Bristol Mayoral Election Hustings 2020 (pandemic postponed) BCfm Online Politics Show 01 May 2020

Participants: Liberal Democrat party: Mary Page - Conservative party: Samuel Williams - Trade Union & Socialist Alliance: Tom Baldwin - Green party: Sandy Hore-Ruthven

Subjects Covered: Only mayor candidate not to join us: apologies from incumbent mayor who may have been removed next week, Labour's Marvin Rees - Rights and wrongs of postponing Bristol's elections for 12 months - The office of mayor, does it work and how will its future now be decided? - Covid-19 Pandemic: facts about the disease, rights and wrongs of the lock-down and physical distancing, effects on family life, the unbelievable lack of testing, death, funerals and contacts with sick loved ones in hospital and care homes, devastating economic effects of the lock-downs - The homeless in Bristol are now being put up in hotels, why had it taken a pandemic to help them off the streets and what will happen when things go back to 'normal'? - what are candidates' visions for a post-lock-down Bristol?

Mayor Rees calls for Government bailout to plug £82m blackhole. Mayor Marvin Rees is pleading with the Government for an NHS-style bailout for local authorities as he warned it will take Bristol years to recover from the coronavirus. Bristol city council faces an £82 milllion blackhole that will threaten frontline services. The pandemic is having a devastating impact on income vital to maintaining these services, such as from council tax, parking charges and business rates, as people lose jobs or stay at home. Mayor Marvin Rees is now pleading with the Government for an NHS-style bailout to support local authorities, similar to the one received by the NHS. Earlier this month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced NHS trusts would have £13.4 billion worth of debt written off to help them fight the outbreak. “We have lost revenue of £80million through this crisis.” Mr Rees says the Government must now do the same for city halls because some local authorities face “going to the wall”, although he insists the city council is in a better position than most.

Credits: Audio-Visual Engineer: David Bosankoe - Presenter: Tony Gosling - BCfm Emergency Schedule Online Politics Show - 01 May 2020 www.thisweek.org.uk

Letter of apology from office of Bristol's Labour mayor Marvin Rees Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:35
Dear Tony
I am sorry but the Mayor is unavailable at that time.
He is already regularly speaking about Covid-19 on BCFM and so additional interview requests will not be prioritised.
Kind regards,
Simon Cowley - Mayor’s Office Policy Manager