?
[speaker056:] It's happening principally with the small and medium size businesses because they're the first to suffer. They suffer principally because the companies whom they are supplying tend to take extended credit in paying their bills, er so that their problems are not entirely of their own making. It doesn't mean they in themselves could not be profitable but simply that they have these cash flow problems.
[speaker002:] Now we all know the word recession; we've heard of it before, but, but what does it actually mean?
[speaker056:] Recession — well, the classic definition of recession as quoted by John Major in Washington, is two successive quarters of reduction in production.
[speaker002:] Right, so it's er basically businesses aren't doing as well?
[speaker056:] Businesses aren't doing as well no, that, that's the definition.
[speaker002:] How do you, how do you feel about the future now, I mean we've heard various people say interest rates must come down — you just said interest rates must come down, but when do you realistically think they could come down?
[speaker056:] Well, er the C B I and other bodies are pressing for them to come down at once, er John Major has said it's only a question of time. Er. He is being cautious and hoping the suffering caused by his high interest rates is part of the cure for the inflation which was previously existing.
[speaker002:] Now we also heard today that the oil prices are rising again, does it, does this have a bearing on the whole thing
[speaker056:] It certainly has a bearing, er it, it has a bearing in two directions, it causes price increases and cost increases at the same time for the producers, so that at the same time as there are price increases, increasing inflation, there is a reduction in production.
[speaker002:] So should firms be very alarmed by the figures now?
[speaker056:] I think firms are not going to take any great comfort from it immediately, certainly, I don't think any more alarmed that they have already been.
[speaker002:] David, thank you very much indeed. Britain is to send four ships which took part in the Falklands War, to carry the desert rats to the Gulf: Sir Tristram, Sir Galahad, Sir Bevedere and er Sir Bedevere [LAUGHTER] and Sir Percival are expected to start picking up tanks from West Germany in the next few weeks. The announcement of the new deployment came from the Gulf, from where our defence correspondent Paul Maurice reports: four landing ships haven't been used operationally since the Falklands War; then Sir Tristram was badly damaged at Port San Carlos and at Fitzroy where her sister ship Sir Galahad was destroyed with the loss of more than fifty lives. The four roll-on, roll-off military ferries have specially strengthened vehicle decks and are designed to put tanks and other armoured vehicles ashore on beaches in remote areas where landing docks and slipways are not available. Although it's not yet certain exactly where the British armoured forces will be deployed, the four landing ships are expected to join up with the twelve-strong Royal Navy patrol in the Gulf of Amman. The landing ships are expected to be fitted with two twenty metre cannons each for the dangerous and vulnerable trip up to the Gulf. But Tornado fighter bombers from Saudi Arabia and linked helicopters from the warships will provide the majority of the defence against attack from the air and the sea. You're listening to the Fox Report, it's ten minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic's very slow-moving on the M four westbound at junction six and on the M twenty-five, that's between junctions fifteen and sixteen between the M four and the M forty, traffic's very slow-moving in both directions. The M forty at junction two, there's a contra-flow now in operation with two narrow lanes in both directions and you'll find the westbound entry slip road closed. The A four two three at Hopcroft's Halt, there are temporary traffic lights and er on the A forty Oxford northern by-pass there are lane closures westbound between Marston flyover and Cherwell bridge. And on the A four two two, Stratford to Alcester, there are temporary traffic lights at Taylor's Wood which might slow you down a little. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us the London Paddington to Liverpool train service which is, is due at Oxford at six fifty-five tonight's going to be starting from Reading instead; that's going to confuse a few people. Otherwise there are now further problems to report on the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come, the Prison Officers Association warns there's going to be more violence in our prisons, and thieves steal historic relics from Stanton Harcourt Manor in Oxfordshire. First with a round-up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby:
[speaker153:] Magistrates in Didcot have today been hearing more cases against non-payers of the poll tax. South Oxfordshire District Council have prosecuted two hundred and fifty non-payers today. Of these, two hundred and forty-four had liability orders issued against them, while six cases were adjourned. Today's cases are significant as the Court allowed the help of so-called Mackenzie's friends in to the Court to give help. Courts in Banbury, Woodstock and Aylesbury have so far refused to allow the so-called friends to give advice. Police in north Oxfordshire believe the same thieves may have been behind two separate raids within a few miles of each other at Steeple Aston; both raids were part of a spate of break-ins reported to police in the Fox F M area. Abby Donald reports:
[speaker154:] Detectives say they're almost certain the same people were behind the two break-ins carried out in a north Oxfordshire village. The first netted them a quantity of antique and model jewellery as well as silverware and oil paintings valued at over twenty thousand pounds. The second, also this weekend, resulted in thieves getting away with a further five thousand pound's worth of silver jewellery. Officers at Banbury C I D say they're particularly eager to hear from anyone who may have spotted people in the area this weekend.
[speaker153:] A north Oxfordshire racehorse trainer has dismissed calls for tighter security at courses to crack down on race fixing. The jockey club confirmed today that two favourites in this year's St Leger at Doncaster had been drugged to ensure they wouldn't win. Scientists believe the horses were doped at stables near the racecourse and want security stepped up, but Banbury based trainer John Webber thinks the jockey club has over-reacted.
[speaker125:] I don't personally think that there's very much wrong with the security, I don't see how you can increase it much more. You can't get into the stables without signing in. There's always going to be a small percentage of people that are open to temptation isn't, aren't there? I mean after all, you can't say the British banking system is no use because occasionally a bank gets robbed.
[speaker153:] Oxford schoolchildren have been taking a peek behind the scenes at Sainsburys today as part of the Green Consumer Day. Thirty pupils from Lark's Rise primary school were given a green tour of the store to see how they protect the environment, but Laura, Gregory and Rose were clear about the best part of their day.
[speaker029:] The check out because we had a go on it and it was quite fun.
[speaker030:] Going behind the doors that you're not allowed to go through, go through and seeing what the Sainsbury is, has got behind the doors, the magical doors.
[speaker153:] Fox F M news Paul Kirby reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Winnie Mandela has appeared in court in Soweto to be formally charged on four counts of kidnapping and four counts of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm. The case arises out of the death of fourteen year old activist, Stompie Moeketsi. His killer who was one of Mrs Mandela's bodyguards, was sentenced to death for his, for his murder. During that trial, Mrs Mandela was implicated in an assault on Moeketsi. David O'Sullivan was in court at today's trial in Johannesburg.
[speaker054:] Winnie Mandela was grim-faced as she and her husband arrived at the Soweto Magistrates Court. A group of over a hundred supporters sang songs in honour of them: 'Mandela, you are like no other man', they sang. The court hearing lasted just over an hour. Accused number eight, as Mrs Mandela will be known for the duration of the trial, muttered barely inaudible replies to the magistrate who made sure she was following the proceedings. Nelson Mandela sat stony-faced in the front row of the public gallery. The court hearing was taken up mainly by the formal reading out of the charges, and brief argument about when the trial should proceed in the Rand Supreme Court in Johannesburg. The prosecutor wanted the trial to resume on October the thirtieth, but the magistrate accepted Mrs Mandela's lawyer, Ishmael Eyob's reasons for a later trial date. Mr Eyob said he didn't have enough time to prepare the defence case, and Mrs Mandela will be overseas with her husband on October the thirtieth. The magistrate set down a trial date of the fourth of February. Mrs Mandela was released on her own recognisance. The Mandelas were mobbed by the waiting crowd outside the courtroom, many were women from the A N C's women's league, wearing the A N C colours of black, green and gold. If the Mandelas were feeling any strain from the trial, it wasn't evident; they smiled broadly as they were escorted by the dancing, chanting crowd to their waiting car.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's seventeen minutes past six. Prison officers are warning of violence in Britain's jails on an even greater scale than Strangeways if the government doesn't give them more resources. In a report, the Wolf Enquiry into this year's prison disturbances, they're demanding more officers, a legal minimum standard of accommodation for inmates and an independent omb, an independent ombudsman for prisoner's complaints. Since the problems at Strangeways, prison violence has rarely appeared in the headlines, but John Bartell, chairman of the Prison Officers Association says that doesn't mean violence in our jails has decreased.
[speaker112:] We've not had vivid examples such as Strangeways, but on a daily basis, er the violence within the prison system continues. Officers continue to be assaulted, prisoners er continue to er commit suicide and almost every weekend there is tension in one part of the system or another. We er teeter on the edge of er a crisis virtually at the end of every day and if action is, and strong action is not taken very very quickly, er we have no doubt whatsoever, that the already serious level of, of er incidents within the prison system will escalate totally out of control.
[speaker067:] So in your recommendations to, to the Wolf Enquiry, what, what do you think is most important?
[speaker112:] Well, three major issues or three important issues: firstly the introduction of minimum standards, also the recruitment of the three thousand staff that we now need er to er complement our prisons and also the introduction of an ombudsman. Er. We believe it's high time that both er prison staff and prisoners were able er to seek er an independent outside view, er whenever there are difficulties. Clearly the riots and the er secrecy that the Home Office tried to surround those riots with, er show that we do have to have an ombudsman.
[speaker067:] Now you seem to be laying a great deal of stress on the introduction of minimum standards, what, what's the point behind that and what does it mean?
[speaker112:] Unfortunately, officers are in a position of sometimes telling a prisoner at the end of a week, that you can't have a bath or a shower and there is no change of clean underwear. Obviously, prisoners do not like that and officers are on the receiving end. We don't believe that's our job or our function. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six twenty one. Thieves have struck at the home of Oxfordshire's High Sherrif, stealing priceless heirlooms and vandalising property. Raiders broke into the grounds of Stanton Harcourt Manor on Thursday night, the home of Sir Crispin Gascoigne. They took a chair which belonged to the eighteenth century English poet, Alexander Pope who'd lived there while writing the first English translation of Homer's Iliad. The Right Honourable Anne Gascoigne says the losses are irreplaceable.
[speaker155:] From the chapel they've taken the thing that we're sorriest about, which is the cockfighting chair that Alexander Pope the poet used the two summers that he spent working here in what's now called Pope's Tower, translating the fifth volume of Homer's Iliad.
[speaker069:] And just how important is that piece?
[speaker155:] Well historically it's very important. Er. Monetarily, I haven't any idea what it's worth, er it's not everybody's cup of tea, it is a cockfighting chair and it's not particularly beautiful but it's very very interesting. They've taken three oil paintings; two off the walls and one which was leaning up against the window sill, er the candlesticks and the vases off the altar, another very beautiful, very simple oak chair with cane seat and back.
[speaker069:] Have you any idea what sort of people could have taken this and when it could have happened?
[speaker155:] Well we know that it must have happened overnight, er we were open until six o'clock on Thursday evening. Everything was checked and locked up and it must have gone during the late night or early morning, Thursday nightFriday morning.
[speaker069:] Do you suppose this is the work of antiques experts?
[speaker155:] I think they must have known what they were coming for and this I'm afraid, is one of the penalties of being open to the public. But it does make one very depressed er that people can vandalise and er infiltrate er a sacred place and take all sorts of things which quite honestly are not of a great deal of value to anybody else.
[speaker069:] Do you intend to keep the Manor and the chapel open?
[speaker155:] We have no choice; when my father died in nineteen seventy-nine I had to come to an arrangement with the Capital Taxes Office, that, er for not paying the full value of the er death duties on the value of the contents of the house, I had to open it to the public, quite frankly, if then and even more now, if I had to pay the full amount, I'd have had to sell everything which my family have collected over the last seven hundred years.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Well, we're now well into the Party Conference season and the Greens are at Wolverhampton this week. There's been a mixed agenda today ranging from animal rights to the Palestinian question and Mike Woodin is the prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon, he's been er at the Conference proceeding this afternoon. Mike, what, what's been going on there today?
[speaker156:] Well I've just come out of the debate which has just finished on the Palestine and Israel situation and er we passed the voting paper which will become policy for the party, calling for er a non-violent solution recognising the P L O and urging the U N to facilitate negotiations between Israeli government and the P L O. Er. And this has been put in place alongside our position on the Gulf to complete our policy on the Middle East where we were condemning the hypocrisy of the western nations who have been supplying the Third World with arms and then going in there, fighting er just to maintain access to the oil. We believe this is a resource war and er there should be in no way er national troops fighting about it, any action should be taken by the United Nations.
[speaker002:] Now, was there a consensus of opinion, is, is the Green Party Conference a conference where people have, have active debates or, or was it generally er a peaceful affair as it were?
[speaker156:] We have a very lively time at Conference, we er conduct our business very differently from most of the Party Conferences, most of the work is done before the main debates in workshop sessions. The papers are all subjected to these for several Conferences before they're voted on and we lay great emphasis on achieving consensus on any motion, and I think today on the PalestineIsrael debate, which is obviously a very contentious issue, it went through in about half an hour, very calmly, very peacefully, because a lot of hard work had been done. I think it was a tribute to consensual politics which is so rare of course with our other adversarial system that we have in Britain.
[speaker002:] Now some people, even though the Green Party has er been an established party for some time now, might feel that er it, this is the Green Party perhaps coming of age because it doesn't sound like a Green issue, you're, you're discussing things across the board at the moment aren't you
[speaker156:] Well, yes, I mean Green politics do go to every area of life, obviously er we can't devolve the er environment from the rest of our activities. The way we run our economy is the prime cause of environmental damage, now what the other parties are failing to see is that if we want to live in a truly ecological society, one that really recognises the constraints, er that the environment imposes on us, we have to have a consistent approach to every area of policy, so for example, in the IsraelPalestine conflict er debate, we have laid great stress on our, er advocating our own approach to conflict resolution, consensual approach, negotiations condemning the arms build-up which is inspired mainly by the U S, and so er whilst we have also debated some other more overtly environmental policies such as reaffirming our commitment to phase out nuclear power, we do lay great emphasis on er developing economic policies, particularly in the light of the up and coming general election and we want to obviously present a complete platform of policies to the electorate.
[speaker002:] Now there is another day to go on the Conference.
[speaker156:] That's right.
[speaker002:] Do you know what's going to be happening tomorrow?
[speaker156:] Yes, we have er debate on a major policy paper on natural resources and how to er conserve them, how to make sure that we get away from the madness of the consumer society that we have at the moment; er laying down a strategy for the er the use of the earth's resources er into the twentieth century. We have obviously at every Conference a certain amount also of Constitutional motions, er an organizational motion, and some, and some of tomorrow will be taken up with that as well as the announ, er announcement concerning the elections for the various committees. But we have a range of emergency motions and one in particular that er will be a full motion on the Gulf which will develop our policy er further so that we can put a clear message across.
[speaker002:] At the end of the Liberal Democrats Concert, er Concert [LAUGHTER] Conference we had all sorts of singing and er jollifications, do the Greens do this in, on their final day?
[speaker156:] er There is obviously a certain party atmosphere at Conferences, it's the one big chance of the year for many many hard-working activists to get together and share ideas, it does engender er a certain amount of frivolity er around the edges, so we'll see some of that, but we don't go in for this cult of leadership which the other parties do, you won't see any manufactured longstanding ovations for er leaders. We don't go in for this, this cult er type of politics. So our politics are serious and er we have good fun as well.
[speaker002:] Mike thank you very much.
[speaker156:] Thanks.
[speaker002:] The initial results of an independent study on Oxford and it's traffic problems have been put on show in the City today. The study, commissioned by the Oxford Preservation Trust, pinpointed several areas of concern including high levels of pollution in the City centre. The Trust hopes the survey, which is conducted by a transport expert, Dr Carmen Hausclau, will prompt more efforts to solve the notorious problems experienced by local commuters, as Moira Haines, the Trust secretary explains:
[speaker157:] The middle of Oxford is a pretty unpleasant place to be, and we're hoping very much that it's going to be a sort of signpost er to the County Council's greater study which was agreed last Tuesday.
[speaker073:] Now there's a number of recommendations in the study, and that includes the introduction of a twenty mile an hour speed limit, surely that's going to cause more problems than it solves?
[speaker157:] Well, I hope not. Of course it will be difficult because at the moment the er the legal minimum is thirty miles an hour in, in any city, but we'd like to see Oxford as a pilot for a twenty mile an hour speed limit which is no good if you leave the roads as they are. But if you widen the pavements and you differentiate the pavements from the roadway, and you use continental traffic calming measures which are not great big humps but which are perhaps little stretches of cobbles and things like that, then you should be able to bring the speed down to twenty miles an hour. It'll have to be enforced though.
[speaker073:] What else do you think could be done to help improve the situation in Oxford which does have a reputation.
[speaker157:] It does doesn't it? er Well, the first thing to do, and as Carmen Hausclau says, there are far too many motor vehicles milling round the centre, is to make it more attractive to come into Oxford some other way. She is not very enthusiastic about the light rail proposals, but er she sees the park and ride as an excellent idea, but as she said, it's not exactly inviting to leave your car in er a car park which is not necessarily big enough, which hasn't got a proper surface, isn't properly lit, isn't supervised, has great big notices up that say there are thieves about, and where the bus service stops at half past six.
[speaker073:] So, what exactly is the next step, now you have these interim results?
[speaker157:] Well, the next step is, we would very much like the public to let us know what they think of some of her ideas, like turning Cornmarket into northbound only, like the twenty mile an hour speed limit and some of her ideas for High Street. We have this morning put up a small display in the central library in Westgate, where people can pick up a leaflet er which summarises what she says and also consult if they wish, the whole report, it's in the reference library. Er. And we would like people to let us know what they think.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's half past six. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic's very slow on the M four westbound at junction six, that's the turnoff for Slough and on the M twenty five in both directions, between junctions fourteen and sixteen, there's very heavy and slow moving traffic, that's between Heathrow and the M forty. And on the M forty itself at junction two there's a contraflow now in operation with two narrow lanes only in both directions and you'll also find the westbound entry slip road closed. The A four two three, Hopcroft's Halt, there are temporary traffic lights there which continue to cause delays, particularly to northbound traffic. And on the A forty, Oxford northern by-pass, there are lane closures westbound between Marston flyover and the Cherwell bridge. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] The only problem I've to tell you about from British Rail is the fact that the London Paddington to Liverpool train service which is due at Oxford at six fifty-five, is starting from Reading tonight instead of er London Paddington, otherwise no problems on the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty two. Oil prices have soared above forty dollars a barrel, their highest level in a decade, which is almost certain to provoke another round of petrol price increases. The price has doubled since Iraq invaded Kuwait and now it's going up fast though with traders convinced that a war in the Gulf is inevitable. Shares crashed to new lows in the City on the news, which came just hours after the release of Britain's better than expected trade figures, though Britain is still well in the red, the latest deficit's down to one point one billion dollars. President Gorbachev has been granted extensive new powers to help the Soviet Union move towards a market economy, but deputies in the Soviet parliament have again postponed a decision about how to introduce the new system. And police have suggested that soccer fans should be charged a hooligan levy when buying their match tickets, the money would go towards the cost of security at soccer grounds. The weather for the Fox area: scattered heavy showers are gradually going to die away during the evening to leave the night dry with skies becoming mainly clear, so it will be rather cold with the temperature dropping to a dawn low of around five degrees celsius — that's forty-one degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: two students from the Eastern Bloc start courses at Oxford Poly today as part of the new scholarship scheme. First though, a severely disabled woman from Oxford says every time she travels by train, she's put in the guard's van. Sylvia Pedder from Headington in Oxford uses a wheelchair and despite efforts by British Rail to update their trains, she says often she has to travel for hours on end on her own. Phil Kirby reports:
[speaker153:] Sylvia Pedder sometimes has to go as far as Cumbria to see her relatives. On one occasion she sat alone for six hours travelling up to Carlisle. Sylvia says she finds the experience humiliating.
[speaker158:] I'm put in the guard's van and sometimes the guard doesn't even come to see if I'm alright.
[speaker153:] She's written to her M P, Andrew Smith, and at the start of this year, British Rail allowed her into the buffet car. British Rail chairman Sir Bob Reid has written expressing his sympathy, but B R's Brian Johnson said it'll be a while before he can guarantee Sylvia Pedder won't have to travel in the guard's van.
[speaker159:] Well we're at the moment in the process of er providing disabled accommodation on all intercity trains. Er. We're about half way through the process at the moment, and as of today, it does depend which train she travelled on from Oxford as to whether it's actually been converted with the disabled accommodation or whether er it's not yet provided.
[speaker153:] But the problem still exists and Sylvia's carer, Barbara Waddington says she believes with so few trains apparently unable to fit the wheelchair on to the train, British Rail ought to ensure that Sylvia can travel in more comfort.
[speaker160:] Well I feel that Sylvia should have the right as anyone else, as any other able person to travel in the right manner, as a passenger in the buffet car or, or or anywhere else on the train and not have to be, have to go in the guard's van.
[speaker153:] British Rail insist the whole problem though regrettable, will be ironed out within nine months.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. An Oxford academic is condemning plans to bring gifted young sportsmen to the University, because he says the academic level would suffer. Dr Paul Hayes who's tutor in modern history and politics at Keble College in Oxford said it would create an appalling precedent bringing students, as thick as two short planks to the University. Dr Hayes' remarks come in reaction to plans put forward by sports captains at the University, to encourage top athletes to apply to Oxford. He says it isn't a good idea.
[speaker161:] This would put applicants in a very false position, perhaps drive away very talented applicants who might think that there were fewer places available for them, but also to encourage people who might in fact be struggling to go to any university in the country, it might encourage them to apply and to have a reasonable expectation of success because their sporting abilities were outstanding, they would then be disappointed because they would not be admitted and if they were admitted at that level, they would probably have a very unfortunate time at Oxford. They would be regarded by their contemporaries as people who should not er be there, who are only there because of their sporting abilities. They would be perhaps regarded as thick as two short planks, er they would not be happy, they would be struggling to do work that was not honestly within their capacities, that being the case, they would almost certainly have to go down from the University.
[speaker041:] Don't you think a better class of sportsman, whatever their intellectual abilities, would give the University a higher profile?
[speaker161:] Well, it probably would; it's a question of what kind of profile one wants a university to have. A university is after all fundamentally an academic institution, world famous universities of course have all sorts of other attributes er for example, er theatres er as well as er sports grounds and that is just as true in this country as it is for example in the United States or Australia or even in the non-English speaking world. But the fundamental requirement must in the end, of any prestigious academic institution, to be a place where academic standards are maintained.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty two minutes to seven. Two students from Eastern Europe have started courses at Oxford Polytechnic today. Jana Bursa is from Potsdam near Berlin and Natasha Kaminskaya is from Moscow. It's all part of a new scholarship scheme which has been initiated to mark the parting of the iron curtain. William Turner is head of international relations at the Poly — William is this your baby, as it were?
[speaker162:] I wish it were, but it's actually the director's baby and he came up with this wonderful idea er at the time when the wall was beginning to crack.
[speaker002:] So, two scholarships, what sort of things, I mean er what sort of things will they be studying?
[speaker162:] Well, it's only one scholarship for Germany, but er two girls, in fact one from as you know, Russia. Er. This particular young lady Jana Bursa is studying food science and nutrition with us er she's already actually started her course back in Berlin, so this is a kind of continuation, a bit of a sandwich. She will go back eventually to continue her studies there.
[speaker002:] Jana, how long will you be in England?
[speaker066:] Only for this one year here.
[speaker002:] A whole year?
[speaker066:] The whole year over, yes.
[speaker002:] You've started today, it, it must be rather frightening, rather different.
[speaker066:] Yes, because er in the university when I was studying at home, we have not er this tutor system like here and so it's really strange, but I think it's a good idea of, er talking to your lecturers as equal people.
[speaker002:] So, you, you, what happens in university in, in Germany, you, you have big classes, no, no individual tutors?
[speaker066:] No, we have er all students of one year studying one subject had er lectures together, and then we have seminars and er that's why the whole students group of one year is divided in seminar groups and the seminar groups are about thirty people in, in one group and the seminars, when you have seminars there are only three people, and er [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] Now your English is very good. I imagine that was very important, er otherwise you wouldn't understand what your tutors were telling you. How, er was there a lot of competition for this scholarship?
[speaker066:] I don't know
[speaker162:] But I do. [people laughing]
[speaker002:] Was there a lot of competition?
[speaker162:] There was a fair amount of competition, so in fact she er was selected on merit and on her interests which matched very nicely with our course that we run.
[speaker002:] So it's, it's a year, er what, what part of the course has, has Jana come in on — the first year or is she somewhere in the middle?
[speaker162:] Well, because we have a very flexible course, a modular course which is made up of units, it's, it's possible to almost fit anybody into our course, so in fact she's met one of our specialists and the analysis had been done of what she's done before, what she wants to do in the future to try and match up the whole thing; only she knows exactly what she's doing.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Brilliant, so, you, this is, this year, is this scholarship going to continue in future years or is it just a one off?
[speaker162:] Yes and no, er I, there won't be another East German scholarship because there won't be another East Germany er next year it will disappear, it will just not exist, which er I think what we're really celebrating, the fact that we now have freedom of movement of young people from what was the Eastern Bloc will now just be Eastern Europe, er into the West in the same way that western students can travel around. So what it might develop in, into is er wider scholarship for travel.
[speaker002:] Well Jana, we wish you all the best with your course.
[speaker066:] Thank you. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come a look at the day's sport, first financial report though in association with Barclay's Bank for your financial needs. The London market opened weaker today as the Chancellor John Major underlined his determination to keep interest rates high despite calls from the C B I to reduce them. Further to this was the fresh rise in crude oil prices as the situation in the Gulf seemed to worsen. The better than expected August trade figures removed some of the gloom in the market however there was no buying after stock prices were marked higher and the market started to drift ahead of Wall Street's opening. The Dow Jones opened thirty points lower in reaction to rising oil prices which called London, caused London to move below the two thousand level. At the close at four thirty the Footsie one hundred stood at one nine nine O point three and Wall Street was down fifty-two point three points at two four six O point five. Sterling benefited from the trade figures with a two point four five cent rise to eight point seven nine O and a one point six, a one point one six pfennig increase to two deutschmarks point nine three three three, Gilts were a quarter of a point easier. Amongst the major shares today, Abbey National up one at one nine nine, British Aerospace down twenty at five three four, British Airways down one at one five oh, British Gas down, down two at two one seven, British Steel were down two at one one six, B T down five at two five nine, Rolls Royce, they were down five at one seventy and T S B ends the day up, er that's up two at one one eight. Sport, and with the new football season just over a month old, Oxford United Football Club probably feels they've had enough problems to last them for a lifetime. After Saturday's four two defeat at home to arch rival Swindon Town, the U's tonight face Port Vale in the first leg of the second round of the Rumbelow's League Cup. And they find themselves with a goalkeeping problem — Mickey Inotta is at Port Vale; Mickey has this been resolved yet?
[speaker128:] Yes Jane it has, as luck would have it I was late arriving, had to run through the rain, ran into the main stand and by pure accident ran into the Oxford United dressing room and there was Brian Horton, he said 'Hallo Mick, hows the poster Mickey'as he always does, and in fact he gave me the team news and that is — Ian Walker makes his senior debut tonight with both Alan injured, also two other changes; Jackson comes in for Gary Smart and one surprising one, Steve McLaren for Mark Steen. But one thing I can tell you about Port Vale, the ground has vastly changed from last season, the terracing's been improved, their seating, it's pure luxury apart from the press box, because I still have to climb that suspect wooden ladder, and perched on top of the main stand is a shed where I'm speaking to you from Jane.; Fjm [LAUGHTER] Mickey, my heart bleeds for you. It, it was, it was a disastrous weekend for the U's, what on earth are they going to do tonight, are they going to be able to pull it out of the hat and, and Hopefully Jane, hopefully, I mean it was a disastrous weekend for the U's on Saturday. Losing at home four two to Swindon, their arch rivals after being two in front, but I'd just like to make one point clear; don't blame manager Brian Horton because all of Oxford's matches that they've lost this season has been through their own fault: lack of character out there on the pitch, there's nothing Brian can do sat on the bench. He can tell them in training, but they've got to perform out there on the pitch, and probably this game has come just at the right time, after suffering a defeat like that, this is the time to get out there and show the supporters what they can really do.
[speaker002:] So are you going to make a prediction?
[speaker128:] Well the Fox prediction tonight is that Oxford United will draw and probably beat them at the Manor. In fact I'm sure they'll beat them at the Manor and go through to the next round where hopefully we can probably play one of the big teams like — Oh, Manchester United, Newcastle or probably — Oh, I don't know
[speaker002:] Mickey you can
[speaker128:] Scunthorpe.
[speaker002:] Dream away, dream away, [LAUGHTER] let's hope your prediction is more accurate than your one on Saturday was which really [LAUGHTER] was not too close was it?
[speaker128:] No actually I went for four to one Oxford, but tonight I'm going to go for Port Vale two, Oxford United two.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Right, there will be live reports from Mickey throughout the evening on the Red Fox. We'll also be keeping you in touch with the second replay of the first qualifying round of the F A Cup which is taking place at Fort Meadow between Buckingham Town and Brackley Town; it's becoming a bit of a saga, the previous two matches ended one all draws. Looking ahead to the game, well, here's Mickey again.
[speaker128:] Whatever happens tonight, I'm sure both managers will be keen to see this Cup Tie settled. So far three hours and thirty minutes of football has failed to separate the two sides. Keith Pierce-Right, manager of Brackley says 'It'll be another physical match'.
[speaker163:] I would imagine it'll be a very, very similar sort of game, er hopefully we'll get the right result, but it's good for the club to have a good run.
[speaker128:] Buckingham's man-in-charge Phil Lines is still annoyed his side failed to take their chances last week.
[speaker164:] Probably should have won it on, about seventy-five percent of it, but we weren't as good, we, nowhere what we should have been, but give them credit, they worked very hard and er well there was only one goal in it, they kept doing their job and they done that quite well.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Speculation recently that the announced retirement of Nigel Mansell from Formula One motor racing might not be as imminent as at first thought. Well, Mansell who run, won yesterday's Portugese Grand Prix is believed to be considering several offers to tempt him out of that so-called retirement. One of the team's interests is, is the Didcot-based Williams; as Clive Watts reports:
[speaker165:] Although the top line seat's already snapped up, that is apart from the Didcot-based Williams driver line-up, the speculation surrounding the Pit Lane at Esteril this weekend was the pending signature of Nigel Mansell to the Oxfordshire team. It's no secret that Mansell has more than just a soft spot for Frank Williams, and indeed has enjoyed lots of success at Williams in the past. If Mansell does put pen to paper, our own local Williams team should be right on the pace come the first Grand Prix next year. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Experts say Turtle-crazy children could become teenage mutant monsters by eating the cartoon creatures' favourite junk foods. Manchester-based allergy scientist, Dr Keith Mumby is warning that too much junk food such as pizzas and chocolate can turn mild-mannered youngsters into violent aggressive menaces. Melanie Brown reports: [recorded jingle]
[speaker166:] Radical eating their way through piles of pizza and marshmallows risk turning into nasty copies of their Mutant Hero Turtles. Dr Keith Mumby from Allergy International says children who eat too much starch-refined foods, suffer behavioural problems.
[speaker167:] It's scientifically proven that foods can make certain susceptible children very ill, and this can manifest itself in various ways, but one of the most common ways is that children behave badly; they become aggressive and disturbed. It's very likely to turn some of these children themselves into sort of er mutant monsters, er some of them behave extraordinarily badly, and yet they're very sweet children when they're eating the right diet.
[speaker168:] A major supermarket has just unveiled four new Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle pizzas and Dr Mumby says the way the foodmakers have jumped in on the Turtle band-wagon is wrong.
[speaker167:] I object. I think it's not, I think it's very immoral to, to tie in these sort of junk foods or poor nutritious substances with something that's very popular among children at the moment.
[speaker168:] The doctor says stores are wasting an ideal chance to redefine children's eating habits.
[speaker167:] Well what's wrong in them doing er Ninja Turtle apples or Ninja Turtle wholemeal bread, why does it have to be pizzas and floury carbohydrate rubbish? That's what I don't like.
[speaker168:] But he's not hopeful the warnings will change food industry policies.
[speaker167:] Doctors are now been putting out warnings for many years, saying that certain aspects of our diets and health policy are very dangerous and destructive. But there seems to be no move to actually control or regulate the food industry.
[speaker168:] A spokesman for one of the giant supermarket chains stocking Turtle food, says as far as they're concerned, there's plenty of nutritional value in their pizzas. But if Dr Mumby's right, Turtle fans may find that rather than helping the good guys, they could instead get a cow bunger clobbering from the Turtle team by turning into the baddies. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's nine minutes to seven. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] There's still very slow-moving traffic on the M four westbound at junction six. And the M twenty five is slow in both directions between junctions fourteen and sixteen, that's from Heathrow up to the M forty. On the M forty at junction two for Beaconsfield, there's a contraflow in operation with two narrow lanes running in both directions and the westbound entry slip road closed. On the A four two three at Hopcroft's Holt, there are temporary traffic lights for resurfacing work and er that might slow you down a little bit. On the A forty, Oxford northern bypass, there are lane closures westbound between Marston flyover and Cherwell bridge, and on the A four two two, that's from Stratford to Alcester, there are temporary traffic lights at Taylor's Wood. Otherwise, no serious problems to report. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And it's been a fairly good rush hour on the buses and trains. The only problem was the London Paddington to Liverpool train didn't run from the expected start station, it started from Reading instead of from Paddington, so if you were expecting somebody on that train, well they may not have, may not have been on that one if they er were actually starting from Paddington, otherwise no problems on the buses. [pre-recorded blurb] An Oxfordshire couple are celebrating a different kind of silver anniversary tonight. Sheila and Jim Smith from Abingdon have been fostering children for the last twenty-five years. Oxfordshire Social Services are hosting a party for the remarkable couple who've welcomed more than one hundred children into their family. But Sheila says far from welcoming a break from the kids, she doesn't like to have too tidy a house.
[speaker169:] It's alright for a couple of days and I have had a couple of days er peace and quiet, and then er I don't like it any more after that. I don't like when there's only er me in the house all day long, I don't like it when the house, the house is too tidy, when er there's no children around. We've grown up with it, there's got to come a time when we say 'put a halt to it', but er I don't know what we'll do then [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] What do you think you'll feel like when they tell you that you can't foster any more children, because er there's going to come a time
[speaker169:] I'm not going to give them the chance to say I can't foster any more, I know when I, I know now when I'm going to stop fostering. They'll know, they're not going to give, they're not going to be given the chance to say er, er 'you can't have any more', no.
[speaker002:] Looking back on the twenty-five years of fostering children, is there any one memory that stands out for you?
[speaker169:] The memories I like to remember is er when things have worked out for children and they've gone back home and if they haven't gone back home, then they've moved on er to nice adoptive families. I like to see the children, you know er really happy er and settled.
[speaker002:] Does it make you sad saying goodbye to children that you've looked after though?
[speaker169:] Yes, that's one thing I've, I've never been able to get used to, er it's always, it's the same, it's hard to say goodbye.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Andrew Jones and Chris Gill from Oxford are shortly to set off to see the pyramids. They're going overland by motorbike; it's all in aid of SNAP the charity that stands for Support for the Sick Newborn and their Parents at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Now originally the trip was going to take them through many middle eastern countries including Jordan and Israel, er have you had to change your plans at all Andrew, it sounds as though that might not be the ideal place to be going at the moment?
[speaker170:] er No, we've er changed our route slightly as er we're getting the ferry from Turkey into Israel rather than going through Jordan.
[speaker002:] Straight to Israel, and then, er where would that route take you, down, down to Egypt?; Maj It's, it takes you, takes you virtually down the coast er through Gaza Strip into Egypt, that way. It's, it's a very long way to cycle, is it er, have you done anything like before Chris?
[speaker084:] No, it'll be my first time to do anything quite like this.
[speaker002:] Have you been that far abroad before?
[speaker084:] No, I've only really as far, as er Portugal, nowhere quite like this.
[speaker002:] So it's all going to be a little bit different out there. Have you, have you both had to do any specific training or anything to, to get you this far?
[speaker170:] Well, we should of, but we haven't no [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I see, and when are you starting?
[speaker170:] Next Monday.
[speaker002:] Right now, I mentioned it was in aid of charity, how, how are you going on, on the charity side of things?
[speaker170:] er Well at the moment we've got er total of about three thousand pounds and that's mostly through private sponsors, and we've got er three companies, they've actually put their names on us.
[speaker002:] Tell me, it's, it's probably quite an expensive thing to do in the first place without having to, to, to bring home, home some money for charity in the end, how have you gone about doing it?
[speaker170:] Yes, well, er at the moment I mean, it's cost me er personally er getting on two thousand pounds, er I don't, don't know how much Chris has spent.
[speaker002:] Whose bike is it that you're going on?
[speaker170:] It's my bike.
[speaker002:] er And, and what is it — is it something special?
[speaker170:] er Well, it's, it's a standard er model, it's, it's actually designed for desert racing, so it's... [interference]
[speaker002:] You'll still have to do a few miles?
[speaker170:] Yes, it's, it's about ten thousand miles, but er, er hopefully with a few adjustments, should be alright, [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] So you're, you're both on the same bike, one, one of you is riding and one of you is riding pillion, is that right?
[speaker084:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Has, have you ever done anything er on sand and in the desert before Chris?
[speaker084:] No I haven't, nothing like that, no. We intended to do a little bit of er beach work to try and get something like that but we haven't been able to, so.
[speaker002:] So, er it's going to be first time you ever experience it, actually on, for real as it were?
[speaker084:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Well we wish you the best of luck, and er well let us know how you get on when you get back. [people laughing] And that was the Fox Report for Monday September the twenty-fourth nineteen ninety, join us for another Fox Report tomorrow at six, but er don't go away, the Red Fox is here after the news at seven. Claire Thomas will be er in the hot seat as it were. [recorded jingle]
[speaker001:] The price of petrol's going up again; Texaco are putting an extra seven point three pence on a gallon of four star from midnight tonight after crude oil went above forty dollars a barrel on the market. Labour M P's and environment groups are saying tonight that Environment Secretary, Chris Patten has come up with a load of waffle in his three hundred and fifty point plan to rid Britain of pollution; from Westminster, Des Fahey:
[speaker079:] three hundred pages of recycled paper set out hundreds of problems and possible solutions. Cars will spew out fewer noxious gases, more forests will be planted and there'll be grants to improve cathedrals. Chris Patten says he's launching a discussion we must all be part of.
[speaker046:] The successful environmental policy, at a reasonable cost, does involve all of us participating and all of us taking part in it.
[speaker079:] But the opposition says there are no spending commitments and no tough action; Shadow Environment Secretary, Brian Gould says this is because Chris Patten lost the crucial battles in Cabinet.
[speaker171:] He's lost those battles, I think because he lost the interest and support of the Prime Minister.
[speaker079:] Mr Patten says the government must move at a pace it can afford. Des Fahey, I R N Westminster.
[speaker001:] Former world boxing champion, George Forman goes into the ring in London tonight for another fight in his remarkable comeback at the age of forty-two. Forman, now a priest and known as the punching preacher says he's better now than he ever was, and he's confident of beating opponent Terry Anderson.
[speaker172:] I think better of myself today as a matter of fact, I am more of a confident fighter than I ever have been.
[speaker001:] Now since coming back from retirement in ninteen eighty seven, you're unbeaten in twenty-two fights, twenty-one by knockouts, a lot of people have said that those fighters weren't up to scratch — what would you say to that?
[speaker172:] I think they're only saying it because it's true.
[speaker001:] Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Tuesday the twenty fifth of September ninteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The government has published it's promised White Paper on the environment; This Common Inheritance, to a mixed reception. It runs for some three hundred pages and looks at everything from energy conservation and controlling pollution to preserving our hedgerows and architectural heritage. The Chairman of the Conservatives back bech comm, back bench committee on the environment, Robin Squire, is pleased with the White Paper.
[speaker173:] All of us, including the critics, have got to sit down and read three hundred pages line by line, to make final judgments, but we're looking at a programme there of the next decade. Certainly the Secretary of State has indicated that, so there's going to be quite a lot of time for legislation and, and more importantly, time for discussion about the correct legislation. But on the money side, er the significant sums already committed in areas like er, er cleaning up water, what is it — twenty four thousand million in the next ten years? Last week, an announcement on er further steps on acid rain — six thousand million pounds; I mean there's big, big money in there already committed and I've no doubt that when the need is shown, there'll be greater money still spent — which will either be taxpayer's money or customer's money.
[speaker011:] Looking at the carbon dioxide levels, there's just one indication of where the government could feasibly have been tougher, at least er critics said that, they er could have been tougher. The target is two thousand and five, why not two thousand as the Labour Party says?
[speaker173:] er I think a couple of things: first of all, the detail programme; the government will have to produce for the forthcoming World Climate Conference in OctoberNovember, er the way in which they're going to reach their target and secondly that will also discuss from amongst all the countries, what the target should be. So I think there's an element still to come out in, in that area, er but if you look at er, er the er issue generally, there's a lot in the White Paper on er more than I expected actually, on energy efficiency, which I think is one of the keys to getting down er levels of carbon dioxide, and there is discussion about some of the many many ways in which the role of the motor car will affect er how we reduce our C O two. But I think, you know to make perhaps an obvious point, the comparison is made with West Germany, it's not made with what er Japan or, or er America for instance are proposing to do, which is less than us at the present time. And West Germany of course, has had ten years of massive growth in nuclear power, I don't hear the Green movement pressing us to imitate that; they want the end result but they're not prepared to wield the means.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's seven minutes past six. But the White Paper has been give a less than enthusiastic welcome in some quarters, Liberal Democrat spokesman Simon Hughes says he's worried that the Environment Secretary's announcements may be full of good intentions which won't be carried out.
[speaker113:] What he said at the Tory Party Conference last year was that he was going to set the agenda; the environmental agenda for the nineties. I think he's set the agenda, but governments are the people who are meant to take action on agendas, and that he clearly hasn't done. I believe in taking action on fact and not fantasy, but I think it was Lord Zuckerman who was the scientific advisor to the government, who said that government has never taken preventive measures that would prove to be unjustified, and if you always wait to the last moment before being convinced to do anything, that's often a moment too late. Sadly, the whole of the White Paper is an exercise in putting up ideas but then not doing anything about them, and it's a tragically wasted opportunity.
[speaker001:] Chris Patten was saying that he can't actually put a figure on how much all of this is likely to cost because he's still in the middle of the public sector borrowing grant and, this is all part of his negotiation with the Treasury, but do you think he has actually lost the battle with the Treasury.
[speaker113:] He has clearly lost the battle with the Treasury, he makes the argument, as we expected him to make, that in order to improve the environment, you, you best choose market levers, market mechanisms. Now, to do that, it means you tax the polluter, you make the polluter pay and you encourage people to do good environmental things by giving them grants or subsidies, but they are financial mechanisms and there is no proposal in here that allows any financial mechanisms. Presumably the Treasury said 'No'. If the Treasury said no and the Department of the Environment was trying to say yes, then clearly again the Treasury have won. The whole er test of whether this was or was not a successful proposal, was whether you marry the environment and the economy, and sadly it hasn't been married, and sadly the Treasury has yet again won. There is no new money — there is no new money.
[speaker001:] Now the thing that seems to be the most interesting on the er face value of it, is er how it's going to affect fuel consumption and transport, and he is saying that they're considering whether further changes should be made in the taxation of er fuel and vehicles. Do you think that that is a hint that perhaps the high litre cars — that is the four litre efforts and er the company cars might get taxed at the next budget round?
[speaker113:] Well we were led to believe that the concessions given to company cars would go, or would go in part in the White Paper, and we were led to believe that they would er make a decision that would say that the gas-guzzling, the higher expenditure cars would be penalized in terms of vehicle excise licence, road tax, compared to the small ones, and yet they've gone back even from that. Yes, they will go, but the government should do two things, and it should have done them in the White Paper announcement; it should have said 'we are proposing to get rid of all advantages for company cars in tax terms and we are proposing to make sure that people pay by paying more road tax or more petrol costs if they have high gas-guzzling cars' . They can't duck both issues and, amazingly, they have.
[speaker001:] On British Rail and London Transport, er the White Paper says it will support high levels of investment, surely that's encouraging?
[speaker113:] Well, [LAUGHTER] it would be encouraging if the government changed transport strategy, but the sad tragedy is that Chris Patten's lost the Department of Transport battle as well. What is needed, is to increase public investment in public transport and there isn't any increased public investment, the increased investment is coming from higher fares and the private sector, and slashed the road building programme. Every mile of dual carriageway eats up twenty-six acres of countryside; the government are committed to fourteen billion pounds expenditure on a road-building expansion. Unless you cut back on road building, you don't cut back on the car, unless you invest in public transport, you don't get people to use it. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's ten minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker136:] Oxfordshire and west Buckinghamshire beginning to ease off with the rush hour traffic at the moment, not too bad at all at the moment. The Oxford ring road is beginning to ease as is the A forty this evening. The A four one three in Buckinghamshire at Dunton turn between Winslow and Whitchurch did see two mile tailbacks earlier on this afternoon, at that was Aylesbury-bound due to the accident involving a car on fire. The tailbacks are now beginning to ease I'm told by Thames Valley Police, due to the accident being cleared away from the carriageway at the moment. Not so, such good news on the M twenty-five in Buckinghamshire, clockwise between junction fifteen and sixteen, the M fourM forty interchange; still fairly heavy traffic there at the moment. And at Kidlington on the A four two three, Langford Lane's junction with Banbury Road sees temporary traffic lights for resurfacing prior to the traffic lights being installed at that junction; some fairly long delays there at the moment. At Reading road in Shiplake, the A four one five five, there are some temporary traffic lights there holding er the, your journey up this evening, for road realignment work and er there are some delays there as I say at the moment. The M forty not running too badly at the moment, although between junction two and junction seven there are a fair few roadworks which could hold you up throughout your journey. Mark Rise, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail have no problems to report and the local buses are running well as well. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: the oil price tops the forty dollars a barrel mark and a support centre is set up for women who've had to leave their husbands hostages in Kuwait. First, a round up of today's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] Safety officials at the Harwell laboratory near Didcot are denying staff have been affected by radio-active contamination following a recent accident. Three separate incidents apparently occurred within a fortnight of the start of this month including one in which a vial of radio-active substance was spilt. Four bags of toxic waste which were found abandoned on the Oxford ring road have been handed back to the company that lost them. At one point, the fire brigade brought in their chemical incident unit to deal with the bags, thought to be hazardous asbestos waste. A major Oxfordshire-based motor dealer is responding to claims that it doesn't have the area's environment at heart. Residents in Wootton near Abingdon say they're concerned that Hartwells hopes to introduce a high-intensity paint spraying to it's Wootton site. Abby Donald reports:
[speaker050:] Hartwells say they themselves are concerned with the environment and claim any additional and replacement equipment has been carefully selected with the environment in mind. Local residents in Wootton have become increasingly worried that high-intensity paint spraying will bring unpleasant smells and health hazards to the area, and they've been backed up by local M P, John Patten as well as the Vale of White Horse District Council, whose planning committee have voted to stop Hartwells expanding their Wootton site into what they described as an industrial park.
[speaker153:] Burglars have made off with four thousand pounds worth of goods from a motorist's shop in Aylesbury. The robbers got through a rear window at Autoserve in Elm Park Road and police are anxious to trace a white box lorry seen in the car park at the time. Oxfordshire District Health Authority has confirmed it will want to buy services from the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre if it achieves self-governing status. The new-look Health Authority has been meeting to discuss the Nuffield's application to become self-governing. David Perry says he wants the Nuffield to provide good value service of a high quality, he's particularly keen it continues to help the County's Accident Service, but he has no doubt the Authority will continue to use it.
[speaker174:] If the Nuffield becomes a self-governing er trust, this Health Authority will want to continue to buy er the same level of, of service for Oxfordshire's population er as we're buying at the moment. Of course, er we er, the provisos must be er that the er, that the prices or the costs at the Nuffield remain as competitive as they are at the moment, and of course, that we get the same very high quality that we er, that we already have.
[speaker153:] Doctors and nurses in Oxford are to learn how to become involved in management of hospitals. A major new initiative is to take twenty four nurses through a pilot course which could then be adopted throughout Britain. Nancy Henstead who's a regional nurse from Oxford Regional Health Authority says 'nurses already play a substantial role in the day to day running of hospitals, but until now, they've gone unrecognised for it'.
[speaker175:] Ward Sisters are actually managing resources at the moment, and part of their job is to actually give patients the best possible care within the resources that they actually have. And if we can encourage them to do that er more effectively and more efficiently, then that's all to the good. What they haven't done in the past is actually acknowledge the fact that they are managers.
[speaker153:] Fox F M News, Paul Kirby reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's seventeen minutes past six. The news that oil prices had shot above forty dollars a barrel set alarm bells ringing in E C headquarters in Brussels. Common Market Energy Commissioner, Antonio Carlosa Arquala has issued an angry statement saying the price escalation is unjustified and indefensible. He blames speculators and traders for the shock waves and says the surge in prices can't be justified by the oil crisis.
[speaker118:] For years we have er all, producers and consumers, we have supported the idea that a market would be a reasonable way to set up reasonable levels of price. And suddenly, erm very probably, by er unreasonable behaviour of some of the operators, we are seeing the emission of shock waves to the market which actually are extremely negative for the economy of the community as a whole, and for the oil world er as well.
[speaker011:] I believe that you accept that there'll be the short-term gains by oil companies and traders, but in the long-term, the position could, could reverse; the bubble might burst.
[speaker118:] That's true, er it would be also I think irresponsible for my side to point at oil companies or this or that operator. This is erm a complex and overall process; some people are behaving er in the wrong way, otherwise, market mechanisms do not justify forty dollars at this stage. We all know that er if the crisis has a military er follow-up, er during this type of crisis, everybody will exp, expect this crisis, if it happens, will be short, erm well er would be abnormal but this is not the situation of today. So I think forty dollars is completely out of line with the best provisions.
[speaker011:] So, I believe that what you're also saying is that even if there were war, that wouldn't necessarily mean that the tap would suddenly turn off and there'd be no more oil coming out of the Middle East?
[speaker118:] That's true, er the market, and I think, the general public must be aware that so far, the supply is kept at a reasonable level, the erm difficulty coming out of the erm interruption of Iraqi and Kuwaiti field has been replaced. Refineries are properly supplied and the market works in proper conditions.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Since Saddam Hussein marched into Kuwait, more that nine hundred Briton, most of the women, have either escaped or been flown out of the Gulf. Many have left their husbands behind to face an uncertain future, and some have arrived here with few belongings, little money and no accommodation. The government has now set up a support centre to help such families:; Fc Good afternoon, emergency unit.
[speaker026:] When people are ringing about their relatives in the Gulf, er they just want to know what is the latest, are they coming out, this kind of thing. We do have occasions where we're having to say the same thing er over and over again, because nothing very much has happened.
[speaker103:] Hallo sir, you're calling about your daughter, Jennifer, erm I'm sorry, I don't really have any more information to add to what we told you on the twentieth.
[speaker094:] Deep in the basement of the Foreign Office, a team of junior diplomats is on hand to answer queries and give advice to people returning from Iraq and Kuwait. Jeff Higgins is one of the unit supervisors.
[speaker077:] We have er six people taking telephone calls from members of the public, er these are enquiries about the latest in the Gulf er, the relatives in the Gulf, and then we have on the other side of the room, we have people who are handing out information that we have received to their relatives in this country. We also have er a D S S team, Department of Social Securities er team to answer specific questions, er for that department.
[speaker094:] The staff aren't trained counsellors and Mr Higgins admits they're learning to deal with caller's emotional problems as they go along, or refer them to other organisations such as the Samaritans. Agony aunt, Claire Raynor visited the unit today.
[speaker039:] What they've done in a matter of a few weeks is put together a data bank of information that's colossal, and they're dealing with an enormous amount of, of distress and problems. I mean, I know that a lot of the calls they get are practical, people have come back from the Gulf with no money, no home, I mean they've lived there for years and years and years, without the family network sometimes to keep them going, or friends, friends, they've, they've lost all of their, and it's, it's not easy. And a lot of them have emotional problems; I mean one of the girls I talked to here who's dealing with calls says it's difficult, you get some people who get very angry with you because you don't have news for them. And others who ring up just to talk, and they feel much better, and they cry and they get distressed. I think they're doing a great job, just listening, it's er, it's the best anyone can do.
[speaker094:] She says 'feelings of guilt will be a major difficulty for wives who've left their husbands behind'.
[speaker039:] 'I went away and left him', now even if they went, went away and left and, because they had to bring the children home, or if they went away and left him because they knew it was the best thing for everyone concerned, because the foreign office wants as many people, we all need as many people to get out of the area as possible; their guilt will be huge. Er. And that makes people angry, and, and hostile, because that's what guilt has to er there will also be a lot of bottled up distress because they'll think 'well he's there, I've got no right to cry, I'm safe home', so they'll be bottling up their feelings about it. Sheer plain missing and loneliness, I mean, it's awful. You, you don't marry someone because you want to be on your own, you marry someone because you want to be together. Er. The loneliness will be colossal.
[speaker094:] There's still no indication from Iraq that British men, and in particular those that are seriously ill, will be allowed home, despite repeated appeals from the government and diplomatic staff in Kuwait and Baghdad. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The Green Party Conference drew to a close today and they certainly had something to talk about with the publication of the government's White Paper on the environment. Caroline Lucas from the Oxford Green Party has been at the Conference — Caroline, er what was the er the Conference's impression of Chris Patten's White Paper?
[speaker176:] Well, it was more disappointing than even we had expected. There were very few firm commitments, the language is very much that of exploring, attempting, trying, hoping, when what we were looking for was a clear legislative framework. But we do think that the fact that they chose to launch it on the last day of our Conference is quite a compliment; it was after all the Green Party that forced the government to produce the White Paper as a result of our fifteen% in the European Elections last year. And I think it does show that the Greens are continuing to set the political agenda.
[speaker002:] Now it was a three hundred page document er have, have many of the delegates been able to have time to digest it at all?
[speaker176:] Well, we're all looking at it at the moment of, of course, but some of our first impressions are that for example on global warming, there's no commitment to, to a carbon taxation. On er urban pollution, there are no firm plans to er increase investment in public transport. On soil erosion, there's absolutely mention of that at all, again with acid rain, there are no radical new commitments. So we are feeling here there's a lot of persuasive language but not very much action.
[speaker002:] It is something though; better than nothing perhaps?
[speaker176:] It's certainly better than nothing, indeed it is yes, but there's a long way to go.
[speaker002:] Now, this was the last day of the Conference, er did you have time to talk about anything other than the White Paper?
[speaker176:] Yes we did, we were talking about our General Election strategy and er we've been planning some campaigning and training workshops and so on, and I can tell you that we've selected a Green Party candidate for Oxford west for the General Election; his name is Mike Woodin, and the process is going on to select someone for Oxford east, so there's certainly going to be a strong Green presence in Oxford during the General Election.
[speaker002:] Now, er it's, it's not yet known when the General Election is, but er will you be ready for it?
[speaker176:] We certainly will, we also launched today our er campaign for two million pounds, our General Election campaign for, for the money that we're going to need to stand candidates in as many constituencies as possible, so we're certainly gearing up for it, yes.
[speaker002:] What was your opinion of of the Conference, did you find it er a useful, a useful er talking shop?
[speaker176:] Yes it was, and I think it also er really put paid to the journalists that came along expecting to write our political obituary, because what did come over in all the workshops er and in the main plenary sessions, was that, that local, local parties are doing very well indeed and are getting a very good reception on the doorstep, in fact some other polls on, on er the Green strategy to the environment show that people actually do still trust the Greens far more than any other party.
[speaker002:] But you're still unlikely to make an impression at the General Election?
[speaker176:] I would disagree with that. I think there are some constituencies er where we will, certainly will be making an impression, and I think that will be shown er when, when it happens.
[speaker002:] Caroline thank you very much. The new look Oxfordshire District Health Authority's been meeting today, it's the first time it's met since the changes were made under recent government legislation. The general manager of the Authority, David Perry says today marks an important step in the administration of health care in the County.
[speaker174:] Well we've had the government's er White Paper, that's now become an Act of Parliament, and in accordance with that er Parliamentary decision, all the nineteen ninety two District Health Authorities in the Country, er are newly constituted. And that means er that they're divided into what we call er Non-executive Directors; that is to say, people who er have other interests and other jobs, but spend part of their time er as Health Authority members er and the Executive Directors of the Authority who are the full-time, er full-time staff.
[speaker103:] What will be the advantages of the new-look Authority?
[speaker174:] Well, er first of all, it's a smaller er Authority, er the er meetings of the Authority area are of course er going to be in public, just as er always, and er I think probably the key er advantage is going to be the new emphasis that we'll be able to place on buying health care services. Er. The Health Authority's main responsibility is to assess the health care needs of Oxfordshire's population — nearly six hundred thousand erm for Oxfordshire. And then to try and do the best they can to buy the full range of health care services for the needs of, of their own population.
[speaker103:] It's all new, is it going to take a bit of getting used to?
[speaker174:] Well er I think it is going to take a bit of getting used to, yes that's, that's right; preparing agreements for Oxfordshire Health Authority, service agreements, we're calling them, er with some er eighty or ninety health care programmes, health care services in our hospitals and communities. That is going to take us a bit of time to put into place, but we're, you know we're moving just about as fast as our legs can carry us.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Pensioners from all over the Fox F M area have been meeting today, calling for a greater role and more recognition in society. Trade Union officials, including former T N G leader, Jack Jones were at the meeting in Banbury, and called for greater financial and emotional support for retired people. One of the speakers, Canol, Canon Ron Mitchinson says there's a wealth of knowledge and experience that society could draw on.
[speaker101:] My main concern is, that I think that over the years, as people have lived longer and as they became retired, we've tended to neglect them, not so much financially and in terms of their conditions, though I think there's always arguments about that; I think we've actually neglected their role in the community. I think that old people, or people who are retired, rather than old people, have an enormous amount of wisdom about their community, they have certainly stories to tell, and traditionally I think often in older traditional communities, they, the retired people, the people who've ceased work, have been if you like, the guardians of the wisdom and the guardians of the stories. And I think they have a tremendous contribution to make, and I think what we ought to be doing with er people who retire, it's not to say the end of their working life, and therefore they're on the scrap heap, but that it's a new stage in life and we ought to honour them and respect them and I think, give them some er affirm where they're at, and use them much more as the guardians of wisdom and the guardians of the stories of the community, and use them in that sort of way. Now, that may be very idealistic and it's obviously not all retired or old people who've got a lot of wisdom unless you want to tell their stories. But there is a sense in which, because people are living longer, er we tend to think, 'well, let them go on working'. I'm all in favour of early retirement, but actually acknowledging then, the people who retire, have that contribution, and I think we ought to be developing a way of our society to ensure that they're able to live reasonably comfortably, and so that the pension should actually be a living wage, to enable them to be free, to make those sort of contributions.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's six thirty. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker136:] The motorways in the Fox F M area — fairly heavy this evening. The M twenty five in Buckinghamshire around at junction seventeen anticlockwise, that's at Rickmondsworth, traffic's very slow there at the moment and clockwise between junction fifteen and sixteen, the M fourM forty interchange, traffic is very heavy there as well. We've just heard that in Berkshire, the M four, junction six to seven, that's Slough on the A four, if you're heading that way this evening, traffic's slow there going westbound and obviously could cause you a few delays. In Buckinghamshire on the A four one three at Dunton turn, between Winslow and Whitchurch, the tailbacks there caused by an earlier accident involving a car on fire. are easing now and er should be clear in the next few minutes, due to the accident having been cleared from the carriageway. On the A forty-three in Oxfordshire, just north of Enstone, some temporary traffic lights there are holding drivers up for the resurfacing work that's going on there — a little bit of extra care should be taken. And finally, on the A forty-one at Risecote avenue in Banbury, it's completely closed southbound and the junction with Orchard Way for paving work, and there are some diversions to your journey there. Mark Rise, A A roadwatch
[speaker002:] And I've still nothing to report to you on the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty two. Soviet Foreign Minister, Edoard Sheverdnaze says the United Nations could sanction military force if Iraq refuses to pull out of Kuwait. His warning comes as the U N Security Council prepares to vote in favour of an air embargo against Iraq. Millionaire financier, Sir Jack Lyons has been spared going to prison after a court heard that a jail sentence could kill him; the judge, Mr Justice Henry said he accepted the businessman was seriously ill. Instead, the financier was fined three million pounds for his part in the Guinness affair. The cost of petrol's going up again to more than two pounds forty a gallon; Texaco are putting an extra seven point three pence on the price of four star from midnight tonight, after crude oil went above forty dollars a barrel on the markets. The weather for the Fox F M area, after a pleasant evening with some sunshine, the night'll be dry with clear periods, these are going to allow mist and fog patches to form by dawn in rural parts of the area, especially along the Thames and Thame valleys. A touch of ground frost is expected as temperatures fall to three degrees celsius — that's thirty seven degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: drunken giant wasps cause havoc in the south of England. First though, plans to build new schools and improve existing buildings in Oxfordshire have been shelved; twenty projects have been put on hold because the County Council can's sell the land which would have er funded the schemes. Labour councillor for Banbury, Jack Steer, say 'government restrictions on the Council and land values have combined to work against the Council's plans' .
[speaker134:] The County Council reallocates resources from things that it sells into things like new build, new schools; if we sell a piece of a playing field or whatever, then we will put, plough the money back into capital resources within the education service somewhere else. If you add that to the er problems that the government has created for this County, as with other County Councils, then the two things make it quite impossible for us to continue with a capital programme as we would like. I mean, there's no fun in sitting there saying 'we're not going to be able to do Bloxham Primary School to replace the temporary buildings they've had there for nineteen years' ; that gives nobody any joy, but in terms of priorities, it was one that was felt er did not have that prior, the same priority as some of the others.
[speaker029:] Do you think the Council is providing an adequate service educationally?
[speaker134:] Both government and local authorities have failed to put money into capital projects for a long long time. This County Council failed to do it from the time, time it was formed until eighty-five; it failed even to address the problem, never mind do it, and we've been trying to, to sort of do some catching up. And it is very difficult, given the current economic situation.
[speaker029:] For twenty projects to be deferred, wouldn't that suggest that there are problems within the er County Council?
[speaker134:] Well there are problems in the sense that we've got to do it, in terms of management of the County Council, the control of the capital programme, no I don't think so, because if, if there was no control on it, you wouldn't now be picking up and saying 'hey we've got to do something about it'.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Around twenty-two thousand people in Oxford live in rented accommodation; the highest proportion of rent, er private rented housing in any city outside London. Now housing organisations have got together to make a private tenant's manifesto to push forward the rights of tenants to be protected. They say that tenants should have their rents linked to the condition of the property they live in. Jeremy Sparford from Oxford Housing Aid, who's helped put the manifesto together, says that 'all too often, the lack of choices open to the homeless, mean that their rights are abused'.
[speaker134:] The situation that, that a lot of people find themselves in nowadays, now er council housing is no longer available to an awful lot of people, is that they're at the mercy of private landlords, and in order to have any kind of home they have to go along this sort of conditions and rent levels laid down by private landlords. And what the manifesto is, is trying to do is to er set an agenda for about how the lot of private homes can be improved, and er fixing rent is one thing which the government er traditionally has had a responsibility for and which needs, er must be linked in with conditions because what we have at the moment is a situation where you get, in Oxford, a er a family living in one room being charged er over two hundred pounds a week by an individual landlord, and that's clearly unacceptable.
[speaker031:] There's lots of myths about Rachmanite landlords — is that really the case or is it one huge myth?
[speaker134:] I think it's easy to be glib about this, there are clearly an awful lot of landlords and landladies around who provide an excellent service and merely want a reasonable rent in return for offering a decent service. However, it is sadly the case that it is still true that there are er a number of landlords around who tend to control a lot of property, who er are charging er absurdly and unreasonably high rents in return for an appalling service. Now one would think that er they would go out of business because no-one would want to live there, but as a result of government policy, which has meant that Council houses aren't available to people any more, because a local authority isn't allowed to build them; people actually have the choice: they either are homeless and on the streets or they pay exorbitant rents for appalling accommodation. And unfortunately, unscrupulous landlords that are actually benefiting from this, and in a lot of cases, it's not, people, people aren't paying, necessarily paying this rent out of their wages, it's actually the poll tax payer who is paying these rents, er through housing benefit, and I think we should all be aware of the way in which we collectively are being ripped off
[speaker177:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty two minutes to seven. Drunken giant wasps are causing havoc in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The swarms of Scandinavian median wasps resemble hornets and have a painful sting. Peter Bateman of Rentokil says there's a reason for their bad behaviour — they've been getting drunk on rotten fruit.
[speaker178:] It is a largish wasp, it is er in size between the common wasp and the hornet, and er so it's fairly visible when it is around, but it doesn't er normally nest in buildings, it nests in, in low trees and, and shrubs and bushes. So, it is unlikely to become a major pest problem.
[speaker069:] What about the idea that these er wasps might be drunk?
[speaker161:] Yes, well these, all wasps of course, er tend to er hit the fruit juice at this time of the year, and that fruit juice is very often fermenting, and you get a particularly er waspish reaction, er naturally, when er somebody goes to pick up a fallen apple or windfall pear, and they pick up a handful of wasp, inadvertently, and I think this year, particularly with a shortage of water, more wasps of all species have been driven to attack fruit, er and are feeding on the er fruit juice, much of which is fermenting. And so you get these, these somewhat stupefied er or one over the eight wasps rolling around, er and er you know, not, not being terribly active, but that, that is the time at which of course people do tend to tread on them or pick them up and get stung.
[speaker069:] It does seem that there are a lot of wasps around this September; there are always wasps around at this time of year, but er are, do you have any evidence that er there's even more than usual?
[speaker161:] Yes we have, er I mean, the er there are wasps years recorded way back from Gilbert White's time; there have been certain, wasp years, but in terms of people wanting action against wasps nests, er our own pest control branches throughout the country, er did a telephone survey ten days ago, and er in many parts, they range from er forty percent increase to eighty percent increase to one hundred percent increase in some parts of the country; this season compared with last season.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's twenty to seven. [recorded jingle] Still to come: Princes Risborough travels back in time to the summer of nineteen forty. First, financial report in association with Barclays Bank for your financial needs. U K market tried on several occasions to break through and remain above the two thousand level today, but confidence remains low and the Footsie one hundred index was unable to find support. At the end of trading the U K market remained below the two hundred level at one hundred and ninety nine point two up eight point nine points, volume was moderate with four O nine point six million shares traded. In New York the Dow Jones Index tried to regain some of yesterday's lost ground, at at four thirty stood up two point seven two points at two four five five point six nine. And sterling enjoyed another boost triggered by yesterday's better than expected August current account figures and higher oil prices. Against the dollar, sterling rose point three of a cent to one point eight eight three, against the deutschmark a gate, a gain of seven point five pfennigs was seen. Amongst the major shares today Abbey National were up four at two O nine, British Aerospace up eight at five four two, British Airways down four at one four six, British Gas were down five at two one one, British Steel up one at one one seven, B T went down one to two two eight, Rolls Royce were up one at one seven one and T S B were up five at one two three. Your listening to the Fox Report; sport, and last night, Oxford United Football Club won the first leg of their second round clash with Port Vale in the Rumbelows League Cup. It went some way to repairing their damaged pride after their defeat by Swindon Town at the weekend, Mickey Inotta was there; Mickey it must have cheered you up a bit.
[speaker128:] It did, what didn't cheer me up though Jane was the Press Box facilities. In the second division in this day and age, I had to climb a wooden ladder, I had to go all the way to the very top of the main stand and there was a shed, and at the end of the match, surface water forced me to dry my socks off in the radiator in the dressing rooms afterwards. But it also brought a smile to manager Brian Horton, and I was thrilled to bits for him because he's taken a lot of stick over recent results. But then again, I've always believed that the players have to show that character out there on the pitch, they haven't, they learnt their lesson, losing four two against Swindon, that match will never be forgotten by the supporters, it doesn't matter if they win the Cup, it'll never be forgotten. But that match brought a smile to Brian Horton's face and I'm very pleased about it.
[speaker177:] [LAUGHTER] It definitely did, and er I think probably this time he's rather rev, relieved that his game plan actually worked.
[speaker106:] It's funny how it works, isn't it, I mean we've just, it, it's like us and er Swindon in a way because we've just got it over on Port Vale haven't we? I mean, I'm saying that with tongue in cheek because they've got to come to our place. But the plan, which I, I was going to do has worked a treat. We've, we've soaked up a lot of pressure without having too many goal attempts at us, and then we've broke away and scored two goals; the plan's worked a treat and I was due to do something right.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] It wasn't actually the most exciting match from the spectator's point of view I understand. Were, were there any outstanding performances worth going along to see?
[speaker128:] Three in particular, the first one, Ian Walker the goalkeeper on loan from Tottenham Hotspurs, he played a super game, made some very good saves and his handling was secure. His dad was Mickey who keeps goal for Colchester United, I don't know if he was at the match, but he was, er had a very good game. Also Martin Foyle, now of course, there, there is a rumour that Ipswich Town are after him, but at the moment he's scoring goals for Oxford; five in the last five games, he's scored two, and also a mention for Steve McLaren. Now we need somebody, a ball winner in mid-field, he came in last night and he did the job.
[speaker002:] And the two-goal hero, hero you mentioned there, Martin Foyle, was full of praise for the young keeper, Ian Walker.
[speaker179:] Well it's always nice to keep a clean sheet, you know, especially away from home, but, you know, we just, just get a few League wins and er get the confidence back again.
[speaker128:] And everybody's smiling in the dressing room?
[speaker179:] Well yes, it's nice to have a happy changing room to be honest. You know I thought the keeper did ever so well, you know, made a couple of good saves in the first half and just changed the game for us.
[speaker128:] Ian, a cracking debut; first of all take us through that er first half save, you had nothing to do, conditions awful and yet you pull off a save like that.
[speaker053:] The ball come across and er I see Bedford had his back to the goal, and I could see he was going to swivel and hit it with his left foot, and I've just come across the goal and er, he just hit it down low to my right hand side and luckily I've come the right way and pushed it wide.
[speaker002:] Well that's what happened last night. There's some local action tonight isn't there Mickey, what's happening around er the area
[speaker128:] That's right Jane, I'll be off to Culham Road shortly to cover the match between Abingdon Town and Brackley, Bracknell; they're playing in the Vauxhall League Division two south and some team news for Town — doesn't read very well, I'm afraid, mid fielders Kevin Connelly and Keith Appleton, they've both been ruled out. Connelly has a knee injury, while Appleton is out due to work commitments, so they'll probably lose. In Rugby Union, Chinnor and Swindon, they'll be locked in combat in the first round of the Oxfordshire Courage floodlit Cup, and that match kicks off at the southern by-pass ground at seven fifteen.
[speaker002:] Right, well I suppose the big sporting story of the evening has to be the boxing; George Forman, who's forty-one is about to go into the ring in er London's Docklands arena. He's going to face Terry Anderson in yet another comeback fight. You're a bit of a boxing aficionado Mickey, what, what do you rate his chances?
[speaker128:] Well basically I think this fight, his chance is he'll probably win, but this fight is a bit of a joke; it does boxing no good whatsoever. The British Medical Association, well they'll have ample ammunition now to say that boxing is no longer a sport. It doesn't do the name of boxing any good whatsoever, he's made twenty two comeback fights, he's won twenty-one inside the distance, but nobody is a name. I'm just not happy about it at all, the match should never have been sanctioned, and like I said, it does boxing's reputation no good whatsoever.
[speaker002:] Mind you, Forman himself's rather confident about tonight's fight, and indeed his fitness.
[speaker172:] I think better of myself today as a matter of fact, I'm more of a confident fighter than I ever have been. I believe that if I'm given the chance to fight the George Forman of old, the George Forman of today would be the better.
[speaker067:] Now since coming back from retirement in nineteen eighty-seven, you're unbeaten in twenty-two fights, two one by knockouts. A lot of people have said that those fighters weren't up to scratch, they weren't the most hard-hitting of fighters — what would you say to that?
[speaker172:] I'm going to put up a good fight. I want all of you to go there, and tell all your friends to come see one of the wonders of the world.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. What's green, measures eight by fifty-two inches and would burn a large hole in your pocket? The answer, well it's a one million pound bank note that's up for auction at Christies next month. The note was used by the Treasury as a receipt for American funds donated to help Europe's post-war recovery. Jashav Barisna says it's auction price will be only two percent of it's original value.
[speaker112:] It was connected with the Marshall Aid fund at the end of the war, er where the United States actually wanted evidence of the fact that funds that had been transferred to the U K Treasury, were being so to speak properly used by the Bank of England and that the Bank of England issued this er one million pound note as evidence that the funds were made available to the Bank of England by the Treasury. The, the note is in fact er effectively the Bank of, could have endorsed it to, to a third party so to speak exactly as it would have done in any er any fiscal currency of the er of the type.
[speaker069:] So at one time, it was worth one million pounds?
[speaker112:] Yes, it would have been used physically as one million pounds, yes it would. It was, it has the face value of one million pounds in physical terms, there is, in fact it is thought that there was a ten million pounds as well based on the same, on the same er principle. It would have been still worth one million pounds had it not been cancelled of course, and the item is actually cancelled, so consequently, naturally not. Er. It does say on it of course'payable on demand'and not 'payable to bearer'in this instance, and that is quite an important difference.
[speaker069:] And no one demanded the one million pounds?
[speaker112:] No, because it hadn't been transferred to anybody else. It is not quite clear incidentally how this came out er, er into er be, becoming available to Christies for auction. It is thought that there might, it might have remained in the hands of some diplomats who were transferring it, and there were two of these issues, there is one in a private collection at present, so this is a second one, and number eight which is coming out for sale, but the number seven did change hands er a couple of years ago, so at about fifty five thousand pounds I believe. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's ten minutes to seven, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker136:] Oxfordshire and west Buckinghamshire beginning to calm down after the rush hour this evening. It's all reasonably quiet now; the Oxford ring road and the A forty is beginning to calm down a bit. On the M four in Berkshire, junctions six to seven, that's Slough and the A four, it's heavy and slow-moving westbound there at the moment, and into Buckinghamshire, on the M twenty-five, anti-clockwise round junction seventeen in Buckinghamshire, at Rickmondsworth, traffic's very slow there as well. And clockwise between junction fifteen and sixteen, the M fourM forty interchange, it's very heavy traffic there at the moment. The A four one three at Dunton turn between Winslow and Whitchurch has now cleared, no major problems there any more going Aylesbury bound, after the earlier accident. And finally on the A four one this evening, there is patching work on the A four one at various locations throughout the road this evening, which could hold you up as you travel along there. Mark Rise, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And it's been a fairly good evening if you've been using public transport. British Rail have nothing to report and I've no problems to tell you about on the local buses either. [pre-recorded blurb] It's eight minutes to seven. Tomorrow lunch time, local author William Harley will be at a champagne lunch in London, he's one of twelve finalists in this year's Ian St James Literary Award. He's already picked up a thousand pounds tomorrow he'll receive a copy of his short story — The Green Moustache, which er got him into the final along with the other eleven winning stories which are being published in an anthology, which is hot off the presses from the publishers Collins. He'll also find out if he's in the top three, and therefore will receive a further cash prize. Ian St James, who organizes and finances the awards, has made his fortune as a best-selling author. He set up the prize to give aspiring writers a chance to step on the first rung of the literary ladder.; Mij All twelve writers will come to a glitzy show biz type lunch at the Cafe Royal, hosted by David Frost, and that's where we will know for the first time, who's, who is the overall winner, the runner-up and the third place writer. But, er the day has a number of er reasons, er it's, a] it's a fun day, a show bizzy-type lunch. The important thing though is that invited to the lunch are the top literary agents in London and therefore it's an opportunity for these aspiring writers to meet top literary agents and of course, we've got the biggest publisher in the U K there — Collins, and so it's, what the awards all about entree; giving access and extending a helping hand to twelve aspiring writers every year and giving them the most terrific flying start. So, so in a way, the money is incidental, it's really this, this platform as it were
[speaker180:] Abso, absolutely, you see because if you take — last year we had er one of our winners er a lady called Liz Harris, who's been knocking on the door and trying to get established as a writer for years and years and years. I think Liz has written six full-length manuscripts and, and has just lived with rejection sh, slips. Now Liz didn't win our first, second or third prize er last year, but she, she made it to the final twelve, er her, her full-length novel now, has now been accepted by Collins and that's going to be published next February, there's talk of a big American contract for Liz and Liz has now been floated away in to the world of big time professional writing. And that's what, that's what it's all about.
[speaker002:] That's brilliant. So, so William you, yours was a short, well they were all short stories because that's the nature of the competition, what, what are your aspirations in the future?
[speaker181:] Well, I just hope, I would like to get a novel published er the story of Liz, to my mind, justifies Ian's project one hundred per cent and that's, should be what it's all about. Er. Myself, I've got a novel almost finished and if somebody buys it, so much the better [LAUGHTER]
[speaker002:] Wish him all the best with that. Tomorrow, Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire will be travelling back to the summer of nineteen forty. An exhibition's already started at the library and tomorrow evening, a Vera Lynn look-alike and a sound-alike [LAUGHTER] will be visiting the library with a fifty piece band. Alec Kennedy is the area librare, brare, [LAUGHTER] I knew I was going to have trouble with that, the area librarian who's behind all this. Alec, it's a huge project, and er the band, where have you, where have you got them from?
[speaker182:] The band comes from er Princes Risborough Upper School, er led by er Jane Ashcroft who's the music teacher from Princes Risborough Upper School.
[speaker002:] Oh, so it's, so it's, it's not even, it's not people who are around in nineteen forty then?
[speaker182:] Oh no, the er, to, to maintain authenticity, the people in the band have to look as if they would looked in nineteen forty, which is why er Sally Edwards who's the Vera Lynn look-alike er would be more authentic than Vera Lynn herself.
[speaker002:] Is she a local girl?
[speaker182:] She is, she's, runs a local firm in Princes Risborough and she's one of my library users.
[speaker002:] Ah so, what sort of things will they be singing?
[speaker182:] er I should imagine they'll be singing 'There'll be blue birds over the White Cliffs of Dover'erm 'I'll be seeing you again'and all the songs that I'm not quite sure of, but I'm sure that of my readers know well.
[speaker002:] Yes we're all far too young for that [LAUGHTER]. Now you've got other things going on tomorrow er something's happening at lunch time isn't it?
[speaker182:] er Half past one, there are about three hundred, or there will be about three hundred school children descending upon the library from Icknield Primary and Berryfields Primary er and er Monks Risborough School er they will be given a sweet ration — sweets for a whole week, which is less than they imagine they're going to be. This is actually three ounces of sweets.
[speaker002:] So you've bribed them along with a promise of sweets [LAUGHTER]
[speaker182:] er It was just to show what people had to put up with. There is an er exhibition of rationed food, so people can see how, how much people left, lived off.
[speaker002:] So they're all coming in costume as it were?
[speaker182:] They're all coming dressed as evacuees, they've all been making cardboard boxes with bits of string and making suitcases extremely battered — all out of cardboard.
[speaker002:] So in nineteen forty, I suppose evacuees would have been sent to Princes Risborough rather than being sent away?
[speaker182:] er Yes, I, I wanted er to find a judge for the competition; somebody who was evacuated to Princes Risborough, but that was quite difficult. Er. So we have people who took in evacuees in Princes Risborough because, as you say, people would have been evacuated from London I suppose out to Princes Risborough.
[speaker002:] It's a fascinating project, because you've also got all sorts of memorabilia lined up in the library.
[speaker182:] Yes I put out an appeal to er my readers to search their attics and their er lofts and their garden sheds for all the things they might have left over from the second World War. Er. We had hundreds of er identity cards and ration books, all of which are on display in the library, coupled with some extraordinary things; er a wedding dress made out of a parachute, and an empty incendiary bomb — I stress empty, I'd hate to think it went off in the library. So all this stuff is on display at the moment and er several mannequins dressed in costume of the Home Guard and of the Land Army.
[speaker002:] This is an enormous project, why did you decide to pick the summer of nineteen forty?
[speaker182:] er Summer of nineteen forty is the fifty year er commemoration of the Battle of Britain, er and this began as a book display and spread outwards, out of the library and along the high street. Some of the shops are also involved, they will also have window displays, several of Princes Risborough shops have taped up windows which looks quite extraordinary when you drive into the town.
[speaker002:] People will wonder what on earth's happening.
[speaker182:] It, it does look quite strange, the library itself looks the strangest with it's sandbags over the door.
[speaker002:] So you've got the children tomorrow lunchtime, you've got the band tomorrow evening, but the library exhibition goes on a bit longer?
[speaker182:] The exhibition will go from now, will last from now until the twenty-second of October when all the memorabilia will be on show then. [recorded jingle]
[speaker177:] Alec, thank you very much. And that was the Fox Report for Tuesday the twenty-fifth September, nineteen ninety. Join us for another Fox Report tomorrow evening for a round up of local, national and international news, but stay with Fox F M after the news at seven o'clock — it'll be the Red Fox. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Tonight the man who commands British Forces in the Gulf is named, while the wife of an Oxford man who's stranded in Kuwait says her family now face homelessness.
[speaker089:] The housing aid said the only thing they could offer me is bed and breakfast.
[speaker002:] Nigel Mansell says he won't retire after all but will race next season for the Didcot-based Williams team; they are delighted.
[speaker011:] His ambition and our objective jointly is to win a driver's, world championship driver's title before he retires.
[speaker002:] And Oxfordshire's children's line is relaunched.
[speaker183:] If you've got a problem and want to talk, ring children's line O eight hundred six two six thousand. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker019:] The six o'clock news, this is Patrick Muirhead. President Bush says the world must look beyond the Gulf crisis to a new deal for the Middle East, and he's hinting that an Iraqi pull out from Kuwait could lead to an end to the conflict between the Arabs and Israel. But Mr Bush told the U N Security Council in New York that Iraq must put the right wrong it has done in seizing a nation to which it had no right.
[speaker148:] In the waiting weeks, one of history's most hopeful summers, the vast still beauty of the peaceful Kuwaiti desert was fouled by the stench of diesel and the roar of steel tanks. And once again the sound of distant thunder echoed across a cloudless sky, and once again the world awoke to face the guns of August, but this time the world was ready.
[speaker019:] A hero of the Falklands and the Iranian Embassy siege is to command British Forces in the Gulf. Fifty six year old Lieutenant General, Sir Peter de la Beliaire was due to retire in November, instead, he's preparing to fight a war. Peter Russell has this report.
[speaker044:] He's Britain's most decorated General; a former Director of the S A S and a close associate of Mrs Thatcher. Next month he planned to retire from the army, but says he couldn't resist this call to duty.
[speaker178:] I've got no regrets about not retiring, I mean er I'm a professional soldier er and if you're offered an appointment er and a privilege such as this is, then you don't throw it away easily.
[speaker044:] Sir Peter's served in Suez, Jordan and Aden. It's that Middle East experience which persuaded the M O D to appoint him overall commander in the Gulf. Peter Russell I R N, at the Ministry of Defence.
[speaker019:] British Rail maintenance staff have voted for a series of twenty-four hour strikes, starting next week. It'll mean delays for thousands of intercity passengers between Scotland, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, the action's also expected to hit commuter services at Northampton and Bletchley. About three hundred and fifty overhead electric workers are protesting at B R's plans to close three maintenance depots. The families of two teenage joyriders shot dead by troops in Belfast are demanding to know why the checkpoint patrol had to kill them. Martin Peak and Karen Brielly died when soldiers mistook them for terrorists when they roared through a roadblock. But the families say the stolen car should have been stopped, not fired on. From Belfast, Gary Duffy.
[speaker135:] The families of the two dead teenagers say there must have been an alternative to opening fire. But Maria Brownley admitted not even the fear of death could stop her brother driving stolen cars.
[speaker166:] He knew that if he went out in the car, he, he knew that the next time he might, mightn't come home.
[speaker135:] Ulster's Security Minister, John Cope says the teenagers only had to stop.
[speaker184:] They were not shot for joyriding. It's an important distinction to make.
[speaker135:] Ten joyriders have now been killed by the Security Forces since nineteen-eighty, while one soldier was killed when struck by a stolen car. Gary Duffy, I R N Belfast.
[speaker019:] Police in Hemel Hempstead are asking shoppers and pubgoers to watch videos of missing four year old Simon Jones which are going on public view. They hope people will come forward with information about the boy who vanished in one of the town's parks over a week ago. Twenty-two poll tax protestors have stormed a Council Office in Northampton and held the Borough Treasurer hostage. Police are questioning a number of women demonstrators and are trying to break down barricades to clear the others out of the building. Shadow Education Secretary, Jack Straw has accused Cabinet Ministers of hypocrisy for sending their children to private schools. He claimed only one Minister has children at state schools, and Mr Straw claims the government has always maintained that state education is good enough for everyone. But he says their not practising what they preach.
[speaker134:] They are clear the best for their children requires small classes, new science blocks, well-equipped laboratories, teachers who are properly rewarded. But these same Ministers claim that for other people's children, the best can be achieved in large classes, in crumbling buildings without sufficient books and equipment and with inadequately paid teachers.
[speaker019:] Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Monday the first of October nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The man who was in charge of the storming of the Iranian Embassy ten years ago is to lead Britain's forces in the Gulf. He's Lieutenant General Sir Peter de la Beliaire, and as President Bush says, there's never been such international cooperation against an aggressor. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has ordered the release of nine Frenchmen who were being held hostage. The move is seen as the latest in a campaign to crack western resolve in its stand against Baghdad, from the Gulf here's James Matthews.
[speaker068:] The nine set free had been detained at civilian and military sites; some appeared to have Middle Eastern backgrounds. Their freedom comes after Saddam Hussein has welcomed the Gulf peace plan drawn up by the French President, Francois Mitterand. It also meets the French demand that any settlement be conditional upon the release of hostages. For President Saddam Hussein's apparent move to clear the way towards peace, is being seen here as a cynical bid to try to dilute western opposition against him. Meanwhile today Muslim leaders have said an armed conflict in the Gulf will lead to a world-wide Holy War. A delegation of the Islamic world's most senior figures says the ominous call for a Holy War against western forces wouldn't be confined to the Gulf. Dr Hassan Kunavi says Muslims world-wide would strike against western targets and people.
[speaker185:] But it may er involve all sorts of thuggery from er powerful expression of, of opinion to individual acts of resistance or aggression to an all out war. There is going to be all forms of Jihad all over the world because there is a sacred element, there is an element erm of er which is the presence of a foreign non-Muslim force in the Holy Land; this is a very explosive element.
[speaker068:] The delegation has just finished a Gulf tour that included a visit to Iran. It's warned that in the event of any Gulf war, religious ties will lead to an alliance between Iraq and Iran against the west.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The wife of an Oxford man who's stranded in occupied Kuwait, is facing an uncertain future with no sign of her husband getting out. Maria Harris has been staying with her parents at Wood Farm since returning to Britain just days before Saddam Hussein's forces marched in, exactly two months ago. Her husband Alex is now in hiding after an abortive escape attempt. But with each week that passes, Mrs Harris says her concern increases for Alex's safety and er for the welfare of her two young children.
[speaker157:] My immediate concern is for my husband's safety because, given that, our lives could then go back to normal. It will obviously take some time, you know Alex is, must be going through a terrible strain himself and he must be concerned about us er as we are for him.
[speaker026:] Now, at the moment you're staying with your parents in Oxford, how long do you think you'll be able to, to stay here?
[speaker157:] Well, I think for the children's sake, I'm going to stay put until Christmas, but after that I'm really going to have to try and find some sort of stability for my children. I'd dearly love to go back to my real home, but er unfortunately there's no way I could pay the mortgage on it. I've gone to the local Council and er unfortunately they've said to me that I'd have to go on a waiting list; the housing aid have said the only thing they could offer me is bed and breakfast which I'm sorry to say I don't think is suitable to bring two children up in.
[speaker026:] Are either of the children beginning to, to show the signs of feeling the impact of their father not being about?
[speaker157:] Yes, my eight year old is certainly beginning to show signs of stress, er it's an unsettling situation for him, and he's old enough to understand, and er we've had tears and you know.
[speaker026:] Is there anything immediately that gives you hope that something will happen for the better?
[speaker157:] It seems as though they're trying to find an immediate solution. My only worry is at the moment, it does seem to be a military one. Er. And as much as none of us would like that, I feel it may be, you know, it may, it will be something that will be over very quickly, er the only worry of course is that so many people will get hurt, but if that's the way to end it all then perhaps that's what should be done.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's nine minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic is still slow moving on the M twenty-five, that's clockwise at junction sixteen, where you turn off for the M forty. On the M four between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's between Swindon east and west, the outside and centre lanes are closed westbound for roadworks. On the M forty, between junctions four and five, that's between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, there are two narrow lanes running in both directions and there's, er added to the trouble, there's a contraflow at Boulter End with single-line traffic running both ways. On the A four two three, that's near to Hopcroft's Holt and Steeple Aston, there's resurfacing work; that's causing some delays, and on the A thirty six one at Wardington just north of Banbury, there are temporary traffic lights which might slow you down if you're travelling that way. Martin Lawford A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've no problems to report to you this evening, either from British Rail or indeed from our local bus services. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come, the Labour Party outlines its plans for the economy should it come to power, and Oxfordshire's children's line is relaunched. First with a round up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] The son of an Oxford city Councillor has appeared court today charged in connection with a disturbance outside a city pub. Fabian Ricketts who's mother Val represents the St Clement's ward in Oxford, is accused with two others of assault and public order offences. He's been granted conditional bail until October the twenty-second. It follows an incident last month when police reinforcements were needed to quell troubles involving around four hundred youths near the Ale House in Castle Street in the city. Oxford Crown Court has jailed two men after hearing how drug squad detectives tracked them down during a trip to London. Twenty-two year old Gerald Bagshall from Barton Village Road in Oxford has been jailed for two years for possession and supply of drugs. Twenty-five year old David Taylor of Chillingworth Crescent in Woodfarm has been jailed for eighteen months for possession of drugs. The court heard how detectives followed the two men from Oxford to London, and watched them buy drugs, when they returned home, drugs were found in their car. An Oxfordshire consultant has told how specialist hospitals have to turn to charity for funds because the government doesn't provide enough money. Halton maternity hospital in Banbury recently received nearly two thousand pound's worth of life-saving equipment for their nee, neo-natal unit, as part of a grant from the baby life support systems charity. Consultant paediatrician to Oxford Health Authority, Harvey Markovitch says under normal health funding, the money just isn't available.
[speaker186:] Special care baby units are phenomenally expensive in equipment; there's an awful lot of monitoring equipment that's required, and it has to be updated every few years, and the costs are quite out of proportion to the amount of money available to the health authority, so that er, on the whole, special care baby units throughout the country now rely virtually totally on charitable giving.
[speaker153:] A sports centre in north Oxfordshire has had to close today because of a leakage of almost one thousand litres of potentially hazardous chemicals. Fire crews were brought in with special chemical protection suits to deal with a spillage of nine hundred litres of sodium hypochlorite at the Kidlington and Gosford Sports and Leisure Centre. Leisure Centre officials say they're, they hope to reopen later this evening. An Oxford student has been remanded in custody for a week at a London Magistrates Court; twenty-one year old Ajaiki Akabasharune is jointly charged with a student from Wolverhampton for conspiring with persons unknown to defraud the central clearing banks this August. Miss Akabasharune from Banbury Road in the city, is currently studying politics at the polytechnic. A major campaign is being launched today to try to reduce the number of sports-related eye injuries. The Royal National Institute for the Blind says squash and badminton are the main culprits for eye casualties, and has begun the campaign of safe play as part of their eye safety year. Thames Valley Police have appointed a new man to oversee the workings of its complaints and disciplinary department. Chief Superintendent John Goodenough has been Commander of B Division covering all of Oxfordshire for the last six years; it's been suggested his move signals the start of a major reorganization within the force, aimed at streamlining managerial duties. Mr Goodenough says he's looking forward to the new post at a time when complaints against the police have increased.
[speaker009:] Complaints against police are obviously a problem for all of us, and we as managers throughout the rank structure are concerned about the complaints and it's simply that, whilst I was in operational command, I had a direct influence in hopefully preventing complaints. The role I have now, is dealing with the paper work and the efficiency investigation once a complaint has been made.
[speaker153:] Fox F M new, Paul Kirby reporting. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker002:] It's a quarter past six. Pressure is growing on the government to reach an out of court settlement with more than a thousand haemophiliacs who are infected with the AIDS virus from N H S blood. Mr Justice Ognell, the High Court judge hearing the cases against the government, took the highly unusual step of urging the government to compromise on the matter. Health Secretary, Kenneth Clarke has insisted in continuing with the case, arguing that the government risked establishing a dangerous precedent if it paid compensation when the N H S was not to blame. Tory backbench pressure is growing for the Department of Health to make ex gratia payments to those in infected, and Roger Simms from the Commons Social Services Committee says the government should view the haemophiliacs as a special case; he says he was taken aback by the judges remarks.
[speaker173:] Yes, I was surprised because it's an unusual course for a judge to take, but I was very encouraged that he chose to do so by the terms of his remarks.
[speaker103:] The judge has been very forthright in this er saying that er both sides er should er get round the table and try and find some speedy solution to it. Er. I got, I got the impression that he was fairly exasperated at the way things had gone up to now.
[speaker173:] Well I think he felt er as I do that it's unfortunate that matters have gone this far. In fact, together with several colleagues, I was endeavouring to set up an informal meeting with ministers to try and discuss this matter er when the haemophiliac's representative decided to go to law for their own good reasons, because that made it more difficult for any negotiations to take place. I hope now that perhaps the legal proceedings can be held in abeyance and discussions can take place so some out of court settlement can be reached as the judges are urging.
[speaker103:] Well the Health Secretary, Kenneth Clarke er has, er has said er for some time now that er it would be grave consequences if the government established a precedent and just allowed er out of court settlement payments to be made. Mr Clarke seems to want to go through the whole er litigation process, what do you think about er his decision?
[speaker173:] Well I, I can understand er his, his point of view in that firstly he's saying quite correctly, that this tragedy was no one person's fault. Erm. And that if you open the doors to compensation whenever er this sort of thing arose, then th, this could mean very substantial expenditure for the Health Service. But this is a very special case, er we know the numbers involved precisely, it's as it were, a one off.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Labour has been outlining its policy on the economy at the Party Conference in Blackpool. Shadow Chancellor John Smith, dismissed Mrs Thatcher's so-called economic miracle as a mirage, but admitted things wouldn't suddenly improve under Labour.
[speaker134:] There's no panacea; er it will take us a little while to get our programmes in place and to get them producing results. Er. We want to be judged by a period in government. er Margaret Becker put it I think very well in the concluding speech; five years after a Labour government, judge us on the difference you will see in our economy and in our society. But from day one we'll be working to achieve that result.
[speaker064:] Kenneth Baker yesterday said 'well, the Labour Party hasn't changed; they're still a high spending, high taxation and high borrowing party'. Why should the voters believe that the next Labour government be any different from the past?
[speaker134:] Well Kenneth Baker seems to live in a world of his own. I, he er wants to have an image about the Labour Party that's so far from the reality that it's not true. We are an investing party, er we want to invest in Britain's future, in the skills of its people, er so that our education and training, instead of being neglected as almost the worst in Europe during the period of Mr Baker's government, becomes one of the best in Europe. In fact, we, we'd create the best educated and trained work force that there is in Europe. We've got so much to do that requires investment which is why er I have said er that we cannot have in general, across the board tax cuts, er income tax cuts, because we need the money for that crucial social investment. Mr Baker's party takes a different view; they've only to explain to the public how we're going to succeed if we don't invest in our own future, in our education and training and in good social services for our people, because I don't see how it can be done. I think they're being irresponsible, I think we're being responsible, and I make no apology er for borrowing when it's for investment in our own future, that's what intelligent companies do, it's what an intelligent government should do.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's nineteen minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb]. It's twenty past six. Oxfordshire's children's line is being relaunched this evening; posters carrying the slogan 'help is only a phone call away'have being up in schools and sports venues throughout the area, and the line opens at six thirty — ten minutes time. Children's line had been forced to close through lack of cash, but now funds have been raised to get the service off the ground again; June Nash who is on the service's committee has been instrumental in the relaunch. She says the volunteers who answer the phone are prepared to deal any problem a child contacts them with, no matter how small it may seem.
[speaker177:] We've got a lot of volunteers who we've er trained in listening skills and how to answer the phone, and how to deal with some of the problems that come up. It may be that er a child is being ill-treated in some way er by somebody, and we can help to decide what to do about that.
[speaker002:] What, what would the options be there, you would, would you, you, are you working with social services?
[speaker177:] No, we're nothing to do with social services at all. er the calls are totally confidential and it would depend entirely on the child as to really what happened, because er you can't say to a child 'right I'm going to report this' , it doesn't happen like that. The child will indicate exactly how important it is and you've got to really find out whether they want to do something about it. Well, yes they may want to do something about it, but they may be just too scared to give any details which would lead to something being done about it, I mean things can be done about it, but only if the child wants them done. We're never going to er say to the child 'right, something must be done, we're going to do something', it, it's not like that at all; the pace is wholly by the child themselves.
[speaker002:] You do need to, to let the children know that the service is there. I think there's been a lot, a lot of publicity for childline, now, but you aren't directly in, associated with childline Fjn Well, we've had, no, we've had to call ourselves children's line because for er obvious reasons we can't call ourselves childline, but it is the same type of thing, er run in a similar way, not exactly the same of course er partly because we [LAUGHTER] haven't got the money that childline er attracts. I mean hopefully we will attract money because we can't function without it. I mean it must cost a fair amount of money to keep it going cause, the calls are free
[speaker177:] It does, the calls are free
[speaker002:] Does that mean that you have to pay for them?
[speaker177:] Yes it does, yes, which quickly eats up er into a call, I mean we're not going to put the phone down on anybody because we feel the call is expensive or anything, er we will always wait until the child her, themselves puts the phone down.
[speaker030:] If you've got a problem and want to talk, ring children's line O eight hundred six two six thousand. It's open in the evening, Monday to Friday, calls are free.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. This week is Oxfam week; for the rest of the week Oxford based, the Oxford base charity will be banging the drum to remind people that it exists and to raise funds. Paul Clifford is the area director for the er region — Paul, what sort of things are you going to be doing?
[speaker004:] Well, Oxfam week's principally aimed at a house, house to house collection Jane, so we shall be asking a whole lot of people to get out on the streets and to put envelopes through the doors in their neighbourhood and then to go back later on and collect money which we hope people will kindly give us.
[speaker002:] So everybody in the area is going to receive, er a house, house, house visit?
[speaker004:] Well, er we're very lucky that er Oxford's pretty well covered, yes, we've, or could do with some more volunteers of course, but we've got about one hundred and twenty people who'll be going out in the city, and I was looking at a map this morning and it's very well covered indeed with purple and yellow lines where we've actually got people on the ground.
[speaker002:] It's, it's quite a big operation to organize I should think, is it?
[speaker004:] It's absolutely massive, yes, it's a national er campaign, so we've been recruiting people from all kinds of ways; direct mail, er getting in touch with people who've done it for us before, er through magazines and so on and the whole thing has been a major logistical undertaking.
[speaker002:] It's, it's, I mean everybody knows about Oxfam, it's one of the most well-known charities I imagine in the whole of the country. Er. Do you need a day like this specifically to raise funds.
[speaker004:] Well I think an awful lot of people think of Oxfam and think of the shops, er and the shops have been terribly important to us for such a long time, but we've found a few years ago that er people who, er were asked said that they would give money to Oxfam, but that they weren't necessarily always asked. And a lot of people of course don't go into our shops, so we feel that there are a lot of people out there who have a lot of sympathy for Oxfam's aims and objectives, but are only lacking just the opportunity to give, and that's what we hope to provide them with.
[speaker002:] So have you any target for the amount of money you'd like to raise?
[speaker004:] Well this is part of a one million er £ er campaign to try and raise money for a lot of projects that we run in eight countries in southern Africa, from Angola to Mozambique, where our, the problems are absolutely horrendous er civil war in Mozambique for example, in Malawi, one in ten of the population are refugees, principally from Mozambiquan civil war, arriving at refugee camps in Bark and absolutely nothing er at all in terms of possessions. The drought in Zimbabwe, so the needs are massive, and if we can just make some kind of a major inroad into one million pounds, then we will have given an awful lot of people new hope.
[speaker002:] Paul, thank you very much indeed.
[speaker004:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] The world summit for children which took place at the weekend caught the headlines around the world and the world's leaders put their heads together and agreed that children all round the world are suffering and something must be done about it. Eileen Polgreen from the organization RESULTS, Eileen organized a candle-lit vigil before the summit, Eileen, now the summit's over and we all heard about it, it, it hit the headlines as I say — what do you think came out of it?
[speaker187:] Well I think what came out of it firstly, was thanks to people like you, a tremendous amount of publicity for a problem that is certainly not a new one, one that has been going on for many many years. But now I think there's a new feeling abroad that instead of trying to solve the poverty of third world countries, by providing them with aeroplanes, particularly for their armies and providing them with electricity generating plants, we should actually start at bottom; we should start with the children, in providing medicines, in providing enough food, so that those children will grow up and will be able to fend for themselves, providing them with skills, providing them also with markets for the goods that they'll produce. And therefore, helping third world countries and the people in them to generate their own well-being.
[speaker002:] Now it's very easy for all the leaders around the world, not that easy to get them all together, but once they were together, it was very easy for them all to say yes the situation's dreadful, it's awful, it's awful. But do you think anything will actually come out of it — anything actually concrete?
[speaker187:] Well, I think we had much higher hopes before the Gulf crisis, I think what many people are saying now is that the peace dividend, the money that we could have saved by the end of the Cold War, will in fact, that peace dividend will be diluted by the Gulf. Everybody is spending so much money, particularly the United States of course, which is the biggest donor, er on supplying armies and airforce and all the rest of it, in the Gulf conflict. Now, that is a terrible thing, because it means that whatever Mr Hussein has done, he has also in fact, written the death sentence for millions of children who will never have heard of him. And that is a terrible terrible thing that we've all got to face, but I think we have to realize that we have the potential, we have the ability of saving the lives of fifty million children, and the world's leaders at the conference, at the summit over the weekend, actually turned their minds for an instant, away from all those economic and political problems and focused on this, and I think that that was tremendously important. I was on the phone to UNICEF earlier this afternoon and they are very much encouraged by what has happened. I think here in the United Kingdom, we have to continue trying to urge our governments to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is a sort of Bill of Rights for children. There are an awful lot of children in the United Kingdom in fact who are living in the sort of poverty and who's parents are living in the sort of poverty which in a rich country like our own, should not be tolerated.
[speaker002:] How did you feel about Mrs Thatcher's contribution at the weekend?
[speaker187:] I thought it was a very er Thatcherite contribution. She put the onus quite honestly straight back on to parents, er it reminded me a little bit like er of the furore that she created about you know there are so many people being mugged, well isn't it their own fault that they go into dark places. Er. You know, about the crime statistics; really what she's saying is that parents ought to do a better job for their children, and I'm sure we all agree with that but I think that that's a very superficial response to what is er an enormous question of parents just being too poor and having nothing to give their children in the way of just basic food, basic medicines, to keep them alive.
[speaker002:] So do you think Britain's lagging behind the rest of the world?
[speaker187:] I think that we have a very butch attitude, I think the government has a very butch attitude quite honestly, er to, you know, you've got to er stand up there and help yourself, and I suppose I'm all for that, but you've got to have something to help yourself with, and I think that's where we ought to be aiming and I'm very glad that the world's leaders are heading straight in that direction. [pre-recorded blurb]. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic seems to be running fairly, better now on the M twenty five, that's clockwise round junction sixteen where there was some earlier slow moving traffic. On the M four between junctions fifteen and sixteen, the outside and centre lanes are closed westbound, that's between Swindon east and Swindon west, and on the A four two three, that's near Hopcroft's Holt and Steeple Aston, there's resurfacing work there and that's causing some delays. A six O four, Catworth to Stratford and there's single line traffic working there, and er on the M, sorry, the M four that's er seems to be running fairly smoothly, westbound traffic is a little slow moving however. And er on the M forty between junctions four and five between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, there are two narrow lanes in both direction with a contraflow system at Boulter End which might add to the confusion, and that's got single line traffic running both ways. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing to report to you still from either the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty-one. President Bush has told the United Nations that if Iraq pulls out of Kuwait, it could end conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis. He says the world must examine the future for the Middle East when the Gulf crisis is over. The man who was in charge of the A S, er the S A S storming of the Iranian Embassy ten years ago is to lead Britain's forces in the Gulf; fifty-six year old Lieutenant General Sir Peter de la Beliaire was due to retire in November. Thousands of commuters are facing delays and cancellations after British Rail maintenance staff voted for a series of twenty four hour strikes; they're protesting at B R's plans to close three maintenance depots. And the Shadow Education Shec, Secretary, Jack Straw says Cabinet Ministers should show their support for State Education and stop sending their children to private schools. He told the Labour Conference in Blackpool that the Cabinet should set an example by having faith in the public seft sector. The weather for the Fox F M area: a dry but mainly cloudy evening and night, the minimum temperature eight degrees celsius, forty-six degrees fahrenheit, and the wind could pick up to become moderate south-westerly during the evening. [pre-recorded blurb]. Still to come, the therapeutic effect of gardening, helping people to recover from mental illness in Oxford, and the day's financial and sports news. First though, the Princess Royal has been asking Oxfordshire landowners to help the County's rural housing needs. Her Royal Highness was addressing a conference on affordable village homes for Oxfordshire, organized by the County Council and the Rural Housing Trust, of which she's president. Land expert at the Trust, Simon Potts says he welcomes the call for farmers to sell land at near agricultural prices, but admits there's not much to be built, not much in it for the landowners themselves.
[speaker188:] We have a situation where the landowner is going to have to sell land relatively cheaply, in order that the land then, the land prices do not reflect too horrendously when it comes through to the price that has to be paid by the person who's going to occupy the property; either in terms of a letting figure or of something which is going to be an, effectively a mortgage figure. So that we've got to get land in at something in the order of ten to fifteen thousand pounds an acre for residential development, and that obviously is hugely under the going rate.
[speaker067:] Is there any compensation at all if a landowner were to make a gesture like this?
[speaker188:] No, no compensation as such, there are opportunities occasionally for landowners to ask that er one of the houses might for example be used for one of their own workers er when that worker retires, that type of thing. So that we're prepared within the Rural Housing Trust to look at all these ideas, and we've been looking at the whole question, we feel that this has got to be one for the planners, the planners must be involved in identifying where these problems lie, they're not uniform, all across the country, er and it's something that er we therefore need to use the planning er scenario entirely and fully in order to identify where the problem lies.
[speaker002:] The Regional Secretary of the Country Landowners Association, Richard Lethbridge, agrees that planners have an important role to play, and he's got his own ideas about how to solve the problem.
[speaker189:] The way forward, if it's the desire of the community to find more low cost houses for people to live in, in villages, I think the way is to give some incentive to farmers and landowners to give er or to make land available. And as there isn't the money available to do it at full commercial price, in my view we should go for what they call cross-subsidy, that is to say that they give erm planning permission on a plot for some commercial housing on which the landowner can make some money, and in, a condition of that would be that part of that plot would be made available for low cost housing. That way, I think that some land might become available, but it would have to be up to the planners to be more flexible.
[speaker067:] So, what would be your message then to the planners?
[speaker189:] Well I think we'll have to re-look at the whole question of village envelopes in certain cases, where it is decided that low cost housing is desirable, and see if in some way, they can encourage the farmer to make land available so that he can make some money which he badly needs at the moment, as agriculture's going through one of the biggest depressions it's been through for years.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. A new system of fines has been introduced to courts in north Oxfordshire today, and it's been viewed by the government with much interest. Magistrates in Banbury, Chipping Norton, Bicester and Woodstock have adopted a scheme which fines offenders according to their income. Paul Kirby reports.
[speaker153:] Pilot projects have already taken place in two other parts of England, but magistrates in Oxfordshire are confident alterations make theirs a fairer scheme. Home Office Minister, John Patten who's also MP for Oxford west and Abingdon, says the scheme is much fairer than at present.
[speaker024:] What will happen is that the magistrates will judge if someone's found guilty, that because they've committed the offence, that they deserve to be fined so many units. They will then see what the man or woman has got left in disposable income each week; if it's two pounds, then it'll be ten units x two pounds, if it's two hundred pounds, then it'll be ten units x two hundred pounds to hit the better off in the same proportion as the people at the bottom of the income level.
[speaker067:] Trevor Isles who's Deputy Clerk to the Justices in north Oxfordshire is also confident the unit fine system will be fairer, he says 'if successful, it could be adopted on a national scale'.
[speaker190:] The government has not at this stage, legislated in this area, but I understand in their next White Paper, they probably will take away the ceiling that presently exists, so that a rich offender could pay a lot more for his fine than er a person of average means.
[speaker067:] Mr Isles says 'legal officials in south Oxfordshire have already expressed an interest', and Home Office Minister, John Patten agrees the fairess of the system is something that should be envied.
[speaker024:] We think that'll lead to fairer fining, and I think that's right, and I welcome what's going on in north Oxfordshire; it follows four experiments that the Home Office has had in other parts of the country. Good luck to Banbury in doing it.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. RESTORE is a local charity which helps people recovering from psychiatric illnesses, by offering them therapeutic working environments. One of the groups they run is a gardening group and Liz Hodgson coordinates this one. Liz, tell me a little bit about it, I mean, er there er gardening is a very therapeutic thing to do anyway isn't it?
[speaker191:] That's what people always say, yes. Er. I mean we provide a group environment for people who've had psychiatric illnesses of various kinds in the past, and with a view to giving them something useful to do, something constructive and I hope, pleasurable, with a positive end product as well, which we then proceed to sell.
[speaker002:] Is it, is it a long term thing, do people come for the day, or do they stay with you for months?
[speaker191:] Well, people come on a day to day basis, like a working environment, right? er Each individual will stay for a different length of time, it could be weeks, months, even years. But each person is different
[speaker002:] So time to see the garden develop as
[speaker191:] Oh yes, yes, very much so, yes, and with this new project that's really exciting because it's on an allotment site which has never actually happened before with a psychiatric rehabilitation project. And er now the group are beginning to be able to take a lot of pride in what they've done, you know, changing it from a jungle into a productive allotment.
[speaker002:] Was it actually started from scratch with this one did you?
[speaker191:] Absolutely, literally, yes.
[speaker002:] How far has it got?
[speaker191:] Well, we're on the second summer, just finishing now, and we're having quite a lot of produce coming off the plots, and we're hoping to start an orchard as well, just to keep it developing. So what we're always looking for now is outlets for the produce.
[speaker002:] I was going to say, you must have a lot of, er a lot of produce, er where does it go, what do you
[speaker191:] Well, what we've just started to do thanks to some of the people up at Templar Square, in Cowley, is to have a vegetable stall on Thursdays in Cowley Centre, which is quite a big step. Er. So we're doing that every day from, every Thursday that is, from ten till one thirty, and people who are doing their shopping can come by and have their fresh vegetables.
[speaker002:] So it, it's pretty professional stuff if you're able to sell it?
[speaker191:] Oh yes, oh absolutely, I mean it wouldn't be therapeutic if we weren't producing good quality stuff, that's part of the therapy — yes?
[speaker002:] And how is it all, how is it all financed and funded?
[speaker191:] Well, we have funding from all over. The health authority support us, the social services, the city council, and we do accept donations as well, I might add.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] But you are an independent charity are you?
[speaker191:] That's right yes, yes.
[speaker002:] And, and how do people find out about you if they've perhaps been through psychiatric illness?
[speaker191:] Well, people tend to be referred through the psychiatric services as they currently exist locally, er or through their G P. Its, it's a different process for each person you see, because everyone who's had a mental illness is, is going to be different from another person; a different history.
[speaker002:] So, as far as you're concerned, really you need outlets for your vegetables do you?
[speaker191:] Yes, well I mean I'm particularly interested for people to come along to the Cowley Centre stall, er and we also sell on the Cowley Road at our plant nursery which one of the other groups runs down near the east Oxford Health Centre.
[speaker002:] What, what other groups are, are involved?
[speaker191:] Well, apart from the Elder Stubbs group on the allotments, we have a town gardens group which is at Cowley Road, on our main site; they run a plant nursery there which is normally open every day, and will be open this Saturday as well, on the sixth er to sell wallflowers and autumn plants in particular. And then on that site as well, there's a print group and a woodwork group, so there's quite a range, a diversity of opportunities for people, that's what we try to provide. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker002:] have reversed last week's closing falls, finishing the day forty point six points higher at two O three O point eight. Trading was helped by the release of August's reduced retail sales figures showing that interest rates are beginning to bite. And an encouraging start on Wall Street followed the announcement that a budget settlement had been reached. On the foreign exchanges the pound gained ground against the dollar with news that U S interest rates may be reduced. The pound ended the day at one point eight eight nine five dollars and up against the deutschmark, at two deutschmarks point nine three O nine. Today's share prices: Abbey National up one at one nine seven, British Aerospace up nineteen at five six three, British Airways up three at one four eight, British Gas up four at two one O point five British Telecom up four at two six eight, Goodhead Publishing Group remained at five, at fifty-eight, Moreland Brewers up two at two seven five, Oxford Instruments remained at two three four, Thames Water are up two point five at two one nine, Trustee Savings Bank up point five at one twenty and today's major stockmarket movers: Reuters went up forty-four to seven eight eight and Glaxo up twenty seven at seven five seven. You're listening to the Fox Report. It's official, Britain's number one motor racing driver, Nigel Mansell is on his way back to his former team Williams who are based in Didcot in south Oxfordshire. Mickey Inotta our sports editor — Mickey, it's a bit of a surprise isn't it?
[speaker128:] It was to me Jane, I was still in bed, we had to send Robin Powell down there to get the interviews. But it was, but it's good news for Oxfordshire isn't it — Nigel back to Williams. Williams of course, the team that nearly gave Nigel his world championship, we all remember that burst tyre, he's never liked spaghetti, the Italians don't like him, they only like winners, it's impossible to win every race. Nigel did his best, but I'm so pleased he's back in Oxfordshire.
[speaker002:] He came pretty close at one time. This year, er been a bit iffy, and what do you reckon his chances are next year?
[speaker128:] I'm not sure, a boxer never returns, a tennis player never comes back, Bjorn Borg didn't. I don't know with motor racing, I, I just wish Nigel Mansell all the very best, but I just don't think he's ever going to win that world championship.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Oh dear, a prediction there, well the team boss, Frank Williams says he's delighted with the decis, decision, the decision and he now wants to help Mansell achieve his ambition of becoming world champion before he finally does hang up his helmet.
[speaker192:] Everyone at Didcot, myself included, are truly elated about it because we're in the business of winning, Nigel's a winner; if we can provide him with the right technical equipment next year, I'm sure he'll win a number of races and indeed his ambition and our objective jointly is to win a driver's, a world championship driver's title before he retires.
[speaker055:] Now this decision's been off and on. He said after Silverstone he'd be retiring at the end of the season. What do you think made him change his mind in the end?
[speaker192:] Well I suspect that initially his Silverstone decision was perhaps made prematurely, it was certainly a rather an emotional decision I think. But the fact that he's a born racer, I mean I know him quite well, I've seen him around a lot, I would talk to him a lot, so would other colleagues here, every race since that decision, I think without trying, he persuaded himself, we were able to persuade him without trying too hard that maybe he should reconsider; I think time did the rest.
[speaker055:] Is he the same driver that you let go two years ago, he's an old man of the track a little at, he hasn't had a terribly successful time at Ferrari.
[speaker192:] He's a better driver than he was when he left us, us in eighty-eight, because he's two years, has two years more experience and in Formula one racing, experience, if you are a quick driver, experience is fundamentally important to winning. You have to be very clever to win races these days, and I'm totally convinced and so is everybody else here that Nigel will win enough races providing his car is quick enough and reliable enough to win a world championship.
[speaker055:] It was no secret that at the time you were looking for John Alaysi perhaps to replace Bootsen next season. Were you disappointed not to get Alaysi?
[speaker192:] There's no doubt about that because the young man has got a brilliant, truly brilliant future ahead of him. He's in all the typical things a young man who's too quick does, that's fly off the road all the time, but that's part of the normal learning curve, and I think that he'll be trouble for every team that doesn't have him in their actual car at the time. He'll be very quick and I do regret that he's not here.
[speaker055:] I'll finish with the perennial question — can Williams challenge the Ferraris and McLarens next season?
[speaker192:] Well, in the last ten years, and this is only history, what really matters is tomorrow, Ferrari won one driver's title and Williams and McLaren won the rest. We intend to repeat that exercise.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Well that was a look forward to er Mansell's er rejoining Williams next season. Little bit of a look back now to the inaugural Blenheim or Audi international horse trials at er Blenheim Palace of course, which was a great success. Thousands of people trod through somewhat muddy conditions, Mickey was there, what were your thoughts Mickey, did you have a good few days?
[speaker128:] Absolutely, it was absolutely fantastic and despite the rain, spectators enjoyed themselves and course designer Mike Etherington-Smith is a genius, and locally we had something to cheer us, you may have heard earlier. Owen Moore on Locomotion finished fourth, John Evans from Faringdon on The Cordwina the second took exception to one fence in the show jumping round, he finished twelfth, he didn't like that one very much. Jane Starkie, she, she would have been in the frame had it not been for penalty points during the cross country course, for being a wee bit too slow. But my heart went out to Anne Marie Taylor-Evans, an excellent, an excellent dressage discipline was followed by a good gallop in the cross country until the bridle broke.
[speaker002:] Oh!
[speaker128:] So, you know, tears went out to her, but I'd also like to thank everybody at Audi who helped me, and also his Grace, the Duke of Marlborough for letting the event take place. Who, have I mentioned Jane, we had tea and biscuits in the east wing the other day?
[speaker002:] The, the odd twenty or thirty times [LAUGHTER], you have Mickey, I mean it was the success, is, is it likely to happen again next year?
[speaker128:] Hopefully, I mean the grounds now are ooh, very muddy and awful, but the Duke himself, he was very pleased with it, he attended every day, I mean he had a very nice bowler hat, he was very pleased with it, everybody was happy with it; it is Oxfordshire's sporting showpiece without a doubt.
[speaker002:] was saying the overall winner was Lucinda Murray on Just Jeremy, and er he first asked her over er a glass of champagne I believe, celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday with a party on Friday, er was that beneficial to success?
[speaker193:] Well it helps sometimes, but er I didn't know [LAUGHTER].
[speaker069:] Now, about Blenheim overall — what are your thoughts?
[speaker193:] A super, super three days, er nobody knew what to expect when we came here, except that Mike Etherington-Smith was going to build a super course. It's been great great success for everybody, er all the competitors have enjoyed it, I think all the organizers have enjoyed it as well and I think we're all looking forward to coming back next year.
[speaker069:] Obviously it seems to me a good grounding for the younger horses?
[speaker193:] Yes, but the cross country course was ideal, er if you wanted to get round carefully and slowly, you could, and if you wanted to go fast and furious, we did. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Building work got underway today to start the renovations for the Oxford Playhouse. Let's hope that work which is going to cost around three quarters of a million pounds will be finished by the spring of next year. While the works going on, it's unlikely that anyone will notice much evidence of the renovation, as Playhouse spokesperson, Nicola Russell explained.
[speaker194:] I honestly don't think that the public walking past the building will actually notice very much, except that in the foyer, they're going to be knocking down the sort of glass partition, so you, people will see that a little bit is going on. But most of the work is going on actually in the auditorium where they're stripping out all the wood er and putting in great big holes where they can put the fire exits in. So the normal man in the street won't see a great deal until very much nearer the time when it opens next spring.
[speaker073:] And how many people will it hold when it is fully refurbished?
[speaker194:] Roughly six hundred and fifty-four.
[speaker073:] And what sort of productions will you be hoping to put on there?
[speaker194:] All sorts. We'll be inviting people to come in and do pre-West End shows, small operas, small musicals, er concerts, films, you name it.
[speaker073:] How do you think it'll complement what exists at the moment, which is the Apollo and of course, the recently opened Old Fire Station?
[speaker194:] Well, the Old Fire Station is about three hundred seats, the Apollo seats one thousand two hundred, and we seat as I said about six hundred and fifty. We couldn't do the likes of, we couldn't invite Glyndebourne in or the Welsh National Opera because we just could not have that scale of operation on. But those aren't the two, only two opera companies for instance, in the country, there are some fantastic opera companies who er, who work on a much smaller scale, who, in a sense, would not fill somewhere like the Apollo, who are just perfect for, for us. The same thing with pre-West End shows — quite often, I mean for instance, there was a show at the Apollo about six months ago which was Lettuce and Lovage, er which had come out of the West End and was doing a big tour. Now, that in a sense, would have fitted much much better into the Playhouse, and had we been open at that stage, there's a jolly good chance that that show would have actually come to us rather than going there. I'm glad it went there, because we all got a chance to see it, but the chances are it would have come to us and, and fitted much more snugly if you like.
[speaker073:] How soon will it be before you'll know what is going to be the first production?
[speaker194:] [LAUGHTER] erm pass, [LAUGHTER] probably in a couple of months.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's eight minutes to seven. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] On the M four between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's the stretch between Swindon east and Swindon west, the outside and central lanes are closed westbound for some roadworks that are going on there. And on the A four two three near to Hopcroft's Holt and Steeple Aston, there's resurfacing work there and that's causing some delays. M forty between junctions four and five, between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, that's down to two narrow lanes in both directions and the additional problem of a contraflow at Boulter End with single line traffic running both ways. And on the A thirty-six one at Wardington, that's just north of Banbury, there are twenty-four hour temporary traffic lights which might slow you down a little, and on the A four one five five, Reading Road, Shiplake, there are also temporary traffic lights causing some delays. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing to report on the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six minutes to seven. Today saw the opening of a new science centre in Oxford. The Old Fire Station on George Street now houses a permanent exhibition of working science aimed at schoolchildren. The centre's backed by the Oxford Trust and it's assistant director, Gillian Pearson says 'the project is a hands on science gallery for everyone'. Fox F M reporter, Tiffany Foster asked her how the curiosity exhibition works.
[speaker195:] What we're hoping to do in this exhibition is to make people realize that science and technology is not as difficult as some people would have you believe, and that it can be fun. So, anybody entering the exhibition is encouraged to stand on a spot at the bottom of the stairs, and they place in the token that they've bought at the box office, as they do so, they get flooded in light, and the special computer voice made by the university takes you through into the exhibition. They all seem to be in one exhibit, that is obviously the favourite.
[speaker196:] Which, which, which is that?
[speaker195:] The favourite exhibit so far, with, with the first party of schoolchildren is the one that's called safety in the dark. Er. You may have seen the fluorescent stars and space ships that children stick on their bedroom ceiling that then glow in the dark. What we have here is, is a huge sheet of this material on the wall, and the visitors stand in front of this and press a flashlight which allows them then to make all sorts of poses on the wall, and as they then move away, their shadow is left on the wall so they can look back and see what their, their shadow was like in the pose. Er. At the moment I think, in there, there are probably sixteen children [LAUGHTER].
[speaker196:] Where did the idea come for, from to have er an exhibition, a permanent exhibition, er at the Old Fire Station?
[speaker195:] er Apollo Leisure had decided that they would like to have arts and science under the same roof, er the arts has been something that's considered an acceptable cultural pastime, and people will go out at weekends, take the family and will do something that, they would look at an exhibition, er or they would go to the theatre, whereas in science, there isn't really anything that you can do as a social or cultural pastime. So, there are these sort of centres all over the country, er but this is the first time that there has been one that has arts and science under the same room. Er. And it is very much intended to be an educational experience for people as well as fun.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. This Sunday the world-wide Fun for Nature's Walk for the Rain Forest is taking place, and that there are three hundred walks going on throughout the country, four of them are in Oxfordshire, and Sue May is, is concentrating on the walks at Burford Wildlife Park and also the one at Banbury. Sue, less than a week to go, how is it all shaping up — lots of people involved?
[speaker197:] It's terrific Jane actually, the buzz is really out there, it's just what we hoped would happen, and really very much thanks to Fox in fact, er it seems to be happening. We know that er sixteen schools at least are taking part at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, er we know of at least ten at the walk at Broughton Park, er we've got er students from polytechnics, Brownies, Guides, Headington Slimmers Magazine Club have registered a team, the advisory centre for multicultural education, Oxford City courier newspaper are promising to send teams. Banbury Guardian and Citizen, the Banbury Town Liberals [LAUGHTER], the Campaign for Oxford even have registered a team.
[speaker002:] The list goes on, I mean can you, can you make any sort of judgement about the sort of money you're going to raise, if, if all these people are going to be taking part?
[speaker197:] Oh, it's, it's terrifying that we're all actually sitting here in enormous anticipation, because I think we're going to er present an astonishing amount of money this time. We just want people to get the money in very quickly after the seventh of November, er but we'll hopefully know after Sunday evening, er what we reckon to have raised in the area.
[speaker002:] Are you, er is it still time, or is there still time for people to get involved if they haven't already filled in their application form?
[speaker197:] Oh yes, yes yes, er forms are available, as you keep telling people, from Fox, they're also available from the Banbury Guardian office in Banbury and Littlewoods in Banbury. Er. Both the Littlewoods actually, Banbury and Oxford are putting up teams, and so are, we understand, fifteen of the NatWest banks in Oxfordshire, so there's a lot going on and er we think the walks in Oxfordshire are going to go a long way towards raising this vitally needed million pounds for the rainforests this year
[speaker002:] And, and where's it actually going to, 'I mean, we, we say the rainforests, er where, how?
[speaker197:] [LAUGHTER] Well, we have er W W F, the World Wide Fund for Nature has two hundred and seventy five projects already up and running er in rainforest areas of the world, and there are constant demands for more projects to be undertaken, and of course, all this costs money; for men, machinery, equipment er and persuading governments, talking to people to make sure that we, if we can't halt this devastating destruction of rainforests, at least we can slow it down.
[speaker002:] So, if people can't get hold of an application form, can they still turn up on the day, I think that's the final thing isn't it?
[speaker197:] If they want to come along on the day and enjoy themselves, that's fine; we're even providing a bouncy castle, so children can bounce for the rainforests at the Banbury walk [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Sue, thank you very much indeed. And that was the Fox Report for Monday the first of October, nineteen ninety. Join us for another Fox Report at six tomorrow evening, I'll be back then, but don't go away, after the seven o'clock news, Steve Priestley, no, not Steve Priestley, a mystery person is on the Red Fox [LAUGHTER], at, after the news at seven o'clock. [recorded jingle] Tonight: Germany will be reunified, we talk to a former Ambassador. Oxfam praise Jordan's commitment to the refugees from Iraq, despite severe economic problems.
[speaker001:] They've been using enormous amounts of their own resources and expertise, to make life easier for, for the people who are going through their country.
[speaker002:] Councillors meet polytechnic official to discuss building of student hostel on Headington Hill.
[speaker147:] We are sympathetic but we also cannot ride roughshod over the concerns of the local community. Fjm And French gendarmes visit an Oxford school to teach their brand of road safety.
[speaker067:] When we teach pupils, in the same time we teach their parents. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker019:] The six o'clock news, this is Patrick Muirhead. Neil Kinnock is warning the Labour Party to be ready to fight an election at any time. Mr Kinnock presenting himself as the country's next Prime Minister, won a standing ovation at his Party Conference at Blackpool. Our political editor Peter Murphy reports: It was a confident Neil Kinnock who hammered home his attack on the government and set out his stall for the election, concentrating on the economy, investment and education. He declared:
[speaker198:] We are fit and we are ready, not just to win, but to govern the people of this country. Let us fulfil that purpose, not for own advantage, but out of our duty to the people of our country and the people of our world.
[speaker019:] The Party loved it, they gave him a standing ovation and Mr Kinnock went back for an encore to tell them to save their strength for the election. Peter Murphy, I R N, Blackpool. A French warship has opened fire on a freighter suspected of breaking sanctions against Iraq. The North Korean vessel stopped after the warning shots were fired in the Red Sea near Yemen, but nothing intended for Iraq was found. A hundred and twenty people have been killed after terrorists exploded a bomb in the cockpit of a plane they were trying to highjack in South China. The pilot wrestled with the highjackers as he desperately tried to land the plane at Canton airport, it then slammed into two other passenger jets. Chinese authorities are releasing few details and state T V has made no mention of the disaster. Ward Edmonds reports:
[speaker199:] The official death toll now stands at one hundred and twenty with fifty-three people, including one American, injured. Chinese officials are saying the plane was highjacked, but are remaining tight-lipped about any other details. Reliable sources in Kwang Chow say the highjackers were trying to take the plane to Hong Kong, but it was forced down by military jets. One of the highjackers then detonated a bomb which shattered the fuselage, causing the plane to land on top of a fully laden Boeing seven five seven that was waiting to take off. Ward Edmonds I R N, Hong Kong.
[speaker019:] The Lockerbie enquiry's been suspended for two days after a solicitor representing families of American victims, died in a car crash. Thirty-seven year old Michael Hughes, who was married with five children, was driving home to Glasgow from the enquiry in Dumfries, when he collided with a lorry. In the first legal case of it's kind in an English court, a man's been accused of raping his wife. The woman's alleged to have lived in constant fear of her estranged husband, who's said to have kidnapped her on her way to work. This report from Simon Irwin:
[speaker020:] Sheffield Crown Court heard that the man, who can't be named for legal reasons, kidnapped his twenty seven year old wife and took her to an isolated spot on the moors above the city and raped and sexually assaulted her. He denied all the charges against him. In Scotland last year, husbands lost their immunity from rape in marriage after a test case, and earlier this year, in Leicester, a man was jailed for three years for the lesser offence of attempting to rape his wife. The case in Sheffield continues. Simon Irwin I R N Sheffield.
[speaker019:] The wartime allies have officially handed control of Berlin back to the Berliners; the two Germanies will become a single nation at the stroke of midnight. Seventy-six Romanians who came to Britain for a Pontins holiday are asking for political asylum, they're among two hundred of their countrymen who arrived at a Pontins camp near Bristol on Sunday for a weeks stay. John Beasley has more:
[speaker112:] The Romanians have been leaving Pontins Bream Sands centre in Somerset to turn themselves in at police stations across the west country. Most, speaking no English, have been handing over notes asking for political asylum. Romanians have only been allowed to travel abroad since the revolution; Pontins have entertained over five hundred this summer, but they're describing the situation as highly unusual. Some of the asylum seekers are now being put up at bed and breakfast hotels in Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare. The Home Office say they'll all be interviewed, but their visas entitle them to stay in Britain for six months. John Beasley, I R N, Bristol.
[speaker019:] English fans could find themselves alongside rival Hungarians when Manchester United lead football league clubs back into Europe tomorrow after a five year absence. United's carefully laid segregation plans could be undermined if the Hungarian team Pecsimunkas go ahead with selling around two thousand tickets at random tomorrow morning. Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker002:] It's Tuesday the second of October, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. Germany will be reunited tonight; the ceremony takes place at midnight when Berlin will become the capital of an independent Germany. Sir Julian Willard was British Ambassador to West Germany from nineteen eighty-four to nineteen eighty-eight. Sir Julian, it's er a momentous occasion, what does it all mean?
[speaker125:] Well, it means quite a lot for the people who are living in Germany, especially the ones who are living in the East, because their economy has been so run down, it's got to be put through a sort of shock treatment. And something like two million people have got to stop doing jobs they should never have been doing in the first place, like er polluting the rivers and the soil and the air, and spying on each other and contributing to the overmanning that there is in East Germany. And they have to move to other industries, er productive industries and service industries and er communications for example which is very run down, and that's going to take I should think, six to nine months of really hard work and suffering, and and a political clean up at the same time, because in the schools and universities for instance, er nobody could get a job in the old days, who wasn't politically reliable, and all those people have got to be moved. So there's a lot to do in East Germany.
[speaker002:] er, In spite of the fact that the Germanies were at one time united, it, it's almost a culture shock I suppose.
[speaker125:] Very big, and also for the West Germans, because they've got to absorb these sixteen million or so new er citizens and they've got to pay for them until they pay for themselves, and meanwhile they've got to carry various international costs, especially payments to Russia for the Russian troops who are going to stay on for three or four years, and pay for them to withdraw and pay to build barracks for them in, in Russia so that they can withdraw. So it's a heavy burden for West Germany as well.
[speaker002:] And there was huge euphoria when the Berlin Wall was, was knocked down, and in a way, we've also heard recently that the gilt has perhaps been knocked off that ge, gingerbread as, as the real economic truths are hitting home. Are you er hopeful that this is, is the start of something good?
[speaker125:] Oh, I'm absolutely sure it is, as, as I say there will be a few months of real suffering in, in eastern Germany and it may be a year and a half to two years before East Germany begans to, begins to show up plus figures, er on, instead of minus figures on the national statistics. But in the long run, it's bound to strengthen Germany's economy tremendously, in fact some people think it's going to strengthen it a bit too much, because it's, it's strong enough er already.
[speaker002:] Now there was some dispute over whether Berlin or Bonn should be the capital, they've come down on the side of Berlin, but is that dispute settled now?
[speaker125:] Not really, they've put in their treaty that er Berlin is the capital of the United Germany, but that the seat of government will be chosen by the newly elected all-German parliament, which has got to be chosen early in December, and they could still say 'well we have the capital in Berlin, but the seat of the government will remain in Bonn, and up in Berlin the president will have his office and some meetings will take place, but the ministries and foreign embassies and so on, and all the traffic jams that go with that, can jolly well stay in Bonn'. I think it, they might decide that.
[speaker002:] Now, now you did mention it, it is going to be an enormous country now, what implications does that have for the European Community?
[speaker125:] It's going to be about er, er twenty-five percent larger than France, Britain and Italy in population. It's still actually going to be smaller than France in area, it's quite interesting to er remember that, but it's economic power is already way ahead of anyone elses, and that's going to increase. Well I think it, we should er congratulate ourselves in having the European Community as a piece of machinery inside which it's possible to contain a power the size of Germany. I'd m, be much more worried if we had Germany outside the European Community.
[speaker002:] I suppose the next, the next big thing will be the elections that are coming up?
[speaker125:] Yes.
[speaker002:] That, that'll be something very different for people in East Germany.
[speaker125:] Well it will, they haven't had a free election except for one they had in rather stressful circumstances a few months ago, since oh, the early er ninteen thirties, and one er wonders whether the population could be going to administer to Mr Kohl the same sort of surprise that the British population administered to Churchill in nineteen forty-five. On the whole I don't think so, I think probably the present government will, will get back quite easily, but it's a possibility.
[speaker002:] All in all, a very exciting day I think.
[speaker125:] I think so.
[speaker002:] Sir Julian, thank you very much.
[speaker125:] Thank you. [pre-recorded blurb]. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker200:] Thames Valley Police report no major delays throughout the Fox F M area this evening, however roadworks continue on the A three six one at Wardington, there's resurfacing work going on there. The A four one, Ruscote Avenue in Banbury is completely closed southbound at the junction with Orchard Way, for paving work there. On the A four two two Alcester bypass there's a single lane working only for roadworks, and finally again on the A four one near Gaydom proving ground, there's temporary traffic lights during the daytime only. Natalie Proud, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing to report to you on either the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb]. Still to come: Oxfam pays tribute to Jordan's help for refugees from Iraq. First with a round up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] Thames Water say they'll come down hard on anyone caught breaking the new drought order which has come into force today. The order could last up to six months and affects areas in the west of Oxfordshire, including Carterton, Brize Norton and surrounding villages. Although Thames Water say they haven't yet prosecuted over previous bans, water resources manager Dave Cook says they may have to clamp down further.
[speaker201:] At the end of it there's the chance that we may have to take action; we'd take that very much as a last resort, and we hope our customers will respond without the necessity for fines or prosecutions. We have er patrols, patrols out in the erm out in the area as part of our normal job, if they see anybody infringing the order, they'll have a word with them and er make sure they know about it, and apart from that, as I say, we're appealing to the good sense of our customers, we are in a very serious situation.
[speaker153:] Police are appealing for witnesses following a traffic accident in north Oxfordshire this morning. An articulated lorry and a Ford Sierra car collided on the A thirty-four near Enstone at about nine o'clock this morning. The lorry jackknifed and hit a stone wall causing serious injuries to the driver. Witnesses or anyone else with any further information about the incident, is urged to contact the local police. Police in north Oxfordshire are expressing concern about a recent spate of bicycle thefts; over the past month, over twenty have been stolen in the Banbury area. Christine Honesom of Banbury police is warning residents to take extra care with their bikes.
[speaker202:] Since the first of September till the twenty-sixth of September, we've had thirteen bikes go all over Banbury, and since the twenty-sixth of September it seems to have increased and we've had eight of various sorts go, er ranging from a hundred to a hundred and ninety pounds. er three have gone from schools in the Easington area, three have gone from the Bretchill area, so that's a total of what, twenty-one for September.
[speaker153:] Anti poll tax complainers in Oxfordshire will be lobbying the Vale of White Horse District Council this evening, asking them to refuse to use bailiffs in the collection of the community charge. At a meeting of the Finance Committee members will pr, make a progress report on how the poll tax collection is going, and campaigners say they intend to put pressure on councillors in an attempt to get them to review the collection process. An eleven year old boy from Didcot is in a comfortable condition in hospital following an, an attack by his pet dog. Philip Turner was taken to the Radcliffe Infirmary in the city after his nose was, was bitten off last night. Finally sport: Oxford United have made a new signing this afternoon; Jim Magilton has joined from Liverpool for a hundred thousand pounds. He makes his football league debut for Oxford in tomorrow's away match at West Ham. Twenty-one year old Magil Magilton attributes his signing to the manager's enthusiasm.
[speaker068:] Definitely, yes, I would say like I've spoke to Brian Horton on Sunday and he more or less said that it's er Oxford United, fourth position in the league, let's hope so like you know, they are like, and I've come here maybe to help get them in a better position. Because I believe, that only through him, what he's told me about the club, that it's a nice club, a nice base for me to start off my career, because that's what I really am doing.
[speaker153:] And we'll have late, more on this story later in the Fox Report. Fox F M news, Phil Kirby reporting [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker002:] It's thirteen minutes past six. Buckingham's MP George Walden is holding a public meeting in his constituency tonight aimed at allowing people to air and share their views on the Gulf crisis. Mr Walden says he's received numerous letters since the Iraqi invasion two months ago, and felt it important to take the opportunity to talk with the people he represents. The one-time diplomat who's served in the Gulf says concern appears to have grown about the way things are developing.
[speaker139:] My constituents, er many of them will be concerned personally because they may have a relative in the army, now that we've got ground troops out there, or they may have a relative who's lived there or, or you know, God forbid, some of, some of them may have relatives who, who are hostages. Er. And so this is something that is going to touch an awful lot of people if it does turn sour, so all the more reason for me to be able to explain how I see it, and as I say, to hear how, what people think about the crisis.
[speaker001:] With so many forces going there, do you think Britain is going to be taking part in this sort of international peace-keeping force for some time to come?
[speaker139:] Well I think so, yes. Now, now that we are, are there I think we will stay there, and rightly, and I must say that er we have and I have a lot of confidence in the way the Americans have handled this so far, I think President Bush has done very well. Er. He's been very careful er not to sound too bellicose, er but to keep force in reserve. He's also been careful to work er with the United Nations who have done er much better so far than they have in er some crises in the past. Er. And so I, I think the Americans are, are doing a good job, er but there are many many pitfalls ahead, and, and I hope that now that we've got more troops there, that we will be er carefully consulted, er the whole time before any er drastic action is taken.
[speaker001:] How significant do you think the warming of relations between Britain and Iran is in the whole scenario in the Gulf?
[speaker139:] It, it's only part of, of the pattern, but it's obviously er a good sign because er Iran has reason to know er what Saddam Hussein is like, having been at war with him for eight years — totally un, unpredictable man and a completely ruthless man. Now of course, some people might say well the Iranians er haven't covered themselves with glory one way and another in the last few years, and that of course, is true. Er. But unfortunately, in international relations, you have to er work with, with the grain, and if it is a case that the Iranians are taking a fairly er tough line on Iraq, well this is clearly to be encouraged because Saddam Hussein must be er surrounded, he must be isolated, the sanctions must work, and I'm sorry to say this, but the country of Iraq must suffer in order that those sanction work, because if it doesn't suffer, and if the sanctions don't work, there is a danger of war, and that will be immensely costly to our side as well as being the end for Saddam Hussein.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The water shortage faced by thousands of refugees in Jordan has been eased with the help of the Oxford based charity Oxfam. Every day thousands of returnees from occupied Kuwait are still entering Jordan, putting pressure on the country's resources and causing friction between the people fleeing the country. Oxfam sent out three engineers to the camps who installed water shortage, er, er water storage equipment. The team leader, Paul Sherlock says there still have considerable problems in the country.
[speaker116:] The atmosphere with the actual returnees themselves is one of concern and apprehension I guess, because they're concerned that they've been involved in this, this crisis and they're not quite sure what's happening, and they are er not really being told by everybody, you know, there's just too many people to make it very clear where they're all going and when they're all going. And therefore most people are, are, are so, you know, concerned about their, their particular out, you know, what's going to happen, are, does their government know that they are there? er What's going to happen when they get back into India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines or, or Pakistan or wherever. er They've lost most of their goods, er they've had to leave enormous amounts of, of, of their personal belongings in, in Kuwait, they're, they're not physically in bad shape, but mentally they're, they're very anxious and, and they know they've lost a lot of belongings.
[speaker002:] Has the water been able to ease some of the worries and concerns in the camps?
[speaker116:] Yes, I mean you may well have seen on the television, some of the first film of some of the camps, that the first sort of rioting was about water. Er. And that's why we, we were dispatched out to Jordan, er at sort of very very quick, very short notice. The water side now is actually, is, is, is, is more or less all sorted out. The, we've been working with the water authorities as I said, they've pulled all the stops out to provide the actual water resource and we've provided the tanks and the distribution systems. And, you know, with, with their help the whole thing has gone together quite nicely, so it's, it's from the water point of view, the basic problems are, are solved.
[speaker002:] Are you pleased with what you achieved?
[speaker116:] Yes, we're very very pleased actually, I mean we were pleased with the fact that we were able to contribute to it because one of the nice things about working, for us, working for the Jordanian water authority, was that the Jordanians themselves have put so much commitment into this er situation, they're, so much of their own resources and energy has gone into looking after, you know, very large groups of people who really are of no benefit to the country whatsoever. The economic situation in the country is, is, is going down and down and down, and they're being squeezed by this whole crisis. And yet they've been using enormous amounts of their own resources, both finance and, and manpower resources and expertise to make life easier for, for the people who are going through their country.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. A government minister, last week appointed to look after green affairs, says he can't rule out a three pound gallon of petrol at the pumps. Eric Forth has been telling an international petroleum seminar in Dunstable that there's no need to step in and limit the price rises. Then he points out that two enquiries by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the Office of Fair Trading have cleared the oil companies of malpractice.
[speaker203:] In spite of what one reads and hears, we can take that as being a pretty definitive er word on, on the fact that we're not being conned or ripped off in any way at all.
[speaker011:] Now Mr Wakeham said yesterday that high petrol prices are here to stay, considering what you've just said, does that mean we can see a three pound gallon around the corner?
[speaker203:] Well I, it's difficult of course to look any distance ahead, er against the background of what's happening in the Gulf. But er interestingly, the Americans have just put er more tax on to their gas for, for different reasons admittedly, and er the environmentalists er always feel happy about that because they've been the ones who've been telling us for years that er petrol is if anything underpriced, and that we're rather profligate in the way that we use it, so er at least some people are happy out of this, not everybody, but it, but er it's making some people happier.
[speaker011:] Petrol sales at the pumps have dropped by fifteen percent — is that bad news for the government in terms of revenue?
[speaker203:] Well er funnily enough, revenue considerations are of, er certainly not anywhere near the top of the list as far as that's concerned. One could argue quite the opposite, that a major drop in p, petrol use, is good in terms of environmental factors, economic factors and so on. It won't be very good for the petrol companies that I've been visiting here today, but every cloud tends to have it's silver lining, and I, I think I can say with some confidence that the last factor that we're considering is pouring over the revenues and wondering how much is coming in, that, that really hasn't much come into it.
[speaker011:] Has that been something that's been on the government's mind, the backhanded benefit of higher prices?
[speaker203:] I don't think so. It's obviously in the Treasury's mind and that there will be a factor that is taken into consideration when they do their, er arithmetic er, er about the economy and in the run up to the budget if we can look that far ahead. But it certainly hasn't determined policy in any way, because what we've said is that provided we're satisfied that there isn't profiteering going on by the oil companies, and our Office of Fair Trading have told us that there isn't, then it is right that, that we should pay the right price for our petrol, and that is what it costs at any one time. And if for the time being, that's a high price, then that is one of the things that we've got to accept as part of what's going on in the Gulf, however painful that may be.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty-one minutes past six. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]. It's twenty-two minutes past six. Neil Kinnock has been giving a major speech to the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool this afternoon. Peter Russell has been there:
[speaker044:] Neil Kinnock has received a rousing reception to his keynote speech to delegates at Blackpool. The Labour leader knows and the rest of the party knows that there could be an election next year, in which case when Labour meets for it's conference in autumn ninety-one, Mr Kinnock could be addressing them, not as leader of the opposition, but as Prime Minister. In a wide-ranging speech that lasted just under an hour, Mr Kinnock focused on the economy, training and education, the National Health Service and the Gulf crisis. It was as much a speech to slam eleven years of Conservative government as to promote himself as a statesman, capable of assuming the role of Prime Minister. The Labour leader lambasted the Tory record on the economy; inflation up, interest rates up, a seventeen billion pound budget deficit and now, recession. And all Mrs Thatcher could say in the face of that mocked Mr Kinnock, was that tax cuts looked unlikely next year.
[speaker198:] I don't think that income taxes should be cut next year. I think, [people clapping] I think, that I think that the children and the pensioners and the sick people of Britain come a long way before income tax cuts next year, or for many years to come.
[speaker044:] So with a ten point six percent inflation rate, what should the government do?
[speaker198:] First they should cut the very high interest rates and so reduce industrial and housing costs. That's what we would do, that's what we will do, if interest rates are at their current level. Second and simultaneously, in order not to release a consumer credit squeeze that would second imports, they should introduce controls on the supply of credit; restraint in what the banking system is allowed to borrow. Several other mixed economies do it successfully, that's what we would do, that's what we will do.
[speaker044:] And third argued Mr Kinnock, they should negotiate entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and to stop Britain's economic slide in the long run, he told delegates, money had to be invested in training. There'd been a decade of de-skilling said Mr Kinnock, but Labour would set in motion a national training strategy. The party would also invest in education; that was he said, the most fundamental requirement of Britain's future success.; Fjm You're listening to the Fox Report. Oxford East's M P, Andrew Smith says 'Neil Kinnock's speech shows Labour's commitment to governing the country after the next General Election'. Speaking from Blackpool, Mr Smith says the party has a policy package that'll lead the country out of the disastrous situation that the present government has put it in.
[speaker033:] I thought it was a great speech, it was a prime ministerial speech from the next Prime Minister of our country. I think he set out quite clearly Labour's fitness to govern and our programme for government. I was particularly pleased at the emphasis on investment in education and training, in science research and development and the commitments he gave on transport and health and community care. I think he set out in plain language the priorities which Britain needs to address and which the present government is failing us on.
[speaker023:] How was he received by delegates?
[speaker033:] Ecstatically, with enthusiasm and with people picking up the steely determination, that we've all got to work with every energy to make sure that we win the General Election, as simple as that. Everybody's aware that this may well be the last Gen, the last Party Conference before the General Election, and what is more, of, an impression of the terrific progress that the Labour Party's made in recent years, and further gains over the last year in terms of public support, so that we really are on the threshold of a General Election campaign which we realistically hope to win, and we've got the policies in place to meet the needs of the nation for the nineties. So it's an atmosphere of excitement and determination.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Plans to ease the student housing crisis which is being faced by many students in Oxford, are being discussed by the residents of Headington this evening. The polytechnic plans to build a hostel on the Morrell-Pollock site in North Oxford, and tonight, local residents will have the chance to talk about their proposal at a public meeting. Abby Donald reports;
[speaker050:] The extent of the problems faced by students at the poly was highlighted last week when it was revealed that some students were living in cars, and others had to turn down places because of the lack of affordable housing. The new student hostel will go some way towards easing the problem, providing an extra two hundred and eighty places. Students in Oxford have a particularly difficult time finding housing within their price range because although the cost of rented accommodation is similar to London, students in the region don't get extra grant to cover it. Deputy director at the poly, Brian Summers:
[speaker204:] The problem for the students to some extent, is being compounded by the withdrawal of housing benefit, which means that they're paying the full cost of rents in the private sector, whereas before they might have been getting ten, twelve even, more pounds a week refunded to them through the housing benefit scheme. So they are facing much higher costs and we're aiming to provide more accommodation at an affordable level for the students, and to take some of the pressure off the housing market in the city.
[speaker050:] Chairperson at tonight's meeting, Councillor Maureen Christian, says although they understand the needs of students, they can't ignore the views of local residents.
[speaker205:] We're negotiating with the polytechnic to give them permission to build a hostel on the John Boscoe playing field. So we are sympathetic towards this er provision of student accommodation, but we also cannot ride roughshod over the concerns of the local community.
[speaker050:] The polytechnic says they're fully aware of local objections and have revised the plans to account for them. Mr Summers says good relations with the community are very important.
[speaker204:] I think we've put a tremendous er amount of effort into trying to be a good neighbour; we rely on the local community very heavily for it's support if we're going to exist and flourish in Oxford at all. And I think the fact that we completely changed our original proposal to meet local objections, does demonstrate the degree of concern that we have.
[speaker050:] The meeting will take place at St Michael's first school in Marston Road and half past seven this evening.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's twenty-nine minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker200:] On the M four westbound at the junction Slough, junction six which is Slough, traffic's very heavy and slow. Very heavy going also on the M twenty-five, clockwise between junctions fifteen and sixteen, the M four and the M forty. There'll be overnight work taking place in that area, both ways between junctions fourteen and fifteen, Heathrow and the M four, that's between nine pm tonight and six am tomorrow morning; there'll be outside lane closures for lighting repairs. Roadworks continue on the M forty too between junctions four and five, High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, two narrow lanes will be operating in both directions with a contraflow for a short section about midway between the two junctions. And finally on the A forty-six London Road on Moreton-in-Marsh there are gasworks with restrictions which will also affect the High Street. Natalie Proud, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've not too many problems to report to you this evening either from British Rail who tell us that there's a twenty three minute delay on the Manchester to Paddington service which was due in at Oxford at six twenty-four, can't quite do the sums there, but it isn't quite due in yet. You're listening to the Fox Report, it's six thirty-one. Neil Kinnock has won a standing ovation from the Labour Party faithful at their conference in Blackpool, by presenting himself as the next Prime Minister. He told members to get ready for an election which could happen at any time. The French navy stopped a North Korean vessel in the Red Sea near Yemen, believing it's cargo was intended for Iraq. The allied warship fired off warning shots across the Korean ship's bows to make it stop, but it was cleared to continue it's voyage. And a pilot has desperately tried to fight off highjackers seconds before his aircraft smashed into two other jets on the ground at China's Canton airport. One hundred and twenty people are thought to be dead and more than fifty are injured in what's thought to be China's worst air disaster. And Sheffield Crown Court has heard how a man allegedly kidnapped and raped his wife; the man who can't be named for legal reasons, was separated from her at the time of the supposed attack, and the case is making legal history. The weather for the Fox F M area: the evening will start dry and cloudy but outbreaks of rain will reach the area later on. The rain is going to continue overnight with heavy rain in places and mists developing over the Cotswolds and the Chilterns. It's going to be mild though with fresh south-westerly winds preventing the temperatures falling below eleven degrees celsius, that's fifty-two degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb]. Still to come: Britain's rare birds have their best breeding season for years, plus a look at the day's financial and sports news. First though, it's National Asthma Week this week, which er this year is taking as it's theme, A Lifeline for New Asthmatics. Dr Barbara Hunt from the University of Oxford has a grant from the National Asthma Campaign to research the links between dust mites and allergic asthma. Barbara it's, I'd always assumed that people were probable born with asthma, but that's not, not the case?
[speaker206:] No, er it depends which type of asthma we, we're talking about. There is allergic asthma, there's also exercise-induced asthma and stress-induced asthma, for example, er as far as allergic asthma is concerned, we think that people have to be exposed to the allergens er early in their life, in order to become sensitized, and once sensitized, they will respond to these allergens and er have asthma attacks.
[speaker002:] Now, now your explan, expertise is with the link between dust mites and, and asthma?
[speaker206:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Is it a big problem, how many people er or is that er, do you know roughly how many people would suffer from it?
[speaker206:] Well, there are three million people in the U K who suffer from asthma, and about forty percent of that number, er I, I can't do the fi, can't the figures either, er are allergic to dust mites. And so, yes it is a big problem and it seems to be increasing, er the number of sufferers has doubled in the past ten years and we, we don't really know why yet.
[speaker002:] No theories on that?
[speaker206:] er Well, one of the theories is that, with modern housing and wall to wall carpeting, central heating and better insulation, er the mites that live in our houses can thrive er better in these luxurious conditions, and with increased numbers of, of mites, we are seeing increased asthma attacks.
[speaker002:] Could some people have asthma and not know it?
[speaker207:] er No I don't think so, I think er it would be pretty obvious, but the severity of the disease does vary widely.
[speaker002:] Now I, I mentioned that, that it is asthma week, this week, all sorts of things are happening.
[speaker206:] Yes.
[speaker002:] What, what's going on in this area?
[speaker206:] er In this area there are sponsored swims, er there are sponsored swims throughout the country, and they're hoping to, to swim a total of four thousand and something miles, the distance around the British Isles, and hoping to raise fifty thousand pounds for asthma research. er There are various other sponsored events and one of the er most important er events is this er helpline for newly diagnosed asthmatics which er should be very helpful.
[speaker002:] Now that, that actually was launched yesterday, is this now
[speaker206:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Going just last the week or will it be a permanent
[speaker206:] No, it should be a permanent link, and er the calls will be er supported by the National Asthma Campaign and, as I said, it's particularly er useful to newly diagnosed asthmatics in helping them to understand what's happening to them and obtain advice, er.
[speaker002:] Is there trained medical help on
[speaker206:] Yes, there are trained nurses on the other end of the line, yes.
[speaker002:] When can people ring that num, that line?
[speaker206:] er The line is open from one pm to nine pm, er Monday to Friday.
[speaker002:] So it's, it's a fairly, it's not something that's twenty four hours if you, if you suddenly get frightened?
[speaker206:] No that's right, yes.
[speaker002:] But it, it does provide background to it?
[speaker206:] Well that's right, it's, it's more than we've had before and if it's a success, perhaps we'll manage to have a twenty-four hour line.
[speaker002:] Barbara thank you, and the number of that line is O three four five O one O two O three, that's O three four five O one O two O three and it's, and it's only charged at local prices I understand.
[speaker206:] er As I understand it the cost will be offset by the National Asthma Campaign.
[speaker002:] So wherever you are in the country, it's charged at local prices.
[speaker206:] Yes.
[speaker002:] Barbara thank you very much indeed.
[speaker206:] Right.
[speaker002:] Now, some of Britain's rarest birds have had their best breeding season on record this summer. According to figures published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the long hot spell over the summer meant that more birds of prey came to our shores than at any time since the eighteen nineties. But it's not been all good news, as Chris Harbod of the R S P B has been explaining.
[speaker208:] Our rarer breeding birds in the United Kingdom have had a somewhat mixed year this summer, mainly due to the weather we've had which has been very hot down south, but quite er wet and windy up north. In Scotland, the ospreys have bred pretty well, we've had sixty-two pairs come up and attempt breeding this year, and they've managed to raise eighty-seven young, which is more than er the highest number this century. The figure I think might have been higher if we hadn't had some hot weather which er meant the fish were keeping rather low in the lochs, and it was difficult for the ospreys to find sufficient food. And in fact our famous nest at Loch Garton, the young there actually er, both unfortunately died; one killed by a fox, and the other was too weak really from lack of food to survive properly. So that highlights the problems they've had, but they were nevertheless successful.
[speaker023:] I understand er good weather in Wales has meant red kites have done well as well?
[speaker208:] Yes that's right, red kites have done marvellously. Er. They've had their best breeding season this century; sixty three pairs have raised a total of seventy young, and this is despite the fact that egg collectors robbed at least eight nests of eggs. Unfortunately this is a problem which faces both kites er and ospreys and, and some other birds of prey, so er we always look for a few losses, but we hope that nevertheless, in a good season like this, the birds will breed well enough to produce good numbers of young.
[speaker023:] Now how do you actually come to calculate the figures?
[speaker208:] Well with our rarest birds, and certainly ospreys and red kites are extremely rare with fifty to sixty pairs of each, we keep a close eye on them, some of the more vulnerable nests are actually watched twenty-four hours of the day, others are monitored regularly to make sure they're progressing well. And so we're able to, to, once we've found which birds er have arrived, picked a nest and er have laid eggs, we put a careful watch on them and then we're able to tot up at the end of the breeding season, how many young have actually fledged.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] Still to come a look at the day's sport, and there's a new signing for Oxford United. First, financial report with Halpern and Woolf, keeping Oxfordshire in business. Markets have been buoyant following a thirteen percent gain on the Niki Index, it's the largest ever one day gain, though this merely reversed last week's dramatic falls. The London exchange opened the day with the Footsie one hundred making early gains, at one stage up forty-four points; however, it slipped back to end the day up twenty seven point seven at two oh five eight point five. The city has been in optimistic mood with a large volume of shares changing hands; Wall Street also opened strongly, which in turn, encouraged the U K market. On the foreign exchanges, the deutschmark seemed steady ahead of tonight's reunification; the pound fell against both the dollar and the mark, ending the day at one point eight eight four five dollars and two deutschmarks point nine three four one. Today's share prices: Abbey National were up four at two O one, British Aerospace down four at five five nine, British Airways up four point four at four point three two five. British Gas up four at two one four point five, British Telecom were down four at two hundred and sixty four, Goodhead Publishing Group unchanged at fifty-eight, Metal Box up one thousand two hundred, Morland Brewers unchanged at two hundred and seventy five and Oxford Instruments er ended the day at two three four, having er not changed their position. Thames Water were up three at two two two, Trustee Savings Bank up two point five at two twot two and today's major stock market mover, apart from Metal Box; I C I up twenty-six to eight five six. [recorded jingle] You're listening to the Fox Report. Britain's bosses gave themselves pay rises of more than two percent above the national average last year. Attention has turned away from the national work force to their managers, as Mrs Thatcher's told British businessmen; they're earning too much. Rebecca Marston has been talking to Ken Schwarz, Director of Development at the company who've published the figures on executives pay. She asked him whether Britain's managers really are paying themselves too much.
[speaker209:] When we are talking about directors of businesses, er particularly the larger companies, good people are hard to find and some of them are superstars, and er I know we've heard a lot about er exceedingly high levels of pay and very high pay increases, er but when you talk about the superstars and megastars, what about the entertainment business, what about sport, what about, you know, golfing celebrities, earning in excess of a million, or racing drivers?
[speaker210:] Britain's bosses are getting twelve point three percent more in total remuneration than they were last year, their workforce is getting nine point eight percent. Don't you think that Britain's bosses should be setting an example, and paying themselves similar increases to that that they pay their workforce?
[speaker209:] Of course, Britain's bosses have to be setting an example and obviously leadership has to emanate from the top, and is very often done by example. But having said that, er you are quoting a national statistic at me, er there are a number of workforces that have had increases substantially higher than the one you've just mentioned, to whit some, the car workers and the settlements recently there. Er. The, it is a competitive marketplace; er we're not alone in the U K, if you look at the rest of Europe, you'll find er inflation lower yes, but salary increases for the senior jobs and the top jobs there, are also higher than they are lower down, so this widening of differentials isn't just something that is, is the British disease, it occurs in other European countries as well.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. After a disappointing start to their league season, Oxford United's manager, Brian Horton has splashed out on a one million pound signing from Liverpool Reserves, that's midfielder, Jim Magilton. He was also an internat, had international squad experience with Northern Ireland. At the official press conference today, Brian Horton said he'd been looking at the young twenty-one year old for quite a while.
[speaker106:] I've seen him play over the years er Mick, you know he's er typical of player, we've had him watched a few times this year, er scouts him er at Aston Villa, said he had a magnificent game. I saw him play last week against Sunderland reserves, he had another magnificent game, his passing was absolutely immaculate — got a good goal, hit a great volley that for another goal; he can just pass the ball, and I think that's what we've lacked a little bit of, er a bit of guard sometimes for our midfield. Steve Mclaren came back in, back back in I think did a good job, Mickey Lewis tackles and, and everything there, Les is a good pass the ball so, the three of them in there, er tomorrow night, should be able to pass the ball around.
[speaker103:] So hopefully he's going to burst West Ham's pretty bubbles?
[speaker106:] Hopefully, er I thought we, we played very very well at Port Vale last week and passed it around with three men in the middle of the park. I started off with the three men in the middle of the park Saturday, we changed it round because I think we needed an extra striker at the Wolves, and I didn't think we played that badly. There's no reason why we can't go to West Ham and get a good result Mick, that, you know, they're, they're nothing special.
[speaker002:] Well Mick it's a bit of a surprise, this signing wasn't it, did it take you off, off guard?
[speaker128:] Well, Brian Horton's comments just there did. West Ham, nothing special, he's started early. He was also very rude about my new hairstyle I'll have you know Jane, but this guy
[speaker002:] It's great radio Mickey!
[speaker128:] [LAUGHTER] But this guy is the one Brian wanted. He's got two industrious midfielders, Mickey Lewis and Les Phillips, Steve McLaren, he plays these lovely beautiful long balls, Glen Hoddle style, but he's a bit injury prone, but still a good player; but this guy, he's got a lot of promise, and we've just got to wait and see — a baptism of fire at West Ham tomorrow.
[speaker002:] Yes it's going to be a big match that, tom, you're going down there I understand?
[speaker128:] Oh yes, I love it, I mean, as a boy I used to support West Ham but I am now firmly behind Oxford United, and I want them to beat West Ham, because as a boy they always lost for me, West Ham.
[speaker177:] erm What do you reckon the chances are tomorrow night though, in spite of, of Magilton being, being with them?
[speaker128:] Well last season, I did write Oxford off. West Ham were at the top, Oxford were at the bottom, it's the same this season, but last season, Oxford went there and they gave West Ham a very good game. They lost three two when really they should have won; they missed the chances, but every goal was a cracker. There's always entertainment at Upton Park.
[speaker002:] So, what about one of your famous predictions?
[speaker128:] I'll go for West Ham United two, Oxford United three.
[speaker002:] Wow, plenty of goals there
[speaker128:] I've not been right this season.
[speaker002:] No [LAUGHTER] that's very true. Jim Magilton is the second Liverpool reserves player to join the U's, after the signing of John Durning three years ago, and he says it was Brian Horton's enthusiasm that had tice that enticed him away from the Merseyside side.
[speaker068:] Definitely yes, I would say like, I've spoke to Brian Horton on Sunday and he more or less said that it's er Oxford United in fourth position in the league, and let's hope so like you know. They are like, and I've come here to maybe to help get them in a, a better position, because I believe that, only through him, what he's told me about the club; that it's a nice club, a nice base for me to start off my career, because that's what I'm really am doing. I'm twenty-one, I've got three years here, I'm going to give it everything.
[speaker067:] Now the club are looking for a player of your capabilities. You're making your debut against West Ham United, one of the big arenas in the second division — what a debut.
[speaker068:] Yes it is, it's, it, it will be a bit frightening but like, I've, I've waited this long you know, so er anything they're throwing up at me won't, won't be won't daunt me in any way because I've been, like I went to a charity shield this season with Liverpool and they were playing Manchester United, there were sixty thousand there, and er I'd have done anything just to get on there.
[speaker067:] Now you also knew John Durning up in Liverpool, you didn't pick up any bad habits did you?
[speaker068:] I hope not [LAUGHTER], er mostly they will have told me to stay away from the lad like — he's harmless, you know what I mean? You just have to feel sorry for him.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Well there you go. Now is anything else happening in the sporting world tonight Mickey? It's Tuesday, so no, no doubt you've got a few local games on the cards?
[speaker128:] That's right, and I've got a bone to pick with one club. Thame United, they're at home to Milton Keynes Borough in the south Midlands premier league. Now I found this out because I was in a pub last night and someone told me. For goodness sake Thame United, please send me a fixture list, I ask you every week, there's a chap on the phone — oh yes Mr Inotta, we'll send you one, thank you for the excellent coverage, Fox F M sport is quite superb, but nothing. Please I will never go to Windmill Road unless you send me a fixture list. Meanwhile, Aylesbury United, they're at home to Harlow Town in the AC Delco cup, first round replay, now they're a nice club, they even let me know if one of their supporters is ill Jane.: Fjm [LAUGHTER] I have got no answer to that. You're listening to the Fox Report. Gendarmes from the French police force have come to Oxford this week to promote road safety amongst school children. Many children have been injured in increasing numbers over the last year, and it was the idea of one school teacher in Oxford to bring a group of gendarmes over to England to teach children how the French behave on the roads. Paul Kirby reports:
[speaker153:] The fact that gendarmes have been introduced to an Oxford school is a measure of how seriously schools in Oxfordshire are taking European road safety week. Gendarmes have been teaching French schoolchildren for twenty years, and claim by teaching kids, they teach their parents as well. Mayeur Vaccin who's one of the gendarmes from Lilles says by careering around in go karts on miniature road systems, the children appreciate the other side of the story.
[speaker211:] I've no er statistics, but in, I think it's er very positive. When we er teach pupils, in the same time, we teach their parents, because er pupils give the lesson er when they come back home to their parents.
[speaker153:] Joe Johnson is the man responsible for bringing the gendarmes to Oxford Sandhills school. He's offering other head teachers to get in touch to benefit from what he says is a very important project.
[speaker212:] Well, I think if you see a good idea, you want to share it, and I think anything that we can do that will cut down on the terrible casualties and the deaths on our roads of, particularly of children, we must do it. I mean there's carnage on these roads of ours, and people are just not doing anything about it or taking it seriously enough. There are more kil, children killed on our roads than die of disease, than die of malnutrition in this country, er many, you know and we just don't take it seriously. A, a plane crashes, and we all jump er but, but nine thousand kids are injured every year on our roads and we, we just think 'oh yes, that's normal, that's, that's allowed,'because it's a motor car. And I don't think, I think we've reached the point now where we've got to really take stock in our society and change things.
[speaker153:] The gendarmes will be at Sandhills school for the rest of the week, and anyone interested in teaching their school about road safety is urged to take part.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. New drivers taking their L tests from next year will face a fresh challenge as part of their examination, and it's been announced by the Roads Minister, Christopher Chope today. He was speaking at the new driving standards agency in Nottingham. The minister revealed that from next April all learner drivers must be able to reverse into a parking place double the length of their own vehicle. Caroline Atkinson reports:
[speaker213:] Driving standards agency which oversees the running of all ordinary and H G V tests taken in Britain, move to Nottingham from London. Today Roads and Traffic Minister, Christopher Chope opened the building and announced a major change to the driving test. Mr Chope says 'learner drivers will now have to reverse park into a gap double the length of their own vehicle.'
[speaker214:] Most people er recognise that er being able to park in a space in a busy street is an important part of driving, and the surprise is really that it's never been part of the test before.
[speaker213:] Is it a major safety aspect do you think?
[speaker214:] Oh it's obvious that safety's involved, I think that er it's also er road use because er if people take a long time er going forwards and back trying to get into a space to park because they don't have the basic skills to enable them to do it, then it's frustrating for other motorists, and obviously accidents can be caused.
[speaker213:] And Keith Cameron who's the chief driving examiner of the D S A, welcomed the decision.
[speaker215:] Delighted, obviously we er think that this is a very good thing from a safety point of view. We realise that there are many problems caused by people who aren't able to park er in a restricted area er and we need to ensure that people are able to do that satisfactorily and safely.
[speaker213:] Meanwhile the Minister said there were no plans to introduce motorway driving as part of the L test.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's eight minutes to seven. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker200:] The M twenty-five remains very slow moving clockwise between junctions fifteen and sixteen, the M four and the M forty, as does the M four westbound at junction six, the Slough exit, that's due to the rush hour traffic this evening. The A forty-one though, at the Banbury spur is still down to a single lane between the junction with the A forty-six Longbridge Island and the A four five two, Grey's Mallory Island, that's for M forty construction work. And on the M forty between junctions seven Thame and the A forty interchange, there's a contraflow in operation, which means there's only two lanes available in each direction. And finally, Ruthcote Avenue in Banbury is closed southbound at the junction with Orchard Way for paving work. Natalie Proud, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us that this evening's Banbury to London Paddington train which was due to leave Banbury at three minutes past seven has been cancelled, otherwise I've no problems to report on the local trains or buses. [pre-recorded blurb]. The Millstream touring theatre company is bringing South African playwright Athel Fougards 'Road to Mecca'to the theatre in Chipping Norton on Thursday night. It's set in an Afrikaaner village and is the true story of a widow who is inspired to sculpt hundreds of animals and people following the death of her husband. It was first performed by the Royal National Theatre in nineteen eighty-five. Joanna Wake plays Miss Helen.
[speaker216:] Ware House is a museum now, you can go the house there now and see this extraordinary yard of wise men and owls and mermaids and peacocks. And in, in her house, she used to light about two hundred candles a night, and she ground down glass and put glitter on all the walls and the furniture and she played with light from these candles. And of course, candles light being a symbol for whatever you like to take it as.
[speaker002:] She sounds quite an eccentric.
[speaker216:] She was extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary, and of course, mis, very misunderstood.
[speaker002:] She was an Afrikaaner herself?
[speaker216:] She was an Afrikaaner yes.
[speaker002:] Is it difficult for an English act, actress to play an Afrikaaner?
[speaker216:] Yes it is difficult, I mean, one has to, er we've had a dialect coach and I'm working very hard on the accent. Er. We're not doing it too strongly because of course it is quite difficult to, for an English ear perhaps to get attuned to it if one was doing it very very strong, so I'm trying to do one that isn't er too alien to an English ear.
[speaker177:] It's also quite difficult to, I would think, to put across a character who isn't a baddie, because we're so used to hearing Afrikaaner as being a bad language as it were.
[speaker216:] Oh, oh absolutely, but of course, I mean, Afrikaaners are just people and er they have bad Afrikaaners and good Afrikaaners just like anywhere and anyone, you know, anyone else. And she was erm a most lovely person, extraordinary and er kind and gentle, but she had a tenacity. She had a tenacity about the vision about her personal purpose in life.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. A tantalising mixture of talent is due to appear at the Town Hall in Oxford on Friday. Rogues and Vagabonds has been devised and'll be compered by Michael Meyer, and stars Edward Fox, Dorothy Tutin and Freddie Jones, and it's all for a good cause. Jean McConnell is from the Libra theatre company who will benefit from this gala. Jean this is a wonderful array of people, how have you enticed them to the Town Hall?
[Jmc:] Well, we were helped initially by a professional fund raiser who was concerned of our lack of money and our lack of funding by er the arts bodies, and gave me this er contact really in the form of Michael Meyer to er arrange and er bring about these three artists. And he is really responsible for bringing the three, because they deemed us a worthy cause when they saw er the work that we were doing, to perform free for us that evening in order to boost our funds.
[speaker002:] Tell me a little bit about er Libra.
[Jmc:] Libra Theatre Company? Well, it's been going in Oxford now for three years and it's for people with disability and able bodied people, and with the current production we have which is being produced by Paul Newham, the people there have er suffered with M S and are visually impaired and er you know, various disabilities like that, plus able bodied people. But we welcome everybody really, from the age of fifteen or sixteen to seventy, and we turn nobody away and we're a very warm welcoming group.
[speaker002:] So the gala on Friday is all to, to fund the productions really?
[Jmc:] That's right, yes.
[speaker002:] Tell me a little bit, bit more about Rogues and Vagabonds, it, it, it's billed, well, what's it billed as?
[Jmc:] Well, it's a programme of entertainment which is devised by Michael Meyer who is the famous translator of Strinberg and Ibsen. And the sketches and the readings take, er take us all through literature from the eighteenth century to present day, and they, they're just readings and sketches from that, which I don't, I haven't actually seen it and I don't know what it's going to be, but I've every confidence that whatever Edward Fox, Dorothy Tutin and Freddie Jones do, it will be quite superb in these events
[speaker002:] It's a wonderful mixture
[Jmc:] Yes it's a series of
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I'm just trying to visualise it
[Jmc:] It's about thirty different events with an interval in between with wine and so on
[speaker002:] And a super venue for them at the Town Hall
[Jmc:] Yes, yes it is, it's, it's in Assembly Rooms which is slightly more gracious than the rather large er main building, and the mayor has very kindly er given the room, given us permission to use the room free of charge, and she will also be there at the performance as she is er, seems very interested in our work to date.
[speaker002:] So it should be quite an intimate performance, will people come along
[Jmc:] I think it will.
[speaker002:] And have the chance to, to; Fjmc I think it will To meet the cast
[Jmc:] Yes, the three artists will mingle with the guests at the buffet supper which we hope will be by candlelight, and the whole evening will be rather intimate and rather special to people who do come.
[speaker002:] So how can people get hold of tickets, and how much do they cost etcetera, etcetera?
[Jmc:] Well, tickets in Oxford are selling on seven two seven eight five five, and it is thirty pounds, but it includes wine on er arrival, wine in the interval and wine with the supper, and there will be a fun auction at some point afterwards er and the entertainment, the two hour entertainment.
[speaker002:] Sounds wonderful.
[Jmc:] And it, it does sound, I, I must say we've, we've having flowers everywhere and I think the whole evening's going to be very nice and we're looking forward to everybody enjoying themselves and having a good time.
[speaker002:] Jean thank you very much.
[Jmc:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] And that was the Fox Report for Tuesday the second of October nineteen ninety. Join us for another Fox Report tomorrow night, William Ronk will be here at six o'clock, but stay with us, the Red Fox is after the news at seven o'clock. [recorded jingle]
[Fjm:] Tonight: a High Court Judge is to head an enquiry into the Strangeways prison riot while former convict John McVicar says the army should have stormed the jail at the start. The director of the British Roads Federation supports the Government's new toll road scheme:
[speaker001:] Our roads are in a mess and anything that will speed up improving that situation I think is to be welcomed.
[speaker002:] Also on the programme: Percy the penguin, the sole survivor of a mystery illness at the Cotswold wildlife park at Burford, is fighting for its life.
[speaker011:] It needs a boost to the kidneys and the liver. It looks okay but we don't know what long term is going to happen to the bird. [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle]
[speaker218:] The six o'clock news, this is Katherine Kelly. Prison officers at Strangeways are threatening to break off negotiations with those inmates still holding out in the jail, but they're denying the ultimatum means they'll use force to end the five day siege. From the scene, Simon Israel:
[speaker020:] The Governor, Brendan O'Freal will only say that less than forty are still inside including four escape risk prisoners. He's been in constant contact with the Home Secretary as negotiations have become increasingly difficult but he welcomes the announcement of a Judicial Inquiry.
[speaker219:] The Prison Service is in this business of when things go wrong we have a full enquiry to learn the lessons.
[speaker020:] Meanwhile, a self-declared ring-leader, Paul Taylor, shouting from the roof tops, has claimed that it was all just a sit-in protest that got out of control. Simon Israel, I R N, at Strangeways Prison in Manchester.
[speaker218:] President Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev have agreed to hold a summit in America at the end of May. The White House has announced that the Soviet leader will visit the United States from the thirtieth May until June third. From Washington, Nick Peters.
[speaker220:] The exact location of the four day meeting has not been announced although most of the talks are expected to take place here in Washington. U S Secretary of State James Baker is not ruling out however that Soviet behaviour in Lithuania could derail the summit.
[speaker112:] Well I would hope it wouldn't. We'll have to see what develops.
[speaker220:] He and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze are holding talks here to finalize details of the summit, and to add impetus to Arms Control agreements the two leaders will be negotiating. Nick Peters, I R N, Washington.
[speaker218:] A top level police report on security leaks in Ulster is calling for tighter controls on the handling of intelligence documents. It's one of the main recommendations of the Enquiry headed by Cambridgeshire Deputy Chief Constable John Stevens. His team has spent six months investigating the alleged leaks of security files to loyalist terror groups. The report has been handed over to the R U C Constable Hugh Annersley.
[speaker221:] I will now study that report, and as soon as possible Mr Stevens and I will make statements. In the meantime I would ask people to avoid unsubstantiated speculation and unhelpful comment which is so singularly unproductive in these circumstances.
[speaker218:] A London born terrorist has today been jailed for six months in Amsterdam on arms offences. Twenty-seven year old Patrick Anthony Kerr is a member of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation. The twenty Councils ordered to cut their Poll Tax levels are taking more legal advice before they decide whether to challenge the Government in court. Leaders of the Councils, none of them Tory controlled, have been meeting in London today to plan a campaign. They were joined by Shadow Environment Secretary Brian Gould who says they're determined to fight.
[speaker171:] Common cause has been established between all the charge-capped authorities, they all believe that they've been unfairly treated, and they've all agreed to pursue a common search for remedies to the plight in which they find themselves. There is clearly the possibility of er an application for judicial review on the ground that the Secretary of State has produced essentially a politically biased list and has therefore acted unlawfully.
[speaker218:] The official Soviet newsagency TASS says Lithuania is ready to compromise with the Kremlin and hold a referendum on breaking away. The rebel republic has already declared itself independent from the Soviet Union and President Gorbachev threatened grave consequences if its parliament doesn't renounce the decision. The Grand National meeting at Aintree has got off to a tragic start with two horses dying in the first race. It happened on the hurdling course which is safer than the steeplechase route where the National will be run on Saturday. New safety measures have been introduced for National fences after two horses died at the notorious Beecher's Brook in last year's race. Cricket, and the afternoon session in the fourth Test Match between England and the West Indies has just got under way in Barbados. The West Indies are eighty-five for two wickets. [pre-recorded blurb] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Thursday fifth April nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The Home Secretary David Waddington has announced that an inquiry into the Strangeways Prison riot is being set up. Lord Justice Woolf will look into the events leading up to the violence and the action taken to end it. Mr Waddington says the Inquiry will be separate from the criminal investigation. At least twelve prisoners are still thought to be inside the jail and refusing to give themselves up. The Home Secretary has been talking to Peter Murphy about the siege and the efforts to end it.
[speaker222:] Well obviously we want the incident to be brought to an end and until it's brought to and end you always have that fear that there might have been another tragedy. But I was able to tell the House this morning that all the Rule forty-three prisoners, who were the ones who were particularly vulnerable, are now accounted for, and I mean by that that they have all come out of the jail in the last few days and unfortunately one of them, as you know, has died from his injuries.
[speaker019:] But the rest of them are safe?
[speaker222:] Yes.
[speaker019:] What about the persistent reports, sir, that there have been deaths in the prison? You must still be taking that very seriously?
[speaker222:] I just think it's unfortunate that all these rumours have circulated. I suppose it's inevitable at a time like this, but now that the Inquiry has been set up my firm advice to everybody is er stop propagating rumours and er give any information which you think is relevant to the Inquiry.
[speaker019:] Is the policy still to sit it out and wait rather than try and force your way into the prison?
[speaker222:] Operational matters are for the Governor, but I think it is important to bear in mind that although we know that violence was used in the early stages we have no evidence that anyone now still in the prison is in danger and you've got to ask yourself in those circumstances whether you should risk injury or even death in storming the prison when as far as we know nobody remaining inside is now in danger.
[speaker019:] There have been persistent reports of understaffing at Strangeways, is that one of the issues that will be looked into by this Inquiry?
[speaker222:] Well I er don't agree that there has been er understaffing and in the statement which I made to the House today I was able to point out what a very big increase in er the total complement of the prison officers has taken place during recent years, but it's up to Lord Justice Woolf to look in to whatever evidence is put before him, it's for him to look at the terms of reference and he will no doubt decide what is relevant and what is not.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. Former convict John McVicar whose own prison career was turned into a film says the Home Secretary must share the blame for the murder of any inmates in Strangeways. The Authorities are maintaining their softly-softly approach in their bid to bring a peaceful end to the siege. It's not yet known if any inmates have been killed apart from the remand prisoner Derek White who died yesterday in hospital. McVicar who was involved in riots and rooftop protests at Durham and Chelmsford Jails says the army should have stormed the prison to save sex offenders being picked on by rioters.
[speaker223:] Some of them have not been found guilty, and albeit they have been charged with horrendous crimes they are still innocent people and it doesn't matter even if they are not innocent people, the Government still has a responsibility to life and limb and really I can't see any case at all for not storming. Waddington really stands indicted for this.
[speaker183:] What would be the motive for continuing the siege any longer? If they have committed the crimes they will face the sentences presumably, what's the point in sticking it out for another two, three, four days?
[speaker223:] Once you get up on the roof then it's euphoria, there's anarchy reigning, you're in the public eye, the sun's shining, er and everyone's quite happy for a day or so, but of course you get cold and a bit hungry, and er then the sort of import of what you face starts to come through. Er. Now what will be concerning the last hard core will be that amongst them can almost certainly the people who were involved in the original planning of the er uprising or riot, and also who probably er orchestrated the Kangaroo Courts. What will be on their mind is first of all the Prison Authorities are going to isolate them, they're going to be in solitary confinement for a very long time — six months, maybe a year, that's been the pattern — they're going to lose a lot of remission, but they also know they're going to face criminal charges. Now they also, in the wake of this knowledge is the er awareness that they're going to be interrogated on this, and they're also sitting up there thinking 'what are we going to say?'and indeed that's another reason for bringing this whole incident to an end, because in a sense they are cooking up alibis and covering their backs.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. The White House has announced that President Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev are to hold a Superpower summit in America at the end of May. The dates were revealed in simultaneous statements in Washington and Moscow. They didn't say where it would be held though it's thought the Soviet leader will visit Washington from the thirtieth May until June third. Our Washington correspondent Nick Peters has been telling Richard Dalling about the likely issues up for discussion.
[speaker220:] The land-based multi-warhead er missiles is a real issue that has to be tackled, er and they may either go for, this is very much up in the air, go for er distinct cuts in er Start one, or they may talk about limitations and then go for a Start two treaty. Er. As you know arms control negotiations are incredibly detailed and rather arcane subjects, er so it's a little tricky to see the wood for the trees in this one, but er arms control, obviously C F E — the Conventional Forces in Europe — er is very much an issue that will be on the table. Again it's doubtful they'll be ready to sign anything on that er I think also the shadow of Lithuania is very much over this and Mr Bush is obviously not wishing to er box himself into a corner at this stage while the Lithuania crisis is still open.
[speaker224:] What about German unification? Now Mr Gorbachev wants Germany to be neutral, Mr Bush obviously doesn't. Do you think they're going to have a problem on that one?
[speaker220:] No, I think the Soviets are pretty well reconciled to the Bush point of view that a unified NATO, a unified Germany, I beg your pardon, would stay in NATO. Er. I think that er Mr Gorbachev has er seen that Mr Bush has only a few firmly held points of view, I mean that's one of the criticisms of George Bush that he does seem to have only a few firmly held points of view on emerging democracies in Eastern and Central Europe, but having said that, er I think he really does believe that a unified Germany in NATO is a key part of stability in that region, and I think that Mr Gorbachev recognises that on this one Mr Bush is not er capable of being moved. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Still to come: farmers are up in arms over the Poll Tax on empty farm cottages, and forty thousand pounds from the N H S lottery comes to Oxford. With a look at the day's local news here's Robin Powell.
[speaker055:] The Oxford University Student's Union has expressed its disappointment at the Government's action on the Student Loans Bill in the Commons last night. The amendments to the Bill from the House of Lords were debated in only three hours as the Government guillotined the motion, and the Speaker of the House also ruled that a Lord's amendment saying students should be entitled to Housing Benefit was invalid. Paul Bromfield from the Student's Union says the Government was wrong to limit discussion of the issue.
[speaker178:] I don't think it should have been guillotined. I think the main reason it was guillotined is that there is a lot of unhappiness among Conservative MPs and among many people in the Conservative Party about the Government's proposals. The Government realizes this and that is why it has cut debate off. I think if debate had been continued then many backbench Tory MPs would have expressed their reservations and their concerns about the Government's proposals.
[speaker055:] Firemen were called to a fire on the M forty earlier today. The fire started in a transit van travelling east-bound and then spread to the fuel tank. Firemen used three pumps to bring the blaze under control but no-one was injured. Meanwhile, Gas Board officials say they're still baffled about the cause of a mains explosion on the A four one eight Thame to Oxford road yesterday. Flames leaping to thirty feet in the air were reported just off the road at Wheatley causing a stretch of the road to be closed all day. Almost one hundred houses in Tiddington were also left without gas. A spokesman for the Gas Board says the cause of the explosion will probably never be known. A vicar in a South Oxfordshire village is hoping locals will rally round to save a church tower. seventy-eight thousand pounds is needed to save St. Michael's, a twelfth century building in Blewbury near Didcot. The money raised by the appeal will restore the Tower to its original state. Father Edwin Clements from St. Michael's says a great community spirit has developed.
[speaker225:] People have been very generous in the parish and the village, obviously they think a lot of their church, but one suggestion that was put forward was if every man, woman and child gave the equivalent of twelve pounds to the fund then it would be raised easily, and I think that it's quite likely that people will come forward er in a generous way I'm sure.
[speaker055:] And finally, a survey out today is claiming that shoppers in two of the major shopping centres in the FOX F M area are less interested in fashion but more likely to spend, spend, spend on furniture and food. William Ronken reports.
[speaker226:] The survey was carried out in over one hundred towns and cities by a property firm, and included samples showing the shopping habits of people in Oxford and Aylesbury with some interesting results. Although London's Oxford Street topped the list when it came to spending on fashion and footwear, Aylesbury beat both Oxford and the West End as far as spending on food, furniture, electrical goods and D I Y items was concerned. The survey also confirmed that even during the current economic climate with high interest rates, the South East remains top of the spending league. A spokesman for the property firm suggested the results were proof that when it comes to spending Aylesbury's definitely Top of the Shops. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's sixteen minutes past six. Farmers are raising their voices against the Poll Tax. In England and Wales they'll have to pay up to double the Poll Tax on any empty farm cottages they own, although farmers in Scotland are going to be exempt from this. Tom Bewley is a local representative of the National Farmer's Union. Tom, explain precisely what er what the situation is.
[speaker012:] Well, it's not as bad in Oxfordshire as it is in some other parts of the country because there are a lot of urban areas around here, a lot of people who want digs and accommdation, so many farmers who are on a main route, on a bus route, whatever, can in fact let their properties. But in the more rural parts of the County there are definitely problems. I've discovered one case er two cases in fact near Bicester. Er. One farmer has just received a bill for seven hundred pounds. He has a cottage which is in not good enough condition to let, he can't afford to do it up, and it doesn't quite qualify as decrepit. So he's stuck. And there's another farmer in the same area who keeps a caravan for seasonal workers. That counts as a second home. seven hundred pounds on his bill.
[speaker002:] Now this sounds as though it'll actually make quite a difference to perhaps a small farmer. It's a lot of money to find.
[speaker012:] Well yes indeed. And they're the sort of people who are anyway having great difficulty finding er the extra to support their er own workers with their initial Poll Tax payments anyway.
[speaker002:] Now, the N F U has now written to the Agricultural Minister. Do you think there's going to be any joy from him?
[speaker012:] Well I think at central level they have a letter don't they, because from the reports I've read local authorities exercise discretionary powers on the amount of Poll Tax to be charged on empty farm dwellings. In fact they have discretionary powers on all empty houses. They can, as you know, charge anything between nought and two hundred percent of the standard rate, and I feel it's something that has to be sorted out locally. I remember reading earlier that Oxfordshire was very inconsistent, some districts charged one rate, others charged the maximum two hundred percent. I think we have to exercise pressure locally to make sure our own Councils er answer.
[speaker002:] Now, is it something that's taken farmers by surprise, because we're, the Poll Tax is now upon us as it were, er is it something that they weren't expecting to happen?
[speaker012:] Well I think it's er, you know, farmers are reacting like everybody else to this. We hoped somehow it wouldn't happen. Er. We have to face the problems when they actually come upon us. Er. Many people besides farmers have problems caused by this er tax that, whatever one thinks er about it so far as the system is concerned, really when you look at it more closely it's the details that have been so badly thought out. Farmers are just one of many groups who are left with an unfair situation. After all it was introduced, and Mrs Thatcher has made a great deal of the fact that it is a head tax not a property tax, it's the voters she wants answerable, well I've yet to find an empty house that voted.
[speaker002:] Tom Bewley, thank you very much indeed. Coca-Cola which hopes to build a new plant in Banbury says it can't rule out the possibility that it will use a toxic chemical in the canning process at the factory. Protesters there say that in extreme circumstances the chemical, Butoxi-ethanol, can cause kidney and liver damage as well as birth defects. But Coca-Cola spokesman Peter Dobell say the firm won't be putting people's health at risk.
[speaker227:] We did reassure people last night that there would be no odours and no harmful emissions from the canning plant. The people who are the world's experts in can manufacturing made that absolutely clear. There is now way that as a company we would allow anything to go ahead that would be harmful. Er. From the traffic point of view, I have already said that there will be a large number of movements, but everything will be done to minimise any hindrance to people living in the locality.
[speaker026:] Are you then saying that the people last night were overreacting?
[speaker227:] Obviously there are a number of issues which people will treat to a great degree, emotional or less extent, and while in some cases we would sympathize with the views of the people in the residence in the area, er the factory will be bringing employment and other benefits, economic benefits, to the area. Er. In the final analysis it really is up to the planning officers and the planning committee to decide whether the benefits which it will bring to the locality outweigh the objectors' views. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The picket by the twenty-three journalists sacked from Pergammon Press ten months ago continues. The National Union of Journalists has once again discussed the situation at their annual Delegate Conference. Harriet Eysner and Anna Wagstaff have both been on the picket from the start. Harriet, what is the situation? What did the N U J say?
[speaker228:] Well, at its annual conference the N U J gave us one hundred percent backing and carried on its support for us. It's given us its full backing, and it's going to call for a day of action in support of us which will include strike action throughout the Media Industry.
[speaker002:] Right, so that is actually something positive?
[speaker228:] Yes, absolutely.
[speaker002:] Because when you say 'full backing'it's all very well to have the N U J saying 'we're fully behind you', but you do need to see something positive.
[speaker228:] That's right, yes.
[speaker002:] er You've been on the picket line for ten months now, Anna, er how is the mood going, 'cos it's a very, very long time?
[speaker003:] It is a long time. I think for outsiders it looks like nothing has moved at all, but when you're involved in the strike in fact things have been moving quite fast in very many important ways throughout the ten months. So, for instance at this point we've reached a stage where we've got very important solidarity action in our favour including the fact that there are four main education unions, for instance, that are boycotting all Maxwell products which is a tremendous thing for an educational publisher to have. Er. We've had fantastic support, as has been recorded on this programme many times before, and that is still growing. And now particularly Ron Todd who's of course the General Secretary of the biggest union in this country, is making a real effort to open things up and to try and get negotiations going, and we're very hopeful that we'll get some positive of response from that.
[speaker002:] Now, Robert Maxwell has not responded in the past, why do you think that now he'll respond to er these new moves?
[speaker003:] I think that we are confident from indications of the way things are going. It's not something that we can talk about too widely, but we can say that we are very confident, that er we can move towards a sensible and fair resolution of this dispute in we hope the near future.
[speaker002:] Now, after ten months, Harriet, do you really want your jobs back now?
[speaker228:] Oh, absolutely. It's a question of recognition for the Union and we're quite prepared, and looking forward, to going back there and carrying on the work that we were doing before. And we'd like to see the Union fully recognized inside, because, after all, the workers there they need a union representing them in a company like that.
[speaker002:] Now, er when I say do you really want your jobs back, I was just thinking, I was thinking really would the atmosphere be right to go back, would you ever be happy working there again?
[speaker228:] Oh, I think so. I don't see why not at all.
[speaker002:] And, er, what's the likelihood you'll still be on the picket line a year on?
[speaker003:] That's a difficult one to say. As we said, we wouldn't be on the picket line now, and indeed the Union would not be backing us in what is proving to be a long and fairly expensive dispute, if we didn't believe that we had a very good chance of getting our jobs back and re-establishing the Union in Pergammon Press. Exactly when, it's difficult to say. You're talking about about two months from now we'd have our first year anniversary. We are planning to have some very big activities around that date, if indeed we're not back by that time. We very much hope we will be.
[speaker002:] Anna Wagstaff, Harriet Eysner, thank you very much. James Ellis who represents Oxford and Buckinghamshire in the European Parliament says a unified Germany would be good for Europe. He's been speaking at a debate on the issue in Strasbourg. Some people have expressed concern that the merging of the two Germanies could pose a serious threat to the economic and political stability of Europe. Mr Ellis though says it would be more foolish to allow, not to allow reunification.
[speaker120:] The isolation of Germany, by itself, in the middle of Europe, has led to two world wars, I think that now we have the opportunity to bind Germany in, a united Germany within the European Community, and within trans-Atlantic institutions, we must take our opportunities.
[speaker026:] Would you say that this particular debate in itself says a lot about the future role and the growing importance of the European Parliament?
[speaker120:] Well I think that it's difficult to say exactly what kind of an institution the European Parliament will turn out to be. I must admit I was struck by the way in which the debate was discussed. Whether in terms of German economic and monetary union, the immediate measures that the European Community will be thinking of taking, the transitional arrangements once Germany is unified, and that this was done without any rancour but was done with the feelings of directly elected parliamentarians. I do believe that er we go on into the nineties the European Parliament will play an increasingly important role, but this will be because countries and peoples will be asking for it to play, to control the European Commission in Brussels, to push forward the policies which people are looking for and it is after all, I think we should recall, that it is the Germans now who are calling for strength and institutions, including increased powers for the European Parliament.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the FOX Report. The Radcliffe Medical Foundation will be receiving forty thousands pounds from the new National Health Service Lottery Trust. It's the first ever donation made by the Lottery and Dr Chris Payne is doctor at the Churchill Hospital. Dr Payne, what will this money be used for?
[speaker046:] Well, it'll be used towards the new transplant unit that we're building at the Churchill. It's practically built now, the roof is just going on, and we hope to open it later this year. And it will be used for transplants of kidneys and other organs, there are already of course many transplants done at the Churchill, but they're done in very cramped conditions, and this will provide not only better conditions for the patients, but also new research laboratories, and of course with transplants preventing rejection of the graft is very important, and that's what the Churchill is particularly good at.
[speaker002:] Now, was this forty thousand pounds a bolt from the blue or did you know it was coming to you?
[speaker046:] Well, there was a time when it was a bolt from the blue, yes, I mean I've known for a week or two, but we were delighted to receive it, er we don't er, it is something that we said months ago that we supported the N H S Lottery because we do feel that money can be raised in this way painlessly towards particularly research and the sorts of things that the N H S on the whole has never really supported fully. So we think it's a good thing, we were delighted to take part in it, but surprised when we won.
[speaker002:] Some people have said that the N H S should be financed from the tax payer's money and not through what is, it isn't quite a charity, but basically other means. How do you respond to that?
[speaker046:] Well, of course, the N H S does pay for the vast majority of the expenditure that is needed and the income, er the annual income in this health authority here is one hundred and fifty million a year now, so our forty thousand for this capital project is not actually very much in proportion. But ever since the N H S started, and in fact long before that, people have raised money, particularly for research. Lord Nuffield of course established these hospitals here with a gift that now would amount to something like forty or fifty million in present day terms and without him where would our hospitals be? And we have run, in the Radcliffe Medical Foundation, the odd raffle. We raffled a car at Christmas in the John Radcliffe and collected everybody's money, and we didn't have too many qualms of conscience about that, but one's got to be very careful not to beg from patients, but I think er fun for all, a lottery is fun and we feel perfectly er acceptable towards this very worthwhile project when we're given the cheque on Monday.
[speaker002:] Tonight — the stock market soars and the pound strengthens dramatically as Britain joins the E R M, but Labour warns the Chancellor will use these statistics to argue that:
[speaker089:] This is because the real economy has improved, but of course, it won't be true, er and we shall have to pay the price again er at the end of the, of the honeymoon period.
[speaker002:] Oxaid publishes a controversial leaflet for students explaining safe sex.
[speaker011:] Never says this is the right behaviour or this is the wrong behaviour, it just says 'this is the safest behaviour'.
[speaker002:] And David Vine on who'll win the Rothmans Snooker Grand Prix.
[speaker229:] If you went on the form book, the finals should be between Steve Davis, who's got married, and Steven Hendry who's got very rich. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker019:] The six o'clock news, this is Patrick Muirhead. An Iraqi sanctions busting ship boarded by Royal Marines in the Gulf, has now been seized by the multi-national task force. British servicemen have spent more than five hours on the vessel, the Tadma, after absailing onto its deck from a Lynx helicopter. The tanker was searched by coastguards protected by the marines from H M S Brazen and was found to be carrying stores in breach of the UN embargo; it's being diverted to a nearby port on the coast of Amman for further investigations. No shots were fired, but in an earlier action today, H M S Battleaxe fired warning salvos across the bows of an Iraqi ship which failed to stop for cargo inspection. American and Australian warships joined with British forces in a combined operation to intercept the Iraqis, and Defence Secretary, Tom King says it shows the multi-national force is working well as a unit.
[speaker131:] We have a very strong team of naval forces in the Gulf now. Er. I think it's significant that both these occasions involved three countries working together, er which er without er any violence, without any er injury as far as I am aware, er have stopped er these two ships that sought to continue to proceed.
[speaker019:] And twenty American servicemen are feared dead after air crashes in the Gulf. Two U S air force pilots have been killed after their Phantom reconnaissance jet crashed in the Southern Desert of Saudi Arabia. And wreckage has been found of two American helicopters that went missing on a routine mission from the U S S Okinowa. From the Gulf, Phil Edwards.
[speaker230:] The missing helicopter's a Marine U H one N, the type used extensively by the Americans in Vietnam.. They took off from the amphibious assault ship U S S Okinowa on a routine patrol, but a short while later, all voice and radar contact was suddenly lost. The U S navy says the names of the missing crew members won't be released until the search operation is complete, but stress that the helicopters were not involved in any hostile action. Phil Edwards, I R N, Saudi Arabia.
[speaker019:] Israeli police have shot dead twenty one Arabs in Jerusalem, and injured one hundred others who were protesting at a planned march by hard line Jews. The shootings have sparked renewed violence in the occupied West Bank; this report from Alan Frost.
[speaker231:] As the news of the Jerusalem riots spread, Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank began to react. There were a number of incidents where youths blocked roads with burning tyres, and started hurling stones at passing cars. Troops moved in, and according to the military command, many areas of the West Bank are once more under curfew; it is a ripple effect which will probable grow over the next few days. Alan Frost, I R N, Tel Aviv.
[speaker019:] Economic euphoria has produced one of the busiest days ever in the London stock market, with shares climbing to their best levels in two months. The optimism follows Britain's entry into the Exchange Rate Mechanism and the cut in interest rates; the Stock Exchange one hundred index closed fifty seven points higher at just over twenty two hundred. Labour leader, Neil Kinnock has asked Mrs Thatcher for a full Commons debate on Britain's entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism; the debate's expected when the House returns next week. But already the decision has been given all party support in the House of Lords. Paul Rowley reports.
[speaker044:] Trade Minister, Lord Hesketh, told Peers that he was confident entry would help reduce inflation, but warned:
[speaker232:] E R M membership will be no panacea for the U K economy; it is not a soft option.
[speaker044:] But the Labour leader in the Upper House, Lord Cledwyn, said Mrs Thatcher had been forced into the decision against her wishes.
[speaker233:] In not taking this step seven years or five years ago, this country could have been saved a great deal of suffering.
[speaker044:] But the government front bench denied opposition claims that they'd deliberately delayed the decision to boost Tory support on the eve of the Party Conference. Paul Rowley, I R N, Westminster.
[speaker019:] And I R N's top story at six again — an Iraqi sanctions busting ship boarded by Royal Marines in the Gulf, has now been seized by the multi-national task force. British servicemen have spent more than five hours on the vessel after absailing onto it's deck from a Lynx helicopter. Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Monday, October the eighth, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. It's being reported by an American television network, that Iraq is saying that all foreign hostages in Saddam Hussein's human shield, can leave Kuwait and Baghdad if President Bush promises not to launch an attack. The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, told the American television network C N N, that the Westerners would be free to leave once the White House made that promise. Meanwhile, a second Iraqi ship has tried to breach the U N trade embargo imposed against Iraq: earlier today a British warship, H M S Battleaxe, fired warning shots across the bows of one vessel that failed to stop for a cargo inspection. Hours later, a small Iraqi tanker, the Tadmuir was intercepted by H M S Brazen off the Ammani coast, and is now being searched. Defence Secretary Tom King says Baghdad is trying to test the resolve of the armed forces in the Gulf.
[speaker131:] When he saw this er Iraqi cargo ship which was moving up er from er the bottom of the Red Sea, and moving towards er Iraq as we believed, er and so arrangements were made to erm enforce the United Nations embargo. Er. The ship was invited to stop, er didn't do so, er and warning shots were fired, but subsequently, erm Royal Marines went aboard, er took charge of the ship, checked it over, er and er once they'd established that there was no erm embargoed cargo, it was able to proceed.
[speaker183:] Did the Iraqis give any indication as to why they weren't going to stop originally?
[speaker131:] I think that may be their pattern now, that they aren't going to stop erm unless made clear that they will be required to do so, and it's further evidence that we are going to enforce this embargo. This is a United Nations embargo, er and er all ships are required to comply with it, er and er the British, Australian, American ships which combined in this action, and we've just had another one, and er also, there which involved also different ships, but involved er British, Australian and American ships as well, er and that ship is being inspected at the present time.
[speaker183:] Do you think that there will be further attempts to break the embargo?
[speaker131:] That could well be, but we now have this tremendous er cooperation of so many countries together, we have a very strong team of naval forces in the Gulf now, er I think it's significant that both these occasions involved three countries working together, er share, without er any violence at any, er injury as far as I'm aware, er have stopped er these two ships that sought to continue to proceed. Er. They've been checked over, as I say, the first one's been cleared, and that's been allowed to proceed, and the next ship er is being checked at this moment.
[speaker183:] If the first ship hadn't stopped when the warning shots were fired, what would have happened then — what would have been the procedure?
[speaker131:] Well, the procedure that followed in this case was that the er captain obviously made clear from er H M S erm Battleaxe that was originally involved, that the embargo would be enforced, er and obviously his message got across, and then it was arranged for marines to go aboard, er which they did to take charge of, of the vessel while the search took place. Er. And er the question as to what steps we would take, we don't discuss those, I, but I made quite clear, and I say it again quite simply, the embargo will be enforced, er and there's no point in people thinking they can burst through it.
[speaker183:] So you would maybe have opened fire directly on that ship?
[speaker131:] I wouldn't discuss what we would do, but the commanders are quite clear what their instructions are, er they've acted extremely efficiently today, and er obviously I've kept in close touch with the incident while it was happening, er I'm very pleased with the way in which it's been handled, and in fact both incidents.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's eight minutes past six. The pound jumped, the stock market soared, and Chancellor John Major was all smiles today after Britain finally joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. But, now it's in, Britain is coming under increasing pressure to support a single European currency; this scheme has already raised the hackles of Mrs Thatcher who says that sacrificing the pound will undermine Britain's right to manage its own economy. Financial editor Douglas Moffat tells us whether the Prime Minister's fears are justified.
[speaker061:] No we won't, because, essentially, if you give yourself one target like the exchange rate, then you lose control over one or possibly both of interest rates and money supply, both of which the government has always claimed, are absolutely fundamental to maintaining their control over the economy. And so now, we have one precise target, and the other two will have to slip by the board. The best hope of course is that the rates which the government has chosen to go in at will be sustainable, that the government will be able to combine cuts with interest rates, cuts in interest rates, with the needs of the economy and the constraints of the European Monetary System, so that it actually gets a downward path of interest rates at the rate which the economy needs, without provoking a sterling crisis which would push sterling to the bottom of its permitted rates, and produce a crisis of erm of confidence needing higher interest rates. er But you know, that's a long way off, that, that's probably up to a year away.
[speaker026:] So what are the main advantages of us being part of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism?
[speaker061:] Well the theoretical advantages are that it makes it er a, a lot more er predictable for businesses to trade with Europe. I have to say though that with the terms on which we've gone into the European Monetary System, a six per cent fluctuation either way, which as I said means from two seventy seven deutschmarks up to three thirteen; there's quite a lot of risk there for an exporter if he prices himself in deutschmarks and he gets it wrong. Er. There, there is the er belief that er it is better to have the resources of all the Common Market countries behind you if you want to intervene to protect or bring down the value of your currency, depending on which way it may be. But remember it was Mrs Thatcher, who when she was arguing against the er European Monetary System, said you can't buck the markets, and ultimately that is true, or at least more precisely, you can only buck them at a cost, you can only buck it by buying or selling pounds, which messes up your money supply, or raising or lowering your interest rates at a time when you might not be wanting to do so.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Labour's spokeswoman on the economy, Margaret Beckett, says the Chancellor hasn't stolen her Party's cloak, and says that if the government had taken her Party's advice a year ago, the economy wouldn't have gone through half the pain it has.
[speaker166:] He says that he won't massage er the economic figures to try and create a pre-election boomlet, but then, he said that he wouldn't go into the E R M until inflation was falling and indeed was very near the level of our competitors, so I don't think you can believe a word he says.
[speaker103:] Even if Mr Major really means it and he doesn't intend to do a Nigel Lawson, a sort of nineteen eighty seven trick, er surely he can almost hardly help himself, because the pound and shares are doing very well at the moment; we're told by the economists that there's a good six months of honeymoon period, er and people feel a great pent up demand, people have a great pent up demand, which is now being released.
[speaker166:] Well this is our great fear of course, I mean, we have no illusions about the fact that there will be a six, nine months, I think most people say a maximum of a year, er honeymoon period now, and this is what we've been anticipating. Er. And I'm quite sure that what Mr Major will then say if, if er demand and borrowing and so on does take off again, er is that this is because the real economy has improved, but of course it won't be true, er and we shall have to pay the price again er at the end of the, of the honeymoon period. This is one of the reasons why we are saying to the government that they should consider what our competitor countries do, which is some form of temporary credit management; some form of temporary credit controls to squeeze off this surge in demand before it really gets going and pushes inflation up again.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twelve minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] There's still a bit of repair work going on on the M forty, that's between junctions one and one A between Denham and the M twenty five, with the outside lane closed in both directions. Further along, between junctions five and seven between Stokenchurch and Thame, it's down to single line traffic there in both directions for repair work. And Abingdon street fair is on, so High Street and Ock Street are closed, and there'll be local diversions today and tomorrow. And on the A forty one at er Ruscote Avenue, Banbury, that's completely closed southbound at the junction with Orchard Way for paving work; traffic is being diverted. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing to report to you on either the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come — the seaside resort of Bournemouth is being turned into a fortress as the Conservatives start arriving for their Conference. First, with a round up of the day's local news, here's Lucy Bonner.
[speaker016:] An Oxfordshire construction company has been fined more than one and a half thousand pounds for polluting the River Wray. Robin Powell has this report.
[speaker055:] Alfred McAlpine Construction Limited pleaded guilty at Bicester Magistrates Court today; the prosecution was brought against the company by the National Rivers Authority. Following an incident at Merton, in which silty ground water escaped in to the river from a settlement lagoon which the company was using in connection with work on the M forty. The firm was fined one thousand, eight hundred pounds, and had to pay a hundred and ninety pounds costs as well as being invoiced for the N R A's investigation costs. Today's case brings the number of successful prosecutions in the Thames region to thirty four since the N R A was formed last year.
[speaker016:] The Oxford Regional Health Authority is denying it's seeking an out of court settlement for haemophiliacs infected with the AIDS virus. Recent reports have suggested some local authorities are putting pressure on the government to settle early and avoid huge payouts; they're said to be concerned that if the case is drawn out, more haemophiliacs will die, and in the event of the ruling going against the government, relatives will be eligible for compensation. The Oxford region has about one hundred and forty of the nine hundred cases nationally, and general manager Bob Nichols says they certainly wouldn't seek to settle out of court. He believes the government has a good defence and the needs of the average citizen outweigh those of the haemophiliacs.
[speaker234:] If help can be given from other er national funds because of the moral and compassionate er nature of the case, well that's fine, and that maybe what some Health Authorities have been pressing. But actually to press for an out of court settlement which will mean we have to stop other services or stop er building schemes, seems to me wrong whilst we are being advised that we have a strong defence.
[speaker016:] A man has appeared before Abingdon Magistrates charged with rape; it follows an incident early on Saturday morning in the Harwell area near Didcot. He's been remanded in custody for seven days. And another man has been remanded in custody by Bicester Magistrates, charged with a sex offence at a North Oxfordshire barracks; the alleged offence is said to have happened on Friday night at the Royal Army Ordnance barracks at Arncott near Bicester. He'll appear again on October the fifteenth. A new college course is starting today bringing the International Stock Exchange to North Oxfordshire. The North Oxfordshire College in Banbury will be hosting a course sponsored by the Stock Exchange, to show private investors how to use it. But Janet Morby from the College's Business and Community Services Division, says it's not a course for making fast money.
[speaker002:] We're aiming it at, at private individuals — people who've got an interest in the Stock Exchange, and are trying to update their interest and get as much information as they can about it. One thing we must stipulate; it isn't a get rich quick course, it's giving you the background of it so that you can go away with as much information as possible.
[speaker016:] South Oxfordshire District Council has reopened its Ladygrove Park after it was closed for a cleaning up operation; the park was closed some weeks ago after gypsies staying there left it full of litter. The Recreation Officer for South Oxfordshire District Council, Roy Seddon, says steps have now been taken to prevent the gypsies returning to the park.
[speaker173:] We're preventing caravans entering because we want to er prevent and incursion by the gypsies back into the park again, having spent several weeks trying to get them out, and another week or two er clearing the place up after them. We, we've erected a metal barrier to prevent them coming back in.
[speaker016:] Fox F M News, Lucy Bonner reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's eighteen minutes past six. Bournemouth's International Conference Centre has been turned into a fortress as the Conservatives begin arriving for their Party Conference. The man heading the operation, Assistant Chief Constable, Alan Rose from Dorset Police, says security for the meeting can't get much tighter.
[speaker043:] Well in anybody's terms it's a major operation, the biggest in this country consistently each year. We of course did it in nineteen eighty six, er but this year there are about fifteen hundred officers involved from fifteen different police forces. They've come from Merseyside, Avon and Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset, er Wiltshire, as I say, fifteen different er forces.
[speaker030:] Now one thing that seems to be a bone of contention with local people particularly, is the cost of it — what's the cost going to run out to?
[speaker043:] Well the cost, er we are within budget and the cost was one point nine six million, er but of course central government do pay fifty one per cent of that.
[speaker030:] How secure do you believe this area is, the I C and the Highcliffe?
[speaker043:] Well, no security is one hundred per cent, it's impossible to make any area completely secure, but it's as tight as it possibly can be and I'm quite happy with the security at the present time.
[speaker030:] How long has the operation been going on?
[speaker043:] Well we've been planning for it for something like eleven months, with a small planning team, but at its height, just before Conference, there were a total of seventy officers involved.
[speaker030:] How many people have been vetted?
[speaker043:] er About fifteen thousand.
[speaker030:] How many have you had to reject from that number?
[speaker043:] Only a small handful fortunately.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Reports from Lebanon suggest that British hostages could be closer than ever to freedom. The speculation that the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy, Terry Waite, will be free by the end of this week. James Matthews, our reporter in Jordan says it appears the pro-Iranian group thought to be holding most of the hostages, Hezbalar is ready to end its demands for a prisoner exchange.
[speaker043:] We have to rely simply on the speculation that we hear. If the informed sources in Beirut er have said through the Al, the prestigious Almahan newspaper, now this is one that er that rightly predicted the release of the American hostages, Frank Reid and Robert Polehill. They say that a release is on the cards this week er they make no mention of any ransom and they say Terry Waite is a priority for release; he is at the top of a list of Western hostages about to be set free.
[speaker029:] So, so where is this ransom story come from do you think?
[speaker043:] er The ransom story may, may have come from er a source er possibly a Hezbalar source er trying to latch on to the, basically to the er the, the thoughts of freedom and just to jump on the bandwagon. There are all sorts of people involved and the various underground factions, that maybe that one has, er as, probably as an afterthought er considered that, that maybe money in the release of any Western hostages, that may be where the story has come from, but certainly from the informed sources, and the, the, er certainly on the evidence of past hostages releases, er we wouldn't really have expected that er ransom would be demanded, obviously we have to wait and see when er, when the hostages are set free.
[speaker029:] If this really does happen it would be a remarkable situation because up until now they've been let out in dribs and drabs, they're talking here about a kind of mass release aren't they?
[speaker043:] Oh indeed, but er you have to consider the situation the diplomatic situation between Britain, er the West in general and Iran which is the backer of Hezbalar which does pull the strings of the kidnappers, is perhaps er diff, different and in a more improved state than it ever has been before. Certainly it would be a sensational news event and for the families of the hostages involved and the people themselves, it would be, er it would be er tremendous.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb] It's twenty three minutes past six. The parents of an Oxford haemophiliac who recently died after contracting the H I V virus from contaminated blood, have written to the Prime Minister calling for a quick, out of court compensation deal. The letter's bound to add to press, er add to press for a settlement with a number of Tory M P's expected to bring up the matter at the Party's Conference at Bournemouth. Almost a thousand haemophiliacs are fighting for compensation after being treated with imported blood products. An ex gratia payment's already been made, but Arthur Turner wants the mattle, matter settled as soon as possible.
[speaker138:] If they want to settle out of court, then it has got to be a really substantial settlement to satisfy these people because er those that have already died, er they entered into the litigation in the hope of seeing it through and making sure that, er if anything did happen to them, their wives and families would be catered for and would be er financially settled. But the way things are at the moment, er you know, these people, the next of kin and dependents of those that have already died, until they get money through, they're going to have to go cap in hand to the government to get whatever handout they can. And let's face it er Social Security payments for this sort of thing aren't all that great at the moment.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. An explicit leaflet and poster for students sloganned 'take a course in safe sex'has been causing quite a furore. It was leaked to the press nearly a month before its official launch; a national paper detailed many of the leaflet's suggestions in the some ideas to get you going section which includes a variety of unusual ideas between its first suggestion — pecks on the cheek, and its last — cuddling up and sleeping. It's been published by Oxaids with help from Oxford City Council and the Health Authority. The front of the poster is a playfully erotic photograph of a couple taking the leaflet's advice. I asked Roger Mortlock from Oxaid why the leaflet was so explicit.
[speaker101:] I think we have to look at the climate we're in; we're, at the moment the AIDS epidemic is facing all of us, it's a problem for each and any, every one of us. And, and in a sense, not to be explicit, would, would have been not so much a crime, but would have been an error I think. I think when you're dealing with something that is transmitted sexually you have to be very very clear about how it's transmitted, I think you, you can't be vague about these sexual terms, you have, for, for medical reasons there's nothing else; you have to be exactly er clear about what you mean, by, by the activities you're describing.
[speaker002:] It's er also fairly erotic isn't it?
[speaker101:] Well, obviously none of us would want to separate sex from erotica, and so er, and I think we, what we'd like, what we wanted the leaflet to do was put, put sort of sex for, for young people er and students in particular in this case into a framework that allowed loving and resp, response of attitudes and, and eroticism, yes, and so I think what the leaflet does is, is let people take care of themselves sexually and let them take responsibility for their sexual acts.
[speaker002:] Some of the ways you've, you've laid out things like for example, putting in brackets, in, that it includes not sharing equipment if you inject, the, that is, that er could be seen as condoning people taking drugs.
[speaker101:] I don't think it's condoning, I just think it's given the safe, giving out the safest options for people who maybe taking drugs and, and and maybe in, in maybe er sometimes thinking about injecting drugs, and er I think we actually have to be very clear on this epidemic, that, that there is no, no way for, for lack of clarity, we have to go down the line. And, and I think all the time what the leaflet does is give options, it's never directoral and never goes, never sort of overstates, it's just giving a range of options. It never says this is the right behaviour or this is the wrong behaviour, it just says the safest behaviour and, and then leaves, leaves the recipient to do the rest.
[speaker002:] Now you say it's aimed at students, er how, how is it being er given out?
[speaker101:] I think that's very important, it is specifically aimed at students, I mean I, this, this is no way a leaflet for the general public and, and one of the reasons is the explicitness because it's aimed at students and that we did a lot of research with students, students were involved in the writing. We piloted to over two hundred students er so I mean, I, I think erm that, that's very important to stress, also that we are distributing through student links, so it's going through, through both the, the student unions in Oxford, through, through the Poly union, through sort of, through informal links there and then through the welfare offices in each college at the university.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty seven minutes past six. Two Oxfam workers have been giving a first hand account of conditions in Cambodia, where they claim millions of lives are at risk. Over a hundred thousand people have fled their homes as a result of increasing Khmer Rouge activity; it's feared this could soon escalate into civil war. Oxfam has been trying to help the refugees er in the area, but Tony Jackson just back from Cambodia says it's becoming harder for many to survive.
[speaker235:] People are extremely tense because it's now a year since the Vietnamese left, and the whole country's on a war footing. Everywhere we went, and we travelled — oh, hundreds of miles up north, er people were armed and er just guarding houses, bridges, schools, at night, on their own as a sort of people's militia to keep the Khmer Rouge at bay. Er. You mentioned already er over a hundred thousand people have been er displaced by the fighting, and we were able to visit some of these up in the north to, er watch the Cambodian Red Cross hand out some er aid from Oxfam and other agencies. And these people are in fairly er desperate conditions but at least getting some help, but I think the main point is there is a civil war on, and the West is still standing on the sidelines watching it happen. A major problem the country has right now is an economic one; the Soviet Union is pulling out a lot of its aid programmes and has obviously bankrolled the Country since nineteen seventy nine, so there's a tremendous economic problem added to the er battles of the Khmer Rouge are causing the government to fight. The government's actually running out of money, it's bankrupt.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty nine minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Still a fair bit of repair work going on along the M forty, between junctions one and one A, that's the stretch between Denham and the M twenty-five, the outside lane is closed in both directions. And between junctions five and seven, that's down to single line traffic, that's the stretch between Stokenchurch and Thame, for repair work also. A forty one, that's the road between Banbury and Bicester, there are temporary traffic lights just between Sodone turn off, that's just by the Bear public house and the Northants border; there are some long delays likely along that stretch. And on the A three six one, Wardington, that's just north of Banbury, there are also temporary traffic lights. And it's the Abingdon street fair today and tomorrow, and High Street and Ock Street are closed, and traffic's being diverted because of this. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] But it's not a bad evening if you're on the trains or the buses, I've no trouble to tell you about at all. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty one. The multi-national task force in the Gulf has diverted an Iraqi ship to a port on the Ammani coast for breaking sanctions. Royal Marines intercepted the vessel which was found to be carrying cargo which is banned under the United Nations measures. Two air crashes have killed twenty American servicemen in the Gulf, two air force pilots died when a pair of Phantom jets collided, the wreckage of two helicopters has been found. Shares have hit their highest levels in two months on the first trading day since Britain joined the European Exchange Mechanism. The Stock Exchange one hundred index closed up fifty seven at just over two two O O. And the Lockerbie Enquiry has heard how seventeen of the two hundred and seventy victims on board have never been found. Former Dumfries Police Chief, John Boyd, was describing how he implemented Britain's biggest ever emergency operation. The weather for the Fox F M area: this evening's going to be dry with clear spells, temperatures are going to fall quickly at first to around four degrees celsius, thirty nine degrees fahrenheit by midnight, however, the light westerly breezes will pick up to moderate later with temperatures rising, so a frost isn't expected tonight. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: a full round up of the day's news from the City, and we preview the first of the season's major snooker tournaments. First though, Help the Aged and the Influenza Monitoring Bureau have joined forces to encourage all people over the age of sixty five and those in high risk groups to get a flu jab. Twenty six thousand people died from flu last year; as well as the elderly, others with diseases like diabetes or those with breathing problems are also at risk. Doctor Sandy McNair from the Bureau, says all people at risk should be vaccinated. Wendy Wakefield from Help the Aged says they were surprised by the results of a Morri survey which questioned seven hundred people over the age of sixty five about what they knew about flu.
[speaker236:] We were am, absolutely amazed at the low awareness that flu is actually preventable. I think only twenty four per cent thought that, that flu was preventable, so er there's a lot of work to be done to get the message across. Older people we know want to be offered more ways of preventing illness, so you know, they have to really be informed, er we want them to know about it so then they can make the choice as to whether they take it up with their G P.
[speaker002:] So what sort of things does your er leaflet tell them about it?
[speaker236:] Well it really explains what flu is; there's an awful lot of confusion between flu and the common cold. So it really explains what flu is and how to recognise those symptoms; it outlines who is at special risk from flu, the sort of people with a special medical con, conditions and what those are, and also what to do if you think you have flu. One very important thing for older people living alone is to let friends and neighbours know that they are ill, so that they can keep an eye on them and obviously you know, do the shopping and bring in any, anything that they might need. Er. And also to call the G P if the symptoms persist, or if they feel seriously ill.
[speaker002:] er How many people do actually take up the offer and, and have flu vaccines nowadays?
[speaker067:] Well that Morri poll suggested that er of the risk groups that Wendy's outlining, only seventeen per cent were actually vaccinated. And it's quite clear that that very high death toll from flu last winter was not because the vaccine wasn't working, but because the vaccine wasn't getting into the people who needed it.
[speaker002:] How effective is the vaccine itself?
[speaker067:] It, it's fairly effective; seventy per cent of people exposed to the virus who have been vaccinated, get no attack at all, and thirty per cent get a much milder attack than, than they would have expected.
[speaker002:] So even if, if they do go down with flu once they've had the vaccination, it's less, it's likely to be less serious?
[speaker067:] Well that's the point, I mean, it, the, the elderly who, who die from the flu die because their immune system isn't capable of, of preventing spread of the virus within the body. Er. We don't really mind if people get an attack of flu, so long as it doesn't kill them, er if you recover then fine, but, and that's really what the vaccine does, so it's, it's, it's particularly good at actually stopping people dying from, from flu.
[speaker002:] er I've read in the past that, that there are so many different strains of the, of flu that, that its, vaccine, the vaccine that is produced each year doesn't necessarily tackle that strain of flu.
[speaker067:] Yes, erm there are not, not more than three strains er most winters circulating. The flu virus varies in its structure and it varies in its ability, in the type of antibodies it produces in people. It's an, a small number of, of viruses which constantly shift, and the WHO organisation which monitors flu viruses around the world, is responsible for seeing that the vaccine is made from strains that are in circulation currently, and, and we've been getting it right for the last ten years, so I, I think there'll be no problem this year.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The Oxford Regional Health Authority is admitting it may have been over optimistic when it estimated income from the sale of land. The Authority meets on Friday to reconsider its building programme which will now have to be slowed down, owing to the collapse of the property market. Whereas land sales were expected to bring in seventy eight million pounds in the four years of nineteen eighty nine to nineteen ninety, and nineteen ninety two to ninety three, it now seems the figure will only be about thirty six million, less than half that original estimate. Bob Nichols, the Regional General Manager, says their expectations may have been too high, and they could have noticed signs of the market's collapse earlier.
[speaker234:] We were perhaps over optimistic, as I think a lot of other people relying on, er land sales were. If we'd seen it coming sooner then er we would perhaps not have got started on all the many schemes are actually on site. Our big problem is that we have over thirty million pounds' worth of schemes actually in building at the moment, and of course you can't stop those without wasting a, an enormous amount of money, so we're carrying on with those. And they include the maternity unit at Stoke er Mandeville, and the Milton Keynes, the second phase of Milton Keynes, and these are really big developments that we're funding out of our previous excellent land sales. So we were caught like a lot of other people in not predicting just how fast and how far the land sales er prices would actually go down.
[speaker032:] Do you resent having been put into the position where you had rely, had to rely on land sales?
[speaker234:] No, I think it's er fair that the government er must make the most of its assets. I think we all feel we would like more central capital funding, but without it, it's quite proper that we make er the best of use of the, of the assets we've got, and we weren't using all our estate as effectively as we might, so for the last few years, we've had a very vigorous programme of identifying land and buildings that are no longer required, and putting them on the market and thereby enabling us to build new facilities. I think it's quite, quite right we should be asked to do that, it's just unfortunate that we perhaps got over optimistic when the land sales were boom, were booming.
[speaker032:] Are you now confident about placing your faith in the adjustments that are happening with the economy?
[speaker234:] Yes, I would hope that er this is a mark time; it gives us a time to re-examine some of the schemes to see whether they are as financially viable as they looked er when perhaps times were better, and we would be hoping very much that er the economy will pick up and with it, land sales. I think it should in the south of England er next year or the year after, and we'll have a number of schemes ready to go if that, that comes about.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The John Watson School at Wheatley is facing a parking fine because its Variety Club minibus is too big to fit into a parking space. The ticket was issued at the car park adjacent to the Oxford City Ice Rink, where the school goes on a regular basis. The school's head teacher, Diane Wilson says although they could have parked on the double yellow lines outside the ice rink, it would have been unfair to other vehicles as well as dangerous for the children.
[speaker074:] We do try not to use er the disabled sticker if it's at all possible, because we actually want to behave just as anyone else behaves, in a, just an ordinary member of the community, and so do the children. We actually, people stare at our kids enough, we actually want to keep it as low key as possible, and behave in a proper way. So in fact, we could have caused chaos on Oxpens Road by parking the bus on double yellow lines and making a big thing of getting handicapped children out, in and out of a specialised vehicle, but we, we actually prefer not to do that, and we go on the car park each week, and we pay the same fee as anybody else fee, pays because er we feel that that's the right and proper place for us to be and the children to be, as they're just ordinary members of the community with some special needs.
[speaker073:] Will you continue to use the car park?
[speaker074:] Yes, in fact we shall be going again this week, and I have no doubt, once again this week, we, we'll be overlapping into another bay, but er unless we use the coach car park, er which means that we couldn't take children who weren't really able walkers, so in fact we would be discriminating against our own children, er I really can't see what else we can do.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty to seven. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: on the piste at the Oxford Apollo, and firemen from Didcot look forward to tackling the Ridgeway on two wheels. Financial report with Halpern and Woolf; keeping Oxfordshire in business. As expected, the city continued to celebrate Friday's joining of the E M S and fourteen per cent base rates. In early trading, the Footsie one hundred gained a massive a hundred and fifty points before being cut back by early profit taking, and renewed uncertainty from the Gulf. However, the volume of shares traded was in excess of one billion; the Chancellor's announcement being the panacea the city was looking for. A strong start on Wall Street helped shares to rally, and by the close, the Footsie one hundred was up fifty seven point seven at two two O one point six. On the foreign exchanges, sterling continued to make grounds against other currencies, especially the weaker dollar; the pound ended the day up one point four cents at one dollar point nine six nine five, and up half a pfennig at er three deutschmarks point O two four one, comfortably below the upper limit allowed by the E M S. Today's shares: Abbey National up sixteen to two hundred and thirty, British Aerospace down eighteen at five five nine, British Airways down nought point five at one four four, British Gas up six at two three two, British Telecom went up seventeen to two nine O point five, Goodhead Publishing Group were up two to sixty, Metalbox went down twenty five to one one two five, Morland Brewers went down five to two hundred and seventy, and Oxford Instruments were up, they were up five to two five seven, Thames Water were up eleven at two hundred and thirty four, the Trustee Savings Bank was up six at a hundred and thirty eight, and today's major movers, Reuters, down seventy to seven O three, Bass up seventy seven to one O five O. [pre-recorded blurb] Oxford United's manager, Brian Horton, watched his side put on another disappointing display in their three nil defeat at Barnsley. Also at the game was Mickey Ianotta, who told Brian yet again, basic errors cost United dear.
[speaker106:] That's all you can put it down to Mick, I, I've put, I've put their first two goals on in training this morning, and said 'go on, score from two throw ins' , and it's impossible, it is impossible. If, if our mid-field players and our back four players, whoever you like to, if our front players have to come back in and get involved, if that's what they have to do, and everybody get behind the ball, that's what you have to do. And to score two goals, or concede two goals from, from throw ins, is an absolute lib, liability. I'm not, I'm not just blaming them all the time, I mean, the situation is, when they go out on the field, they are their own men, I can't do anything about there, I can't talk for them out there; I can only put it on in training, and when they get out there, they've got to do it theirselves. That's not just one player, one player cannot do all the talking, it's got to be just ten, eleven, seven; seven make other four do, do what they want to do, and we don't concede goals like that.
[speaker128:] What can you say after the game? Gone on record as saying 'if performances like this isn't going to do you any good, you haven't lost one match this season through the merit of the opposing side'
[speaker106:] No, I, I'll, I'll agree with that, and I think the players will agree with that, it's not as though, it looks as though we've got absolutely murdered again Saturday Mick, three nothing, as I said, it stops at me, and if they're not going to do what I want them to do, then I'll leave them out the team.
[speaker073:] Can see them all driving off now Mick. They've had a practice match this morning, and every striker in the club is going to do some finishing this afternoon. Every striker we've got in the club is going and doing some finishing now; you can hear them going.
[speaker002:] Oh well Mickey, not a very happy man.
[speaker128:] No he isn't Jane, but you can't really blame him, I've gone on record, er it's a case of repeating yourself, it's not his fault; the players when they're out there on the pitch, they can't do it. At the start of the season, the defensive system was a sweeper one, it worked superbly, we were winning though, but it, it's the, it's the reincarnation of the battle of Culloden as far as I'm concerned; Bonnie Prince Charlie just trying to swamp the Duke of Cumberland. It won't work when you go one nil up, or you're one nil down, you have to hold something in reserve; mid-field players have to come back, the forwards have to come back and hold tight, you don't just go charging up looking to get another goal, or trying to equalize, but that's the basic error. They need to find something in mid-field that can stabilize their performance; the balance.
[speaker002:] Well what do you reckon that is? If you were Brian Horton, what would you be doing, what would you be saying to them?
[speaker128:] Well, I wouldn't be smiling, in fact he isn't. Basically what I, I think the best thing that's happened to Oxford United this season, well there are two; the signing of Andy Melville at the back and Jim Magilton, a very young man, but he's got the balance, he can add the poise, and I feel he's going to help Oxford. And mark my words, Oxford United will be at the top half of the, of the division by Christmas, I promise you, once they get it sorted out, there's not one side in the second division who are better than Oxford. They've lost matches, Oxford, take West Ham; there's nothing between them, we lost two nil there, West Ham scored seven on Saturday. West Ham take their chances, Oxford don't, that's why they're at the bottom and teams like Sheffield and West Ham and Oldham are at the top.
[speaker002:] So by Christmas Mickey, we'll hold you to that one. Now changing a little bit, the spire Oxford City stars er lost their unbeaten run er this season, they lost at Chelmsford at the weekend. Have you been impressed with them so far?
[speaker128:] They haven't actually played the teams of the higher class yet, let's point that out. They lost their right, last eight last season; so far this seas, season, they've looked good, they've got some new Americans there, Scott Golf, he's playing well, the two minders, Mettassler and Stewart Thomas, they've been superb, and Dan Prater, sharp shooter, oh, he could hit a ball from anywhere into that net. But at the moment, they lost their first one admittedly, against Chelmsford, they're second in the Autumn Cup, but they need this little run in, they need to find that confidence, and maybe losing that one match may add that little something next week, because they face the Harringay Racers who they drew with earlier on, and the Sheffield Sabres. There's some marvellous names in ice hockey, but er I fancy the, the Spire Oxford City Stars to do pretty well this season, but it all begins in November in the league.
[speaker002:] Right, well it's the first of the big snooker tournaments starting tonight; are you a snooker fan?
[speaker128:] I don't know much about snooker, I must be honest, the last time I played, I kissed off the pink and owed Stewart Cameron a fiver, and that's basically all I know about it. All I know is that Cliff Thorburn is pretty boring to watch, so's Steve Davis, but they generally win the tournaments.
[speaker002:] Mmm, well I, that's probably why you let me talk to David Vine, [LAUGHTER], and the
[speaker128:] He's good on showjumping, I, I love him on showjumping.
[speaker002:] He's pretty good on snooker as well, the, the Rothmans Grand Prix, which er is held at the Hexagon in Reading, starts tonight, goes on the October the twenty first, and I asked David Vine, who's name has become synonymous with snooker, who he thought was going to win.
[speaker229:] One of about twenty eight players will win it, because, I'm serious now, because the standard has got so high from new players coming through, you've got a whole lot of new players. If you went on the form book, the final should be between Steve Davis, who's got married, and Steven Hendry, who's got very rich, and I wouldn't like to pick either of those.
[speaker002:] Are you, are you suggesting that, that either of those might have de-motivated either of those players? [LAUGHTER]
[speaker229:] er, Always possible. Dave, Steve Davis has had a terrible you know, preliminary start to the season, this is the start of the official season, but he hasn't been playing very well at the moment. Er. That's typical of Davis; saves himself for the big occasion, the great professional, Mr Super-professional, and not Mr Boring by the way either, a great player. Er. Hendry is on the crest of a wave, very conscious of the fact that he's the champion of the world, and wants to hang on to that rating of the number one player in the world. But it's very possible that neither of those will make the final at all. Well, when you've got all the big names, and the Dennis Taylors, the Jimmy Whites, both who've won it before, Jimmy hasn't been playing too well recently, but you've got a whole clutch of players who could well come through and surprise everybody.
[speaker002:] I mean, there's a lot of pressure on somebody like Steven Hendry because he's, he's hardly any age at all even now, is he?
[speaker229:] No, a mere little child, but pressure, yes I mean you've hit exactly the right word, which makes the game and the big occasions very different. There are a whole lot of players who can go out there and knock balls in all over the place, score wonderful great big one four sevens and centuries and things of this nature, but what makes the, the good player an excellent player, is the player who can do it on the big occasion. Under the television lights does make a lot of difference, but when he knows it's a big occasion, he can produce the goods when it matters, and there aren't too many of those.
[speaker002:] You, you see a lot more snooker probably than anybody else, do you ever get bored with it?
[speaker229:] No, I don't get bored at all with it, er because snooker is not er like American pool, where you go out there with a stick and just knock balls all over the table; snooker is snooker, and the name of snooker is to play this, you know, this game of chess on the green baize, and er that's what, you see this is where Davis has been so good for so long, a] he's a supreme professional, he once apologised for only practising for two hours on Christmas Day rather than four, er and if you look at Davis' score sheets and his matches, which I've done over the years, you'll see a lot of breaks of around sort of fifty five, sixty, sixty five, and then he stops, he plays the safety shot and says to his opponent 'okay, your turn', plays the percentage game, the occasional knock in the very big ones, but that's why he's won so much, because he thinks it out so well, and knows the averages, knows the percentages and plays the game that way. You get another player like Jimmy White, wonderful player to watch, I mean, you know, flashes the ball all over the place, knocks it in, wonderful player, er and has won a lot of championships, but Jimmy's a totally different character, doesn't practice anywhere near as much as Steve Davis. I mean, there is no such thing as, the day starts for Jimmy White around nine o'clock at night, and if Jimmy's drawn the afternoons, he should be asleep, he's that sort of character. So that's why the snooker I think is, is so appealing, why it's still there, has the big audience, because nearly every one who plays is different, they're characters, and you've got that one versus another, a versus b, er just to watch, you take sides, and the lovely ladies say 'I like that Terry Griffiths, but I don't like that other one, it's got the fascination. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic on the M twenty five is heavy and slow moving between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's between the M four and the M forty, that's on the clockwise section, due to an earlier accident. And on the M forty between junctions one and one A, that's the stretch between Denham and the M twenty five, the outside lane is closed in both directions, there also is some repair work going on between junctions five and seven, that's between Stokenchurch and Thame, where it's down to one lane in both directions. A forty one, that's the road between Banbury and Bicester, there are temporary traffic lights for resurfacing work, that's just between the Soldern turn-off by the Bear public house and the Northants border, that's going to be causing some long delays. And it's Abingdon street fair, the High Street and Ock Street are closed, and that's er, traffic's been diverted locally today and tomorrow. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And if you've been out and about on public transport this evening, you shouldn't have had too many problems. British Rail haven't had anything at all to report to us, and the local bus company's just been telling us that things are running fine. [pre-recorded blurb] It's eight minutes to seven. Hull Truck Theatre Company's latest show opens at Oxford's Apollo Theatre tonight; it runs for a week. In the past, the company has tackled all sorts of sporting themes including rugby; the latest production is called 'On the Piste', and yes, it's about skiing. It's author, John Godber, told me that working out how to stage the ski, the scenes on the slopes had been quite a headache for them, particularly as the set of course, has to be constantly moved from theatre from theatre as it tours round the country. The solution: white astro-turf, lubricated with baby shampoo of course.
[speaker009:] It got to the stage where we thought we were going to have to pull the idea of actually demonstrating skiing, but I follow if you're writing about skiing, you at least had to show the difficulty of putting the boots on, and putting the skis on and side-stepping up the hill, and then finding yourself in a snow-plough position, and then turning around. Because that's where the humour is really; it's on the slopes, it's not, it's not back in the apres-ski sort of lodge.
[speaker002:] You have a, a great rep, reputation in Hull Truck as well for, for being very entertaining as a, as a, as a company. This sounds as though it has all the, all the aspects that er we'd expect from you.
[speaker009:] Yes it is, er I mean, what we tried to do was to write er a comedy on a big scale that wasn't a marshmallow, er in fact it er the, the comedy deepens and it gets pretty sour, and I think some of the criticism of the play has been that 'is it a comedy, or is it a serious play'. I mean I, I tend to think it's a, it's a play that's got some very very funny bits in it, I don't want to give away what the story's about, but whilst there's been the frivolity on the slopes, the whole thing starts to take on a, a, I tell you what it was, I remember reading an article by Dr Ruth, who said that good skiers are good in bed because the image of, of the skier is very potent, you know, and very strong. I took that line, so the main, the main character goes skiing for the first time, can't do it, and is frustrated because everybody else around him can do it including his girlfriend which er adds insult to injury and there is in there of course, a very attractive dashing Austrian ski instructor; that's the catalyst really for the drama.
[speaker002:] And 'On the Piste'is at the er Oxford Apollo, starts tonight, and it's running for the rest of the week. Now this weekend, three firemen from Didcot will be taking to a bicycle to cycle the length of the Ridgeway. They've had to do it during the weekend, a distance of eighty five miles, and it goes across five counties. Two of the intrepid cyclists are Steve Robson and Ian Connell; Steve, what are you doing it for?
[speaker237:] er There's a young girl in Didcot itself er her parents are known socially to the blokes at the fire brigade; she, she suffers from cerebral palsy, she's eight years old, and until recently she's been going out on bike rides with her father on a child seat, but as you know kids grow up, they grow out of things, therefore she can't do it any more. er We, we go out once a week on our bikes just to keep fit for the job more than anything, and have a pint away from the wives, er but er we've looked into the idea of getting a bike specially made for Joanne, er the little girl who I said suffers from this disease. er Nothing or nobody in England make anything anywhere near to what she needs for her disability.
[speaker002:] What, what does she need?
[speaker237:] She needs a bike to support her, she's, she hasn't got any mobility, she can't control her arms, her limbs, although she's there, you speak to her and she knows you're there, and if you're listening Joanne, hello, we know you're there because your mum was telling us today. Er. She needs to be strapped in so that dad can keep control of her, so what we have found out is a bike made in Germany which is a wheelchair with the bicycle part of it clipped on the back, and once you get where you're going, it dismantles and you've got a wheelchair, you can go where you want, but it's very expensive.
[speaker002:] Yes I imagine it would be, because it's er, there can't be many of them made. Do you know how much it's going to cost?
[speaker237:] Yes, two thousand one hundred and ninety pounds.
[speaker002:] That's a lot of money.
[speaker237:] It certainly is.
[speaker002:] Now, er you're hope, you're doing this cycle in aid er you know, to, to buy this bicycle, are you going to be able to raise the whole of that money on this one, one ride?
[speaker237:] It's looking promising at the moment, we've had a lot of support from the people of Didcot, er a number of companies have made donations, T N T express have given us a van to er transport the bikes to the startfinish, and Denton Cycles spares for the bikes if we break down, punctures being the worst
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] It's going to be actually quite a, quite a ride because the Ridgeway isn't exactly a made up road is it?
[speaker124:] No, the Ridgeway's quite up and down, we've already completed a, about half the Ridgeway, er the last bit being about thirty miles we done another day there. Er. I've been, I've came over the handlebars, Ian came over the handlebars with the bikes, so it is rough terrain
[speaker002:] It certainly is
[speaker124:] The amount of mud you pick up on your tyres and such like, it makes it treacherous.
[speaker002:] So, although eighty, eighty five miles wouldn't seem a huge distance to cycle in the day; over that sort of terrain, it's, it's going to be hard going isn't it?
[speaker124:] Yes it certainly is, there, there is parts that we can't cycle on because it's public footpath, so we've got to the bye-laws such like er, and walk these stages with the bikes.
[speaker002:] So you still reckon that you can do it in, well how long, how long do you reckon it will take you?
[speaker124:] er The first day we reckon we'll have to cycle about er eleven hours, and the second day, slightly less time — ten hours probably, so it's about twenty one hours cycling.
[speaker002:] Oh! You mentioned you cycle anyway to keep fit, fit do you — do you, you don't cycle over this sort of terrain do you?
[speaker237:] Yes, we go up on the Ridge most of the time because er we've all got mountain bikes; it makes it a bit more fun. Er. Going along the roads, er it, it gets a bit boring after a while cycling on tarmac and it's, once you come off you have a good laugh at the other person, you know, it makes it a bit, life more, a bit more adventurous, you know.
[speaker002:] So you could actually come back with some fair old bumps and bruises on you could you?
[speaker124:] Yes, I suppose we will yes.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker237:] As long as were fit for duty on Tuesday we'll be alright.
[speaker002:] Oh right, so you've got a day off in between have you?
[speaker237:] Well, we come off duty, we go on duty tonight at half past ten, and we come off at half past ten on Friday night, and we actually leave Didcot fire station at half five Saturday morning to get there for first light so we can make most use of the light, daylight hours.
[speaker002:] So if people would like to er sponsor you and they haven't got in touch with you, can they get you at the fire station — how do they get in touch with you?
[speaker237:] Well, if they'd like to come at the fire station with their money today, barring fire calls, when we'll be out of course, or if they see the fire engine driving round Didcot and it hasn't got its blue lights on and they want to flag us down, they're more than welcome to.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Yes, that could, yes that could be quite tricky, and er well, not much more to say apart from the best of luck to both of you. You are going to make it aren't you?
[speaker124:] Yes, definitely
[speaker237:] Yes definitely.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Thank you very much.
[speaker237:] Thank you.
[speaker124:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] And that was the Fox Report for Monday the eight of October, nineteen ninety. Join us for another Fox Report tomorrow at six, for a look at international, local and national news, but don't go away, Steve Priestley's back with the Red Fox after the news at seven o'clock. [recorded jingle]
[Fjm:] Tonight: President Bush warns Iraq's Saddam Hussein not to try to drag Israel into the Gulf crisis as Hussein threatens a long-range missile attack on Israel. Henley's M P, Michael Heseltine in fiery form against Labour at the Tory Party Conference.
[speaker119:] Three times Labour has failed to honour its commitment to upgrade pensions; instead they wipe the value of pensioner's savings with rampant inflation.
[speaker002:] And a new book claims William Shakespeare wrote none of his plays but did look after the costumes and take the money on the door.
[speaker001:] He was the person when you go away for a vacation, that you leave the key to your flat with, that you say 'would you water my geranium'. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker047:] The six o'clock news, this is Howard Hughes. The two men killed by undercover troops in Northern Ireland today, have been named as a top I R A hit man and a former Sinn Fein councillor. Desi Grew had been in prison several times for terrorist offences, Martin McCoffey had left Dungannon Council only a few weeks ago. Three other people were arrested in the shoot out, at Loughgall in County Armagh, Gary Duffy reports:
[speaker135:] Police say the two dead men were leading I R A activists; one has served long jail terms, the other wounded in a earlier shoot out with troops. It's now emerged the two men died as a large undercover operation swung into action. One local says helicopters brought in reinforcements to the isolated rural area an hour before the shooting began.
[speaker011:] I watched it for several minutes, and they seemed to be landing and one was stationary in the air, without moving, and the rest were going up and down.
[speaker135:] The men's bodies were found after six bursts of automatic gunfire. Three other people are still being questioned. Gary Duffy, I R N, Belfast.
[speaker047:] President Bush is warning Saddam Hussein not to try and drag Israel into the Gulf crisis. The Iraqi leader's threatened a long range missile strike on Israel if it doesn't leave the occupied territories after yesterday's violence that left nineteen Palestinians dead. But Mr Bush says 'it's just another example of Saddam's irrational behaviour'.
[speaker148:] We will watch it very carefully, and it's pretty hard to detect a pattern, now there's a, there's a theme, and that is trying to link the, the Palestine question er into his kind of giving justification for what he did against Kuwait, and yet the logic falls totally flat.
[speaker047:] A man accused of raping his wife has been cleared by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court; it was the first time a man in England had been charged with such an offence. But he has been found guilty of committing serious sexual offences, and given a conditional discharge. Michael Heseltine is accusing Labour of highjacking Tory policies in a bid to get elected. The former cabinet minister says Neil Kinnock is trying to convince voters he's brushed aside Socialism, while left-wing policies are still lurking beneath Labour's new tablets of stone. And at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Conference in Bournemouth, Mr Heseltine used biblical rhetoric to hammer home his warning.
[speaker119:] I would say with you to the good Lord 'spare me from Mr Kinnock's gaze, hold on tight to the tablets of stone less they should fall upon this hapless servant's head, may there be no rock so small that I cannot shelter behind it out of Mr Kinnock's sight'.
[speaker047:] World snooker champion, Steven Hendry has paid out ten thousand pounds to get back a cue stolen from him. It was taken from his hotel room in Reading last night, where he's taking part in the Rothmans Grand Prix Championships. Hendry says it's money well spent.
[speaker113:] It's tremendous really, it's an unbelievable relief for me, it would have taken me months to get used to a new cue, that's the only cue I've ever had er since I started playing eight years ago. Er. And it was like losing an arm, every bit of wood has its own feel, how it reacts when you hit the ball; it's what you get used to.
[speaker047:] The John Lennon hit 'Imagine'has been played simultaneously on more than a thousand radio stations world-wide. It was one of the tributes marking what would have been his fiftieth birthday, and as Paul Woodley now reports from New York, friends of the singer gathered at the United Nations to play the song as an anthem of peace. [recorded jingle]
[speaker238:] The tenth anniversary of John Lennon's death is in December, so this event was intended to focus attention on his life and achievements; an invited audience of two hundred dignitaries heard Yoko Ono say — Lennon's spirit is still alive through music.
[speaker239:] His music is still affecting people, affecting the world, and encouraging people to make a better world.
[speaker238:] This is, she said, 'a day of love, something much needed in the world'— Paul Woodley, I R N, New York.
[speaker047:] Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Tuesday the ninth of October, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. Security sources say one of two men shot dead by the army in Northern Ireland early today, was a top Republican assassin; he was named as Desi Grew, a leading member of the I R A. A former Sinn Fein councillor was also killed. Three other people were arrested and three weapons seized in the operation near Loughgall in County Armagh. Fergal McKinney reports from Belfast.
[speaker240:] The two men who died were former Sinn Fein councillor Martin McCoffey, and known top I R A man, thirty seven year old Desi Grew. He had served ten years in jail in the Republic for armed robbery; eight years ago his brother Seamus was killed by the R U C along with Roddy McCarroll, both members of the Irish National Liberation Army. That shooting was later to be investigated by John Stalker. It now seems clear that there had been intense military activity near Loughgall before last night's shooting, as one eye witness recounts:
[speaker023:] I couldn't get to sleep, and I noticed in the air there was a red light flashing, and several other green lights flashing, and they were coming, helicopter noises, and er I watched them for several minutes and they seemed to be landing and one was stationary in the air, without moving, and rest were going up and down.
[speaker240:] Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Kevin McNamara, says Britain should mourn the two deaths, as it proves the political system in Ulster has disintegrated.
[speaker167:] I'd like to know more details of the circumstances of it, but one must always mourn the deaths of people whether they are innocent civilians, members of the security forces or paramilitaries, because it's an indication that there's a failure of the system in Northern Ireland.
[speaker240:] The Secretary of State, Peter Brook refused to be drawn on details of the operation.
[speaker178:] No I'm not, I'm not going to go into, into further detail until we've actually got fuller detail, and, and when one's got something firm to say, we, we will of course say it.
[speaker240:] Three other people including a woman, all believed to be from the one family who were arrested at the scene are now being questioned by police, while three rifles recovered in a follow up search are being examined by forensic experts. Three years ago, eight I R A men were shot dead when they attempted to blow up Loughgall's police station; close to the anniversary of those deaths this year, the I R A succeeded in blowing up the base.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's six minutes past six. The Tory Party Conference got under way in Bournemouth today amidst a huge security operation; Sally Arthie was there.
[speaker241:] Kenneth Baker put the Party faithful under starter's orders for the next general election; he told them to get ready for a fight, and then told them why they would win.
[speaker242:] Determination, conviction, resolution; these are the qualities of our Party, these are the qualities of our government. They are the strengths needed for any government to succeed, and let no-one doubt, either in our nation or abroad, that we, the Conservative Party, have the strength to succeed.
[speaker241:] Success was also on Cecil Parkinson's mind. The Transport Secretary said the huge increase in the number of cars on Britain's roads wasn't something to be deplored, but the sign of a prosperous economy.
[speaker046:] Only the closed minded can pretend that it's bad news that more people can afford to travel, that was once the province of the few, is now open to the majority. This isn't evidence of decadence or decline, it's evidence of the spreading of wealth and the sharing of privilege.
[speaker241:] He announced more investment in rail links from the Channel Tunnel through Kent, a new one point five billion pound east-west train link across London. Britain's ports will be free to go private, and new powers will be sought to clamp down on drunk drivers; congestion will also be tackled.
[speaker046:] I can announce today that we're going to put an end to the unco-ordinated and inefficient activities of public utilities digging up our roads. And what's more, we'll have the power to charge them for the inconvenience that they cause us.
[speaker241:] It was also the turn of Kenneth Clarke today; the Health Secretary didn't have quite so much up his sleeve, but he did announce plans to set up a nationwide programme of health targets.
[speaker215:] The time has come to consider target reductions in premature deaths from strokes and heart disease; the great waster of life in a modern society. We made good progress, but a combination of better health promotion, screening and treatment should deliver say, a twenty five per cent reduction by the end of the century. Premature deaths from cancer, asthma, diabetes, can be aimed at in just the same way.
[speaker241:] A little light relief in an otherwise routine opening day was provided by Walter Ablett from Essex; a self-confessed working class Tory complete with cloth cap, he spent much of his time on the platform berating Labour's efforts in Blackpool last week.
[speaker243:] The Labour Party platform displayed photographs of well-dressed people with the platform comrades looking like yuppie tailor's dummies in their expensive sharp suits. How well off they are under a Conservative government.
[speaker241:] No doubt we'll be hearing more of the same as the week goes on.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report. Michael Heseltine has criticised government economic policy, warning that investment incentives are inadequate. But he backed the Cabinet line in condemning wage increases which are, what he called wildly out of line, and risked a surge in unemployment. Mr Heseltine who's MP for Henley, walked out of Mrs Thatcher's Cabinet as Defence Secretary over the Westland helicopters affair in January nineteen eighty six. He was speaking today at a Tory Reform Group fringe meeting in Bournemouth. But the man tipped as the next Tory leader aimed his fiercest criticism at the Labour Party.
[speaker119:] Labour has a list of priorities; the pensioners, are they Labour priorities? Three times, Labour has failed to honour its commitment to upgrade pensions, in nineteen seventy six, seventy eight and seventy nine. Instead, they wiped the value of pensioner's savings with rampant inflation, then they made water a priority, and then they cut the capital investment by a third. They made council housing a priority, and they halved the housing, they promised a better deal for local government and ended up with the elderly freezing in their homes, rubbish piled in the streets and the dead unburied. There is a very simple message here: if I were you Mr Chairman, I would not want to be a Labour priority. I would say with you to the good Lord 'spare me from Mr Kinnock's gaze, hold on tight to the tablets of stone lest they should fall on this hapless servant's head, may there be no rock so small that I cannot shelter behind it out of Mr Kinnock's sight, keep the rod and staff of Socialism firmly in your hands lest it be upon my back that it should be broken.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twelve minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] There's still a fair bit of repair work going on along the M forty, between junctions one and one A, that's the stretch between Denham and the M twenty five, the outside lane is closed in both directions. And there are just er two lanes running both ways between junctions five and seven, that's between Stokenchurch and Thame. The A forty one, the road between Banbury and Bicester, there are temporary traffic lights between the Soldern turn-off, that's by the Bear public house and the Northampshire border; that's likely to cause some long delays. And you may also be held up on the A three six one at Wardington where there are some temporary traffic lights, that's just north of Banbury. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us there's a ten minute delay this evening on the Manchester to London Paddington train, which er was due to leave Oxford at six twenty four, so ten minutes to wait there. Meanwhile on the buses, all is running well. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: Greenpeace awaits news of one of its ships which has been seized by the Soviet authorities. And Horton General Hospital in Banbury considers opting out. First with a round up of the day's local news, here's Lucy Bonner.
[speaker016:] City Council Officials in Oxford are warning more staff are needed to cope with the number of multiple-occupancy homes. They claim the City has less than half the resources it should have to deal with the growing number of such homes, H M O's for short. Assistant Chief Environmental Health Officer, John Copley, says people in Oxford have much less of a chance of receiving help than those in other cities, even though some of them are living in appalling conditions.
[speaker184:] An awful lot of the er occupiers live in er in quite unsafe er situations, where er each night they go to bed, they run the risk of er being completely fried alive. Er. Aside from just the physical conditions though, it's also that they face no end of er very bad practices, often by quite poor landlords, and on some occasions very poor accommodation agencies. What er more staff would mean is that more visits can be made to more HMO's to put more of the problems right; it's, it's just about that simple.
[speaker016:] A leading politics don at Oxford University has called on local parliamentary candidate, Bruce Kent, to urge his party to support a public referendum on electoral reform. Mr Kent who's Labour's prospective candidate in Oxford West and Abingdon, pledged his own support for proportional representation during last week's Party Conference in Blackpool. Vernon Bogdaner a reader in government at the University and a Fellow of Brasenose College, says he too is in favour of P R, and wants the electorate to be given the chance to vote on the issue.
[speaker244:] Well I think that Bruce Kent should call for a referendum on the issue and I think the Labour Party should come out in favour of that. I think that would swing to the, them some of the votes of Liberal Democrats and former S D P people who are also in favour of proportional representation. And I think that would take the issue out of the sort of Party dogfight, and let the electorate really decide, and what is after all one of the most important issues facing a democracy.
[speaker016:] A support group for the elderly in north Oxfordshire says it wants more cooperation with the police in helping what it reckons is an increasing number of elderly victims of crime in the area. Alec McNair from Age Concern in Banbury is to address a meeting of the Police Consultative Group in the Town Hall tonight on the effects of crime on old people. He says more old people are being assaulted and being made the victims of con men, and he wants the police to be more helpful in putting the group in touch with those who need help.
[speaker245:] The police er don't refer a lot of things to us, I know it's difficult but er I feel that we ought to have more occasions er where er we are made aware of things that happen and then we can help er in various ways by referrals to those agencies and of course, financially.
[speaker016:] Ticket touts who try and sell City Tour tickets as a profit to visitors to Oxford, could soon be barred under local bye-laws. The City Council's particularly concerned about the congestion that touts cause on the pavement in St Aldate's, which it claims is a nuisance and could be dangerous. Helen Atkins, the Council's solicitor dealing with the issue, says the Authority has to act on the complaints it received over the summer, but admits there's still a long way to go.
[speaker246:] Really the Council is in a position where it must act upon complaint, and it must look at the complaints and comments that's been received. The actual bye-law itself is very much in its infancy, the situation is that, if, if the Council agree, if members of Council agree to make the bye-law, then it would have to be referred to the Home Office and then to the Secretary of State. Now he may or may not confirm it, so it's, it's very much in its inf, infant stages.
[speaker016:] Fox F M news, Lucy Bonner reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's seventeen minutes past six. Greenpeace campaigners are urgently seeking news of one of their ships which was seized by the Soviet Authorities. Communications with the M V Greenpeace were cut yesterday after it was boarded by armed Soviet guards off the Arctic Island of Naviazenya in the Barent Sea. The coordinator Rebecca Johnson says they failed to re-establish contact with the vessel, which had been protesting against the resumption of nuclear testing on the island.
[speaker247:] We have still not been given any kind of direct word, we've not been back in direct communication with them. The Soviet Authorities seem to be playing a slightly odd game, they're putting out information through a TAS er press agency release that says that everybody's back on the ship and being taken to Murmansk where an enquiry will be held. But when we talked directly with them, they refused to confirm this, they refused to put us in touch with the ship, they refused to confirm whether or not er the four activists who were walking to the test site had been apprehended, whether they're safe, whether they're being held separately, and so on. We're asking for er communication back with the ship and we're asking for some straightforward answers from them.
[speaker016:] How concerned are you for their safety?
[speaker247:] We are obviously very concerned and will continue to be concerned until we, we hear er for definite what has happened. Er. I've a feeling that, that probably they are all together and that they are safe because I think the, the, the, the Soviets are probably trying to, to damp down the issue now by keeping quiet on it, because I think they've been very rattled. We've, the protest succeeded in focusing a spotlight on this northern test site where the Soviets hope to continue nuclear testing after their own people stopped them in Khazakstan They're rattled and they're angry with us, and now they're punishing us by preventing us from having direct communication with our friends and finding out that they're safe and well. I hope and really I have every expectation that they are safe and well, but I want to know.
[speaker016:] Presumably the Soviets that argued that these protesters shouldn't be there in the first place and they have the right to apprehend them if, if they want to?
[speaker247:] Well, er we're not saying they don't, er, you, we, we went there to protest nuclear testing, we knew that er you know, we, that that, that protest would be opposed, but now that those people have been seized, er surely the very least they can do is inform us that they're safe and well, and where they are and what is being intended; that, that is not, er that is not too much to ask.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Oxford City Council says it's satisfied that Thames Water is doing all it can to prevent another outbreak of cryptosporidiosis; the water bug which struck the Oxford and Swindon areas early last year. The Chief Environmental Health Officer, Tony Fenn, says he's concerned the sickness and diarrhoea which was caused by contaminated water at Farmoor reservoir, could endanger the lives of the elderly and very young if it re-occurred. But he's been telling members of the Environmental Protection Committee this afternoon that he has every confidence in the steps that Thames Water has taken to prevent an recurrence of the events of eighteen months ago. Robin Powell reports.
[speaker055:] Last year's outbreak was the first of its kind in the country. An emeritus Fellow at Merton College, Sir John Badenoch was asked to investigate what cryptosporidium is, and how it can be prevented. The report recommends local authorities monitor water supplies and review their emergency plans in the event of further outbreaks. Tony Fenn says the City's taking on board those recommendations, as a bug which has struck once, could strike twice.
[speaker248:] If we have er unfortunately, an incident like last years' , the members will want action taken very quickly indeed. Er. That action mainly has to be pressuring the Thames Water Utility Company to er to get its act together, and I must say that er since the last outbreak, they have been working hard at it. Er. But also we need to make sure that members of the public know exactly what to do, er in relation to their own water supplies.
[speaker055:] For its part Thames Water welcomed the report, but spokesman Tom Curtin says the company's been acting on the sorts of things it's recommended for some time.
[speaker051:] We have intensified our monitoring at Farmoor, spending in the region of one million pounds, er to monitor further for the parasite cryptosporidium. It is this sort of intensive monitoring which we think and know acts as a guarantee to our customers, that we are doing all that is possible to avoid a further outbreak of this er parasite.
[speaker055:] It was obviously a very serious outbreak last year, what are the chances of it happening again?
[speaker051:] We feel that we are doing everything possible to avoid a further recurrence of this unfortunate parasite. I would also like to say that the report does mention obligations of other interested er people like er farming groups etc., and the National Rivers Authority to er do everything possible from stopping the parasite entering the water in the first place.
[speaker055:] A spokesman for the National Farmers Union in Oxfordshire says members are encouraged to be very careful to avoid slurry leakage. Meanwhile, the N R A says it treats very seriously its responsibility to stop any contaminating material getting into water supplies, and it's keen to offer guidelines to farmers on issues such as farm waste disposal. All it seems are agreed it'll take a team effort to stop cryptosporidiosis striking again.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. [pre-recorded blurb] It's twenty four minutes past six. Britain's biggest Building Society says the worst could be over for hard pressed mortgage payers. Figures from the Halifax show growth of half a per cent in house prices during September, the first rise for three months. The head of planning for the Halifax, Gary Marsh, predicts a five per cent rise in prices next year.
[speaker059:] Some of our worst fears of prices falling for example in the North, as they have already done in the South, haven't been realised. And in fact prices would seem now to be levelling off somewhat throughout the country, slowing down in the North and levelling off at the current levels in the South. That really encourages us to say now that prices will fall in nineteen ninety, but only marginally, perhaps by up to two or three per cent or so, but gradually there we'll see a recovery now in nineteen ninety one, and that's why we're saying price rises by the end of ninety one of five per cent or more even.
[speaker103:] I think there are still some quite pronounced regional differences between the North and the South and between particularly Scotland and Northern Ireland and the rest of the country — would you see any further coming together of the more expensive properties and the cheaper properties?
[speaker059:] I don't think we'll see much further coming together. What's happen, what happened was, in the mid to late eighties, London led the way in the housing market and prices in London became very very expensive relative to the rest of the country. But now, really what's happened over the past two years is though, is that much of the rest of the country has recovered that gap, and we're back to more normal patterns now. We would say that the gap has, it did widen, it's narrowed again, and we, we're back to a situation of stability.
[speaker103:] Will first time buyers be able to come in again now and actually get things moving, now that the interest rates have come down?
[speaker059:] First time buyers have been coming in. Over the past few months we've seen a far higher proportion of our own borrowers being first time buyers, okay at very low levels, but er a much higher proportion being first time buyers. Er. The reason for that is that they're in a very good position in the market now, they, they can negotiate very good deals on houses they're buying, there's a very good choice of properties available, people by the mid nineteen nineties will look back on nineteen ninety as probably the time to have bought, when house prices were at their cheapest.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. A headmaster is claiming that the craze for the Teenage Mutant Hero Ninja Turtles, is encouraging aggression and promoting the belief that might is right. David Pott from the Shepherds Primary School in London, says the heros in harsh shells are feeding children a diet of violence, and parents should try and stop it.
[speaker174:] I think it's partly the subtlety of it, because on the surface, er the Teenage Mutant Turtles are er sort of in the classic goodies v baddies mould, and er they're rather charming in fact, they're almost naive, they kind of stroll along enjoying their pizzas, and if you look at the front of a lot of the magazines there, they're looking really, really merry and cheerful. But er their, their real function is, is to fight; the whole thing is about turtle power, and er their, their main theme song says 'we're a fierce fighting team', and er so you, you see a change from the quite sort of innocent er appearance to suddenly er a lot of aggression.
[speaker002:] Well, I mean if, they are only cartoon characters after all and Tom and Gerry have got to fit into the exactly that mould, and nobody takes that too seriously.
[speaker174:] No that's right, but er I think that progressively in our society we've seen er a lowering of the standards in terms of what's acceptable for children to read. I mean obviously this is nothing new, obviously there's been this sort of thing for some time in the past, but I think what we've got to ask ourselves is 'what sort of a society are we now reaping?'On the one hand we're really concerned about increase in violent crime er and we've got to ask ourselves 'where did those people who are now in their late teens and twenties and thirties who commit those sort of crimes, where did they, where did it all begin from?'Well I think there are a lot of socio-economic factors, but I think one of the factors is the sort of things those people fed on when they were er in their perhaps primary years, and early secondary years.
[speaker002:] So what do you think should be done?
[speaker174:] Well, I think that really education is going to be the most important thing. I think in fact just sort of plain banning probably wouldn't solve the problem because forbidden fruit is always more attractive; I think the answer is sort of careful and lively education. er And I really think that we, one should teach children discernment, give them guidelines, let them think about consequences, and then make responsible choices themselves.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Banbury's Horton General Hospital has announced it's considering following the lead of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and considering opting out of the N H S. But the hospital is stressing that er at this stage, it's merely gathering information to enable it to make a more considered decision at a later date. In any case, as General Manager, Denis Baston has been telling Robin Powell, such major changes require careful consideration.
[speaker010:] The government er has been enacting legislation which will change the financing of the Health Service very substantially, er from the first of April, er we will be into negotiating contracts for health care, er we're already producing business plans er for the work that we do. It's a completely new area er and we're not sure of the impact of all these changes on the future of the Horton, and that's what we're trying to investigate.
[speaker055:] Having said it's a new area, self-management itself is not new to the Horton is it?
[speaker010:] That's true, in that up to nineteen seventy four, the Horton had er its own er Hospital Management Committee, er with a locally based Chairman and, and Committee who ran the hospital. Er. And of course there, there are certain er views around that would er certainly suggest that, that that would receive support; the idea of local er management coming back to Banbury.
[speaker055:] There's obviously considerable political hype surrounding the idea of self-management of hospitals, but you're keen not to get involved in that kind of political slanging match aren't you?
[speaker010:] Indeed, I, I mean there, there is a, a great difference of opinion between the two political parties on how the Health Service er should be organised. We're keen er to investigate the facts of the implications of the present legislation er and what effect that will have on the future of the Horton. We want to give the best possible hospital service in the nineteen nineties for our community, and that's what we're looking at.
[speaker055:] But of course, even if the Horton does decide to go self-governing, it still depends on the government to give the go ahead?
[speaker010:] Indeed yes, I mean er there, there will be all kinds of considerations, one of which of course is the financial viability of this hospital in the future, er and as I said earlier, the contracting process for health care er is an unknown quantity. We may be better off with health care contracts if money follows the patient as the government er intends it to do, but we just don't know and that's what we're investigating at the present time.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's six thirty. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] There are still some repairs going on along the M forty between junctions one and one A, that's between Denham and the M twenty five, with the outside lane closed in both directions, for barrier repairs and some light maintenance. Also it's down to two lanes running in both directions between junctions five and seven, that's between Stokenchurch and Thame, and er on the A forty one the road between Banbury and Bicester, there are temporary traffic lights, that's between the Soldern turnoff by the Bear public house and Northampshire border, that's going to be causing some delays. You also may be held up a little on the A three six one at Wardington where there are some temporary traffic lights, that's just north of Banbury on the main Banbury to Daventry road. And A forty one Ruscote Avenue, Banbury is completely closed southbound at the junction with Orchard Way for some paving work, and traffic is being diverted. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing too bad to report to you on the buses or trains. [recorded jingle] It's six thirty one. Two men have been killed by undercover troops in Northern Ireland today, and they've been named as top I R A hit man and former Sinn Fein coun, and a former Sinn Fein councillor. Desi Grew has been in jail several times for terrorist offences, and Martin McCoffey has left Dungannon Council just a few weeks ago. President Bush is warning Saddam Hussein he won't get away with trying to drag Israel into the Gulf crisis; the Iraqi's leader's threatened a long-range missile strike on Israel if it doesn't get out of the occupied territories after yesterday's violence that left nineteen Palestinians dead. A man accused of raping his wife has been cleared by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court. It was the first time a man in England has been charged with such an offence. And the John Lennon hit single 'Imagine'has been played simultaneously on more than a thousand radio stations worldwide; it was one of the tributes on what would have been the ex-Beatle's fiftieth birthday, and was played as an anthem to world peace. The weather? Well, it'll be dry this evening and for much of the night, but the cloud's going to thicken and there could be a few spots of light rain over high ground by dawn. The lowest temperature — fairly mild; ten degrees celsius, fifty degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: Oxford Relate says proposals to make divorce easier could be counter-productive. First though, this week is Shelter Week and the Charity which campaigns for the homeless is aiming to raise thirty five thousand pounds. Oxford has a particularly bad problem when it comes to homelessness. Jeremy Spafford from Oxford's Housing Aid Centre is specifically involved with helping single people who find themselves well down the list when it comes to being provided with a home. Jeremy, I, I said it was a, a particularly bad problem, er we, we are worse off in this area for homelessness that a lot of other places aren't we?
[speaker134:] Yes, I mean, er the person you interviewed earlier from the Environmental Health, I think pointed out that er Oxford actually outside inner, inner city London, has er the highest number of properties which are er known as houses of multiple occupation which are often in disrepair. And I think er when it comes to homelessness, er we have to think very carefully about what we mean; and sometimes er people think it's er purely in terms of having er some kind of shelter, er and we have a lot of people in Oxford er, an estimate er has been a figure of, of three thousand people. er who could be described as homeless. And these are people, not just those on the streets or in the shelter, night shelter or er in a temporary hostel and so on, but also people who find themselves in er accommodation which none of us I think would really want to call home. And er we find that those of us who are working with homeless people are increasingly simply trying to find some kind of shelter for a few nights rather than actually trying to find a home for people. It's a very serious problem in Oxford.
[speaker002:] And, and a lot of single people as I mentioned, they, they, they don't come anywhere on, on a housing list to have housing provided for them — what can you do to help them find places?
[speaker134:] Well, er not a lot is, is, is the honest answer, we, we work very hard at it of course, but er the truth is that er the only rights that people have are rights that can be enforced by law, and er in, in law, the only people that the local authority has to provide with accommodation are people who er have children who are particularly vulnerable, and there are very strict definitions of that. And most single people and er most young people in particular, fall outside that definition and that means that they really have no access to council housing of any kind and er they also find it very hard to get into the private rented sector, because of er the fact that's it's er, the rents are so high, and, and therefore they are at the mercy of erm basically the well, well loosely what one could describe as the bad landlords, the sharks, who will er exploit their situation. Er. And they have the choice between either er running the gauntlet of erm bad landlords, temporary accommodation, the streets, the shelters, friend's floors, er or simply hoping that er government policy will change, and er at some point somebody will prioritise er the provision of new housing stock.
[speaker002:] So what, what do you as, as, I mean, it seems unlikely that, that single people will ever be moved right up the list, I mean, do you, do you see any other solution?
[speaker134:] Well there are things we can do, er there thing, basically it's about finding er a way of shifting priorities. Now obviously er the, the government has to shift priorities, and that's not something that's going to change overnight, given the er, the attitude of central government towards these people at the moment, which is extremely negative. However, locally there are things we can do er in terms of trying to improve the kind, er the amount of support available er to er young people and single people in general, who are in this predicament. Er. For example, I mean the local authority, the City Council has provided er funds for workers in this area and for er an emergency shelter for young people in this area. That could, that needs to be maintained, it could also be extended, though of course they have great difficulties because of er their, their own financial restrictions, but we also, I think as a community, need to think about who these homeless people are, and, and not to regard them as some kind of alien population, but to realise that there are, they are our own neighbours, they are our own families that are in this predicament, and that collectively we need to join together and actually make demands on central government and locally to try and do something about it.
[speaker002:] Jeremy, thank you very much.
[speaker134:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] Divorce could become easier if new proposals being considered by the government should become law. They suggest that a couple should be allowed to get divorced after one year without having to attribute blame for the split. Holmes from Oxford Homes Relate, the old Marriage Guidance Council, says a year is a very short time, she says couples may be confused by the natural progression from the state of being in love to something less emotionally exciting.
[speaker249:] The fact is you can't stay on top of a cloud indefinitely, and however long you put it off, there's going to be a corresponding second phase of disappointment and disenchantment when each partner becomes aware of the bits that they're not so keen on. And they may not be able to cope with that, which is why I am always a little bit anxious if marriages break up very quickly, because it might indicate that what they're really doing is just going into that second phase. But for them it feels like such a disaster after the first phase, that they don't know what to do about it.
[speaker002:] Only it may feel like such a disaster that, that they feel they can't do anything about it, er but you're saying that that isn't, isn't necessarily the case?
[speaker249:] Well it may be that they don't know how to, or that they set out such patterns of relating together that they haven't got the means of coping with it. Maybe they don't find it hard to, they don't find it very easy to talk to each other about difficult things; maybe they can't say the sort of things 'I love you but, I wish you didn't, such and such'. Maybe they haven't er been able to er find ways of talking to each other about those difficult things, and maybe they've, they've built up lots and lots of assumptions and resentments and disappointment, and they don't know how to handle it, and they feel that the only thing they can do is to get out.
[speaker002:] Now you say that's the second stage, is there a third stage that's, that's er, puts more joy on the horizon?
[speaker249:] Well, couples will either work on, work out that phase or not, and of course some may, may, may not be able to cope with it and decide to split up. But other couples will either find a way through and re-negotiate their relationship to allow for the different people that they've now become, or they may shelve them because they get caught up in the, the very busyness of life, what we call the, the productivity phase, which is the third phase, where couples are maybe having children, building up a family, building up careers; they're involved in that sort of activity. Er. And maybe not even have time to think about their relationship to be able to sort out any deep problems, and maybe they're getting put, put aside.
[speaker002:] So, do you think that by making divorce possible so early on, that a lot of marriages that could be saved, will in fact er founder?
[speaker249:] Well it's always hard to know what to do, it maybe that the couple have, have made a chronic mistake and who wants anybody to carry on in, in a painful and impossible situation? What, what I would always hope though, is that they might go for some help, because even if they decide to separate, and er get support while they're doing so, they may be able to understand what was going on in the relationship, what they were looking for in each other. Because if they don't, if they don't become any more aware of what's going on for them, they will take all that unfinished business into a new relationship and statistically, we know that second or third time marriages are more likely to break down than first time marriages.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty to seven. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: was Shakespeare in truth the seventeenth Earl of Oxford, and a Van Gogh made of money at the Museum of Modern Art. First, financial report with Halpern and Woolf keeping Oxfordshire in business. The London stock markets staged a complete turn round today as tension increased in the Gulf, with the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, threatening Israel. Nervousness was exacerbated by another weak Wall Street opening, a further rise in oil prices and fears that exports could be adversely affected by the strong pound. However, trading was strong with eight hundred and nineteen million shares changing hands today, and the profit taking was again the order of the day, with the close of the Footsie one hundred Index down sixty seven point five at two one three four point one. On the foreign exchanges, sterling gained ground on the weaker dollar, ending the day up at one dollar point nine seven three oh, however, it ended down one point seven pfennigs closing at three deutschmarks point O O six four. Today's share prices: Abbey National down two at two two eight, British Aerospace down twenty two at five three seven, British Airways down three at a hundred and forty one, British Gas went down four point five at two two seven point five, British Telecom down six point five at two hundred and eighty four, Goodhead Publishing Group stayed at sixty, Metalbox down fifty to one O O seven five, Morland Brewers unchanged at two hundred and seventy, Oxford Instruments went down four to two three three, Thames Water was down five at two two nine and the Trustee Savings Bank went down one to a hundred and thirty seven. You're listening to the Fox Report. Sport now, and the major talking point at Oxford Stadium today has been the Oxford City Council decision to agree planning permission for the stadium to extend their grandstand leisure complex. Senior Planning Officer, Andrew Lewis says that after various planning applications over the past two years which were turned down, due to objections from local residents, the latest plans have now been cleared, regarding the extension and the feelings of the local residents.
[speaker250:] There have been before the present application which was approved, there have been applications refused because the Oxford City Planning Committee were concerned particularly about er access and parking arrangements, and the effects of the extensions er on the front of the building, er very close to Sandy Lane, by the impact of those buildings in particular on residential amenity, on the houses and the occupants of them on the other side of Sandy Lane.
[speaker067:] Have the local residents put up much objection to these new extension plans?
[speaker250:] Yes, there have been some very vigorous objections made by local residents, and that is particularly why the application that preceded this one was refused planning permission because er the objections they made were considered to be well founded by the Planning Committee and supported many of their views. Er. The application that has recently been approved overcomes many of the local resident's er objections, although I think it is fair to say that er some local residents are still concerned about Oxford Stadium's operations, er on particular occasions and the way it affects them.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Well, on the football front, there's some big news for Oxford United's fans, isn't there Mickey?
[speaker128:] Monday October the twenty ninth, pencil in that date Oxford United supporters. Kevin Maxwell and Brian Horton will be answering questions at the next Oxford United supporters forum, which will be held at the supporter's club. Now, upmost in my mind is what John Durnin has as a pre-match meal.
[speaker002:] Yes of course Mickey [LAUGHTER], I er, of course, of course, of course. Now there are a lot of supporters, er are they going to be er, is there going to be room for everybody?
[speaker128:] I don't think so, but it's going to be really interesting this time because we're going to actually, actually see Kevin Maxwell — hope he doesn't wear that cloth cap, it's not really him, he's a very young man. But we've just got to wait and see, I mean, I know the sort of questions they're going to ask, and they do deserve to hear some answers, I promise you that Jane.
[speaker002:] Hmm well you've been giving a few answers yourself over the last few weeks. er I mean, they, they don't call these meetings for nothing, have you anything, any idea what might be er brought up at the meeting?
[speaker128:] Well obviously financially the club has gone downhill, I've no doubt Mark Lawrenson's name will be mentioned again, Dean Saunders. The supporters are not happy with that, they want to know the real truth and well, so do I in a way, because I don't really know.
[speaker002:] Okay, what's happening locally this evening?
[speaker128:] Locally, I've got Brackley down, Brackley Town pencilled in down here, now they're playing Earthling Borough Diamonds in the United Counties Premier League; now Earthling Borough Diamonds, they've yet to win a match and with a name like that they don't deserve to, I'm just glad they're not on my patch, although Elmensbury Pixons are apparently. And while we're on the subject of local football, Witney Town please answer the phone on Saturday afternoon because Phil Angel just doesn't know your res, result. I mean, we tried and tried Saturday, apparently the game was called off.
[speaker002:] Oh well it worked with Abingdon, let's, let's see if it works with Witney Mickey [LAUGHTER], thank you very much. You're listening to the Fox Report. Psychic T V and video sculptures have come to the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford; they form part of an exhibition of video, film and slide tape art across the past decade. Signs of the Times develops themes from the environment to aliens taking over your television set, as Fox Reporter, Lucy Bonner discovered.
[speaker016:] Signs of the Times is dominated by television sets, sometimes in strange settings. Jeremy Welsh's Forest Fires is an all round experience, with leaves on the floor, the smell of woodsmoke and warmth from the fire, which happens to be a group of camouflaged televisions. Exhibitions assistant, John Leslie, explains.
[speaker251:] There's an image of fire on the screens and they're piled up like a bonfire with er natural things that have been brought in from the outside, and there's slide tape projections of the forest around the gallery. These pillars here in the gallery are kind of working also quite minimally as trees in the gallery, so it sets up a nice atmosphere. The idea is that he's using them as, as a way of communicating the idea of the forest being er landscaped; the whole environment of being polluted and it has an ecological background to it.
[speaker016:] In another display, the sets form a circle round the visitor in a sculptor originally intended to be outside on Dartmoor.
[speaker251:] These can be read as standing stones, that you hear the Celtic lament on the sound track, and this piece again has a kind of environmental, ecological background that Judith was using, to do with how we live with technology all the time around us, and also juxtaposing that with, with the natural world.
[speaker016:] Fire is the focal point of Susan Hiller's Balthazar's feast which explores the visions people see in their fireside, and now apparently, in their T V's.
[speaker251:] The fireplace was the centre of a living room where you looked into the flames and you relaxed in front of them and saw images. Now people are using their television set as, as a focal point in their lives, in their, in their living room at least. Also, as you say, this piece, the psychic people have actually reported having messages come through their televisions and seeing images and having communications from sort of other, other areas, other places.
[speaker016:] And for those who remembered the millions that were bid for Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' , there's a telling reproduction of the picture, made entirely out of coins. But even though this version isn't quite as expensive as the original, the gallery isn't taking any chances; a full-time guard prevents anyone from on cashing in on this artistic venture.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Was the seventeenth Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, the real Shakespeare? Novelist, Andrew Field, claims to have discovered the lost chronicle of Edward de Vere in a hidden compartment of a desk in Chipping Norton, and he's written a convincing novel round the supposed documents, supporting the theory that de Vere was a diplomat scholar and soldier beloved of Elizabeth the first, that he in fact, wrote the plays and the sonnets. He says the real Shakespeare was no more than the man who looked after the horses and the costumes.
[speaker231:] Actually you know that's the historical record of Shakespeare, and the theory put about is that er he once played one of the ghosts, Hamlet's father. He was supposedly an actor, you can't find any record of him as an actor, er he was apparently a dependable country bumpkin who became fairly important in managing the money, er Shakespeare was someone whom the theatre people could count on, a simple as that. He was the person, when you go away for a vacation, that you leave the key to your flat with, that you say would you water my geranium; that is the historical sum of William Shakespeare, it's the truth. And the, the incredible er spectacle that we have of the endless three, four, five hundred page biography is based on no evidence at all, because we know very very little about this man, except that he was a shareholder in the theatre, a very very minor actor, the sort yes, who would have minded the costumes.
[speaker002:] On the front, front cover you've got the portrait of William Shakespeare that, that you claim was in fact a painted over portrait of er, of de Vere.
[speaker231:] Actually, I, I don't claim that, that's a fact. In January nineteen forty, a scientist named Charles Barrell, er was examining that portrait, not as an art historian, but scientifically, and of course there's always the question with portraits of what might be under it, because er canvas was very very expensive and people didn't waste materials then as they do now, because they were in relatively short supply, good painting canvas. And er he X-rayed that portrait and he found a portrait of Edward de Vere under that portrait, purportedly of Shakespeare, and then rather alerted, he went to work on the outer portrait and er he took particular care over the signet ring, and er that contains the de Vere boar. That's not literary opinion, that's a fact, and isn't in, incredible that something like that didn't shake some foundations, not a bit of it. Terry Eagleton of Oxford made the comment, er oh I think a year or two ago, in the Sunday Times that er there is too much established in the name William Shakespeare for anyone to be willing to fool around with it. When you think about it, a lot of people will look very foolish when finally de Vere cannot be evaded.
[speaker002:] Not least the Royal de Vere Theatre Company perhaps?
[speaker231:] Yes, well er he owned a property near Stratford-on-Avon as well, so there's no terrible problem there, after all, er Shakespeare was his pseudonym and it was a pseudonym like George Orwell, like, like any other, Blair, Orwell, de Vere, Shakespeare. So we can keep the name Shakespeare and er we can keep the er tea towel trade and Stratford-on-Avon, though it is a pity what's happened to the R S C isn't it, and maybe out of these ashes will rise a new Royal de Vere Company, one never knows. [pre-recorded blurb].
[speaker091:] On the M twenty five, traffic's heavy and slow moving clockwise between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's the stretch between the M four and the M forty. On the M forty itself traffic seems to be fairly smooth at er, there are some repairs going on still between junctions one and one A, that's between Denham and the M twenty five, with the outside lane closed in both directions. Also the M forty is down to two lanes in both directions between junctions five and seven, that's between Stokenchurch and Thame. A forty one, there's temporary traffic lights between Soldern turn off and the Northampshire border, that's just between Banbury and Bicester, and there are likely to be some delays along the A three six one at Wardington where there are also temporary traffic lights, that's just north of Banbury on the main Banbury to Daventry Road. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've still nothing to tell you about the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Bobby Vinton's 'Blue Velvet'is this week's network chart number one; he hasn't had a hit since the nineteen sixties, and when he was told of his success in America, he thought he'd been made the victim of a Jeremy Beadle style prank. He says he's a teen idol who's grown to be very rich. [recorded jingle]
[speaker252:] Here in America I perform a lot in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and I probably make more money today than I ever did when I was selling a lot of records as a teenage idol. In my show, I do everything, because I am er, er I try all the instruments, I sing in different languages, it, it's kind of an act that the Americans er really enjoy because it is so versatile. And, and because of this and my old hits, er I am able to have a big following, and to perform
[speaker069:] When did you first hear that the record er was doing so well in England?
[speaker252:] About a week ago; I just found out. David Most who as you know is a record promoter in England, er I knew twenty five years ago, when I went to England. He was a young er man er who was just er a young boy, he was promoting records and trying to get into the business and, and er he remembered me well, and when they found out that I wasn't easy to, to reach, no-one knew where I was, he was able to track me down and when he told me that er I had this big hit record, I thought it was someone playing a joke on me, because here in America, they have a television show called The Blue Bird, where they play jokes on people and, and tell them things, and then they videotape you and then there's a funny reaction that this is a big television show. So I thought perhaps someone was playing a joke on me for, for a television show what Bobby Vinton would do if he found out a number one record in England.
[speaker069:] And how did you react?
[speaker252:] [LAUGHTER] I said, I says 'come on, where's the camera, what's the joke, and erm and, and why are you, you know, what is this all about?'I didn't really believe it at first, er, and then I received couple or more phone calls from er various people in the industry who er, who were aware of it and started to congratulate me, and then I realised that it was the truth, that er I really did have a big hit record once again with Blue Velvet. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Finally the M forty is getting nearer. Are you excited at the prospect of its opening — angry, totally bored with the subject? Banbury's library and museum though are hoping to record your views, and they're going to, hopefully, make some history. Julia Nicholson is the creator, curator of the museum in Banbury; Julia, what sort of, what sort of things are you after?
[speaker177:] Well what we're doing is we're, er organising a project to record what's happened with the motorway. Last week for instance, we had somebody out on the motorway interviewing the site workers, but we also want to hear from people in the local communities, around Banbury, around Bicester, and found out what they feel about the motorway, because it's going to have an enormous impact on the area. I think people perhaps aren't aware how important it's going to be. From the point of the mus, point of view of the museum, people always think about museums as places where you find historical objects, well we're now creating the history of the future, so that future generations will know about, er you know, what happened at the time of, of building the motorway.
[speaker002:] So are you going to put their views on tape, or are going to er get them to write them down — how are you actually going to record them?
[speaker177:] Well there's a whole range of kind of wacky ideas that we'll be working on. Er. We will be recording er, talking to individual groups that are interested in, in er expressing their views, particularly groups that perhaps have been involved with the protest, and er are you know, not happy with, with some aspects of the motorway. Er. Perhaps people that are involved with the er the Ardley Service Station, and we'd like to hear from any history groups, school groups, anybody that's got an interest in that side, that would like to have their, their views er recorded. What we'll be doing is er organising an exhibition which will come on stream at the museum in the middle of February, and will run until June, and that exhibition will include you know, er all, well, some of the material that, that's been recorded, such as the, you know, the aural history tapes, er some of perhaps the, the press cuttings and things that have come out of the motorway. But also some really exciting projects like er we've had people making sculptures out of scrap from the motorway, we've had, er we're going to have a music project working on, again working on scrap from the motorway. And er so there'll be a whole range of creative projects as well as er, as well as more documentary type things.
[speaker002:] er I think we heard from Banbury School earlier in the year, talking about their music project, that's going to be part of it I understand as well
[speaker177:] Yes, that, that's, that's very much part of it, but we want, you know history's only, only made by people, it's made by every, you know, all of us really, so you know, we're asking for groups now to come to us and say, you know, 'we want to do a project on X to do with the motorway', and we'll be prepared to, you know, back it up as much as we can.
[speaker002:] They can literally come to you at the museum can they?
[speaker177:] Yes, they can just give us a ring at the museum, the number is er Banbury two five nine eight double five, or to ring the library at Banbury as well, they're involved with the publication, and what will come out of it is not just an exhibition, but a whole archive for the future, I mean I'm sure in the past we, we would have er liked to have known more about how the canals were built perhaps.
[speaker002:] Wonderful, Julia, thank you very much. And that was the Fox Report, and it was indeed the Fox Report for Tuesday the ninth of October, nineteen ninety. Steve Priestley is here after the news with the Red Fox. [recorded jingle] Tonight, as Oxfordshire's post begins to get back to normal, talks are still going on at Abingdon Sorting Office to decide whether they'll go back. RELATE welcomes tighter divorce laws.
[speaker089:] You won't be granted a divorce until a period of a year has elapsed and during that period you'll have to work out access and maintenance for the children.
[speaker002:] Extra police are on duty in Blackbird Leys as crime there goes up.
[speaker001:] It's not just because we've had police officers injured. We've had extra officers in there all the time, but we're going to step that up now.
[speaker002:] That's what's really inside the British banger.
[speaker147:] We don't actually have to have all that much meat. Only about a third of them has to be what you really call meat.
[speaker011:] Twenty four hours a day on one O two point six, this is Fox F M.
[speaker253:] The six o'clock news. This is Catharine Kelly. President Bush is threatening to challenge the Iraqis by sending a ship the Gulf to re-supply the American and British Embassies in Kuwait. The move would raise the possibility of an imminent military confrontation with Saddam Hussein. From Washington, Nick Peters reports.
[speaker220:] It's a strategy that would make the embassies the potential flashpoint for war. One official has said that an unarmed American ship would attempt to land supplies in Kuwait harbour, close to where both embassies are situated. If the Iraqis oppose the landing in contravention of the latest U N Security Council resolution demanding re-supply of diplomats, then the official said you would have a classic pretext for war. Nick Peters, I R N, Washington.
[speaker253:] Britain is protesting to Germany over a planned mission to Baghdad by former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt. The Germans and Italians say a team of European politicians should go to negotiate the release of hostages, even though they agree that such trips should be condemned. Ten British wives of hostages held in Iraq will fly to Baghdad next week to plead with the Iraqi leader for their release. Two of the women have said they are petrified amid warnings that war could break out soon, but they say they have to go. Radical changes in the divorce laws are set to be introduced in England and Wales. The Law Commission is recommending an end to quickie divorces. Also proposed is a twelve month cooling off period where couples consider the situation and parents reflect on their children's future with a marriage guidance counsellor. But Zelda Westmeads of RELATE says that the new system won't work unless agencies like hers get more cash.
[speaker254:] We already have asked the government for an increase of our grant from one million to ten million. At the moment we have about ten thousand people on our waiting list. That means often a period of up to three months. Now with the new proposals, unless the government actually increase our grant and we can increase the number of customers we have, we wouldn't be able to see the people who really needed to see us very often.
[speaker253:] Hard cash will soon be back in fashion. From early next year people using credit cards will have to pay more in some shops than people using money. The government says it will help shops meet the cost of processing credit. Ann Costello reports.
[speaker255:] Trade Minister, John Redwood, says there'll be no limit on a surcharge imposed by retailers.
[speaker023:] What we will be doing is saying that it has to be clearly stated so that customers can see before they enter into the transaction and then we expect competitive forces in the market to make sure that the charges don't get unrealistic.
[speaker255:] But shoppers differed on whether they thought it was good news.
[speaker026:] If I'm actually being charged every time I use my credit card I wouldn't use it.
[speaker183:] Credit restrictions are a good idea because people are in a lot of debt.
[speaker255:] The charge will come into effect next year.
[speaker253:] The prosecution case against boxer Terry Marsh has drawn to a close with no evidence being offered by the defence. Marsh denies attempting to murder his former manager, Frank Warren. From the Old Bailey, Emma Howard.
[speaker256:] Defence Council, Richard Ferguson Q C, has taken the decision not to put Terry Marsh in the witness box and to start preparing his closing speech to the jury. The final day of the hearing has included evidence from a Metropolitan Police forensic expert, who admitted ammunition found at the scene of the crime didn't match that found at Marsh's parents' home. The jury of seven men and five women have been given the day off tomorrow while both sides consider the evidence against Marsh and on Monday make their final submissions to the court. Emma Howard, I R N, The Old Bailey.
[speaker253:] Anti-terrorist Squad officers have discovered two I R A safe houses in London. Detectives believe terror gangs have been renting flats in London and the Midlands using them as a base for operations and then moving on. Acting on tip-offs from the public, they raided two homes in Wembley, finding false documents but no guns or ammunition. Marks and Spencer is to stop selling organic fruit and vegetables because of a lack of demand. The company has tried going green at thirty of its stores, but it claims customers can't tell the difference between environmentally friendly produce and that which has been sprayed with chemicals. Independent Radio News. [recorded jingle]
[speaker103:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] It's Thursday November the first, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The postal service in Oxfordshire has begun to get back to normal today, but not all postal workers are back, despite yesterday's vote. Staff at the Abingdon Sorting Office are still out, following a disagreement over the settlement that had been reached between the Union and the Management. Lucy Bonner has this report.
[speaker016:] After intense negotiations last night and this morning, Unions and Management agreed a set of proposals which were then put to U C W members. They voted unanimously to return to work. However, when the Union representative reported the vote to Management, he was informed they wished to change the original agreement. This resulted in members refusing to resume duties and negotiations are currently underway. Staff are on the premises waiting to return to work, and Branch Secretary, Brian Jefferies, says he is optimistic the situation will be resolved, but if no agreement is reached it may have implications elsewhere in the county.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox report. It's five past six. The so-called quickie divorce could be abolished in England and Wales. The Law Commission wants to introduce a twelve month period of reflection for couples wanting to break up. It says couples wanting to split up should be able to do so without proving who's to blame. This report from Hervovie Todd.
[speaker257:] Brenda Hogget Q C, one of the five commissioners involved in the Family Law Report, says that the current legislation is confusing and dishonest.
[speaker206:] It pretends that there's single no-fault ground for divorce — that the marriage has irretrievably broken down — but in practice it encourages nearly three-quarters of divorcing couples to rely on fault based grounds — adultery, or unreasonable behaviour as it's usually called — and then makes it difficult for anybody to defend allegations, irrespective of whether that was the real reason why the marriage broke down. It pretends that the court is able to investigate those reasons in great depth, whereas in practice it is not able to do so, and in any event that investigation is not going to save the marriage.
[speaker257:] The twelve month cooling off period is for the couple to consider and reflect upon their failed marriage with the aid of a marriage counsellor. During this time, the marriage could be saved or the custody of the children resolved before the courts agreed that the marriage was irretrievably broken down. The proposal was welcomed by the Marriage Guidance Counsellors, RELATE. It's spokesman, Zelda Westmeads, says the children of broken marriages would be the first to benefit from the change.
[speaker254:] With the new proposals it seems the needs of the children will be put first because you won't be granted a divorce until a period of a year has elapsed and during that period you'll have to work out access and maintenance for the children and put their needs first and that seems very good.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. From next March shops will be able to charge more for credit card purchases than cash transactions. Today's announcement follows a Monopolies Commission enquiry into the no discrimination rule protecting credit card users from a surcharge. The Commission concluded that the rule was unfair, and the Government has decided to abolish it, paving the way for retailers to charge two sets of prices. The move will be welcomed by traders who've complained about the high cost of processing credit card payments. Corporate Affairs Minister, John Redwood, explained the Government's decision.
[speaker258:] The Government has given two orders to the House of Commons for their approval. The first allows more people to come in and supply all the services involved in providing credit cards. We want more choice and better prices from them, and the second says the shops can now decide whether to charge the same amount for credit card and cash purchases, or whether to charge differentially. For example, to offer a discount to those who pay cash because it's cheaper for the shop to handle their transaction.
[speaker002:] Are you putting any limits on the extra amount that shops would be able to charge?
[speaker258:] No, what we would be doing is saying that it has to be clearly stated so that the customers can see before they enter into the transaction, and then we expect competitive forces in the market to make sure that the charges don't get unrealistic.
[speaker002:] What are the motives for that?
[speaker258:] Well the motives are to offer more choice, to provide more competition in the credit card market and a better deal for customers and, to the extent that there are prices changes, we'd expect them to be beneficial, particularly to those who are buying with cash or debit cards rather than credit cards.
[speaker002:] But is it also part of the push to bring down inflation, to curb credit?
[speaker258:] No, the main intention, as I have said, is to provide a better deal, particularly for the cash customer and the debit card user. If it has any effect, it will be slightly beneficial on the inflation front, but I wouldn't want to exaggerate that.
[speaker002:] Have you any indications as yet as to how many other credit cards could come on the scene?
[speaker258:] Well the market is already growing quite well. I've got no specific figures or names in mind, but I think there will be a further growth, particularly in the number of people who supply existing credit cards, and that's important because they may do better and different deals with the retailers over how much they charge for the processing. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's nine minutes past six. [recorded jingle]
[speaker094:] Hello there, I'm Dana. Come and see me at the Apollo, Oxford, where I'm appearing in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. [recorded jingle]
[speaker064:] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opens on Friday December the twenty first and runs until Sunday January the twenty seventh. Ticket prices are four pounds seventy five to eight seventy five, with a wide range of concessions available. So call the Apollo Box Office soon. Make it a family outing at Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with Michelle Collins of Eastenders, Phil Angel of Fox F M and starring Dana.
[speaker094:] So I'll see you there.
[speaker064:] Oh no you won't.
[speaker094:] Oh yes I will. [recorded jingle]
[speaker091:] Westbound traffic on the M four is still heavy between junctions four B and five, that's the stretch between the M twenty five and Langley. And also westbound between junctions six and seven in the Slough area is heavy. On the M twenty five clockwise the traffic is very heavy and slow moving from junction thirteen for Staines as far as junction eighteen for Chorleywood, that's due to earlier accidents and the volume of traffic. On the M four at Swindon, that's eastbound between junctions sixteen and fifteen, tailbacks are now easing following an earlier chemical spillage which has since been cleared. Over on the A four two three, the Banbury to Oxford road, that's between Langford Lane, Kidlington, and the Shipton-on-Cherwell turn off, there's some resurfacing work taking place with temporary traffic lights and some traffic being diverting. That's likely to cause some delays to your journey if you're travelling along that way. Martin Lawford, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us that the Banbury to Paddington train, which was due to arrive at Oxford at three minutes past seven, has been cancelled this evening, but I've nothing disadvantageous to report to you from the buses. [recorded jingle] Still to come, Conservatives on Oxfordshire County Council say there won't need to be cuts in services to stay within next year's Government budget estimate. First, with a round-up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] Police say they are increasingly concerned for the safety of a Cowley teenager who's been missing from home for nearly two months Wasem Salim Katana who's fifteen, was last seen in a taxi on the twelfth of September. He's described as five foot five, well built and his head shaved into a short back and sides. He was carrying a brown leather suitcase. Sergeant David Whittaker of Cowley Police says Wasem's family are anxious for him to call home.
[speaker222:] They are obviously extremely concerned about him, concerned for his safety, and again they'd really like to get in touch with him or him to make contact with the family or the police.
[speaker153:] Police in Wiltshire are urgently appealing to motorists who drove past a chemical spillage on the M four near Swindon to immediately consult their doctors. It's feared they may be at risk of suffering the effects of exposure to a toxic chemical involved in an accident between junctions fifteen and sixteen of the motorway earlier today. Reporting from Swindon, here's Richard Bellamy.
[speaker095:] Emergency services were called to the M four when a fifty kilogram container of calcium hypochloride split open during peak hour traffic. The powdery bleaching agent was spread across both carriageways in the form of a huge cloud caused by the movement of traffic and the wind. Fire crews attending the incident were unable to get to the scene before the cloud developed, due to the five mile contraflow. Police and medical advisers are urging anyone caught in the cloud to consult their doctors as the chemicals can cause severe irritation to the eyes and throat.
[speaker153:] Oxford magistrates have started issuing liability orders against people summonsed to appear before two special courts this afternoon for not paying their Poll Tax. There have been no repeats of the legal problems which disrupted the hearings yesterday when magistrates declared council authorized documents illegitimate. A women's centre in east Oxford is facing financial difficulties today because its source of funding has been withdrawn. A number of women used the centre on the Cowley Road, which is an Oxford City Council owned building. As of today, their grant of four thousand pounds has been withdrawn. Punget Kore says in a meeting with Labour councillors next week the centre's organisers hope to win themselves a reprieve.
[speaker259:] It's important to renew the funding, because if we don't have any funding the women's centre's going to close. The women centre has served a vital need for the community over the last six or seven years, and if it closes down all that work is basically gone and all the support that we've build up has gone, because basically there'll be nowhere that women can go to socialise and to find out what's going on in Oxford.
[speaker153:] Traders in east Oxford are urging councillors to back a move to replace a controversial traffic scheme. Flowerbed obstacles were installed several months ago in both Magdalen Road and Howard Street, but have won few friends. Most claim the restrictions have actually caused traffic using the roads to speed up. Fox F M News, Paul Kirby reporting.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Conservatives on Oxfordshire County Council have dismissed claims that there'll have to be major cuts in services if it has to stick to Government budget estimates. The budget, of course, also has a major bearing on the level of next year's Poll Tax bills. The Environment Secretary, Chris Patten, has set a figure of just below three hundred million pounds as his own suggestion of what the Council should be spending next year, but that falls well below the figures calculated by the ruling Labour and Democrat Coalition. However, Tory Group Leader, David Walden, thinks Mr Patten's statistics are workable.
[speaker222:] There will be one or two at the margins where we have to look at our priorities and one or two of them will have to be reassessed. And as usual we believe that the Council can deliver its services in a different way, that is by pushing local financial management for schools, competitive tendering in the — there are savings in administration there. And in that figure I've just given you we have allowed for extra provision in some cases like for the national curriculum in the education sector, additional spending for under fives and taking on board the requirements in Social Services for care in the community and the children's bill, although those have been, of course— the care in the community proposals have now been delayed and they are being phased in over three years. So, whilst the Council at its present level of spending under its present control, which is not ours, will have to make savings in expenditure, it is our belief it can be done without detriment to services.
[speaker153:] Is there anything to make you believe that Poll Tax bills landing on people's mats this time next year will be any nearer the estimate than they were last time.
[speaker222:] Well we believe that they could be at or below the three hundred and seventy eight pounds. I mean we have done some rough calculations on what we think the average charge for the county will be, but there are still some unknown factors relative to District Council spending for instance, and it is our believe that we can get below the three hundred and seventy eight pounds.
[speaker153:] Would you say that any District Council who couldn't do that is irresponsible, as he has suggested himself?
[speaker222:] I would say that they ought to be able to spend at a level which is within the S S As that have been given both for the county and for the districts, and therefore we should be below the three hundred and seventy eight. I hesitate to use adjectives as to what they would be like if they didn't spend at that level, but we believe it is possible for them to do so and there is something wrong with their spending levels if they don't do it.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's seventeen minutes past six. An official of the Archbishop of Canterbury is attacking the Government for refusing to talk to Syria about British hostages in Lebanon. Britain broke off diplomatic relations with the Syrians four years ago after allegations that they'd been involved in trying to below up and Israeli airliner. The church official, John Little, says the Syrians have behaved a lot better since then.
[speaker251:] The Archbishop, who has throughout er the last er three and a half years or more, since Terry Waite was kidnapped, he and the hostage families have stayed very much in touch with each other and they have supported each other and he agrees with them now that the Government, on this particular question, is wrong.
[speaker002:] What is it that you think the Government should be doing?
[speaker251:] Well er the first thing er on this question is that on Monday of last week at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Community in Luxembourg, the British Government proposed the removal of the European Community sanctions against China, Vietnam and Iran and the maintenance of the Community's actions against Syria. And that struck us and the families of the hostages as a quite extraordinary thing to do. Syria has a very significant role now to play and we ought not to be seeking ways of annoying them. We ought to be seeking to build on the quite hopeful developments, in the greater Beirut area anyway, over the last few days, but instead we appear to be getting even more dog in the manger in our attitude towards Syria.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Cowley Police are to step up their numbers on the Blackbird Leys estate in Oxford after a recent rise in crime in the area. The estate, which has become notorious for high speed races involving stolen cars, and recently attacks on police officers, means that they er will sending increasing numbers of police there. In recent incidents, a youths stamped on a W P C's head as she tried to arrest them, and earlier this week an officer was injured when he and a colleague were attacked by a gang. Chief Inspector, Robin Harrier, says the increase in crime means they must take more action.
[speaker075:] We will be putting officers in there, extra officers, to try and stop the stolen cars and the joy riding. It's not just because we've had police officers injured — we've had extra officers in their all the time, but we're going to step that up now.
[speaker002:] Doesn't it worry you that you haven't been able really to make an efficient crackdown here and your officers are still suffering attacks?
[speaker075:] Yes, it does. The stolen cars have been occurring now over the last year. We increased our manpower in there approximately three months ago and we reduced most of the joyriding. We then had to scale down our operations, and as a result the joyriders are back again, so again we have got to step up our operation.
[speaker002:] But obviously the answer is not to keep stepping up your operation because there's a limit to your manpower. Do you have any other ideas?
[speaker075:] That's right. What we do need is the co-operation of the residents, and I must say that we are beginning to get the co-operation now and in fact many people did phone in after the last incident when the officers were assaulted, first of all asking for the condition of the officers and showing concern, and secondly giving us information. There's still probably a lot more people thought who saw things out there, and we'd still like them to contact us at Cowley if they've any information as to who the offenders are.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's twenty one minutes past six. [recorded jingle]
[speaker067:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] It's six twenty four. The children's charity, Barnardos, says that poverty in Britain is so bad that parents are going hungry so that the children can eat. A survey by Barnardos paints a picture of families running out of food by the weekend and of youngsters who can't go to school because they've no shoes. Child Care Director, Mike Jarmon, says the findings are deeply disturbing.
[speaker141:] We found a number of things. In a major way we found people who simply haven't enough to eat. There's the lack of food. We find children who are being kept off school because they haven't got shoes to wear. We find that parents are going hungry in order to leave food for their children. They are nineteenth century images of poverty, and they are in Britain today in nineteen ninety.
[speaker002:] Why is that happening, because we like to assume in this country that we have enough safety nets to catch those people, to ensure while they may not live in the lap of luxury at least they don't have to go without.
[speaker141:] Well the level of benefit is simply not high enough to cope with the needs of living today. Ordinary household expenditure, household goods, the level of food and so on. Parents find it extremely difficult to provide even the basic necessities for life today, and certainly when you begin to think of the sort of things that most children in this country have on a day-to-day basis — an ice cream, a trip to the swimming baths and so on— these families don't er it's a major crisis to provide for example sixty pence as entry to a swimming pool.
[speaker002:] Now are these families where the main breadwinner, or where there is a one parent family, is out of work? Or are they people that are in work but even their salaries are not enough to cope?
[speaker141:] Well it's both. It's er in the report that we produced, most of the families are in fact single parent families, most of them are on Social Security benefits and have been on for considerable periods of time, but there are a number of people who are in employment or who have had periods of employment, but they are in low paid jobs, so when you're talking about an income of one hundred pounds a week, with the sort of housing costs there are and other costs, then there simply isn't enough money to go round.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. From today, people parking their cars at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford will have to pay and display. The move has been condemned by councillors for the Labour Party and Conservatives. Council leader, Phyllis Starkey, and Conservative Group Leader, Janet Todd, have written to the Unit General Manager of the John Radcliffe, Tony Stapleton, asking him to withdraw the charge, but hospital officials say they are introducing fees following a survey of people using the hospital, which showed that seventy percent of them were in favour of it. Project Development Manager, Richard Summley, says the Council has been very slow in reacting and he denies a claim that disabled patients will also be hit by the fees.
[speaker173:] I haven't heard anything from the City Council other than two days before the scheme was to be introduced. We have given them details. They've had them for two months. We've heard nothing until two days before it starts. She's saying we're charging disabled — I don't know where she gets her information from. It's not the case. We won't be charging the disabled. If you have an orange badge and you wish to park on the John Radcliffe Hospital site, you can park free of charge just as you would in one of the Council's car parks park free of charge.
[speaker069:] But nevertheless, you are charging patients, often people who are in a great hurry bringing their own patients in, who really probably haven't got any time for that sort of thing. Wouldn't you agree?
[speaker173:] er If it's an emergency case — if you were bringing in a sick relative who you were wishing to have admitted to our accident and emergency department, you can park your car right outside the front door and bring your relative in. We wouldn't penalise anybody who's in an emergency situation at all.
[speaker069:] Another problem is relatives to come to see relatives who are having operations here. Often they will have to spend hours with the relatives. That will make it an expensive operation for them, won't it?
[speaker173:] In cases where we can identify people who would be penalized more than the usual sort of fifty pence charge. Nursing staff on some of those areas that we would pick out — those would be the intensive care units, the children's units, the delivery suites and special care baby units — the nursing staff actually have control of permits which they can issue to relatives who are going to be here for a great length of time, and if they so feel that these relatives shouldn't be charged, they give them a permit and they park in a staff area at no charge whatsoever.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. And news just in — forty postal workers have returned to normal working tonight after talks with Post Office management. The staff from the Abingdon Sorting Office had been due to resume their duties this afternoon at the end of the county-wide dispute, but the workers there refused to go back after part of an agreement with managers was altered. Further negotiations have been taking place and a short while ago the Abingdon staff began clearing the six day backlog. You're listening to the Fox Report. Doctors are racing against time to try to save the life of a former nurse from South Oxfordshire who desperately needs a lung transplant. Fifty year old Manuela Sanchez from Cholsey near Wallingford is in a critical but stable position at the Harefield Hospital, while doctors scour the continent for a suitable donor organ. Manuela, or Manola as most of her friends know her, was forced to give up here job at Cholsey's Fairmile Hospital after twenty two years there because of a painful lung disease. Former colleagues, Frank Plazas and John Leeas, who are still nurses at the hospital say they are very concerned for her. We seem to have some problem with that report. Proposals to ease traffic congestion at one of the region's notorious blackspots will go on display to the public later today. The Department of Transport has come up with two alternative by-pass routes as the best way of relieving the heavy traffic using the A forty Green Road Roundabout junction at Headington. However, local residents of Barton and Sandhills say the scheme is unnecessary and too costly. David Stern from Friends of Bayswater Greenbelt can't understand why the scheme is needed in the addition to the soon-to-be-opened M forty.
[speaker096:] It will be possible to divert the A forty traffic away from the Green Road Roundabout along the M forty extension out to Wendlebury and then back down the new dual carriageway A forty three to rejoin the A forty near to Pear Tree, and that can be done from January ninety ninety one without waiting another seven or eight years for a Barton by-pass.
[speaker073:] But surely the Department of Transport would have looked into this?
[speaker096:] We don't know what the Department of Transport have done because they refuse to tell us. They refuse to tell the public what investigations they have and haven't carried out. What we do know is that they simply say it's too far round er the diversion in distance terms is too long. Well we don't accept that. It's a question of whose point of view it's too far round from. As far as the people living in this area are concerned, it would be very valuable to have the traffic diverted as from next January. As far as the users are concerned, it is a diversion of an extra ten miles on their journey. It rather depends what journeys they are doing. If they are doing purely local journeys, then that may be too much and they may prefer to use the Oxford ringroad, but if they are doing long-distance journeys ten miles is not a very significant addition to their journey in length and the congestion on the Oxford ringroad is such that it may actually be shorter in time terms to go the longer way round in distance.
[speaker073:] How determined are you to make the Department of Transport see your point of view?
[speaker096:] Well, we're doing everything we can to bring it home to them. We've been in correspondence with them, with the County Council, with MPs and with everybody who are interested. We are now encouraging the public to let the Department of Transport know what they feel. Our view is that the Department is trying to do everything it can to avoid a proper consultation on this issue. It is just asking the public to sign up for a Barton by-pass. We want the public to have the full range of options brought out in the open, discussed and be able to make a real choice.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's six thirty one. [recorded jingle]
[speaker091:] Westbound traffic on the M four is very heavy between junctions four B and seven, that's the stretch between the M twenty five and Slough. On the M twenty five, clockwise traffic's very heavy and slow moving, from junction thirteen for Staines as far as junction eighteen for Chorleywood, and also anti-clockwise traffic is slow at junction seventeen, that's Mablecross. Over on the M forty er the nearside lane is closed eastbound between junctions one and two, that's between the A forty and the A three five five, but doesn't seem to be causing any serious problems this evening. And on the A four two three, the Banbury to Oxford road, that's between Langford Lane, Kidlington, and the Shipton-on-Cherwell turnoff, there's some resurfacing work using temporary traffic lights and some diversions for south bound traffic. That's also likely to delay you on your journey this evening. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us that the three minutes past seven train, due into Oxford at three minutes past seven that is, that travels from Banbury to Paddington, has been cancelled this evening. Nothing to report, though, on the buses. [recorded jingle]
[speaker036:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] It's six thirty four. Forty postal workers have returned to normal working tonight after talks with the Post Office management. The staff from the Abingdon Sorting Office had been due to resume their duties this afternoon at the end of the county-wide dispute, but the workers refused to go back after part of an agreement with managers was altered. Further negotiations have taken place and just a short while ago the Abingdon staff began clearing the six-day. Britain has protested about the proposed visit to Baghdad of former West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, to try to secure the release of hostages. Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, has told the Germans and the Italians the initiative breaks an agreement reached by Common Market leaders. Radical changes in the divorce laws in England and Wales are almost certain to be adopted by the Government. The Law Commission has recommended an end to quickie divorces and more effort to save marriages from break up. The weather — a few showers are possible this evening and tonight, with some patchy cloud. However, many places will become dry with clear periods, allowing the temperature to fall right the way down to two degrees celsius, that's thirty six degrees fahrenheit, leading to a ground frost and patchy fog. [recorded jingle]
[speaker036:] The Fox Report on one O two point six.
[speaker002:] Still to come, a challenge to plant four thousand trees in Oxford in one day, plus the day's sports and financial news, but first, though, we return to the story we tried to bring you earlier. Doctors are racing against time to save the life of a former nurse from south Oxfordshire who desperately needs a lung transplant. Fifty year old Manuela Sanchez from Cholsey near Wallingford is in a critical but stable condition at the Harefield Hospital, and doctors are scouring the continent for a suitable donor organ. Manuela, who is known as Manola to most of her friends, had to give up her job at Cholsey's Fairmile Hospital after twenty two years there because of the painful lung disease. Former colleagues Frank Plazas and John Leeas, who are still nurses at the hospital, are very concerned for her. We still have problems bringing you that report. We'll try and bring it to you later in the programme. The world seems to be getting smaller as more and more people realize that what happens in one country can affect others. The Chernobyl disaster sent radioactive fall-out across the northern hemisphere and scientists fear that the destruction of the rain forests have implications for the world's climate. Now Ecospan have produced a new book. Half the world is living in poverty, while the other half is over-consuming they say. Miles Lipvinoff from the Green Party has just published the earth scan handbook for people and the planet. I asked him if the fundamental problem is that those who have are too selfish to help.
[speaker091:] I think it's debatable how selfish people really are, particularly when they see that their are short-term selfishness may in fact create long-term problems for themselves, for their children, for their grandchildren, for er other generations and other peoples, and really as I can see it the green message is one of enlightened self-interest. We all want basic comforts, but there are intelligent ways of producing these comforts and intelligent limits to impose on oneself in order not to foul the nest for everybody else.
[speaker002:] How do you solve the poverty cycle of the developing world?
[speaker091:] Well, my feeling is, and it's really the same message that you get from most greens and most environment books, is that under-consumption, that is poverty in the poor countries, is linked to over-consumption in the rich countries, and we have to grasp this nettle — it's one that the Conservative Party in its White Paper on the environment avoids noticeably — we have to grasp the nettle, that as long as we are over-consuming there's not going to be enough to go round everywhere, and my book shows that this pattern is really a three hundred year old pattern dating from the first Colonial expansion of Europe and the slave trade, and it's still going on today. The multi-national corporations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are prolonging the process still today, and individuals have to, I believe, look at their own patterns of consumption and look at the way society in general works and work towards reducing levels of consumption in the rich countries so that we are more able to help the poor countries help themselves.
[speaker002:] When you say consumption, are you talking about absolutely everything that we have in our homes and eat and
[speaker091:] Well, no, I mean er you have to look at particular areas. For example, in terms of food, cattle that we eat; we eat meat in the rich countries, these are fed on grains that are fit for human consumption that are produced, for example in Central and South America, soya meal and so on. It's one of the most inefficient ways to produce food; for every pound of animal grain that goes into an animal, we get far less in terms of meat. So that's one example. By switching to a less meat based diet, we can actually help to reduce the wastage worldwide. Transport is another example. By using public transport, cycling and walking and so on, we are actually wasting far less of the world's oil and all the other resources used to make cars. So this can be applied everywhere. We will still have decent food; we will probably have better food. We'll have better cities; less polluted by private transport and so on. Energy conservation in our homes is another way that the world's huge waste of commercial energy can be reduced without actually producing discomfort for anybody.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers is going for another plant-in on land adjacent to Port Meadow in Oxford. Last year three thousand five hundred trees were planted. This year they're going to go for four thousand. Marilyn Atkins is from the B T C V. Marilyn, it's a huge great job. How are you going to organise four thousand trees being planted?
[speaker260:] Well we're asking people to enter in teams of four to come and plant as many trees a they can in the space of an hour. So we'll have groups of teams coming along for an hour at a time and hopefully we'll, you know, keep the impetus going through the day by doing that.
[speaker002:] It sounds absolutely exhausting. How many trees do you reckon a team of four can actually plant in an hour?
[speaker260:] Well, we're getting them to go for a hundred, which sounds a lot, but the ground's quite variable so, you know, some of it is really good planting land and some of it isn't, so, you know, it'll be up to the teams to go for as many as they can.
[speaker002:] I suppose you're hoping for good digging weather because you have to dig a fairly big hole to put a tree in it, don't you?
[speaker260:] Yes, you have to dig down as far as you can to get the roots in properly but, you know, it should be just the depth of one spade, so most people ought to be able to dig a hole that size.
[speaker002:] What sort of trees are going to be planted?
[speaker260:] We're putting in native broad leaves, such as oak, ash, holly, field maple.
[speaker002:] Now I mentioned that three and a half thousand trees were planted in the same area last year wasn't it?
[speaker260:] That's right, yes.
[speaker002:] How are those trees getting on?
[speaker260:] Most of them are fine actually. The one's that the volunteers planted are thriving quite well.
[speaker002:] Because we had a very dry summer and that's not, as far as I understand, very good for young trees.
[speaker260:] No, it's not, no, but they seem to be bearing up quite well considering the conditions.
[speaker002:] It's an awful lot of trees already there and you're going to add another four thousand, it's going to be a big area. How, what sort of area's going to be covered in the end?
[speaker260:] There's going to be a seventy acre community nature park eventually, so that's quite an area to cover, but it's not going to be all trees — it's going to be some open glades for butterflies and so on, so there should be a nice variation there.
[speaker002:] It's a very big er big er project. Is this the last tree, annual tree planting in that area, or will there be more to do next year?
[speaker260:] I should think there'll be more to do next year, because, you know, four thousand trees sounds like a lot, but in fact there's thousands upon thousands. There's already twelve thousand in there, so there's more to come.
[speaker002:] You mentioned that they were oaks and ash and broad leaved trees. They are quite slow growing, aren't they? How long will we have to wait before you actually start to see it as a woodland roughly?
[speaker260:] Probably quite a while. At least ten years I'd say. But then we are planning for the future, so that's the sort of thing you have to do.
[speaker002:] Thank you very much. [recorded jingle]
[speaker036:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] Still to come; what's really inside the great British banger? The financial report with Halpern and Woolfe keeping Oxfordshire in business. Following yesterday's revival in fortunes, the London share market was in a despondent mood as the Treasury deflated hopes of early interest rate cuts. The market, once again, became preoccupied with Gulf fears and rising oil prices. Early falls on Wall Street offered London no encouragement, and by the close the footsie one hundred was down twenty two point three at two O two eight. On the foreign exchanges, the pound gained fractionally on the dollar, closing at one dollar point nine four seven O. However, talk of raising German interest rates saw sterling weaken against the Mark and it closed down over one Ffenning at two Deutsche Marks point nine three six O. [recorded jingle] Today's shares — Abbey National down two and two one oh, British Aerospace down eight at five three eight, British Airways down one at one four one, British Gas up one to two one five point five. British Telecom went down three point five to two five nine point five, the Goodhead Publishing Group stayed at forty three. Metal Box went down thirteen to one O seven five. Morland Brewers unchanged at two six three. Oxford Instruments stayed at two two six. Thames Water down three at two thirty. T S B down four point five at one two five. And today's major movers — Benjamin Priest up twenty two to one one one and Bass down twenty eight to nine nine five. You're listening to the Fox Report. It's a quarter to seven. Sport now, and starting with today's main local story, Hans Nielsen will once again captain the skull Oxford Cheetas, who are supported by Fox F M. Contracts were agreed today, less than a week after Oxford's last race this term, which was in sharp contrast to this season when problems arose with the days of the opening of the nineteen ninety season. Nielsen says, after initial talks yesterday, it was a relief to get everything sorted out
[speaker072:] I went down to have a word with the promotion yesterday and er we have er come to terms and er we are all ready to go for next year.
[speaker041:] I must say straight away this is a much better arrangement than last year.
[speaker072:] Well absolutely, I mean we've got together a little earlier this year to make sure we didn't have the same problem as last year, and obviously that's a good thing to get all the problems out of the way so early and so we can all plan ahead for next year without facing any problems that, you know, just before the season starts like we did this year, so altogether a good thing, yes.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's nice to have good news about speedway at the moment and Nielsen's a bit of a favourite, isn't he, with the crowds?
[speaker045:] It's the perfect gin and tonic to the new season, even though we're months away. I mean Hans lost his world crown this term, but he's still the best. He had mechanical problems. He'll come back next year with a vengeance and so will the skull Oxford Cheetahs. The pressure — it'll be off them, they are no longer champions — but let's remember they did finish in fourth place and I've got a feeling that they're not giving anything away at Oxford Speedway, because they never do. There's going to be a few new faces next term. I might be wrong, but I don't think so, but I have to sit on the fence you see as I get into trouble.
[speaker002:] Yes, you always do. It wasn't, it wasn't a bad end to the season after the way thing seemed to be going in the middle, but what do you reckon — are you going to predict that Hans Nielsen will be world champion again next year?
[speaker045:] I think so. He can be world champion for the next three years, so long as we don't have to do it at Bradford because that's an awful track. I mean the Bradford Dukes always win at Bradford because I've heard on the grapevine, not from me, that they've got little bumps round the bends and they fill them in and only the Bradford riders know whereabouts they are, so they skirt round them. I think it's a disgrace, but that's speedway. That's why speedway is magic because I don't know what's going on.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] It's absolutely fascinating and also, let's face it, we've got good news to talk about from Oxford United as well tonight. That was brilliant news, wasn't it?
[speaker045:] I never doubted it for a minute, Jane, never. I told the whole news team yesterday, William, Paul, Lucy, Gorgeous, Abby, Alex, and you yourself, Oxford will win. I predicted two nil and my word they left it late, Jane, I couldn't believe it. I thought 'oh no, not all the way back to the east end of London and risk my car being smashed to bits' , but there was Jim and Paul Simpson on the left, dazzling, running rings around those irons. Their defence was appalling. Yes, they had injuries, but so everybody does. Pulled the ball across and there was Jim, but we have done West Ham a favour, Jane. Do you know what it is?
[speaker002:] No, I'll ask you. What's the favour that we've done West Ham,?
[speaker045:] We beat them, so now they can concentrate on the league and not worry about the cup and risk more injuries, because what they want to do most of all is get back in division one and as a soon as they do that they'll drop back down again, because they're not that good really.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] What are you doing tonight?
[speaker045:] Tonight? Absolutely nothing, Jane. I thought, you know, nothing's happening locally, so I'm going off down to the pub for a noggin, noggin a lert.
[speaker002:] Do you mean we've let you off for the evening?
[speaker045:] Why not? It's the firs time in ages. I'm going to enjoy myself tonight. No, mind you, no, no, I must tell the truth, I enjoy myself when I'm watching the Oxford University, or whatever it is, unless it's Banbury United — oh, no, didn't mean it. I must stop taking the mickey out of Banbury United.
[speaker002:] I think you'd better, Mickey.
[speaker045:] I love them really. I think they're fantastic, even though they're not going to go up this season.
[speaker002:] I think we're going to send you home now. [recorded jingle] You're listening to the Fox Report. The British banger has taken a bit of a grilling today. Researchers from Which Magazine scoffed dozens of the things. Instead of meat they found fat, rind and gristle they tell us. The Government, though, is battling to save the sausages' skin. It's a subject Mark Phillips has been getting his teeth into. [recorded jingle]
[speaker021:] According the Consumers' Association, the supposedly great British banger has a lot to answer for. Under its skin, instead of succulent cuts of prime meat you're much more likely to get all sorts of other things instead. The deputy editor of Which, Judith Gubby, although she's not a banger fan herself, munched her way through two dozen different varieties, says you'd be amazed at what's inside.
[speaker261:] Quite a lot of them didn't have all that much meat in them, which is not surprising, because they don't actually have to have all that much meat, which we thought was quite amazing. Only about a third of them has to be what you'd really call meat, and quite a lot of them had an enormous amount of fat in them. By comparison they might be, say, a quarter fat, a quarter meat and a quarter rusk and water and so forth. Not very appetizing.
[speaker021:] None of this comes as much surprise to sausage supremo Bill O'Hagan. He runs his own sausage shop, with more than fifty different home-made varieties, at Greenwich in South London.
[speaker219:] Just recently MPs are saying 'over our dead bodies, we'll never change the character of the English sausage'. It's absolute bloody nonsense, because they are rubbish. Nearly every sausage, I mean there are odd exceptions, are made from ends.
[speaker021:] So, as far as our saussies go, two things are clear. One if you want the best when you pig out you have to pay for them, and two they are not always as meaty as they might appear. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's nine minutes to seven. [recorded jingle]
[speaker091:] Westbound traffic on the M four is still heavy between junctions four B and junction seven, that's the stretch between the M twenty five and Slough. The M twenty five clockwise very heavy and slow moving from junctions thirteen for Staines to junction eighteen, that's the turn off for Chorleywood. And it's also heavy anti-clockwise at junction seventeen, which is the turn off for Mablecross. On the M forty, between junctions one and two, the nearside lane is closed eastbound, that's between the A forty and the A three five five, but there don't appear to be any serious problems there this evening. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] The only problem I have to tell you about is the cancellation of the Banbury to Paddington train that was due to arrive at Oxford at three minutes past seven. [recorded jingle]
[speaker261:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] The villages of Oxfordshire have come under the microscope of the Women's Institute in the new Oxfordshire village book. It's been published to coincide with the W I's seventy fifth anniversary, and Joyce Milward is a former chairman of the Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes and has been deeply involved, not only with this book, but with the previous — not exactly the old Oxfordshire village book, but the previous versions of it. What has been your involvement, Joyce? Well, I have done the photography for the front cover and er of this particular book, but countryside books, who are the publishers, were asked a number of years ago to republish the old Berkshire village book and that has started a whole series of countryside village books, which now cover, I think, about thirty five different counties. Now it's a lovely book Oxfordshire is the latest one. It's brilliant. It's lovely book. It is, yes. How, I mean, is it just each village that has a Women's Institute? Have they contributed their own piece? How's it been No, no, it's not only their own er we have got er entries from W I members of other villages, but mainly its from the members who live in the villages and of course that is the beauty of the book, where it differs from the normal travel book, it's the story of villages by people who actually live in them. They definitely have a local flavour some of the little entries. Yes, they do. There's lots of little titbits in that you wouldn't find in any other book. Do you have a favourite, or are you Well I haven't got through it yet. Uhm, no, I er I've sort of started off and I've got so far down and er I love the drawing that Freda Rudman from Stanford-in-the-Vale has done of their village, and er and of course I like the Harwell entry, which is my own village, but there's certainly some very nice entries in, some very good entries in. Very interesting to people who live outside the county. Yes, and certainly people who live inside it, because the book's been sitting on my desk all week and I can see it's been opened at places where people are either living or they know people living. That's right. It's quite, it's quite authoritative in a way because it is written by local people. Yes, that's right. And is it available throughout the country? Yes, it's available in bookshops. It's available from our county headquarters, which is in Middle Way, and of course if you're a W I member you immediately get a pound off it, off the face price of seven ninety-five, which is a very modest price for a very prestigious book. Nice little plug there, Joyce [LAUGHTER]. Now, last weekend's cycle ride down the new section of the M forty once looked threatened by being blown away as the Met Office warned of impending storms, but in fact the sun shone down on the riders and today, less than a week the counting is done and Mike Biddolph from Oxfordshire County Council, who also took part in the event, has come up with the grand total of — how much have you raised Mike?
[speaker037:] Twenty three thousand five hundred pounds, we expect. I mean we've counted the pledges, but we haven't counted the money yet, so we're glad the post is getting back to normal soon because that'll start it flowing in.
[speaker002:] continue to jog people's memory to actually get collecting and get sending it to you.
[speaker037:] Yes, they've got a week or two to get it together and send it in, but we know from what people have pledged that that's what we can expect at least, and that's from over a thousand cyclists ranging from, I saw one child in a seat behind their parents on a bike, up to an eighty nine year old lady from Brill who cycled for the first time in years and really enjoyed it.
[speaker002:] I suppose it's reasonably flat, so it's quite a good place for a beginner.
[speaker037:] It's a bit more interesting than that. It was up and down and around corners a bit, and it was a nice ride and er and er views of Oxfordshire that nobody has seen before the road came, and you won't have that amount of time to look at them ever again, because you'll be doing seventy instead of seven miles an hour.
[speaker002:] Now twenty three thousand plus pounds is a huge amount of money. Did you expect to be raising that sort of money?
[speaker037:] Well, we hoped to do well, but er that definitely exceeds our best hopes. That's going to go er it was jointly organised by the County Council with Oxfam and the local Rotary Club at Thame — the money will go to local charities that Thame Rotary choose and also to particularly one project in Zimbabwe of Oxfam's, a health project and a large part of that money will actually buy more bikes for the health workers to use to do their work.
[speaker002:] And you actually rode this route yourself. Was it a good day out?
[speaker037:] Yes, I managed some of it. It was a very nice day out actually, and everything from serious riders who just went up and down and the most energetic one did a hundred miles, to families who treated it, took a picnic and stopped and looked at the badger tunnels.
[speaker002:] Oh well, and a little jog of the memories to people who are out there collecting their donations in, or people who have promised money — get that money in and get it off to er well to you I suppose, Mike.
[speaker037:] To Oxfam. To the local area office of Oxfam. Yes.
[speaker002:] Now the local headlines from today's local papers. The Abingdon Herald led on village anger at a chemical firms plans. That's families in Marcham who have registered a protest against the expansion of an American-owned firm and the Wantage and Grove Herald reports on a new approach to car parking problems in Wantage itself. And that was the Fox Report for Thursday November the first, nineteen ninety. Join me tomorrow with another Fox Report. I'll be here at six o'clock. Steve Priestley's here with the Red Fox after the news. [recorded jingle]
[speaker089:] Mr McGregor says he'll be sorry to leave his old job where he's presided over the education reforms.
[speaker001:] I've had tremendous support in carrying them through, and had there not been this unforeseen event, I would certainly have been expecting to, and looking forward to, carrying on doing that for quite a considerable time, but I am sure that Kenneth Clarke will carry the same reforms forward with equal gusto.
[speaker089:] Iraqi troops and tanks are tonight ready for war. They are doving around Kuwait with a ring of minefields to protect them. The new tactic means their tanks would not only be hard to hit, but British and American tanks would find it virtually impossible to get through the minefields. Here's I R N's defence correspondent, Paul Morris.
[speaker019:] In the last week the strategic balance in the Gulf has changed. Intelligence reports from the United States and Britain showed an almost impregnable defensive line along the Kuwaiti border. The fifteen foot high tank traps and minefields now make an all-out frontal attack almost impossible. At the same time, the three thousand five hundred tanks and three hundred and ninety thousand Iraqi troops have dug into defensive positions which make them difficult to knock out, even with the sophistication of British and United States ground attack bombers.
[speaker089:] Security forces in Northern Ireland are hunting a woman in black who set up a U D R soldier for murder at the garage where he worked. The killing, in Cookstown, County Tyrone, comes a week after the I R A vowed revenge for the murder of the Sien Fein activists in the town. This report from Julian O'Neill.
[speaker262:] Forty two year old decorated U D R veteran, Albert Cooper, was set up by a woman who left a booby-trapped car at this garage for repairs. Mid-Ulster M P, the Reverend William McCrae, is horrified.
[speaker263:] I think what is so degrading is that er women who under God can bring forth life can actually produce death in this place.
[speaker262:] Two years ago the Sergeant Major returned fire on I R A gunmen who ambushed him. Julian O'Neill, I R N, Belfast.
[speaker089:] Iran has re-opened its Embassy in Britain, eighteen months after links were severed when Ayatollah Khomeni issued a death threat on Salman Rushdie. Families of British hostages held in Beirut hope that the new era of co-operation will help win freedom for their loved ones. Esso and Shell are putting four and a half pence on a gallon of petrol from Monday. The rises will bring the price of four star up to two pounds twenty two point three pence. Moscow's radical city council is getting ready to embarrass the Kremlin at its Revolution Day celebration next week. It's staging its own marches to counter the official demonstration and it's changing some street names back to what they were before the revolution. This report from Sue Jameson.
[speaker088:] The timing is not co-incidental. As the war of words over November the seventh heats up, is changing the names of forty streets and metro stations back to their pre-revolutionary titles, just hours before the tanks rolled through Red Square for the traditional Revolution Day parade. Out go Karl Marx, K G B chief Djinsky, and composer Tchaikovsky. In come General de Gaulle, Martin Luther King, plus the old traditional names. Moscow authorities are making it quite clear they'll decide who does what in the city and not the Kremlin. Sue Jameson, I R N, Moscow.
[speaker089:] Independent Radio News.
[speaker011:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] It's Friday, November the second, nineteen ninety. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. The Education Secretary, John McGregor, has been appointed as Sir Geoffrey Howe's successor as leader of the Commons. Kenneth Clarke will become Education Secretary and William Waldegrade, currently Minister of State at the Foreign Office, will get the job of Health Secretary. But re-shuffle or not, Britain's Euro-Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittain, says there must be a major overhaul of the Government's attitude to Europe. He's sad, though, that Sir Geoffrey has quit.
[speaker264:] Very sad that he should no longer be a member of the Government, because he contributed so much to it. He was the founder, in many ways, of the thinking behind the present Government. He had an outstanding career as Chancellor and he was deeply respected as Foreign Secretary. It's a great loss.
[speaker023:] So did the resignation surprise you?
[speaker264:] I wasn't altogether surprised, because it was becoming clear that there were differences, nuances if you will, within the Government about the handling of European issues.
[speaker023:] How important, though, to you think the resignation is in terms of the survival of Mrs. Thatcher and the Government?
[speaker264:] Well that's not something on which I would wish to comment on. As a Conservative I naturally want the Government to survive and to win the next election, but plainly if the Deputy Prime Minister resigns that is something which gives cause for readjustment and rethinking if the Government is to win the next election.
[speaker023:] Do you see Mrs. Thatcher's fairly intransigent stance over Europe now — is that isolated more within the Tory Party?
[speaker264:] Well you're using adjectives and I'm more concerned about the issues. What's important is that Britain should adopt a positive role in the negotiations, very difficult negotiations, that lie ahead, and that Britain should not be isolated and that Britain should, in fact, be able to find a way forward with its partners. I don't think that's impossible, and I've suggested one or two ways in which it could be done.
[speaker023:] So do you think there's got to be a C change in the way that Mrs. Thatcher approaches European issues.
[speaker264:] It's not a question of a C change on the part of anyone, it's a question of doing the right thing for the future. I think the opportunity is still there.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Labour's Higher Education spokesman and Oxford East's M P, Andrew Smith, has greeted the cabinet reshuffle, saying the Conservatives are currently running around like headless chickens. He says it's a shame John McGregor had to go from his post as Education Secretary.
[speaker033:] It's clear that the Prime Minister is worried, as so she should be, over the Government's poor performance in education. But you see, like a poker player who's losing, I don't think shuffling the pack around is going to help her. It's not as though what Kenneth Clarke has done in the Health Service has actually done any good for our hospitals and medical services, and I don't believe that he has anything to offer education either. In fact, there is a sense in which John McGregor, whilst under enormous pressure from the Tory Right Wing, was at least trying to listen to what people in education were saying.
[speaker026:] Do you not think that Mr Clarke can continue the success of John McGregor?
[speaker033:] Well there hasn't been any success under John McGregor. As I have said, he started to make a try at listening, but all the evidence is that the public is very deeply worried at standards in our schools and at the under resourcing of education, crumbling schools, lack of books and, frankly, the very low morale of very many teachers. And what they see the Conservatives coming forward with are harebrained schemes for vouchers, a handful of city technology colleges, and pushing opting out. All of these are a total irrelevance to the concern of most parents and the needs of the educational system.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's eight minutes past six. The Foreign Secretary and Witney's M P, Douglas Hurd, says there won't be a challenge to Mrs. Thatcher's leadership following Sir Geoffrey Howe's resignation. He was speaking at Gosford Hill School in Kidlington today. Mr Hurd said the Government's policy on Europe remains clear, and the party will stick by it under Mrs. Thatcher's leadership. He said although her style may be criticised the policies are good ones. But, he said, they may have to prove that to the electorate.
[speaker086:] Policies explained and our determination about it is clear, er that carries oh ninety per cent of members of Parliament on our side.
[speaker002:] As Foreign Secretary, after this news do you still feel Mrs. Thatcher's stand is the correct one?
[speaker086:] Well the policy is not Mrs. Thatcher's policy, it's the policy on which we are all agreed on and which Geoffrey Howe helped to main. Everybody has their own style and tone, and we don't all have to be clones one and another. She has her own tone and style and I've seen it very effective.
[speaker002:] Do you feel you will have to mend fences now?
[speaker086:] Well, there will be a certain amount of explanation that will have to be done, because Geoffrey Howe is a well known, well liked figure among many people that I deal with er but now, and for some time now, for a year now, it's I who have been dealing with them and I hope I've inherited some of the work and some of the trust which he helped to create.
[speaker002:] Do you think now there will have to be a lot of morale building within the party?
[speaker086:] Well, it's a continuous process, isn't it, if showing people that we have a clear policy on which the whole cabinet and almost the whole Parliamentary Party is agreed. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's ten minutes past six. I'm Jane Markham. [recorded jingle]
[speaker136:] The A thirty four still very congested. Two miles north of Chievely, the northbound carriageway between the M four at junction thirteen and the Oxford ringroad there's a reported four to ten vehicle accident there close to the roadworks. Major congestion is building and you are asked to avoid the area if you can. In Berkshire, on the M four, junction eleven to junction twelve, the A thirty three and Theale, it's roadworks causing a ten mile tailback there in both directions and police ask you to avoid that area. Junction eleven to twelve, the A thirty three and Theale there, they ask you to avoid the area. It's also very slow on the M twenty five in the area, anti-clockwise, junction twenty to nineteen, that's Kingslangley and the A forty one, also sixteen to fifteen, the M forty and the M four, is very slow as well. The A four two three, Kidlington to Banbury road has major delays on it this evening, due to the temporary traffic lights near Bunker's Hill, and finally on the A four two one, just south of Bicester, there are changes to the road layout at the new M forty interchange. Mark Rise, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker002:] Buses are running smoothly this evening, if somewhat slowly, but on the trains from Paddington to Oxford you'll find a delay of about twenty minutes this evening.
[speaker103:] The Fox Report on one O two point six. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Still to come, a local mother wants stricter rules on airguns after an accident involving her young daughter five months ago.
[speaker147:] Five months on, seeing Lisa with a plastic eye and seeing how she is, she gets so upset, I would like to have the law changed. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] With a look at the day's local news, here's William Runcan.
[speaker226:] Fire crews have been called to tackle a blaze tonight at house in Oxford. Smoke and flames were spotted shortly after a quarter to six at the house in Girdlestone Road, Cowley. Fire engulfed a ground floor bedroom. An ambulance crew is now at the scene, while firefighters with breathing apparatus search for anyone who may have been trapped inside. We'll bring you more on that story later. A report recommending improvements to elderly people's homes in Oxfordshire has been made public this morning. A team of six inspectors compiled the reports from visits to homes over last three months, and from almost a thousand questionnaires. The study's thought to be the first of its kind in Britain and shows a generally positive response to conditions in the county's fifteen council run homes. Director of Social Services in Oxfordshire, Ian White, says most of the recommendations can be implemented with little cost, but expensive re-building must still be addressed. I'm sorry, we haven't that report, we'll try and bring that to you later. A motorcyclist has been taken to hospital in north Oxfordshire tonight, following an accident on the A thirty four near Enstone. It happened late this afternoon near the Little Chef restaurant and near the junction with the B four zero double two, Charlbury to Swerford road, where it's believed the motor cyclist collided with a car. It's expected he'll be taken to the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. Motorists travelling towards Oxford on the A thirty four from the Newbury area look likely to face delays following a multiple pile up. Up to ten vehicles are thought to have collided about two miles north of the M four junction thirteen at Chievely. Finally, local trading standards officials in Oxfordshire are urging parents to be on their guard against a children's chemistry set containing a potentially lethal substance. Manufacturer, Peter Pan Playthings, were find two thousand pounds by magistrates in Hereford and Worcester yesterday, following an incident where an eleven year old schoolgirl died after drinking a beaker containing copper sulphate used to make crystals. Debbie Dent from Oxfordshire's Trading Standard's Department says although the product's been withdrawn from sale in most shops, some of the sets marked 'Salter's Science Fun with Crystals' may have already been bought and put aside for Christmas.
[speaker265:] In a hope situation it's not controlled. As with the girl who died earlier in the year, this beaker of solution was in her bedroom and she mistook it for a bedtime drink. Now obviously if it's in a school laboratory it's under closely controlled supervised conditions and that's what we're concerned about. The contents of this kit are lethal.
[speaker226:] Fox F M News, William Runcan reporting.
[speaker103:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] It's a quarter past six. A north Oxfordshire G P, who was on Edward's Heath recent mercy mission to Iraq, says he's concerned for the health of hostages still held in the Gulf as the tension in the region begins to mount. Dr. David Spackman from Bloxham, who works in a surgery at Sibford Gower, was asked to go to Iraq to give medical attention to the thirty eight hostages the former prime minister brought home. He said some of the hostages he saw were seriously ill and, with the threat of war increasing, he's concerned about those left behind. If the risks were not to great Dr. Spackman would go again.
[speaker096:] I think, at the time we went there wasn't any real risk of being held hostage ourselves. Short of actually some sort of war breaking out or some an incident breaking out whilst we were on the ground, I suppose they might have actually apprehended us, but otherwise I think the chances of anything happening to the people, or Ted Heath, who were out there were very, very slim.
[speaker064:] There are rumours that war is imminent, so presumably it would be dangerous to go now?
[speaker096:] Yes, I think, I mean, it varies from day to day, but as you say the rumours at the moment are that the is being upped a bit and I think it would be different. I think even a week after we've got back I think it's slightly more risky even now.
[speaker064:] How seriously ill were the thirty eight?
[speaker096:] They varied. There was, of the thirty eight, there were at least six who were ill. One of them had had a recent bypass, heart bypass operation. One had had a heart attack. Two or three had other quite heart conditions and they were genuinely ill. Two or three with cancer. Some weren't desperately ill. Two or three were just fairly old and frail and just the stress out there was getting to them and I suppose some had relatively minor but painful things, not life threatening, but just uncomfortable.
[speaker064:] Have you reason to believe there are other people who are ill who are still out there?
[speaker096:] Yes. From talking to them on the way home and talking to Ted Heath's G P, who we also had a long discussion with, without doubt there are other people there who obviously simply refuse to let come home, who are just as serious and, from the sound of it, one or two perhaps even more serious than the ones we did bring home.
[speaker064:] You mentioned people suffering from stress, presumably if there were an attack they would be more susceptible to stress then?
[speaker096:] Without any doubt. I mean, one of the chaps we brought home had a er — he was only in his middle thirties and he had actually the stress of being held captive. I think he was in a munitions factory somewhere near Baghdad and the stress had certainly precipitated quite a serious heart condition and that was under a relatively peaceful situation, so if there was any sign of war out there that would obviously be tenfold.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's seventeen minutes past six. Oxford publishing millionaire, Robert Maxwell, is believed to be willing to make houses he's bought on the Botley Road available for homeless families. Mr Maxwell annoyed councillors when he bought the six properties at above market prices and them boarded them up. The Council objected to the houses lying empty when the City has a severe housing shortage. The Chairman of the City Council's Planning Committee, John Power, says he thinks Mr Maxwell's reasons aren't entirely public spirited.
[speaker024:] I did make the point that Mr Maxwell's company wants co-operation on the eastern edge of the City, vis-á-vis their football stadium, and we ought to have some co-operation on the western edge of the City where all these houses are boarded up and empty, bought at double the market value, and I made that point publicly. As I understand it, Mr Maxwell's company has approached the Housing Committee and said we are prepared to let these houses be used for homeless families, so it's a small but significant step in the right direction.
[speaker002:] Do you believe it's going to happen then?
[speaker024:] Well I'm led to believe it's going to happen because I've had — first of all the Chair of the Housing Committee, Valerie Smith, has been approached by Mr Maxwell's company, secondly somebody purporting to represent Mr Maxwell's company has spoken to me indirectly, and thirty another representative of Mr Maxwell's company spoke to another Councillor. So it seems it is going to happen.
[speaker002:] And how important would the benefit be?
[speaker024:] Oh, well these are substantial houses and I would imagine that for the six houses we could get twelve families, twelve families housed immediately, they'd be substantial houses. So that would be twelve families out of bed and breakfast. That would be a substantial benefit in the City.
[speaker002:] Have recent Government changes to housing registration made the situation even more pressing?
[speaker024:] Well they've made it absolutely much more pressing and this is just a drop in the ocean. But nevertheless in terms of twelve families that's very important to those twelve and it's a small step, but the problem is so big that it needs concerted Government action to solve the problem of homeless people in Oxford.
[speaker002:] So you're grateful to Mr Maxwell.
[speaker024:] Oh no, I wouldn't say I was grateful to Mr Maxwell. I mean I think Mr Maxwell's on the end of a very nasty hook at the moment with these houses and he's wriggling off that and he's offered these houses to us to avoid public embarrassment to his company and also to gain co-operation from us and the City Council in other areas.
[speaker029:] The Fox Report. [recorded jingle] [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] It's six twenty two. The mother of a north Oxfordshire girl who had to have her eye removed after an accident involving an airgun, is calling for a change in the gun laws. Eleven year old Lisa Morley suffered a badly damaged eye in incident near Grange School in Banbury in May, after which police interviews a boy, who was also aged eleven. Now Lisa's mother, Ann, wants the law to stop children that young handling air guns at all. Robin Powell reports.
[speaker055:] For an eleven year old schoolgirl, it's not easy coming to terms with having a plastic eye. Lisa admits she finds it very upsetting.
[speaker193:] When I put my eye in I feel upset.
[speaker055:] Do you wish it had never happened?
[speaker193:] Yes.
[speaker055:] How do you feel about the accident?
[speaker193:] Awful. I'd like the law changed. I am really pleased about my mum and dad helping me.
[speaker055:] Do you think it's right that they should campaign for a change in the laws?
[speaker193:] Yes.
[speaker055:] What makes things harder still for the Morleys is the fact they still don't seem any nearer receiving compensation. But, says Ann, it's not for want of trying.
[speaker266:] We tried for compensation and we've got Tony Baldry, who we're going to see Saturday, and he's going to try and claim for us under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act.
[speaker055:] So why haven't you had any so far?
[speaker266:] Our solicitor is fighting for that, but we seem as though we're up against a brick wall at the moment, so we'll have to just wait and see.
[speaker055:] But just as satisfying as compensation for Mrs. Morley would be a change in the law. At the moment, even children under fourteen can use airguns on private land, though youngsters under seventeen must be accompanied by an adult on public land. Ann Morley says all that must change if something good is to come out of Lisa's accident.
[speaker266:] Five months on, seeing Lisa with a plastic eye and seeing how she is, she gets so upset, I'd really like to have the law changed covering guns. We'd like a change in the law er for under fourteens really, to get guns locked away in cases in houses not so children can just go and pick them up.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. One of the west Oxfordshire Tory rebels, who was resigned from the Tory group last February, has returned to the fold. Neil Owen, who's councillor for Milton-under-Wychwood, Fifield and Bruern, became an Independent when the eighteen rebels resigned in protest over the Government's level of Community Charge in west Oxfordshire. He says he's rejoined the Conservative group because west Oxfordshire has managed to salvage four hundred thousand pounds from the Government.
[speaker267:] I always intended to, but I wanted a reason or some credibility to go back with, so that our gesture wasn't completely fruitless or looked as if it had been a complete waste of time. It would seem that we now have four hundred thousand pounds available that wasn't apparent before, and that's come from the Department of the Environment, and that is enough for me to say well, we've got something out of it, it wasn't a fiasco or a waste of time and now I can rejoin the Conservative group with some degree of credibility.
[speaker067:] But would you admit that it wasn't any doings of the Tory group that brought that four hundred thousand pounds in?
[speaker267:] The reason that brought that four hundred thousand pounds stems from the Tory revolt and the pressure by the group, the Tories, the rebellious ones, on the Government through our Chief Executive to fight our case, through a completely Sir Humphrey scenario, to get some more money and a better deal for west Oxfordshire, and that's been achieve for some measure.
[speaker067:] It's a strange time to rejoin the Tories.
[speaker267:] I don't think it is actually. No. We all know that the battle lines are being drawn for the next election. I want to step back into the line. When we took the step we did last May, we didn't desert the Tory Party, we rebelled against it and I for one said that I would go back in the fullness of time, I just hoped I could go back with something to show for it. [recorded jingle]
[speaker103:] The Fox Report.
[speaker002:] It's six twenty six. Scientists working on the jet fusion project at Culham in south Oxfordshire have been protesting today in a bid to influence leading figures in the project as they met for the second day of their full Council Meeting. The British staff at Culham were pointing out to the eminent scientists that they are paid less than their colleagues from fourteen other European countries working alongside them. Union official, Peter Keeping, says it's unfair that British staff should get paid less than their foreign colleagues.
[speaker153:] They get typically twice or two and a half times the salaries that our people get and that's being going on for a very long time. In fact the members took it to a European court and spent a lot of their own money — twenty five thousand pounds — to try and get a discrimination judgement out of the European court, which failed at the last hurdle really, we think on political grounds really.
[speaker069:] It must be demoralising for workers to be working alongside people who are being paid twice for doing the same job.
[speaker153:] Yes, that's true, but they are very dedicated people. That's the point. That's one of the reasons why they don't like doing this kind of thing that the did this morning, because they don't want to affect the project in any way, and I think the management takes advantage of that.
[speaker069:] So what do you want to see being done?
[speaker153:] Well, we want to see our members, the U K employees, having the same opportunity to join the project on the same terms as people from the rest of Europe and that's very appropriate this time when everybody's talking about Europe, we think.
[speaker069:] Do you think that's going to happen.
[speaker153:] Um, I think it's still going to be a hard fight, but I think today we've shown the authority that we mean business.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. But press officer for Jet, John Maple, who belongs to the same union as Mr Keeping, says that there are statutory reasons why this morning's protest may have been in vain.
[speaker068:] It's very difficult for Jet to do anything about it because the situation is that Jet is bound by the statutes of the Jet joint undertaking and this is a legal document setting down the conditions under which we work, which has been agreed by governments and the council of ministers, and essentially the situation is that there are two types of people employed in the Jet team. There are the British people, who are members of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and there are the other non-members of the British team who are employed by Euroaton, the European Community, and there are different conditions of service for each of these and that's where the problems arise. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. It's six twenty eight.
[speaker069:] Still major problems on the A thirty four northbound, between the M four and junction thirteen of the M four and the Oxford ringroad. There's reported to be a four to ten vehicle pile up there and that's close to the roadworks. Major congestion is building. You are asked to avoid the area. It's just two miles north of Chievely and the police are on the scene at the moment. On the M four in Berkshire, junctions eleven to twelve, that's the A thirty three and Theale turn off, the roadworks there are causing a ten mile tailback in both directions. You are also advised to avoid that area as well. On the M twenty five its very slow anti-clockwise, junctions twenty to nineteen, Kingslangley and the A forty one. Also very slow at junctions to sixteen to fifteen, the M four M forty if you're heading back from London. On the A four two three, Kidlington to Banbury road, expect some delays due to the traffic lights near Bunkers Hill. That's beginning to ease at the moment and also beginning to ease on the problems being caused on the A four two one just south of Bicester, due to the changes in the road layout at the new M forty interchange. As I say, beginning to ease now. Finally, the market square in Aylesbury is still closed for major work and obviously will be for some time, and you need to still avoid that area. Mark Rise, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us the eighteen twenty four, Manchester to Paddington train — that's the train that's due in at Oxford at eighteen twenty four- is fifteen minutes late this evening, and all trains from Paddington to Oxford are about twenty minutes late. The buses tell us they've no particular problems, but obviously they are getting held up where the traffic is busy.
[speaker073:] The Fox Report on one O two point six. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] It's six thirty one. The Education Secretary, John McGregor has been appointed as Sir Geoffrey Howe's successor as Leader of the Commons. Kenneth Clarke is to become Education Secretary, and William Waldegrade, currently Minister of State at the Foreign Office, will get the job of Health Secretary. Iran has reopened its Embassy in Britain, eighteen months after links were severed when Ayatollah Khomeni issued a death threat on Salman Rushdie. Families of British hostages held in Beirut hope the new era of co-operation will help will freedom of their loved ones. An Ulster Defence Regiment soldier has been murdered in a booby trap bombing, after being tricked into opening a van door at the garage where he worked. A woman drove a van into the garage at Cooksdown in County Tyrone and asked him to fit a new exhaust. As she ran off the man opened the van of the door, which then blew up. The weather for the Fox F M area. This afternoon's showers should clear up this evening to leave all areas with a dry night. Cloud will gradually disperse and clear areas will appear, allowing the temperature to fall to one degree celsius, that's thirty four degrees fahrenheit, with a widespread ground frost and few mist patches in the valleys.
[speaker073:] On one O two point six F M. This is the Fox Report with Jane Markham. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Well, they did it. Oxford United achieved what no other team this season has been able to do. They beat West Ham. That was of course a league cup match, and despite that showing they find themselves still second from bottom, second division, and they need to convert that league cup success into winning league matches. Their manager, Brian Houghton, says the victory over the Irons, as West Ham are known, should mark the turning point for the club's fortunes.
[speaker106:] It's funny how it goes. We seem to get the rub of the green in the Rumbelow's cup at the moment. We need to get them in the league. We've lost one in six. We've conceded three goals in six games, so it's not too bad, is it? But we've got to start sort of transmitting those performances into points in the league quickly. The difference between having a good time and a bad time is so minimal it's unbelievable, but this, with three points for a win, situation it makes it so hard to say well we're a bottom side, we're a top side, all of a sudden in half a dozen games we could be like a top side. It's that close. Mick and er I think Leicester are like that. I've seem them play and they're not a bad team. I've seen us play, and I don't think we're a bad team. But, but when you look at it we're second from bottom so we are a bad team at this present time. We've got to do something about it. If we play like we did on Wednesday night we haven't got a problem.
[speaker036:] If we play like we did second half against Watford we wouldn't have a problem.
[speaker106:] If we play many games — you can reflect on them all, can't you? But the fact is we ain't got enough points. We gotta start getting some points.
[speaker036:] So what about the team tomorrow? Is it going to be the same one, or are you just announcing a squad?
[speaker106:] Mick, I honestly don't know at this present time. We've got three or four knocks from the other night. You saw them. Paul Kee got a knock making a good save. Mickey Lewis making a brave tackle. Mark Stein got one, who everyone thought was a very good game the other night. So there's three. There was another one came in with a little bit of a strain yesterday morning, so what've done this morning, we've just had a collective training session and we've told them to report at quarter to eleven in the morning. We'll have a little loosener and then hopefully it will be the same team.
[speaker002:] Well there you go. Now Mickey, our Sports Editor is here and we've mentioned Brian Houghton, of course, or he's mentioned himself. What about the local sports scene this weekend Mickey.
[speaker041:] Well rugby dominates. And first of all, I must say good luck to the eleven local sides taking part in tomorrow's curtain raiser at Twickers before we take on the argy-bargies and thrash them. That's unless they cheat. Do you remember football wise back in nineteen sixty-six they played against England and all they did was kick our players. Fancy kicking Nobby Stiles! And Sir Alf Ramsey called them animals.
[speaker002:] That was football, Mickey, that's different.
[speaker041:] I know. Oh, sorry, Jane. Anyway another hello to Witney Rugby Club's Silver Jubilee. They're going to be celebrating with a match against the Kew Occasionals fifteen, who include two Irish internationals and six former blues, and afterwards there'll be a firework display, and if they phone me up I'll come along, as long as it's free of charge.
[speaker002:] You like fireworks, don't you?
[speaker041:] Oh I like everything that goes off with a bang, Jane!
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] What about local football? I suppose we're talking non-league here.
[speaker041:] Absolutely. We've got Buckingham there playing Drifters, Pennanians. Hang on a minute, I've got that wrong. That's rugby. That's the provincial cup third round in rugby.
[speaker002:] I'll ask you about rugby first, then. What about the provincial third cup [LAUGHTER], whatever it is, Mickey, what about that?
[speaker041:] Well, whatever it is, Buckingham are playing Drifters and they'll win that. Pennanians, they're going to lose against Wheatley. Milton Keynes, they're hopeless, they haven't got a chance against Bicester. Abingdon, I think they'll lose to Cholsey. And Oxford Marathons, as they just play down the road, they're going to beat Witney. But I live in Witney, so I'll go for a draw on that one, even though it's rugby. Football — oh, there's bags of it, Jane. Just to pick out one or two. Buckingham town against Bracknell. This is the F A vase cup first round. Their answer, well non-leagues answer, to the F A cup. Brackley Town, they're playing Northfield. Thame United — thank you very much for the phone call, we've got your fixture — and shall I mention it? Yeah, why not, they're at home to Bournemouth. They'll win that one — 'cos they gave me a fiver. Abingdon United — they're at home to Didcot Town. In the Vauxhall premier league, Aylesbury United, quack quack the ducks — they're superb. They're gonna beat Walsall, and tomorrow they're going to beat Bognor, because I don't like the name of their club. In division two, South Abingdon Town — they're doing absolutely superbly, Jane, they're at Malden Vale. Oxford City — must mention this — they've got a two o'clock kick off at home to Tring Athletic because they've got no flood lights, and where do you think those flood lights are, Jane? Railway cuttings home of Banbury Unit. They're at it again. Every time you mention football Banbury Unit surface, even if we play Chelsea, even if Oxford United play Chelsea. Who's going to be playing for Chelsea?— a northern Ireland international. Where did he begin his career?— with Banbury United, and he played in the same youth side as me.
[speaker002:] That's remarkable [LAUGHTER]. Well, a busy weekend. Thank you very much, Mickey. You're listening to the Fox Report. A bonfire, planned for a playing field in East Oxford, has had to be cancelled because safety officials say its too dangerous. A rubbish dump at Wood Farm became so large that residents complained to Oxford City Council that it posed a fire risk. In a decision this afternoon, Oxford City Council's Parks Officer, Bob Stag, has been saying how industrial waste, and even Council rubbish, has made the site too dangerous for the fire.
[speaker204:] Well in previous years this has been an unofficial, but reasonably well organised and moderately sized bonfire. We've had no problems with it. On this occasion it's grown far too big. It's got out of hand. It's incorrectly built and it also appears to have been used as an excuse for fly tipping, and industrial fly tipping at that.
[speaker002:] When fire protection officials came to look at the dump they discovered mattresses deposited by a bed company, furniture and even potentially hazardous oil cans. John Seer, who's Fire Protection Officer at Oxfordshire's Fire Brigade, says had the dump been set alight it could have endangered life.
[speaker134:] This particular bonfire has been constructed of industrial waste and in consequence we are unable to ascertain precisely what is inside the bonfire. Bonfires generally are very safe. There may be, within this bonfire — and until it's taken apart we will not be able to ascertain this — there may be petroleum cans in there, there may be small L P G cylinders, all of which will go off with a very large explosion and possibly cause some injury to life. [recorded jingle]
[speaker045:] The Fox Report, on one O two point six. [recorded jingle] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] Still to come, Oxford's Ice Hockey team, the Spire Oxford City Stars, ar runners up in the autumn cup, but that is just the start.
[speaker261:] The cup was a warm up for us and the league is what we play. We have twenty eight games in front of us here. We've gotta do as well as we can and we've gotta try and get promotion this year. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Financial report with Halpern and Woolfe keeping Oxfordshire in business. The shock resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe last night took its inevitable toll on the London Stock Market. The possibility of a Conservative defeat at the next election promotion investors to unload shares. By lunchtime the Footsie one hundred had lost sixteen points on its overnight position. However, following a strong opening on Wall Street, the market forgot political uncertainties and made a modest rally, closing the day up two point seven at two O three O point seven. On the foreign exchanges, the pound was firmer against the dollar, closing at one dollar point nine five three five, but it closed fractionally down on the stronger Mark at two Deutschmarks point nine three three one. Today's shares — Abbey National up point five at two one O point five. British Aerospace up five at five four three. British Airways down two at one three nine. British Gas went down two point five to two one three. British Telecom down point five at two five nine. Goodhead Publishing Group unchanged at forty three. Metal Box unchanged one O seven five. Morland Brewers stayed at two six three, while Oxford Instruments went down two to two two four. Thames Water unchanged at two three O and T S B unchanged at one two six. Today's major movers — Thames Television up sixteen to three seven one and Pearson down thirty two to six one O. [recorded jingle] You're listening to the Fox Report. This weekend the new ice hockey league season starts. As Spire Oxford City Stars, who are supported by Fox F M, finished runners up in the autumn cup, and now they're brimming over with confidence as they approach they new season. They're at home to Blackburn on Sunday, but begin their English division one campaign away to Harringay tomorrow night. And despite their recent successes, Mickey put it to the star's coach, Don Jameson, that they've yet to find a way round Harringay's defensive system.
[speaker268:] We've drawn with them twice in the autumn cup. Four four down there and five five up here. So obviously we are looking to get the points for the first time. It's bee a very frustrating team for us to play. They play a very defensive style and we're gonna need to go down there an open the game up and play as well as we can. We need to get the two points. We need to get off to a good start in the league.
[speaker269:] Now of course these two sides are new to ice hockey, the players aren't. Harringay — they've took a few from Chelmsford, and as for the Blackburn Black Hawks, they used to be your team mates.
[speaker268:] That's right. Five of them I used to play with at the Trafford Metros in Manchester, so they've got a very experienced team. they've got four players from Blackpool, a couple from Bradford, so although the teams are new in name they're not new in make up. It's a very experienced squad in Blackburn and we're gonna have our hands full Sunday night. It's going to be an exciting game.
[speaker269:] Now, I've seen both sides and I do believe that Blackburn are going to present the bigger problem.
[speaker268:] I think Blackburn have their eye on promotion. They wanna be in this league one year. They said they want to go straight through, so they're gonna spend a lot of money. They spent the money on the British players. So they're very confident. What I've told the players is we've got to go up and play as well as we can to beat a team like Blackburn. They've got an experienced, strong squad and we're going to have to play up to our strength to beat them.
[speaker269:] This is the big tester, isn't it? This is the bread and butter that will determine the future.
[speaker268:] Oh this is what it's all about. I mean the cup was a warm-up for us and the league is what we play. We have twenty eight games in front of us here. We've gotta do as well as we can and we've gotta try and get promotion this year.
[speaker269:] And what's more, we want to see that ice rink filled because it's the greatest family sporting entertainment you could ever wish to see and with the crowd behind you it gives you that extra buzz.
[speaker268:] It's a tremendous game. It's the world's fastest team game. It's a thrilling spectacle. If you haven't been down before I would strongly suggest this Sunday night at five thirty. It's going to be a heck of a game and er there'll be some surprises as well. If you've never been to an ice hockey game, it's more than a game — it's a night out. I mean, you start the proceedings about five o'clock with a pre-game leisure show. There's a warm-up. There's lots of music and its a good night out for families. Why not come on down, five thirty p.m. Sunday night?
[speaker269:] Don, you've talked me into it. I'm going to be there, but then I always am. But we want everybody else to come down.
[speaker268:] That's right. There's a few seats left. Get on down, Sunday night.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] You're listening to the Fox Report. In the dangerous sport of bobsleighing, those of you with long enough memories will no doubt remember Great Britain snatching a gold medal at the nineteen sixty-four winter Olympics. Twenty six years on the chances are that Britain could, once again, be thought of as potential medal prospects. Ed Hawtin, from west Oxfordshire, has recently returned from West Germany, where Great Britain raised a few eyebrows with impressive runs in two and four man bobs. Phil Angell asked him what does it take to risk life and limb.
[speaker270:] There are three aspects which would make a world class bobsleigher. You have to have a very experienced driver. You have to have very good equipment, and you have to have the best start possible. And when you get to international level, if you give away a hundredth of a second on the start, that's equivalent to four hundredths at the bottom on a perfect run. So if you give away a tenth on the start, you've given nearly half a second per run, and most competitions are either two, three or four runs, cumulative time, so, you know, if you give away a couple of tenths every time at the end of the day you're going to be a second down.
[speaker143:] So what are your plans in the next year or two as we head up towards the next winter Olympics?
[speaker270:] Well, obviously, we take sort of each race as it comes. We go away to Canada at the weekend. That's for the first world cup race, two and four man. We then come back from there and we've got a mass of competitions, some in what was East Germany, some in West Germany. We go to the new track in the South of France at Albertville, which is where the Olympics are.
[speaker143:] But it's a glamorous sport. I mean, if you're sitting in a pub at night and some guys are showing off in a corner going 'Hey, what do you do, dude'and you go 'Well, I'm a bobsleigher, actually'it tends to shut people up I should imagine, doesn't it?
[speaker270:] Yes, it does, although it tends to be the opposite way round. When you actually achieve something you tend not to mention it so much. You know, very often you hear the people that are actually talking about the things they've done are normally the ones that haven't quite got there. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Four hundred veteran cars are going to be leaving London's Westminster Bridge on Sunday, the start of the annual London to Brighton car run. The ancient machines will wend their way down the fifty seven mile route, and among their number will be Bob May from Marcham near Abingdon. Bob, at eighty, is what you might call an enthusiast. He still finds time to race motor bikes, as well as keeping his nineteen O four De Dion Bouton in tune.
[speaker271:] Single cylinder. Its automatic inlet valve, which means it doesn't operate mechanically. It sucks the gas into the engine. There's no throttle as you know it on a modern car. You rely on speed and on raising an lowering the tappet, so when you put your foot on the decelerator it drops the tappet down and stops the value opening, then you're on full compression and then you pull up, and that's your main brake.
[speaker272:] Now what's one of the most charming aspects of taking this car along?
[speaker271:] Well my other car is a nineteen twenty nine V six Bentley, which will do a hundred mile an hour, so if I drive them alternately it cuts me down to size [LAUGHTER].
[speaker272:] A hundred miles an hour! You'll get there in no time in that.
[speaker271:] I don't go to Brighton on it. You have to be before nineteen O four to be in London to Brighton — before nineteen O five. Nineteen oh four cars can go, but nothing later. The other car, the other De Dion we had, burst its radiator, but we are very resourceful; we went and bought thirty foot of garden hose and connected it to the engine and sent the water round and round the car and that acted as a radiator, and we drove it for a week like that.
[speaker272:] It must take up all of your spare time just to keep it in tune.
[speaker271:] I've got three cars and seven motor bikes, and I don't have much spare time.
[speaker272:] Do you still ride the motor bike?
[speaker271:] Oh yes.
[speaker272:] Whereabouts?
[speaker106:] er well last year we brought the Dutch over and we had a competition with them. In nineteen hundred and twelve the Dutch came and the Oxford Motor Club entertained them and we went all round the High Wycome area, Cophill and that on hill climbs, so we re-enacted it last year and I was riding my nineteen fourteen motorcycle, and I was asked — I was the oldest rider — how old are you?— I said eighty years old — and what is your biggest difficulty?— and I said getting my leg over, which I really literally meant because the saddle's very high and I do have a job getting my leg over the saddle! [recorded jingle]
[speaker107:] The Fox Report. [recorded jingle]
[speaker109:] Still problems on the A thirty four this evening, northbound, between the M four at junction thirteen and the Oxford ringroad. The accident that happened there has now been cleared off the carriageway. There are still major tailbacks there, though, and the police are asking you still to avoid it. It will be some time before that's clear at all. Also on the A thirty four, at Great Rollright near Chipping Norton, there's been a serious accident there and there are tailbacks beginning to grow in both directions. There have been other numerous, minor accidents police tell me throughout Oxfordshire. Extra caution is required through the county because it's still very heavy traffic in parts. On the A four two three, the Kidlington to Banbury road, they expect delays still to go on through much of the evening due to the traffic lights at Bunkers Hill, and on the A four two one, just south of Bicester, the changes to the road layout at the new M forty interchange has made traffic fairly heavy still. On the M twenty five it's still very busy in both directions and indeed especially the M four and M forty interchanges with the M twenty five are very busy at the moment. Mark Rise, A A Roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And trains from Paddington into Oxford are running about twenty minutes late this evening, but I've no specific problems to report from the buses. [recorded jingle]
[speaker109:] On one O two point six F M, this is the Fox Report with Jane Markham.
[speaker002:] Have you ever fancied skiing? Well you can give it a go tomorrow in central Oxford of all places. The Oxfordshire Ski Club and Touchwood Sports are behind the event. Judith Hall and Tony Bovey are both going to be there. Judith, tell me a little bit more about this event, I'm fascinated to know how people can actually be skiing in central Oxford.
[speaker273:] er it's an event held in The Gallery and er we have got er ski experts coming er, equipment people; we have got the latest ski simulator coming down from Dorset, which enables people to actually get inside and it takes you down the Val de Zere er no, yes, takes you down the Val de Zere downhill and it really is quite impressive.
[speaker002:] That's quite remarkable.
[speaker273:] er we have er a ski machine coming from Gloucester which is going to let people have a go and er get them in the right position, and when they do it right all the bells go off, so it's a fun day for people to come and have a go on things.
[speaker002:] A skiing machine? Tony, have you come across one of these things before? You're a ski expert, I understand?
[speaker012:] Yes, I have. There are a number of them. Some are used by the alpine training squads for dry land training. Obviously, when there is some snow on the hills in the summer you can't do much, so they are very carefully made and some of them are connected to a computer, so if you have a very good coach with you he can say 'You're going that right, no do it a bit more like this, or a bit more like that'. Franz Klammer made a skiing simulator and he had it in his garage, and what it was was a series of rolling logs. These machines are much, much more sophisticated and they actually simulate what you do when you are skiing.
[speaker002:] So does it, I mean it doesn't it look anything like a ski slope I image?
[speaker012:] No, it doesn't, nothing at all. The one machine is a series of linked pedals on a bar, so it tells you how to edge, how to unweight and do things like that. What it really does — let's not get too involved in the equipment — it gives people a flavour of what skiing's about. Of course, we can't have the mountains, but our enthusiasm and we'll help you experience it.
[speaker002:] Yes, not a lot of mountains at Gloucester Green, I must say. So er can people come along and have a go if they've never had a go before? Do they
[speaker012:] Yes, it's open to everyone and we have a full range of experts there — people from the equipment companies, from Touchwood Sports, tour operators, the Ski Club will be there as well and we'll be there to explain what skiing is, how you can start, how you learn to ski on the dry ski slope with the Ski Club, how you can go on alpine holidays, evening events, everything.
[speaker002:] And when does it all start? When do people have to come along?
[speaker273:] It starts at ten till four, and er all the proceeds we do make from, you know, the rides, and we have got an ongoing raffle which is going to be drawn at Christmas at our club meeting — we have some wonderful prizes donated for that — and er the money is actually going to two er charities, Backup for spinally injured people, and Oxrad a local Oxford Charity. They will actually be there themselves as well.
[speaker002:] Thank you both very much indeed. Now, we've got a busy studio this evening, with lots and lots of people in. Have you ever been part of a syndicate taking part in the pools? Well, we have a particularly clever syndicate, who've managed to have won five times so far this year, and Tony is here from the syndicate. Tony, you've just won. You won last Saturday, I believe. How much did you win?
[speaker274:] It's an enormous amount of money. It's three pounds sixty, divided by a syndicate of twenty one people, and the Seacourt Press syndicate runs on a system. It is available if anybody wants to give a five pound donation to the Fox appeal.
[speaker002:] Up for sale for the Fox Box appeal, great.
[speaker274:] We don't really think it's going to change any of our lives.
[speaker002:] Yes, I mean, it's a question of don't spend that all at once I suppose.
[speaker274:] No er some people have suggested buying Skodas, but then we've still got the problem of what to do with the rest of the money.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I mean I wouldn't want to give away how it all works, but you have actually won five times and so how much have you actually picked up this season?
[speaker274:] Oh over eighty pounds, but then a lot of that goes on the horses with the Fox favourites.
[speaker002:] Yes. I think we can blame Phil Angell for that [LAUGHTER]. You actually, I think, somewhere round Grand National time did rather well, didn't you?
[speaker274:] Oh yes, Grand National, yes very well on that.
[speaker002:] That was all part of the cause as well. How did that all work?
[speaker274:] Um well we didn't know what to do with the money, so we basically gambled it on the Grand National. That was about ninety odd pounds. That was a winning of thirty seven pounds initially.
[speaker002:] As far as I remember, I think Phil actually had the winner of the National, didn't he? [LAUGHTER] Mr Frisk, sixteen to one, I'm told [LAUGHTER]
[speaker274:] Sixteen to one — four pounds each way.
[speaker002:] as if we'd ever be allowed to forget that. So you're going to be continuing, hopefully you're aiming to raise more than three pounds sixty next time you have a go?
[speaker274:] Yes, well, with seventeen point one pence each there's not an awful lot you can do with that.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] We don't want any begging letters at the Seacourt Press. Tony, thank you very much for joining us.
[speaker274:] Thank you. Bye bye.
[speaker002:] Finally, a look at the headlines from today's local press. Local schools may be asked to rent out their playgrounds to help Wantage's parking problems. That's according to the Wantage and Grove Herald. The Chipping Norton edition of the Oxford Times features Susan Cook, an eighteen year old fashion student from Faringdon, who was runner up in a national competition for young deaf achiever of the year. And the Bicester Advertiser advertises changes in Thames Transit's bus services and those are taking place in the area from Tuesday we are told. And that was the Fox Report for November, Friday November the second nineteen ninety. I'm back with another Fox Report on Monday, but if you want to know everything about the sport and leisure that's happening in the area, do make sure you listen to Fox leisure with Steve Priestley and Phil Angell tomorrow at two, and Steve Priestly is here, in person, after the news at seven with the Red Fox. [recorded jingle] Tonight, the Chancellor tells the House of Commons that interest rates won't be tumbling further.
[speaker068:] I must emphasize that I will not make a further reduction in interest rates until I'm sure that it is safe and prudent to do so.
[speaker002:] Twice as many women are elected to the Church of England's General Synod, they're confident it will herald the ordination of women.
[speaker089:] I think that there's a great deal of, of need and longing and, and concern of people to have the ministry of a woman.
[speaker002:] And the sort of video extracts a new television programme isn't looking for.
[speaker147:] A chap was decorating his lounge, and he, he'd locked the camera off on himself, but he had no clothes on. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker047:] The six o'clock news, this is Howard Hughes. Cases of AIDS contracted through heterosexual sex have risen by ninety five per cent in the past year. The Department of Health is warning that H I V infection among heterosexuals is increasing faster than in any other group. Julie Swedges, Sedgewick reports.
[speaker275:] The report claims three hundred and sixty five cases of AIDS have been reported over the past three months; it's the highest quarterly rate yet. Over the last twelve months, the number of cases transmitted through heterosexual sex has almost doubled. That compares with an eighty nine per cent increase among drug abusers and a forty per cent increase among gay men. Chief Medical Officer, Sir Donald Aitchison, warned it's now vitally important that heterosexuals adopt safer behaviour patterns.
[speaker047:] Labour is accusing Mrs Thatcher of dodging a debate on Britain's entry into the Exchange Rate Mechanism because she's humiliated by the U-turn. Peter Murphy reports.
[speaker019:] Chancellor John Major told the Commons Britain had joined the E M S as the time was right.
[speaker068:] The government has long made it clear that sterling would enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism during stage one of economic and monetary union which began in July; it has now done so at the earliest appropriate time.
[speaker019:] But Labour's John Smith asked what had happened to Mrs Thatcher's conditions for entry set out in Madrid.
[speaker134:] I ask the Chancellor to explain why there has been such a humiliating U-turn by the Prime Minister. Herself, the inventor of the Madrid conditions, and now their arch destroyer.
[speaker019:] He said it was clear that the government had only joined as a last resort to try and solve the country's economic problems. Peter Murphy, I R N, Westminster.
[speaker047:] President Gorbachov says his Nobel Peace Prize win is proof his programme of reforms is working. He's been given the award for his role in ending the Cold War, freeing the Eastern Block and resolving regional conflicts. From Moscow, Sue Jamison reports.
[speaker088:] 'Words fail one at such moments' said the President when the news was broken to him at the Kremlin by the Norwegian Ambassador, but immediately recovering his powers of speech, he said he didn't see the prize as a personal achievement. 'It is' , he said, 'recognition of the significance of the immense course of perestroika'. However, while he's lauded in the West for his achievements, at home the award means much less; perestroika has lost much of its appeal and simply means yet more empty shelves in the shops and more despondency about the economy. Sue Jamison, I R N, Moscow.
[speaker047:] Nineteen people have been injured, six seriously in a coach crash on the M fifty in Gloucestershire. The coach carrying elderly passengers on an outing, left the road south-east of Worcester, and crashed down an embankment. A full enquiry has been launched into how a rapist was able to attack an eleven-year old girl in a children's ward at a London hospital. Police have this afternoon been trying to question the girl, who's said to be extremely distressed. Staff at St Heliers in Carshalton say doors were left unlocked for up to ten minutes so an emergency patient could be admitted. But Union officials have described security as sloppy. Richard Latimer from the Merton and Sutton Health Authority says 'a review is now underway'.
[speaker189:] Everyone is terribly concerned at the moment; we had thought that the security at St Helier was tighter than in most other hospitals. There are three full-time staff doing nothing else, they have also got closed monitoring, closed circuit television, and things of that nature, and we're going to look at all that too, to see whether we can even then, improve matters.
[speaker047:] Lester Piggott has come second in his return to racing at Leicester this afternoon. The fifty four year old retired five years ago after being named Champion Jockey twelve times, but was granted a new licence last week. His five to one shot Lupescoo lost by a short head to Semonda. T V tipster John McCrillock says 'racing is Piggott's sole obsession'.
[speaker068:] Lester is one-dimensional; there's nothing else he can think about apart from riding race horses, and getting a bit of money as well also helps him, so the problem is, when you're one-dimensional, you're lost if you're not doing the only thing you love and understand, and that must be a bit sad.
[speaker047:] Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's Monday the fifteenth of October 1990. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was on his feet in the House of Commons on their first day back after the summer recess. Peter Murphy was there.
[speaker019:] The long summer holidays are over and MPs returned to the Commons to take stock of developments while they were at the seaside. A week ago, sterling joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism; it lifted the gloom for the Tory Party Conference in Bournemouth, and this afternoon, the Chancellor, John Major, came to explain why now was the right time for Britain to join.
[speaker068:] It has become abundantly clear that policy is now reducing inflationary pressures in the economy. Monetary growth on all measures has fallen sharply, and the growth of narrow money is within its target range; the growth of demand has slowed. Although the rise in oil prices will continue to feed through for a while, the prospect is for a substantial reduction in inflation over the coming year.
[speaker019:] And just in case anyone was celebrating too much, Mr Major warned:
[speaker068:] Membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism will be an additional discipline for the United Kingdom economy; in no sense is it a soft option. Monetary policy will remain tight; I must emphasize that I will not make a further reduction in interest rates until I am sure that it is safe and prudent to do so.
[speaker019:] The Prime Minister was sitting on the Front Bench as Mr Major explained the importance of membership, and how wonderful it all was. She had never seemed that keen on the idea, and had set out her conditions in Madrid on membership. Shadow Chancellor, John Smith:
[speaker134:] Now I ask the Chancellor to explain why there has been such a humiliating U-turn by the Prime Minister; herself the inventor of the Madrid conditions, and now their arch destroyer. Is it not simply because of this: that the government, because of their appalling mismanagement of our economy, have been forced to concede that they simply could not achieve that inflation target which they had set for themselves.
[speaker019:] The Prime Minister has been challenged by Neil Kinnock to debate the issue. She has refused, which led Mr Smith to ask:
[speaker134:] Is the Prime Minister, who's role in this affair is so crucial, that she simply must take part in the debate which we hope to have in this House; why does she not admit it. And if our parliamentary accountability is as important as she frequently claims in this context, why is she reluctant to take part in the debate?
[speaker019:] Mr Major was clearly not going to get involved in that argument, and Mrs Thatcher's made it clear she's not going to get involved in debating the matter either. But as for membership itself, there were mixed reactions, especially on the government side. Tony Nelson thought it was a tremendous start.
[speaker083:] That having taken this momentous decision to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, we have taken a step of the most important step towards economic monetary union from which there can be no turning back. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Soviet President Mikael Gorbachov has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the Nobel Committee which sits in Stockholm, Mr Gorbachov has opened up new possibilities for the World Community to solve its pressing problems. But although the prize may have enhanced Mr Gorbachov's standing in the international community, his position at home is still precarious. Avovi Todd has been following the Soviet leader's route to the Kremlin.
[speaker276:] Mikael Sergayiz Gorbachov was born in a rural town near Stavropol in the southern region of Russia in nineteen forty one. He studied law at the Moscow State University, and went on to become a full Communist Party member two years later, in nineteen fifty two. After finishing his studies, and marrying Raisa, he returned to his home town to work his way up the Party hierarchy. The turning point for him and the Soviet Union came in nineteen eighty five, when he succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as the General Secretary; within one year, he'd begun in earnest his reform programme, familiarising the world as well as his fellow Soviet citizens with words such as peristroika and glasnost. At the same time, he freed the Nobel Prize winning dissident, Andre Sakarov from his exile in Gorky. In nineteen eighty seven, he travelled to Washington to meet Ronald Reagan, and signed an historic agreement to eliminate medium range nuclear weapons. Announcing the I N F Treaty, Mr Reagan looked forward to even greater agreements to come.
[speaker090:] Today I for the United States, and the General Secretary for the Soviet Union have signed the first agreement ever to eliminate an entire class of U S and Soviet nuclear weapons. We have made history.
[speaker276:] Mr Gorbachov too accepted the agreement would become a landmark in modern world history. When told that he was to become the recipient of the Peace Award, the normally eloquent Mr Gorbachov said 'words fail at such moments, I am moved'. But he must be all too aware that it won't impress the Soviet citizens facing economic crisis, and waiting in the food queues, nor will it immediately resolve the ethnic problems which beset him. But David Lamby, the Vice Chairman of the British Soviet Parliamentary Group says 'nonetheless, the award will be seen as a vital show of support'.
[speaker277:] World Peace is a most important, er item affecting everyone in the world; Gorbachov has been one of the foremost politicians, international politicians to, to make a change in, in, er in the world climate, so far as peace is concerned, and therefore that will certainly help him solve his bread and butter problems in the Soviet Union.
[speaker276:] So far Mr Gorbachov has given no indication of how he intends to spend his prize of seven hundred thousand dollars. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] On the M forty between junctions four and five, that's between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, the road's down to two narrow lanes in both directions, with a contraflow system operating for a short stretch about midway between the two junctions, and that is also down to single line traffic at times; so that could delay you a little. Buckinghamshire on the A forty one, High Street, Aylesbury, there is restrictions for traffic, and Galley Lane, Great Brickhill is closed because of roadworks. In Oxfordshire on the A forty three at Weston on the Green, between Bicester and Banbury, there are lane closures for junction work, and on the A forty one London Road, Bicester, there's resurfacing work taking place, and restrictions for traffic going both ways. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] British Rail tell us that the Glasgow to Brighton train which was due at Oxford at half past five, is running forty five minutes late this evening, and the six twenty four Manchester to London Paddington train is five minutes late. But I've no problems to report to you from the buses. Still to come: calls for tighter security in Britain's hospitals after a little girl is raped in her South London hospital bed. Officials at the John Radcliffe in Oxford, say they take great care over security.
[speaker011:] Were any undesirables as it were, to come on to the ward, I'm sure they would be picked up almost immediately. And security are available on two-way radio and can be up and involved in the situation within minutes. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] With a round up of the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] A man has been further remanded in custody today, charged with rape and indecent assault at a North Oxfordshire barracks. Joseph Ian Gardiner McEwan from King's Park in Glasgow has been charged in connection with an incident at the Royal Army Ordnance Corps at Arncott near Bicester. He's been kept in custody until next week by Bicester Magistrates. An inquest into the deaths of two young people killed in a car accident in South Oxfordshire, is expected to take place this week. Seventeen year old Sharon Ferns and Kenneth Honer aged twenty six, died when their car overturned and burst into flames early on Friday morning in the village of Berinsfield. A scheme to slow down traffic in the area has already been agreed by the County Council, but Chairman of the District Council, Ken Hall, says 'this isn't the end to all the problems' .
[speaker278:] What we're after also is double yellow lines, because cars park round the perimeter, and we have buses that comes in, er local buses, we have the problem of where to, to get round the village normally. Well, during the night of course, you have cars which are parked in the dark, and without their lights on, so you can see that it, it causes extra problems.
[speaker153:] A Banbury man known as Psycho has been sentenced to two and a half years in custody for an unprovoked knife attack on a man out walking his dog. Unemployed Martin Lewis of Trinity Close in the town, stabbed Trevor Lampett in the chest with a ten inch kitchen knife. Lewis who's twenty, admitted a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. When sentencing him at Oxford Crown Court today, Judge Leo Clarke described it as a motiveless and shocking attack. A man has been jailed in Oxford today for causing grievous bodily harm to a tanker driver. Twenty four year old builder Ian Baxter, from Tilehurst in Reading, threatened to slice up the driver of a petrol tanker with a builder's grinder when prevented from filling up at the Blewberry Service Station in Oxfordshire; he hit the driver with the grinder, knocking out two of his teeth. Ian Baxter admitted charges of grievous bodily harm and interfering with a motor vehicle; he was jailed for two and a half years. Finally, Oxford City Council are launching a low alcohol week today to encourage people to drink less; alcohol-free tasting sessions at a local community centre coincide with a new balanced alcohol strategy campaign. Pensioners, parents and toddlers are invited to 'Welcome to L A Week', to learn about the seriousness of alcohol abuse. City Councillor Betty Staningford says 'the aim is to get across a serious message in a light hearted way'.
[speaker279:] No way do I wish to be seen as a killjoy, I, I like a drink myself, I would always happy to give somebody a drink, but it's the over indulgence which worries us. So, to prove that it's fun in Northway Community Centre, we're having a whole week of fun things, culminating with a disco and er a quiz.
[speaker153:] Fox F M news, Paul Kirby reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] Patients and Health Unions are demanding better security at Britain's hospitals after an eleven year old girl was raped in a children's ward. The attacker got past nurses and private security guards unnoticed at St Helier hospital in South London. Until a fortnight ago, Geoff Martin was the local Council's representative on the Merton and Sutton Health Authority which voted to use a private security firm at the hospital. He says, although he was opposed to the move, no-one at the time could have predicted the horrifying consequences, and he says 'there must be a public enquiry to expose what went wrong'.
[speaker059:] My main fear is that once the initial publicity for this has died down, that the Health Authority may attempt to have some sort of behind closed doors, almost like a cover up, and I think that, that, the, this is, this incident has got such ramifications for hospital security in general, there should be a full public enquiry; and the public have a right to know what went on.
[speaker023:] Obviously it's a terrifying incident for er any parent listening, but what was so wrong, or, is there anything wrong in introducing private firms to police hospitals?
[speaker059:] Well I think until we know the full facts, it's difficult to actually blame anybody, er for this, this particular incident. But there has been a lot of concern about the privatised er security contract at St Helier, er the way it was subcontracted by the original contractor, er without any member of the Health Authority actually knowing about that; I certainly didn't know and I was on the Authority at the time. And I think there are a lot of questions that need to be asked — has there been, er have, have corners been cut in order to keep the cost down, were we getting a good quality service or just a cheap service?
[speaker023:] What are the implications from this incident for security at other hospitals?
[speaker059:] Well what I'm hoping now is that er following this absolutely tragic incident, that er there will be a general er review of hospital security. I know that the Ministry of Defence have been forced to review their private security arrangements at defence establishments er because of breaches of security there, and I would hope that the Health Service and the Department of Health and the Local Health Authorities will take the same kind of responsible action.
[speaker023:] But surely nobody could have anticipated this sort of attack?
[speaker059:] Well you can never anticipate any breach of security, I mean that's why you have security in the first place, in order to prevent things from happening. Er. But there's a big difference in my view between the sort of regular abuse and assaults on staff in a Casualty Department and somebody walking into what should have been a locked ward on a children's unit in a hospital at two o'clock in the morning. We need to know who was to blame, we need a full open enquiry into this incident, and we must make sure that this sort of thing never happens again.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford is to upgrade security on its wards, the new comes, the news comes in the light of the sexual assault on the eleven year girl at St Helier's hospital. Hospital officials at the John Radcliffe are to introduce a new card system whereby all staff will carry identification. Services and Development Manager at the J R, Richard Sunley, says while there's no guarantee an incident of the kind that occurred in Carshalton won't happen in Oxford, he believes the new security system will play a significant role.
[speaker173:] Although we're working er all the time to keep security as tight as we can at the John Radcliffe, er the scheme is going to give us the ability to challenge members of staff, legitimate members of staff, as we currently do, er and they will then have to provide, produce the card, er so we can then assess whether they are or are not a member of staff.
[speaker026:] Do you think that there's a chance that what happened in Carshalton could possibly happen at the John Radcliffe?
[speaker173:] We can never be a hundred per cent sure with security, we are, it is a public building, we do encourage er patients and their relatives to come up on to the children's wards as part of the treatment er to make it a much more homely atmosphere. But the wards are staffed twenty four hours a day, nursing staff are always about, we have dedicated security staff who can be called at a minute's notice, and staff are obviously aware on kid's wards how sensitive security is, and will be challenging people when they come on to the wards.
[speaker026:] How closely guarded are the children's wards during the night?
[speaker173:] I think it would be wrong to say guarded, it, it's a er you know, it's a balance you've got to strike. Obviously we're trying to make a homely atmosphere so that parents can come and go, er when new parents come on to the ward, when new patients come on to the ward, nursing staff maintain a, a close control and a close liaison with them, so were any undesirables as it were, to come on to the ward, I am sure they would be picked up almost immediately. Er. Security are available on two way radio and can be up and involved in the situation within minutes.
[speaker026:] How can you stop undesirables from entering the building, do you believe you can stop them?
[speaker173:] Not in a hundred per cent of the cases, er and we do have undesirables at the John Radcliffe, er but there hasn't been an incident such as this er I think that goes some way to prove that we do have a reasonably tight security service, and we, we work to any way that we can to keep it as secure as possible.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty one minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six twenty two. The government has announced new statistics which show that the number of AIDS cases reported among heterosexuals is up by ninety five per cent. Robin Gorner is er AIDS Liaison Officer with Oxford City Council. Robin, this on the face of it looks very worrying, what's your reaction to these statistics?
[speaker062:] Well clearly it's devastating news; er unfortunately I think we have to say that we're not tremendously surprised. The news is that heterosexuals had become infected with H I V, the virus that leads to AIDS, ten to fifteen years ago, and that the numbers were doubling ten to fifteen years ago, that's what it means when we hear AIDS cases, and what that must mean for today, is horrifying. I think what it clearly shows is that health education messages aren't getting through to heterosexuals. In the reports it showed that only forty per cent of gay men were becoming infected, whereas ninety five per cent increase in heterosexuals, that's very worrying. It shows that we must step up our efforts to ensure that everyone is fully educated, but not only that they know the facts, but that they start to act upon them.
[speaker002:] Now it, it does sound, ninety five per cent sound a lot, but the actual numbers involved are up from a hundred and twenty three to two hundred and forty. Now, er looking at it from, from the population of sixty million or so, that wouldn't seem too terrifying.
[speaker062:] I suppose not if you think that it means there's only two hundred and forty heterosexuals with AIDS in the country. What it means as I said before, is that ten or fifteen years ago, that number of people got infected, so now ten fifteen years on, we usually multiply by at least a hundred, so we're really talking about thousands of people living with H I V, and probably unaware of the fact that they have it. That doesn't mean that I think people should run out and get tested, but anyone who's heterosexually active, having sexual relationships, needs to think about the risks, and take care of themselves and their partners, need to make sure that they use condoms, that they get themselves informed about the facts.
[speaker002:] Now, now you've been working in the area of AIDS for some time now, do you think that the message is getting through?
[speaker062:] I know that the message is getting through to gay men, but I'm not surprised to hear that it's not getting through to heterosexuals. I think all of us wish this epidemic would go away, and that it wouldn't touch us and that it were only small numbers, but the news today clearly shows that it affects each and every one of us. Er. I think here in Oxford we've got good health education, but we still need to make sure that it's appropriate, that it's sensitive to people's needs, and actually tells people what they want know, and I hope that anyone out there will contact agencies to make sure that they're updated on the information.
[speaker002:] Robin thank you. You're listening to the Fox Report. With all the results now known for the elections to the General Synod of the Church of England, supporters say they expect the Church to agree to the ordination of women in the next few years. The number of women elected to the Church's Parliament is double that of last time, and those in favour of women priests, are confident that they've secured the required majority to have their way by nineteen ninety five. Robin Powell has been talking to an Oxfordshire woman just elected, who takes a less optimistic view.
[speaker055:] Susan Cole-King from Burcott has already been ordained; it was into the Episcopal Church in the United States four years ago, but Mrs Cole-King, who works as a deacon for the Oxford diocese at Dorchester, is looking forward to the day she'll be able to act as a priest closer to home. Yet although her support for women priests is well known, she says it was her interest in a wide range of other issues that persuaded local clergy and laity to vote her on to the Synod for five years.
[speaker280:] I'm concerned with the centrality of prayer and spirituality in the life of the Church and the need to nurture this. I'm concerned with er third world issues and the wider world, and the need for the Church to be prophetic and stand up and be counted for the sake of justice.
[speaker055:] Mrs Cole-King has already caused a stir by suggesting she had no objection to the idea of women holding communion in private homes, but she now says she realises that isn't a good idea and it certainly won't be something she'll be campaigning for.
[speaker280:] No I've never campaigned for that, and I've never supported it in that sense. I certainly would not say that this is what should happen at this particular time, no. We don't know what's going to happen when the vote is taken, er I think that there is a great deal of, of need and longing and, and concern of people to have the ministry of a woman, as a priest, the sac, the sacramental ministry of women in, in all kinds of ways. At the moment, I'm under the discipline of, of the Church of England, which does not allow me to exercise my priestly functions; there aren't many women here who are priests and can do this kind of thing, so I really don't know what will happen.
[speaker055:] Other supporters of women priests are more optimistic; they say the election results mean they'll be able to persuade the Church to change its rules within five years. In that case, Mrs Cole-King would be able to act as a priest in Dorchester Abbey without having to be ordained again. It is an ambition of hers, but she reckons there's still a long way to go.
[speaker280:] I don't actually think that, that, that it's quite so clear cut, I think that there's still a bit of persuading that, that we have to do to persuade people that it is the right thing. Er. There is still quite a lot of opposition, so I don't think it's, it's a certainty, but I would certainly very much hope and believe that this is the will of God for the Church and that, that it will happen. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] The Department of the Environment has given the go ahead for Oxfordshire's plans for extracting minerals until the turn of the century. The Environment Secretary, Chris Patten has agreed to alterations to the County's structure plan, but it's still not clear whether the Authority will have to proceed with a controversial scheme for a gravel pit at Finmere. Chief Planning and Development Officer, Liam Tiller, says he's pleased that after nearly two years, Whitehall has at last agreed to the Council's proposals.
[speaker281:] I am glad they've approved it because it's, it's removed any uncertainty there might have been about the nineteen nineties, slightly disappointing that they chose to tinker with our wording here and there, but, but by and large, not too unhappy.
[speaker103:] What will these alterations mean?
[speaker281:] What they mean basically is that in relation to sand and gravel, the County Council will, will continue to look to four areas of the County er for most of the sand and gravel production, that's the Sutton Courtney area, Sutton Wick area, er the Stanton Harcourt area and the CassingtonYarnton area; most of the sand and gravel workings will be there.
[speaker103:] One other area, rather controversially that the Council's been considering extracting gravel from, is Finmere. Does the Department have anything to say about that?
[speaker281:] Not specifically, er you, you're right, we've got a planning application in for Finmere, er and the Council will be considering that probably, next month. Er. The plan doesn't point to Finmere as an area where there's a resumption in favour of mineral working, so what we will have to do with the Finmere proposals, is to look at it on its merits.
[speaker103:] You've earmarked four other places, now you need two point two million tons from those places, are you confident of getting that?
[speaker281:] In the long term, yes, but what we're currently doing as part of the assessment of the Finmere application is just checking the resources that do exist in those four areas, to, to make sure that we're still able to meet our targets.
[speaker103:] And if you don't get that amount, presumably Finmere comes back into the picture again?
[speaker281:] Well, it, it doesn't mean that permission has to be granted at Finmere, but it, it would make it more difficult to refuse.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's twenty nine minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] And on the M twenty five between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's for the M four and the M forty, there's heavy clockwise traffic. On the M forty between junctions four and five for High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, there are two narrow lanes in both directions, with a contraflow system for a short stretch about mid-way between the two junctions, also that can be down to single line traffic at times, so it is likely to slow you down a little. A forty one, High Street Aylesbury there are restrictions, and Galley Lane, Great Brickhill is closed for roadworks. On the A forty three at Weston on the Green, between Bicester and Banbury, there's lane closures for junction work. And on the A forty one, London Road, Bicester, there's resurfacing work causing restrictions of traffic both ways. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've nothing to report to you on the buses or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty one. The government has announced a near doubling of the number of cases of AIDS among heterosexuals, and says the disease is growing faster in this group than in any other. In the last twelve months, the number of heterosexuals contracting AIDS has gone from a hundred and twenty three to two hundred and forty. Labour is accusing Mrs Thatcher of dodging a discussion on Britain's entry into the Euro Monetary System; they say she's chosen to avoid speaking in a Commons debate on the issue because she's humiliated by the U-turn entry has meant for her. Nineteen people have been injured, five of them seriously after a coach crashed down an embankment, bankment on the M fifty on the Gloucestershire-Worcestershire border; the coach was carrying elderly passengers on an outing. A full investigation is underway into how a rapist was able to attack a, a girl of eleven in a children's ward at a hospital in Surrey. Staff at St Heliers in Carshalton say doors were left unlocked for up to ten minutes for an emergency patient to be admitted, but Union officials say security is sloppy. The weather for the Fox F M area: a cloudy night, with rain at times, that rain's going to be heavy in places, especially on the Cotswolds, the lowest temperatures will be around ten degrees celsius, that's fifty degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] Oxford City Council is launching a balanced alcohol strategy for Oxford during this low alcohol week; it's to be part of 'Healthy Oxford Two Thousand', which is a campaign also being er launched at the moment. Shareen Mithranee and Debbie Macelveen are both working on the scheme. Shareen, you're very much part of the er, the attempt to help us all use alcohol a little bit more sensibly, what, what, what is this strategy?
[speaker197:] Yes, er the strategy tries to take a sensible and reasonably er entertaining way of asking people to reduce their alcohol consumption towards more sensible recommended levels. We're not asking people to cut down, we're taking a balanced approach towards alcohol consumption in the whole community, so we're not er angling the strategy at people who are already very severe, heavy drinkers, or those who are alcohol dependent. We're asking people who drink, and that's ninety per cent of the British adult population, to see if they can cut down by a quarter if they're drinking above sensible levels.
[speaker002:] How are you going to make that entertaining?
[speaker197:] Well, er make it entertaining is er fits in very well with what Debbie might have to say, which is to do with the Northway Community Centre Low Alcohol Week, called 'Welcome to L A'. Now that's the first time L A's come to Oxford I think, but [LAUGHTER], that's all this week, and we're having er different programme of different various events and perhaps Debbie would like to comment on both.
[speaker002:] Yes, this, this is your, your neck of the woods Debbie, what's, what's happening?
[speaker282:] Right, well I work in quite a number of Community Centres across the City, and Northway Community Centre which has a bar with quite a large turnover, a lot of members, er has agreed to host this project for the week, which is promoting healthier drinking.
[speaker002:] So it's actually manage, it's actually managed to get a bar to er invite people in and not drink alcohol?
[speaker282:] That's right, or to at least drink sensibly, and they've got promotions of the lower, low and non-alcoholic drinks this week, as well as having a range of entertainments on, esp, er culminating in Saturday night on a quiz with healthy sort of questions, and a blindfold tasting competition
[speaker002:] Aha!
[speaker282:] With a mixture of drinks
[speaker002:] So all, are these all low alcohol drinks
[speaker282:] Of low alcohol drinks, yes
[speaker002:] There, there's quite a variety er of low alcohol drinks available now, what sort of things will be on offer there?
[speaker282:] Things like cider, lager, bitter, wines.
[speaker197:] Basically everything except spirits, because they haven't yet er discovered how to make low alcohol spirits [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] A bit of a, yes it's a bit of a
[speaker282:] Misnomer, yes
[speaker002:] Misnomer, yes. So, this is, this is just one week, are you expecting people to continue after they've er, they've sampled the delights of, of the low alcohol?
[speaker197:] Well, we'd like to think that er people, once they've been introduced to these different sorts of drinks, and become a bit more aware about different sensible levels, would actually be interested in buying them in the future and trying them out themselves. And also other Community Centres er, have decided to take on such a project, as Debbie'll say.
[speaker282:] That's right. Well the City in fact has twenty one Community Centres, most of which have bars, some of them only have small bars that open maybe once a week, others have very large bars, and especially the ones with the larger bars I think are willing to take on such a project. And obviously it reaches an awful lot of people, because Community Centres cater for all ages.
[speaker002:] So if people are going into their Community Centre over the next week, they can expect to, to see part of this campaign?
[speaker282:] That's right, in Northway.
[speaker002:] Thank you both.
[speaker197:] Thank you.
[speaker282:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] Four British Muslims freed by Saddam Hussein from captivity in Iraq, have just arrived back in England, the wife of one of them says she's overjoyed at the news. Amur Abdullah from Ilford in Essex is one of the first British adult hostages to be released from the country since the Gulf crisis began. His relief comes after, his release comes after persuasion by the former singer, Cat Stevens, now Britain's Muslim leader, Yusef Islam. Abdullah's wife, Norjan and two daughters, were allowed to leave Iraq last month after the family was taken hostage while on a pilg pilgrimage; she says the news of his release came as a great shock.
[speaker283:] He's coping very well, he knows that we are with him all the way, and he knows that we love him, and he's worried about the children and myself, but he was coping very well. He had a lot of worries because my daughter has been very very ill, and er he was really worried about my daughter, but otherwise he was okay.
[speaker073:] How has it been for yourself, obviously you've been here with your children, your husband's been away for more than a month, in Iraq, there must have been er terrible thoughts going through you mind at certain times?
[speaker283:] I had a very very hard time just to look after my ill daughter, and I was trying to get help from everybody, but er I had a tremendous help er the neighbours were very good with me, the relations, my husband's friends at work, er and er my own sisters and my brothers and their wives and my, my mum and dad, so I had a lot of support from everybody.
[speaker073:] What was it like when you got the news that er your husband was coming home?
[speaker283:] I just couldn't believe it, it was, er, I just felt very very happy and I just break into tears, I just start crying, and I think it's tremendous, erm news, I just want to see him safe home. I have still got the thoughts and prayers for others who are left in Iraq, who are very ill and very, very old, and er I hope they will be with their family like my husband is going to come with me today, and I think it's a very very happy news. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's twenty two minutes to seven. The head of Social Services in Oxfordshire has welcomed news that inspectors are considering a nationwide enquiry into the running of children's homes. It follows a series of scandals involving alleged physical abuse, drug taking and prostitution in homes around the country. Ian White says he's not surprised that his colleagues are looking into the matter.
[speaker053:] At the moment there are, in two areas of the country, big problems with er two children's homes that the inspectors are already looking into. But nationally, Directors of Social Services have identified that the trends in child care are such now, as to create serious concern that the children's homes themselves are geared up to the kind of er tasks that now face them. And I would welcome such an inspection and report.
[speaker036:] The Social Services Inspectors are warning of physical abuse of children, drug taking and prostitution, that's quite serious isn't it?
[speaker053:] Yes it is. And in, certainly in the two cases that I've just mentioned, those were the key worries that they had; but I would hazard a guess and say those are the exceptions to the rule. What most Directors of Social Services are worried about is that the group of children that we're now finding in children's homes, are so disturbed, because of their past family backgrounds er and so, so problematic er with their behaviour, er that they're now concerned to make sure that the children's homes of the future are properly geared up to deal with the very difficult group of children.
[speaker036:] Presumably we don't have problems as serious as this in Oxfordshire?
[speaker053:] Not as in the scandalous cases elsewhere in the country, no. But the types of children that I've just told you about, the answer's yes. er We've got some very disturbed children in Oxfordshire who need all sorts of help, which don't necessarily get provided for at the moment.
[speaker036:] How are you going about providing that help?
[speaker053:] Well we're doing a number of things. Firstly, we are, we're trying to ensure that wherever possible, children don't come into care, and we're spending a lot more money than we used to in keeping out of care; helping families etc. Secondly, children in care, we're helping them get out of care as fast as they can, and we're helping them get set up properly, with proper support and so on. Thirdly, we're trying to make sure that children who can best benefit by foster care, er do get foster parents, and we've had a big er initiative this last twelve months, you probably know about, and that's paying off, and we hope in the future only children going into residential homes who need residential care will get there.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's nineteen minutes to seven, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: A look at Lester Piggott's first day back as a jockey, plus the rest of the day's sports news. First, financial report, with Halpern er Woolf keeping Oxfordshire in business. The London stockmarket was very much in recovery mood advancing throughout the morning, at one stage it was up twenty five points. A bright start on Wall Street due to reduced Gulf worries and falling, falling oil prices, encouraged London. However, comments by the American Banker's President that U S industry must shed more jobs, saw Wall Street lose thirty four points. Once again London caught the gold, and by the close, the Footsie one hundred was up one point five at two one O one point nine. On the foreign exchanges, the pound lost ground, both the dollar and the mark, closing the day down two cents at one dollar point nine five two five, and down almost three pfennigs to two deutschmarks point nine seven two six. Today's shares: Abbey National down one at two two seven point five, British Aerospace up six at five four five, British Airways unchanged at a hundred and thirty seven, British Gas went down two point five to two two three, while British Telecom went down one to two seven five, the Goodhead Publishing Group stayed at fifty eight, Metalbox unchanged at one O eight eight, Morland Brewers went down two to two hundred and sixty eight, but Oxford Instruments stayed at two hundred and thirty, Thames Water down four at two two eight, Trustee Savings Bank up two point five at a hundred and thirty seven point five, and today's major movers, Reuters up twenty four at seven hundred and thirteen, and Bass up ten at one O four six. [recorded jingle] You're listening to the Fox Report. Lester Piggott today returned to the saddle after a five year exile in which he's concentrated on training. The bookies have been inundated with bets ranging from how he'll do this afternoon, to er whether he's likely to become Champion Jockey again. Mickey, what do you reckon, is he going to be Champion Jockey ever?
[speaker128:] I don't think so, not again, but I am annoyed with him Jane, because I lost a fiver today plus tax on his first mount; that was Lupesku, that came in at second at five to one, he then rode Balasinya and Patricia, I think they're still running Jane. But I'm very disappointed about that, because er coming into the final furlong, Lester was going very well on the inside, but just lost out on the photo finish. I think he held the reins back and smiled at the camera; so long since he did it. But I don't think he's going to be a Champion Jockey again, it's too much for him now. He has been, let's mention his credentials, eleven times Champion Jockey, ridden over four thousand three hundred winners, including over twenty nine classics, or indeed twenty nine classics, and they are the one thousand guineas, two thousand guineas, the Derby, the Oaks and the St Fox Leger.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Well, that's quite a list. I mean, he's, he's fifty five isn't he, I mean it's unlikely that he's going to really be in the same, in the same league as Cawson or somebody who's, who's no age at all?
[speaker128:] It's stamina Jane, he has a diet of about six cigars plus black coffee. Coo, I don't want to be a jockey at all. But er in France, there are, there are sixty year old, seventy year old jockeys, but he will win a race because all jockeys win races, I mean it doesn't matter how good they are, sometime or other they do win. Probably he'll ride in one where all the rest fall off.
[speaker002:] The bookies are probably quite pleased to have him back because he's got a very loyal following of er, of people who'll put bets on him
[speaker128:] Oh yes, he's always the housewive's favourite. When it's the Derby or any classic, they all chuck their money on him, I mean I did today, so my bookie will probably go off to Tenerife next week.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] I wouldn't be surprised. Right, well tonight at the Manor — Oxford under fifteens are facing their Reading can't, counterparts in the second round of the English Schools Football Association Cup. Manager of the Oxford side is Hugh Jennings, who has high hopes his side can emulate past exploits of the Oxford youngsters.
[speaker284:] The English Schools Trophy is effectively the schoolboy F A Cup, played for by about two hundred district teams throughout the country, and ending with a two legged final, at which Oxford have appeared on four different occasions; the earliest back in nineteen O eight, and the most recent in nineteen seventy four, when unfortunately, as with all the previous three, we were defeated, on that occasion by Manchester boys, yet er the home leg was played in front of a crowd of twelve thousand people, which was the highest recorded crowd at the Manor that season.
[speaker002:] Okay Mickey, it's a, it's a Monday night, had to think there for a minute. What, what are you up to this evening on the sport front?
[speaker128:] Well I'll be going up to watch that match that Hugh's just been talking about. I mean, twelve thousand at the Manor? I can't believe it — there'll probably be a few hundred there tonight though. But other news locally: Aylesbury United, they've been drawn away to Dagenham in the fourth qualifying round of the F A Cup, and that match will be, and I've checked this out, Dagenham play at the Victoria Road, and that'll be on Saturday the twenty seventh of October. Last year of course they did superbly, they beat Southend who were then in the fourth division, and look what's happened to them, they've gone up to the third division. Before losing out to Northampton who were bullies, I was at that match at Buckingham Road and I thought they were bullies, especially Bobby Barnes, not the wrestler, used to play for West Ham, but he plays for Northampton now, he's gone now, but they were, they, they were naughty.
[speaker002:] I thought you were getting yourself into trouble there again, but you tell me he can't be listening to you [LAUGHTER].
[speaker128:] I think he's gone up north.
[speaker002:] Yes fine. The Chairman of Oxford United, Kevin Maxwell, says unless he gets planning permission for a new twenty two thousand seater stadium, the club is going to have to close. Plans for the leisure complex in Blackbird Leys were released at the end of last week, and if planning permission is granted, it would include a bowling alley, restaurants, bars and a health and fitness centre. Mr Maxwell says 'it's the club's last chance'.
[speaker101:] If we don't get er permission, then er the club will cease to exist in Oxford.
[speaker285:] Is that definite?
[speaker101:] That's definite yes. I mean, it's, it's er, it's er very regrettable that it literally takes er a very good er Cup er run for Oxford to stand any chance of breaking even in a season, and if you consistently lose anywhere between ten and fourteen thousand pounds a week, er it's almost inevitable that you will have to close.
[speaker285:] So is it your last attempt at er trying to retain professional football in Oxford?
[speaker101:] It's very much the last attempt — not er, not for, from the point of view of negotiating or er, but, but simply a matter of fact, er we need erm we need to move, we need to have additional sources of, sources of income, that er the type of facility that we're looking to build will give the club to put it on a firm financial footing, and at the same time to give the local people of the City and er the, the surrounding County er tremendous new facilities.
[speaker285:] Do you think there's enough support in Oxford for you to be able to fill a stadium like that?
[speaker101:] Aah, now that's er, that's the er sixty four thousand dollar question. I'm very confident that if er we have er the best first class facilities and that we can actually attract er new supporters, we can attract their families and we can actually look after er children, we can look after anybody er that wants to either come to the game er with their family or friends. Er. I'm quite positive that if we provide the facilities, people will come to watch.
[speaker285:] What about local businesses, are they going to be getting involved, are you going to be asking for involvement from local businesses?
[speaker101:] Very much so, because er this is going to be a, a very substantial complex, er I think that er the involvement of the local community and local business can involve, can, can start with simply the construction, can go on to er the different, er the different types of businesses, I mean I'm not, I'm not in for instance in the licensed trade, but we're certainly going to need people who are in that business, we're going to need restaurateurs, we're going to need er all types of local business, businesses to actually get that centre er thriving. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who's passion and flamboyance ignited audiences around the world for decades, has died in New York at the age of seventy two. He was America's most prominent conductor and known for compositions from symphonies to musicals; his most famous was West Side Story. Paul Woodley sends this tribute from New York. [recorded jingle]
[speaker238:] For nearly fifty years he'd worked with the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra's manager, Nick Webster, was one of the first to pay tribute to his talent at America's best known classical musician.
[speaker007:] We at the Philharmonic, er Lennie's family are especially sorry to see him go, he meant a tremendous amount to all of us. The passion, the energy, the excitement that he brought was extraordinary, was, was special beyond words. [recorded jingle]
[speaker238:] Leonard Bernstein started on the road to fame in the early nineteen forties when he was assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic at the age of just twenty five. The regular conductor Bruno Walder was taken ill, and Bernstein suffering from a hangover had to take over for a Sunday afternoon concert broadcast on radio across America; he captivated the audience and the critics, as much with his conducting prowess as with his gyrations on the podium which earned him the nickname 'Leaping Lennie'. It wasn't classical music that brought him his widest audience, but musicals like 'On the Town', 'Candide'and 'West Side Story'. [recorded jingle] Stage shows made Leonard Bernstein a very rich man, but he said he cared little for the money, his great love was for the music.
[speaker264:] Money means absolutely nothing to me. I mean as long as I have enough to take care of this house and my children, that's alright. It never occurs to me to want any more; I sign contracts without reading them.
[speaker238:] But when it came to music, he was a perfectionist, never satisfied to rest on his fame, he once said 'when I give the perfect performance, then I will die'. Leonard Bernstein dead at the age of seventy two. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] Traffic is still slow moving on the M twenty five between junctions fifteen and sixteen clockwise, that's between the M four and the M forty. On the M forty between junctions four and five, that's between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, there are two narrow lanes in both directions, with a contraflow for a short stretch about midway between the two junctions, and it also is down to single line traffic at times, as required. A forty one, High Street Aylesbury, there are restrictions for traffic and Galley Lane, Great Brickhill, in Buckinghamshire is closed. In Oxfordshire on the A forty three at Weston on the Green, there are lane closures there, that's between Bicester and Banbury, and on the A forty one London Road, Bicester, there's some resurfacing work taking place, and that's causing restrictions to traffic going both ways. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've no problems to report on either or trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Oxfordshire County Council has picked up two of this year's Oxford Preservation Trust Environmental Awards; the accolades aren't given lightly, and Moira Haines from the Preservation Trust says the County Council's Awards are well deserved.
[speaker157:] We also look at new buildings as well as refurbished ones, and the County Council have actually got an award in both categories.
[speaker073:] So why exactly did the County Council get its honours, for what specific buildings?
[speaker157:] Well they got, there are three categories of award; there's a plaque which is the ultimate honour, and sometimes we don't ever award any, there are certificates and there are letters of commendation. Well the County made certificates for the Polytechnic phase two student hostels off John Garne Way, er that actually for phase one was about the last time they got an award at all, and er the panel were very pleased with those, they said they had a nice community feel, and yet the occupants had some privacy, they thought they, and they were pleased to see how well phase one had weathered as well. And then, that was the new building, the refurbishment was for the County Hall. Now you could say that was perhaps maintenance, but it's all been cleaned, it's been repointed, there are new lanterns, they've done all the paintwork and they made such a beautiful job of it, it's really almost for the craftsmanship and the care that we gave them a certificate for that as well.
[speaker073:] How important are these awards?
[speaker157:] Quite important, because we only give them for buildings which the public can see. It's no good doing the most lovely building right down a drive where no-one can see it, so it's part of the environment for all of us. And er it, it's much pleasanter to work and to look at a pleasant environment than something that, that isn't. I mean we gave a certificate for St Aldate's Courtyard for instance, because we felt it looked really very nice and so much better than the office block across the road.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Six hundred thousand people in this country own video cameras, and a new programme by Granada television, called 'You've been framed'is looking for your classic moments caught by the video camera. Irene Daniels, who's the programme's researcher says 'if you have a clip that makes you and your family laugh, then it's odds on it'll make other people laugh too'. Of the clips she's received so far, her favourite involves Doreen and her dog.
[speaker286:] She took her Great Dane puppy for a walk for the first time, when I say she was a puppy, she was huge. She took her to, to the Sands and let her off the lead and she went bounding off, and she looked even funnier actually because she, er Doreen the owner had three little Yorkshire Terriers who made Penny look even more huge. And then she came bounding back and couldn't stop herself, went straight into Doreen, knocked Doreen off her legs completely, and she was just sprawled out on all fours, it was just hilarious, we, in fact we did an action replay on that because you had to see it again to believe it. But Doreen was fine afterwards, I mean that's something else that we're very careful about, we, we would never show any clips where people are really hurt. Particularly er children or animals who have no say in it at all, we, we take the view that er it's a family show and we take that responsibility very carefully and very seriously.
[speaker002:] Mm, because you, you erm have er the, obviously that you could be sent some dubious tapes?
[speaker286:] Yes, we have, I mean other types of, of clips that we wouldn't show for different reasons, for instance we, we got one last week where a chap was decorating his lounge and he'd locked the camera off on himself, but he had no clothes on, nothing funny happened, he was just decorating with no clothes on. It gave us a bit of a giggle in the office, but I have to say it's not the sort of thing that we would show to the public.
[speaker002:] Mm, not the something that's sort of, funny that happened by mistake, something that was rather planned in that case
[speaker286:] That was very planned, and, and on that subject of planned and set up clips, I know er it may be tempting for people to do that, er but can I just say that we, you just get a gut reaction for anything that's planned, it might even be cleverly done, but you can't actually rationalise it, you just know if something's not, not real, not, not accidental, so er I wouldn't really encourage people to, to do set up pieces.
[speaker002:] If you've a classic clip, then 'You've been framed', Granada Television in Manchester is looking forward to it; send it to Irene Daniels. And that was the Fox Report for Monday the fifteenth of October 1990. [recorded jingle]
[speaker070:] Drugs was found during a routine search by customs officers; the heroin was concealed under textiles in the back of the Turkish owned vehicle. It brings the total amount of heroin seized by customs officers in Kent this week to over a hundred kilos, two million pounds worth was seized from a car at Sheerness; a fifty three year old Turk, Nemet Hanifi Kaboulu has been charged with importing heroin, he'll appear before magistrates in the morning. Leon Robbins, I R N, Dover.
[speaker002:] Doctors say most people in Britain are likely to be drinking dirty tap water. A study from the British Medical Association says levels of contamination from pesticides are rarely deadly, but it calls for more research into long term effects. Here's Judy Sedgewick.
[speaker275:] Chairman of the working party which produced the report, Sir Christopher Booth says he wants the government to impose tougher controls on the water industry.
[speaker287:] Most of the population do have a low level exposure to pesticide residues in tap water. We therefore recommend that there should be a graded timetable reduction in the use of conventional pesticides, particularly where alternatives are available.
[speaker275:] But Food Minister, David Maclean, has dismissed the report as outmoded, vague and inaccurate.
[speaker002:] Neil Kinnock and Mrs Thatcher have clashed in the Commons over Britain's entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Mr Kinnock says the Prime Minister is too frightened to debate the issue. Peter Murphy reports.
[speaker019:] Mr Kinnock said the Prime Minister had set the Madrid conditions for entry, they had not been met, so she'd caved in, he added.
[speaker198:] Isn't it now obvious Mr Speaker that her own personal position on this issue is utterly impossible to justify, and that she's just plain 'frit'.
[speaker019:] Mrs Thatcher rejected the charge, making it clear it was the Chancellor's responsibility.
[speaker006:] Unlike the Right Honourable gentleman, I have a most excellent Chancellor, an excellent, a superb [people shouting]
[speaker019:] Labour M P's jeered; after all it was a year ago that Mrs Thatcher heaped similar praise on Nigel Lawson, just before he quit. Peter Murphy, I R N, Westminster.
[speaker002:] The Chancellor's parliamentary private secretary has resigned. MP Tony Fable says he's quit so he can have his say on Europe. He says he has the greatest respect for the Chancellor, but wants the freedom as a back bencher to speak openly about his views. Hundreds of British lorry drivers are still stranded in Europe tonight because of a violent blockade on the border between France and Spain. Spanish lorry drivers started the blockade as a protest over rising petrol prices, then their French counterparts retaliated by blocking their side of the border. Owner of a Cheltenham haulage firm, Ralph Davis, says his drivers are trapped and the situation is nasty.
[speaker288:] It's very violent, there's people been injured, trucks have been burnt and damaged and a lot of tyres have been spiked and er you know, generally it's like a riot on, on the border, but the rest of Spain, it's, it's fairly peaceful, but all the roads are blockaded; the drivers only problems are — where they're getting stopped, is the facilities, they don't have any.
[speaker002:] Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, has failed to win a new deal for Palestinians from the Israeli Prime Minister, Yitsak Shamir. Mr Shamir refused to reverse his decision not to allow the United Nations to investigate the killing of at least nineteen Arabs by Israeli security forces. The first pack of Desert Rats is now trying to cope with the soaring heat of Saudi Arabia; about four hundred troops in the seventh armoured brigade began arriving there today in an air lift from Germany. From Saudi, I R N's Phil Edwards.
[speaker230:] The first plane load of Desert Rats was met by the Brigade's Commanding Officer, Brigadier Patrick Cordingly. He arrived before them to coordinate their integration into the first U S Marine expeditionary force; he says the first task for his men will be acclimatisation with desert temperatures still in the high nineties.
[speaker004:] We're all ready for them to go. Conditions are jolly hot there, and they're going to have to get used to that quite quickly, the big thing is to get them through and out into the desert as quickly as possible.
[speaker230:] The men are now looking forward to Saturday when the first Challenger tanks arrive; it's these that'll play a key role in any ground battles should war become unavoidable. Phil Edwards, I R N, Saudi Arabia.
[speaker002:] Independent Radio News. [pre-recorded blurb] It's Tuesday the sixteenth of October 1990. First a look at some of today's main stories in some more detail. A report just released by the British Medical Association, is warning that most people in Britain are likely to be drinking, be drinking contaminated water. The study —'Pesticides, Chemicals and Public Health'argues that although the levels are rarely fatal, little is known about the risks to health from long term exposure. The B M A wants tougher controls on the use of pesticides; Sir Christopher Booth, the Chairman of the working party which produced the report, also wants the Department of Health to set up a pesticide incident monitoring unit, in addition to a reduction in the use of chemicals.
[speaker287:] I don't think we can say poisons, that, that implies that it's damaging health, we don't know that. What we do know is that most of the population do have a low level exposure to pesticide residues in tap water. Our problem is that we don't know whether long term exposure to those levels is in fact hazardous or not, we just don't know. And the position we take, er as doctors advising the public here, is obviously to err on the side of prudence, and we therefore recommend that there should be er a graded timetable reduction in the use of conventional pesticides, particularly where alternatives are available.
[speaker089:] What sort of chemicals are we actually talking about?
[speaker287:] Well all the sort of chemicals that are sprayed onto crops, are used for food preservation, and there are a wide range of them. I'd rather not er deal with them individually by name because many of them are comm, commercial products, but er there are a wide range of them as you know, that are used in commercial food production.
[speaker089:] In concentrated forms, they can, these can actually have very serious effects on people's health.
[speaker287:] Well, we hope that it doesn't, er but of course if pesticides and other chemicals are misused, and, and er, er are used in ways which, which are not recommended by manufacturers, yes, they can be harmful, that's quite right. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's six minutes past six. Today is World Food Day; it's been launched by the United Nations as a reminder of the crisis of poverty and hunger in the developing world. Refugees are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of these situations; the world refugee population is around twenty five million. But the U N High Commission, responsible for their care, has a budget deficit of forty million dollars. The refugee studies programme at Oxford has announced it'll be holding a symposium on the food crisis in March. Lucy Bonner has this report.
[speaker016:] Governments who take in refugees, refugee organisations and U N representatives are among those invited to the symposium which will address the food crisis. According to Dr Barbara Harold-Bond, a major problem is who carries the can.
[speaker206:] We're trying to raise the question —'who is responsible, who would I sue if all my children died in a camp on the Thai-Kampuchia border, who would be liable for, for those deaths, er If I'm there totally dependent on food aid, and the international community says it's feeding me and they're not?'
[speaker016:] So you'll be urging governments to do more?
[speaker206:] We'll certainly be urging them to do more, and we'll be urging them to do it more efficiently, and we'll be urging them to be much more accountable. I mean, do you know how many people die in a refugee camp? Well it's not surprising because these kinds of records are hardly ever available; if there's research, usually it's kept classified, because research isn't actually done on mortality and morbidity; there isn't accountability in the international food aid system to refugees.
[speaker016:] The refugees kept in the camps face many crises of diet; not only is it not balanced in some cases, but it may also not arrive on time, causing disease and death.
[speaker206:] One month you might get the beans, they might get through, another month, the rice might get through, another month you might get two months of oil. But you can imagine running your household on that kind of a system, supposing you got the whole food basket, and supposing it was adequate, could you make your children eat the same thing day after day, after day after day. Of course, you couldn't, but poor little severely malnourished children are often given a, a kind of gruel which might be healthy, but to get them to eat it is very difficult, so kids, lots of things happen and. So we're hoping to address all these issues and er and also to try to bring people back to the awareness that food is a basic human right, the right to eat is a basic human right and, and that we have to find ways to make sure people enjoy that basic human right.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. If the Foreign Secretary and Witney M P, Douglas Hurd, thought he was going to get any change from the Israeli government, he now knows he was wrong. After three hours of talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Yitsak Shamir and Foreign Minister David Levy, he came away with little more that a promise of more talks about the plight of the Palestinians. From Jerusalem, Defence Correspondent, Paul Maurice.
[speaker019:] For days Mr Hurd has been criticising the Israelis for the harsh treatment of the Palestinians, so it was only politic of the government here to invite him to the Yadvashim memorial to the Holocaust. It was almost as if the Israelis were saying 'if you think the Palestinians are suffering, see how more than six million of our people died at the hands of the Nazis' . Within minutes of leaving the museum, Mr Hurd was in deep conversation with the Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy; the two hour session was conducted through interpreters, but Mr Hurd and Mr Levy had a long conversation afterwards in French which both of them speak fluently. But it was plain afterwards that the Israelis had not moved one tiny step closer to accepting the United Nations Commission of Enquiry into the Temple Mount killings last week.
[speaker086:] They have more er discussions at a senior level er of these particular problems, that there is in fact scope for a useful political dialogue.
[speaker019:] At the end of the news conference Mr Levy was asked a question in Hebrew, to which he replied in the same language; there was no translation, and Mr Hurd was forced to summon a member of the British Embassy staff to translate. Whether designed or not, most observers took this as yet another snub to the Foreign Secretary. In Hebrew, Mr Levy had spelt out the case for not accepting the Commission, because Jerusalem is the Israeli capital, and as such, shootings were a domestic matter. But he added that the internal enquiry would publish its findings shortly.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's ten minutes past six, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] You can expect delays on the A thirty four between Botley and Hinksey Hill, where there are long term roadworks affecting southbound traffic. Banbury town centre, it's the Michaelmas street fair on from today until Saturday; there are various road closures and some traffic is being diverted, so that's causing a bit of extra congestion to Banbury town centre. Over in Buckinghamshire, Galley Lane Great Brickhill, that's closed for roadworks. And on the M forty, between junctions four and five, that's between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, it's down to two narrow lanes in both directions, and a contraflow system for a short stretch about midway between the two junctions, also that's down to single line traffic at times, so that could slow you down quite a lot. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And so far the buses and the trains seem to be running rather well. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: the Royal Pioneers from Bicester are on their way to back up the Desert Rats in the Gulf.
[speaker011:] It's a young platoon, it's a young company, so, er yes they should enjoy it, it'll be an experience that they'll not get er anywhere else.
[speaker002:] Now with a look at the day's local news, here's Paul Kirby.
[speaker153:] The Health Minister, Virginia Bottomley has said in the House of Commons this afternoon that haemophiliacs who contracted the H I V virus through imported blood products, cannot expect further compensation. Around a third of haemophiliacs are treated by health specialists in the Oxford Region. Conservative M P, Patrick Cormack, asked the Health Minister at question time, 'if the government believes in action not words, then would she accept that action so far was unsatisfactory.'
[speaker145:] The fact is that there was no case of neglect in these particular cases. We accept the very great tragedy, and that's why such significant resources have been made available to those families who were so grievously affected, amounting to an average of twenty eight thousand pounds each. But it cannot be accepted that every time there is a tragedy in the Health Service, where there has been no professional neglect, that instantly there should be compensation. The implications for us all and for all health care would be enormous.
[speaker153:] There's been an accident on the A four twenty three road near Banbury. A four year old child was taken to the Horton General Hospital in the town, with cuts to his face; three other people were also taken to the hospital, one with a suspected broken pelvis. And there have been two burglaries in Bicester; last night a Ford truck was stolen and ten and a half thousand pounds' worth of roofing was stolen from a roofing supply store. Oxford Crown Court has heard how two masked men allegedly stole seven thousand pounds after terrifying cashiers at a dairy in Banbury. Forty one year old antiques dealer, Albert Street, and director, Fred, decorator, Fred Holden aged forty three, both deny robbery and the unlawful possession of firearms. Lucy Bonner reports.
[speaker016:] The prosecution alleges the two men helped themselves to cash, having forced the two cashiers to lie on the floor at gunpoint. It's claimed the pair then escaped to Streetshome at Lexton House in Middleton Cheney, but both were found out two days later when they attempted to buy antiques and jewellery with used notes which had been marked. The prosecution also claims the men produced false alibis, not realising they had been captured on police video at Streetshome on the day of the alleged raid, the case continues.
[speaker259:] Fox F M News, Paul Kirby reporting. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's a quarter past six. Leaders of Britain's freight industry are calling on the European Commission to help free U K truck drivers trapped by road blocks on the French Spanish border. The Freight and Transport Association wants the E C to step in after French lorry drivers put up blockades in retaliation at protests by their Spanish counterparts over fuel prices. Spanish truckers are virtually holding hundreds of British lorry drivers hostage, and many of those trapped are too scared to leave. This report from James Baize.
[speaker112:] Spanish drivers are threatening to slash the wheels of any trucks which try to break the blockade. They've also blocked off the railway line, and British drivers say they've been threatened at knife point. John Walraven from Faversham in Kent has been stuck at a border customs post for eight days.
[speaker125:] We can't go nowhere. We are all a little bit down, you know, so we, we can't go nowhere. There's a lot going on, but we, we're not getting involved, the safest thing is to keep out of sight, you know?
[speaker112:] Have you heard reports of violence against English drivers?
[speaker125:] Oh yes, anything that moves, has, has had their tyres slashed. There's two vehicles out there, and out of fourteen wheels, they've had ten each slashed.
[speaker112:] Press attache at the Madrid Embassy, Roy Osborne, says they're doing all they can to help the stranded Britons, but he says conditions at the border are getting worse.
[speaker289:] Certainly it's, it's, it's tricky for them, obviously we don't know how long this strikes going to continue, and people in the area are facing er some initial food shortages, and basic commodities which would normally be moved by road, and indeed even as far as Bilbao this morning, there are a shortage of reported, of a, of basic necessities like milk and bread. Er. Obviously if you're stuck at the border post it's much smaller and therefore conditions will be that much worse, because erm the border's not just capable of coping with this kind of number of people stranded where they are.
[speaker112:] Diplomats have offered the British drivers accommodation away from the border town of Irun, but they've all opted so far, to stay with their vehicles.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. A local army regiment has left an Oxfordshire air base this afternoon for the Gulf. The Royal Pioneers from Bicester are heading for Saudi Arabia to carry out logistics operations in support of the famous Desert Rats. The Pioneers will by now have completed the first leg of their journey to Cyprus. Paul Kirby reports.
[speaker153:] The one hundred and sixty strong Pioneers left R A F Brize Norton early this afternoon; they'll be joining Major Colin Code who went a few days ago. Second in command, Paul Hancock, says they'll be acting as back up to the Desert Rats at bases in the north-east of Saudi Arabia.
[speaker214:] Primarily, it'll be defence and security for the logistic installations, erm, dumps of ammunition and, and other stocks, as well as er guarding some of the headquarters locations. Secondary we provide specialised labour to the ordnance, that's the supply services, to the transport services, to the engineers and to the medical services.
[speaker153:] The men aged from eighteen to twenty five, and are mainly new to service abroad, but Captain Hancock says his men are ready for the Gulf.
[speaker214:] Well we've had three weeks of normal work up training; the guys are well aware of what the role's going to be out there, and we have practised normal training, normal multi-training we've just revised, we're all trained soldiers, and that's how far we've gone.
[speaker153:] Platoon sergeant Gary Howarth says 'all the men are looking forward to the experience'.
[speaker290:] It's a young platoon, it's a young company, so, er yes, they should enjoy it, it'll be an experience that they'll not get er anywhere else.
[speaker153:] But the men are also leaving loved ones behind. They're not expecting to return until Easter, and Private McCutcheon's wife, Julie, says she'll find it hard to cope without him.
[speaker002:] I feel quite sad, and I'm going to miss him, because he's never been away as long as six months before.
[speaker153:] Are you going to write a lot?
[speaker019:] Oh of course, yes, you know, fifteen letters a day sort of thing, that'll be about it, yes.
[speaker002:] This is the Fox Report, it's nineteen minutes past six. [pre-recorded blurb] It's been a lively afternoon in parliament, here's Sally Arthy.
[speaker241:] Letters have been flying between number ten and Mr Kinnock's office over a Commons debate on Britain's entry into the Exchange Rate Mechanism. The Labour leader wants Mrs Thatcher to address the House; the Prime Minister says her Chancellor John Major should do it, at Question Time this afternoon, Mr Kinnock brought the matter up again.
[speaker198:] Does the Prime Minister recall that on twentieth September, she was adamant in her own words, that the Madrid conditions won't be changed and that they include getting inflation near to the European average. Will she tell us whatever happened in the following two weeks to make her completely cave in.
[speaker241:] Mrs Thatcher replied that the government could have waited for inflation to come down.
[speaker006:] Conditions had been met and there was so much speculation about when we were going to go into the Exchange Rate Mechanism, we took advantage of the excellent opportunity which, which [people jeering]
[speaker026:] Order! Order! [people shouting]
[speaker006:] We took advantage of the excellent opportunity of monetary conditions coming within their limits to end all the speculation about when we should go in, and go in.
[speaker241:] Mr Kinnock attacked again.
[speaker198:] Isn't it now obvious Mr Speaker that her own personal position on this issue is utterly impossible to justify, and that she's just plain 'frit'.
[speaker241:] John Major had taken Britain into the E R M said Mrs Thatcher, and so he should answer questions in the House. The Prime Minister then went on to praise her Chancellor to shouts of 'unassailable'from the rowdy opposition benches. The word Mrs Thatcher had used to describe Nigel Lawson before he left the Treasury.
[speaker006:] Unlike the Right Honourable gentleman, I have a most excellent Chancellor, an, he's superb
[speaker026:] Order! Order! [people shouting]
[speaker006:] He's a superb Secretary for Trade and Industry, and I shall be here answering questions every Tuesday and Thursday, and I hope one day he may know how to ask a good one.
[speaker241:] In a second challenge over entry into the E R M, the Prime Minister said she was amazed by the small mindedness of the opposition benches. 'Didn't they want Britain to go in'she asked. [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker002:] It's six twenty three. Local government Minister, Michael Portillo, has been asked to give Oxfordshire special consideration when assessing grants to the County's Community Charge levels. Mr Portillo has been meeting with two leading Conservative Councillors from Oxfordshire to discuss the impact of the Poll Tax on the County. Conservative leader, David Walden, and Bloxham Councillor, Keith Mitchell, asked the Minister to bear in mind Oxfordshire's extra commitment to Social Services, the National Curriculum and increased expenditure on the County's roads. Conservative leader, David Walden, says they managed to convey the extent of the County's problems.
[speaker222:] We er emphasised to him the impact this would have on Oxfordshire's er spending requirements and er the hope that the er spending that we get, and we get it in two ways; one is through, called the standard spending grant, that is a general grant that was given to authorities to spend as they wish, and the other is a specific grants which are given for particular purposes, and some of them cover the legislation that I have mentioned, which we are required to spend specifically on the items for which they're given.
[speaker103:] Was Mr Portillo able to say categorically that 'yes, Oxfordshire will benefit, next time the budget is planned'.
[speaker222:] He wasn't er able to be so positive as that, but he did certainly give us the impression that er that he'd listened very carefully to what we had to say. I think there were one or two er new items of information that he had concerning Oxfordshire which he didn't realise before, and he certainly gave us the impression that he would er, er take these into account when assessing the share out to Oxfordshire. I think we have to say that er I would imagine that plans are well advanced for the nineteen ninetyninety oneninety two settlementninety three and onwards.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. One of the country's top environmental pressure groups has published details of a survey which shows horrific pollution of lakes in Scotland and Scandinavia caused by acid rain. The National Society for Clean Air who've carried out the five million pound survey said power stations in Eastern Europe are the main cause of the problem. The Society's president, Sir John Mason, revealed the survey's disturbing findings, he says they prove acid rain is causing pollution far greater than anyone imagined.
[speaker068:] We found that in areas of Southern Norway and Sweden, and areas of Scotland where there are hard granite rocks and thin soils, that many of the lakes and streams have shown er a progressive acidification since the industrial revolution, and that this has accelerated in recent years, until about ten years ago, when er the emissions of So2 from the U K, particularly fell, about, between about nineteen seventy and er today of about thirty or fell forty per cent drop. And that's beginning to show er up in the chemistry of the lakes and streams, some recovery of some lakes are already recovering in response to that reduction of emissions, but not all by any means.
[speaker103:] So how much damage is that causing?
[speaker068:] Well quite a lot of the lakes and streams have lost their fish, of course that's the, that's the most important thing, between, particularly salmon and trout, and we have discovered that they are killed not so much by the acid, but by the aluminium which has leaked out of the soil by the acid water, the acid rain, and er that er the fish find this very hard to tolerate. They actually er attack the gills er surfaces of the fish so that they lose body salt.
[speaker103:] Whose power stations are causing this?
[speaker068:] Well, the er power stations all round the, Northern Europe are affecting it, as far as Norway and Sweden are concerned, er much of the pollution comes from Eastern Europe er and erm something like ten to twenty per cent comes from the U K as far as Norway is concerned, and five to ten per cent in Sweden. Er. In the, in the, in the U K of course, er and in Scotland, most of the acid deposition there comes from our own power stations.
[speaker103:] Do think the rest of us in, in, in the Western world have a duty to give them money to, to help sort out the pollution problem?
[speaker068:] I doubt whether we can afford it, I doubt whether, I think the problems are so immense, er what really means is down I think, tearing down most of their industry and rebuilding it from scratch. And er I don't know where the money would actually come from doing that. As far as East Germany is concerned, no doubt Western Germany will take care of that now, er who could or would be able to do it for Poland Czechoslovakia, Rumania and the Soviet Union, is very much more difficult to see, and of course, if the West were to rebuild all their, all their factories, er and they were all modern, and with their cheap labour force, they would then com, almost completely er destroy our industry I guess in competition [LAUGHTER] so that we would have a, that would be another problem I guess. So there's really very large economic problems here.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. John Duan Fu Suan is a Roman Catholic priest who's in prison in Vietnam. Amnesty International are unhappy about the circumstances of his conviction and they're trying to find out more about it. Clare Middell is from Oxford's Amnesty International Group, Clare, how much do you know about this priest?
[speaker291:] Unfortunately very little, er we know he's been in prison since nineteen eighty seven and that he's been sentenced to ten years, but we haven't been able to determine er under what charge, what happened at his trial, whether he was given defence, er access to a lawyer, those kind of things, and er Amnesty believes that he's been er imprisoned for his beliefs.
[speaker002:] How did you come to find out about him?
[speaker291:] er Well it's been allocated to the Oxford Group and the Central Amnesty found its information through er government releases, the media in Vietnam and er people from, who've left Vietnam since.
[speaker002:] So what sort of thing can you do to try and get him released?
[speaker291:] We've er, at the moment we're in a campaign of letter writing where we've got er a body of people that regularly send out letters to er all the different government officials in Vietnam and to the Embassy in er London. Er. We're also circulating a petition round, anything that's trying to get the public awareness of it.
[speaker002:] Because it's, it, it can't be very easy to, to make contact with a, a regime like the Vietnam regime, I mean are you hopeful that it'll actually do any good?
[speaker291:] I'm very hopeful because er, Vietnam since nineteen eighty six has been under a process of economic and political reform, and they have released er a large amount of prisoners over this time, and there are still a number of prisoners, such as poets er religious people that are still in prison, who are hoping that, with their renewed effort and attention from the media, this' ll er be changed.
[speaker002:] You say you don't know what he was convicted of; do you have any clues as to the sort of thing that it's likely to have been?
[speaker291:] Well it, it's likely to be of charged under one of the loose clauses of anti-government er activities which really could mean anything, and so there, it's more likely to be that, and if so, we have to look at the evidence then that was used to back up this claim.
[speaker002:] Have you had successes in the past using this method of, of trying to bring it to public attention?
[speaker291:] Yes, it has been very successful, it does depend on the country, but it, it does work. [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] It's pretty heavy er clockwise on the M twenty five between junctions fifteen and sixteen, that's the stretch between the M four and the M forty. On the M forty itself between junctions four and five, that's the stretch between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, it's down to two narrow lanes in both directions, with a contraflow system for a short stretch about midway between the two junctions, and at times, it's down to single line traffic. A thirty four between Botley and Hinksey Hill, you can expect delays southbound due to long term roadworks, and Banbury town centre, it's the Michaelmas Street Fair until Saturday, and that means there are various road closures and some traffic being diverted. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And I've still no problems to talk to you about, about the buses or the trains. Still to come, on the Fox Report: Students from the newly reunified Eastern Europe, Eastern Germany, visit Oxford, and say 'it wouldn't be a bad place to work'.
[speaker064:] I'm quite sure that er there are teachers from that part of Germany who would like to, to work in your country. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, it's six thirty one. Customs officers at Dover have made the biggest ever heroin seizure in Britain; it's sixty kilos with a street value of ten million pounds. The drug was found in a container vessel under a consignment of textiles. The government is dismissing doctor's fears that millions of Britons are drinking water which has been contaminated by pesticides; the Food Minister, David Maclean, describes the British Medical Association report, detailing the concern as outmoded, vague and inaccurate. The Chancellor's parliamentary private secretary has resigned because he wants his say on Europe; MP Tony Favell says he's quit as John Major's right-hand man so he can air his true views from the back benches. Fourteen Mafia bosses have been arrested by Sicilian detectives after a woman's Mafia Godfather lover was gunned down by the organisation. Police say the man was charged with drug trafficking and other, other Mafia activities around Sici, Sicily's west coast. Weather for the Fox F M area: After some early evening sunshine, the night will start dry; cloud and some showery rain is going to spread in from the south er to parts of the region by dawn. The lowest temperatures — just nine degrees celsius, forty eight degrees fahrenheit. [pre-recorded blurb] It's six thirty three. The British Standards Institution, Kitemark, more often seen on goods like washing machines and fridges, could soon be appearing on solicitor's headed notepaper. The Law Society and the BSI are drawing up plans which would allow firms of solicitors to apply for a kitemark. Peter Taylor from Banbury solicitors, Hancock, says firms who were awarded Kitemark won't be judged on the number of cases they win, but the quality of their work. It does mean that the way in which the case has been handled, the way in which it's been approached, the cooperation between various departments in a particular office, has been done properly, and if the client has the opportunity of winning, he will win and not lose by sloppy work in his solicitor's office. When is this all likely to, to start?
[speaker127:] It's at a very early stage at the moment, there, there is a code being drafted; it's got to go through various processes and probably won't be in general circulation till DecemberJanuary.
[speaker002:] Will you be applying for your er, your own er company of solicitors?
[speaker127:] I think it's, I think it's quite likely we will, most solicitors who are worth their salt will be contemplating doing so. The problem is going to be the sheer weight of administration of schemes like this, and that's going to make it very difficult for the small firm, because the solicitor sitting at his desk is his own manager, his own salesman and his own factory floor worker. He's got to fulfil all three roles, and the more managerial work going on in the office, the harder it is to find the time to do the work for the clients, which is what produces the fees.
[speaker002:] The solicitors who, who get the kitemark, where will it go — how will people see it?
[speaker127:] I think it'll be something which they can show on their headed notepaper.
[speaker002:] Not outside their front door on their plaque?
[speaker127:] Probably not, but it, it is, it is at such an early stage that I'm not at all sure what advertising you say to speak, can be made of it.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. This week is National Chest Week, a first for the Heart, for the er Chest, Heart and Stroke Association. The charity is also funding many research projects, and one of the beneficiaries is the Radcliffe Infirmary where Dr Chris Gerrard is Chest Physician. Dr Gerrard, what sort of things will you be researching?
[speaker084:] Well we're looking at a particular condition of the lung that affects patients in intensive care; it's a disease a bit like pneumonia, it's called the adult respiratory distress syndrome, and it's a disease that we believe is associated with a lot of fluid in the lung, and a compatriot of mine, Dr Young, and Dr McQuillam have been working on a research that er has asked the question —'if we reduce the amount of fluid in the lung, do these patients get better and get better quicker'. And they have applied two rather unique techniques to study this question; it's a technique that's er, er rather unique to Oxford, it seems that across the country, most people have looked at this particular problem of reducing the fluid in the lung. And so far, with our results, it looks as if it does not seem to have a major impact on our patients, so we may be doing something that doesn't er particularly help the patients, and this is very important since we spend a lot of time doing these sorts of er procedures in our patients.
[speaker002:] Now I mentioned that this was Chest Week and it's the first time that the er Chest, Heart and Stroke Association have had a, a, a week specifically aimed at people with chest problems, or, or looking at chest problems. Is it, is it a, a major problem, is it a major medical, medical problem?
[speaker084:] If you add up all the various er stroke and heart and lung diseases, er you account for possibly fifty or sixty per cent of all the deaths that occur in Great Britain each year. So it's an enormous problem, and certainly worthy of everyone's support.
[speaker002:] Now Lynne Taylor is Regional Executive for the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association, Lynne er is it, this is er as I said a new week, are, you hopeful that it's, it's working well?
[speaker292:] Well, we want to obviously make er people aware er both of their chest, I mean we're coming in to the autumn, the winter period when er people who have er a residual chest problem will suffer far more, than say in the warmer, dryer and summer months. Er. But also to make people aware of the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association, what we're trying to do, and that we're there to help people as well as being er an organisation which just hands out money to er doctors. We're there for, to give the help and advice that people need on the day to day living, er because a person with say with a respiratory illness, er would need a lot of benefits er they, their lifestyle has to change, and often their home and adaptation has to change with, around it.
[speaker002:] Now your a charity aren't you?
[speaker292:] That's right, yes.
[speaker002:] How, how do you go about raising your money?
[speaker292:] Ooh, various methods, er at the moment, we, there's just solely six of us throughout the whole country, that er work on appeals, er we raise money through various means er from flag days in the street to major fund raising efforts, er and events that we organise er round the country.
[speaker002:] Is there anything coming up locally in the next er
[speaker292:] er November, mid November, we've got an assault course er based at Bicester barracks, er army barracks in Bicester, and we're inviting er various people over the age of sixteen, who live in and around the Bicester and Oxford areas er as well as down into Aylesbury, er if they'd like to come and take part, and it'd be sponsored for the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association and the work that we do.
[speaker002:] And that's mid November?
[speaker292:] That's mid November, yes.
[speaker002:] And do, do people have to apply to the Association?
[speaker292:] That's, well no, if they, if they apply either to myself or my colleague, er I am based at St Edmunds Hospital in Northampton and my colleague is based in Birmingham, er they can er, er apply for an entry form and then for the sponsorship forms.
[speaker002:] Now though Chris, this er is a charity and obviously you've, you've got research money from them; if there wasn't a charity like this, would you be able to do the sort of research that you're doing at the moment?
[speaker084:] Well, certainly this particular piece of work would have been held up, er the salary that we're able to provide for this young researcher was absol, absolutely essential, and in Great Britain there is an enormous reliance on charitable funding for research, it's absolutely essential.
[speaker002:] Thank you both very much.
[speaker292:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. The reunification of Germany has opened up new opportunities for many in the East, including a group of East German teachers of English who are visiting Oxford this week. It's the first time they've been to Britain, even though some have been teaching English for twenty years; they're staying at the Oxford House School of English, and will also visit the Oxford University Press as the trip has been made possible by an East German publishing house. The teachers believe language teaching will now become easier for them, and say the political changes have given students fresh motivation.
[speaker067:] Now they know that in listening to information given by television, on television, er on radio, they can buy newspapers produced in Great Britain. Another er important point is that now we can make use of text books that were not available in the past, we got a lot of help from er West German publishing houses, because they provided East German English teachers with er text books, with cassettes and other teaching material, er and that will help to improve the whole teaching situation in that part of Germany.
[speaker032:] Do you think that education will suffer, what was East Germany.
[speaker035:] I think there will be many differences in our education system now, we don't know what er system we take from West Germany as you know, we have to overtake nearly everything and we have to lose many things which were quite good in our old system and now we don't have the chance to er to bring it into the connection between East and West Germany, so that is one problem. But generally I think it will become better.
[speaker032:] In our own system over here, we've had people criticising the shortage of teachers; would any of you consider coming over to Great Britain to teach?
[speaker067:] That would be a very great challenge for us to do, especially because we have never had the chance before to think about that, but er now I think that could be, er could become reality and I'm quite sure that er there are teachers from that part of Germany who would like to, to work in your country; maybe er English teachers er from East Germany teaching the German language here, that's one thing I could imagine. And for many of them this would be a dream to, come true.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report, I'm Jane Markham. [pre-recorded blurb] Still to come: Lester Piggott back in the saddle, back on form.
[speaker036:] Well the longfellow goes for his whip on Nicholas, but he's got the advantage. Nicholas it is in front Amiganamore and racing up towards the line, and it's Nicholas, the maestro is back.
[speaker002:] Financial report with Halpern and Woolf, keeping Oxfordshire in business. Early U K share gains behind firmer overseas markets were eventually replaced by minor signs of the market worried about recession. Falls on Wall Street had a knock on effect in London and by the close, the Footsie one hundred was down eighteen point three at two O eight three point six. Prices of gold and other precious metals fell on rumours that Saudi investors are selling gold for sterling; on the foreign exchanges the pound was fractionally down on yesterday's close, ending the day at one dollar point nine five seven five, and two deutschmarks point nine six eight five. Today's shares: Abbey National down four to two two three point five, British Aerospace up four to five hundred and thirty nine, British Airways up two at a hundred and thirty nine, British Gas down five to two one eight, British Telecom went down four point five, ending the day at two hundred and seventy point five, the Goodhead Publishing Group went down two to fifty six, Metalbox were up thirty seven to one one two five, Morland Brewers down three at two six five, Oxford Instruments remained at two thirty, while Thames Water stayed at two hundred and twenty eight and T S B were up nought point five at a hundred and thirty eight. Today's major movers: Wellcome up ten to four hundred and sixty eight, and Glaxo down nineteen to seven hundred and forty four. You're listening to the Fox Report. Graham Taylor has announced an unchanged side for tomorrow's European qualifier against Poland at Wembley. Mickey Ianotta our sports editor is here, Mickey, are you happy with who, who he's chosen? Mmi Well I'm happy, but I'm never happy about playing Poland because it always brings back memories to me of the early seventies. Now I can't remember which English player it was, either Bobby Moore or Norman Hunter, I think it was Norman Hunter because he played for Leeds, but they made a mistake and they scored a breakaway goal. But they had this goalkeeper, do you remember him, his name was Thomasescu, he was about ten foot two, eyes of blue, and he stopped everything, Kevin Hector had a go, Alan Clarke, they all did, even Peter Shilton in goal. It just goes to show how well he's done, he was playing in the early seventies, but we should win; what we've got to do tomorrow is not just win well, but we've got to pick up those points, we must win. It's a European qualifier and we do need the points, because Poland away are always difficult. You're going to be on the edge of your seat. I trust they still haven't got their goalkeeper playing?
[speaker128:] er who, Poland?
[speaker002:] Yes, the one, the, the ten foot two eyes of blue bloke.
[speaker128:] Well I don't know, you never know with these Eastern European sides, they've always got something up their sleeve Jane.
[speaker002:] Okay, what about the Oxford pair Jim Magilton and Paul Kee, are they going to be playing for Northern Ireland?
[speaker128:] Well I've tried to ring Billy Bingham their manager today, but he can't make up his mind, he, he, apparently he's going to name his side tomorrow. I don't think Paul Kee will play, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think Jim Magilton will play, but we're going to have to wait until tomorrow; Billy Bingham just can't make up his mind.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER], Well we'll have to wait for that one. Now Witney Town are in action tonight in the first round, first leg of the Southern League Cup against Gloucester; special guest tonight will be the Sheffield Wednesday manager, Ron Atkinson. But of a more serious nature to manager Malcolm Mackintosh, is their latest injury problems.
[speaker152:] We're losing Dan Taggart with ankle ligament trouble er caused the ache on Saturday, but we, Brian Flannery's back after his flu bout.
[speaker128:] Now you said it's going to be a tough game, so a message 'let's get the whole of Witney down there'.
[speaker152:] Yes, hopefully we'll get a big crowd today, Ron Atkinson's coming to present the, the new strip before the game, so we're hoping for a big crowd.
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. Mickey, amongst the many local games tonight, I suppose you're going to be at Marriott's Close, are you?
[speaker128:] Yes, I urge everybody in Witney, put down your knives and forks, record your favourites on the video, come on down to Witney, give the lads a cheer, they are playing Gloucester City. Ron Atkinson's not the only attraction there, and they're a tough team, top of the Premier Division. But other games tonight: At Buckingham Road, Aylesbury United, third from top in the Vauxhall Premier, they're playing the side who were top — Kingstonian, so they're going to expect a crowd of nearly two thousand. And do you know what they do at Buckingham Jane, their nicknamed the ducks, and all their supporters have these warblers that go quack quack, so hopefully we'll hear a few of those tonight. I might hear them at Witney. In the Southern League Cup, first round, first leg, Buckingham Town, The Robins, they're at home to Bury St Edmunds, [LAUGHTER] and we've always got one of these, now I know how Phil Angel feels on Saturday. Wellingborough against Brackley in the Hillier Cup, that's being played at the Dog and Duck ground, I would imagine it's blow football in a pub, and finally, in the Overton Papers combination, pretty boring this one — Watford Reserves against Oxford Reserves.
[speaker002:] Hmm, well, okay, last night Mickey, you and I just about wrote off Lester Piggott's career, and er today, well inside the last furlong of er one of his three races I believe today, this is how Rapid Raceline's course commentator John Penny, saw the closing stages.
[speaker024:] in the distance and it's Nicholas being pressed by Amigamanore, these two matching stride and the long fellow goes for his whip on Nicholas, but he's got the advantage. Nicholas it is in front, in front of Amigamanore and racing up towards the line, and it's Nicholas, the maestro is back, he's come back with that Nicholas. Lester Piggott from Amigamanore,.
[speaker002:] Well there you go Mickey, did you have any money on this one — I bet you didn't after what you said last night?
[speaker128:] Well no, no, I didn't fancy him yesterday, he was a bit rusty, he needed a day to get back into form, but two winners; lets mention the other one, that one in the Biddistone all age stakes, Nicholas was there, six to four on, trained by his good lady and half and hour later, in the four o'clock, finish, Shining Jewel, romped home at eleven to one in the Gainsborough Claiming Stakes, a division two race for three year olds. You know, I thought he was about fifty odd, but what I must mention Jane, mustn't forget in his first race in the three o'clock, he came last on Ruddy Cheek. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. An emotional reunion after more than fifty years has taken place today, between two Britons who were evacuated as children to the United States and their American foster mother. Along with hundreds of other children, Dinah and Clifford Matthews from Totten in Hampshire, were shipped across the Atlantic to safety. Their story forms the basis of a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. Mark Phillips was there. [recorded jingle]
[speaker021:] It was an emotional moment back in nineteen forty as Cliff, Dinah and their sister Sheila waved goodbye to their family and friends and set sail for America. Cliff, who was just twelve at the time, remembers it was an exciting journey.
[speaker027:] Well it was during the height of the er blitz; we went in convoy from Liverpool, way north up amongst the icebergs which was exciting, and er then we came down to St Lawrence to Montreal, and then went down to er New York, and then eventually to er, we were dispersed around the countryside, and, and er we were fortunate enough to be sent to Cincinnati.
[speaker021:] The children met up with their new foster parents, Bill and Janet Matthews.
[speaker002:] My husband went to er a meeting of the English Speaking Union, whatever that is, and they said there was going to be need for homes for English children. And so he said 'well, we have three sons, all of whom were going to war, and er so we would have room for three children.
[speaker282:] Of course, in England we were used to er especially at the beginning of the war, we had tea in the afternoon of course, and er when we got there it was dinner at night, with you know, meat and vegetables every night, that sort of thing, so it was quite a surprise. And, and er my tummy took a while to get used to it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker027:] I went from a er boy's school and all that that implied at the time in England, strict discipline, uniforms, that sort of thing, to er High School, a mixed High School in Ohio where the atmosphere was totally different, much more relaxed, much more friendly. The concentration frankly wasn't so much on education I think, er as it was in, in er bringing people up.
[speaker021:] Both Cliff and Dinah loved life in America so much, that although they were shipped home after the war, they both decided to move back, and they now live there with their families. The exhibition which opens today at the Imperial War Museum features their letters and memories of the time, along with those of their fellow Atlantic evacuees. [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] [pre-recorded blurb]
[speaker091:] On the M twenty five between junctions fifteen and sixteen there's some heavy clockwise traffic, that's just between the M four and the M forty. The M forty itself between junctions four and five, that's between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch, there are two narrow lanes in both directions and a contraflow running for a short stretch about midway between the two junctions, there's also down to single line traffic at times. You might er be subject to delays on the A thirty four between Botley and Hinksey Hill where there are some roadworks on the southbound carriageway. And Banbury Town centre, there's the Michaelmas Street Fair going on until Saturday, so there are some road closures and various diversions for traffic. Martin Lawford, A A roadwatch.
[speaker002:] And it's not been too bad in the rush hour on the er local public transport; I've no problems to report to you on either the buses or the trains. [pre-recorded blurb] Cambridge University Press have just published the Cambridge Encyclopaedia; a one volume tome with over thirty thousand cross referenced entries. Paul James, who's the publisher's marketing manager, er for their reference section, is travelling the length and breadth of the country to promote the encyclopaedia. I asked him if he didn't feel a trifle audacious in coming to Oxford, home of Oxford University Press.
[speaker137:] Well I'm not daunted I think, challenged I think is probably the word, but I think there is room in the market, I mean they have their Oxford English Dictionary say, which is one of their flagships you might say. We have now the Cambridge Encyclopaedia which is probably as important to us as the dictionary is to them, it's a really important new publication for us, and a book which there isn't really an equivalent from Oxford, so I think there's room for both of us.
[speaker002:] So this, this is the very first Encyclopaedia?
[speaker137:] From Cambridge it is, yes, er that's actually one of its great strengths, because it isn't a thing which has been revised and added on to, it is completely new, and before we actually made it, our editor, David Crystal, er actually is probably the only person in the world to have sat and read through from cover to cover four other encyclopaedias, to find out what was wrong with them, how they could be improved. And having done that daunting task, he then attempted the even more daunting task of putting all this information together into this enormous book, and it is, as you see before you, a very hefty tome.
[speaker002:] It's, it's a hefty tome, but, some encyclopaedias run to about you know, fifteen volumes, so it must have been quite an editorial job actually.
[speaker137:] It is, er it being a modern book as I say, completely new, it's, it's, it's part of the desk top publishing sort of revolution, so the actual data base is, is all held on computer, on a magnetic tape and is actually much bigger than this single volume book. But this is probably as big a book as you can get in one volume, which we wanted, we wanted a single volume handy desk top encyclopaedia. So this is as big as we could get without it falling apart, so it's a nice handleable book, though a little heavy.
[speaker002:] Being on a data base, I suppose it means it'll make it slightly easier to update when you come to update it?
[speaker137:] That's, that's right, it's being updated now even as we speak. I mean the book itself is just published last, er Thursday I believe it was, and er so it was up to date, is up to date until the summer, which is you know more up to date than any other book, so it's got things like: Greta Garbo dying, and Princess Eugenie being born and Nelson Mandela being free, and of course it's the first encyclopaedia to have all the details of nineteen eighty nine, the, the upheaval in, in Europe, all the political changes and whatever. But of course the minute you put a, slap a cover on this information, it begins to, to change and people die and new governments are elected and whatever, er so yes, we are, we have in our employ someone who's sole job it is to read all the newspapers, er watch the T V, all the media and keep all the information up to date, so the, that's a full time job really and they're working on the data base day and night
[speaker002:] You're listening to the Fox Report. John Voight, the American film star, perhaps best known for his Oscar winning performance in Midnight Cowboy, is in Oxford for a couple of days. Tomorrow he's giving his first ever lecture at the University Examination School, which is actually open to anyone, not just students. He's here at the invitation of Jewish groups, the Habad House and the Oxford University, the Heim Society. Tonight at nine, he'll be at the British premiere of his latest film at the Phoenix Theatre in Oxford. It's his first film for five years and he told me it's been creating quite a stir, because of its subject matter.
[speaker223:] Reincarnation, deja vu, astral travel, the God force, is it all true? Eternity — something like that, you know? [LAUGHTER], in some way, it's a tale that in, the, that embraces those er thoughts that so many people are thinking these days, and yet I'm an old fashioned fellow, erm and I say that by saying er yes, this, this is some, somewhat of a er new age category, all these things. Er. And yet really, it harkens back to er very ancient thought, er half the world of course is teaching reincarnation, and even the Christian and Jewish world er have in their history the teaching of reincarnation, so it's not something brand new. But erm for us, we just felt well maybe, maybe there is something to that, maybe there is a possibility, erm in that area, in, in talk, talking about eternity.
[speaker002:] Do, do the themes in your film echo the sort of themes you'll be talking about at the er the lecture on Wednesday.
[speaker223:] Well, I'm sure that there will be some folks at the lecture that will raise those questions, I, I have so much to say and I've been making notes. I have a, a little formal statement which I've composed which says a very strong thing, and then I have you know, just a, a, quite a lot of little pieces of information that I'm composing so that people will get a, a view of me in my little journey. And er the subject matter of the, the lecture is 'Searching the heart of humanity, to find the common bond', which is of course, it's, it's just like my film 'Eternity', it's a huge [LAUGHTER], you know, it creates a huge expectation, but I'm not afraid to step in front of people now and, and er you know, present myself and say 'well let's ask the big question, let's, let's go for it, so er so it should be quite a lot of fun tomorrow. Although these subjects are quite imposing, I think that er that both events are going to be a lot of fun, that the movie's a love story basically and er it also has a lot of humour in it and fun, and the lecture er it's not, not only quite serious in, in a sense that, with the topic, but it's also quite audacious, and I think that, that er there's an element of fun to that too. In other words, I'll tell a few anecdotes about my life, I'll expose myself to these students and the people who are interested, and well [LAUGHTER] you know, what's going on with me and we, we'll have some fun, so it'll be anything but dry.
[speaker002:] And Jon Voight's film 'Eternity'is premiered at the Phoenix Theatre at nine o'clock tonight; his lecture is tomorrow at five o'clock at the University Examination School, and all are welcome. And that was the Fox Report for Tuesday the sixteenth of October 1990. [recorded jingle]