Byline Times podcast editor Adrian Goldberg makes a personal selection of highlights from 2020.


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Most people in the UK would take pride in the fact that whatever your political persuasion you can take part in free and fair elections. But two new reports suggest that this right isn’t always all it seems.
 
The Electoral Commission – the government’s own watchdog – has warned that hundreds of thousands of people could be excluded from voting the next time the country goes to the polls because of new laws on voter ID. 4% of those who didn’t vote in the local council elections in May told the Commission that ID was an issue for them, and that figure rose for those who were from minority backgrounds, younger voters and people with disabilities.

And when we do vote? Well a new report by Institute For Government and the Bennett Institute For Public Policy concludes that many people feel disempowered, not least because our first past the post system means that many who vote for smaller parties can feel their vote has been wasted.

Adrian Goldberg hears from Byline Times political editor Adam Bienkov, Dr Jess Garland, Director of Research and Policy for the Electoral Reform Society Shaun Roberts, Director of Campaigns, at Unlock Democracy.

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
 
Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.
 
Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

Voter ID:  Democracy Under Pressure

 
On the weekend that this podcast is released, Saudi Arabia will be playing two international football matches at Newcastle United’s St James Park, against Costa Rica and South Korea - but the results won’t really matter, and not just because the games are friendlies.
 
Critics say that whatever the final scores, the despotic regime of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) will already have won, simply by virtue of being allowed to host such prestigious games at a venerated English football stadium.
 
The Saudi Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle in 2021, which many observers regarded as a classic case of "sportswashing"; a regime notorious for human rights abuses seeking to create a more positive image for itself.  The staging of these friendlies is being seen as another step towards the 'normalisation' of a state renowned for its human rights abuses.
 
Ahead of the Saudi friendlies, Adrian Goldberg travelled to St James Park to meet John Hird, a lifelong Newcastle United fan and founder of NUFC Against Sportswashing, and Lina Al Hathloul, from Saudi human rights organisation ALQST. 

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
 
Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.
 
Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

Pitch Battle - Saudi Sportswashing and Newcastle United

London is about to have the world’s largest pollution charging area, as the capital’s outer suburbs are added to the inner city Ultra Low Emission Zone - ULEZ.  Drivers of vehicles that don’t meet emissions standards will be charged £12.50 a day – with motorists facing the threat of a £180 fine if they don’t comply.
 
ULEZ expansion was widely regarded as a key factor in the Conservatives holding onto Boris Johnson’s old Uxbridge seat in a recent by election; and unlike in other English cities the government is refusing to fund a scrappage scheme for non compliant cars.  That's led to claims by London Mayor Sadiq Khan that they are weaponising air pollution.

Adrian Goldberg hears from  mum of two Parisa Wright from Bromley,  the founder of the charity Greener and Cleaner; and Oli Lord, Head of Strategy at Clean Cities Campaign UK.

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
 
Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.
 
Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

ULEZ Expansion

The life and death of Yevgeny Prigozhin tells us much about modern Russia.   After spending years in prison, he launched a business career in St Petersburg in the 1990s, supported by former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. 

﻿Prigozhin became the figurehead of the Wagner mercenary group, whose troops supported the regular Russian army in Ukraine before launching a short-lived rebellion against Putin, now his country's President.
 
The cause of crash in which he died is still unknown, but it conforms with a familiar pattern of those who’ve crossed Putin.
 
Adrian Goldberg talks to reporter Zarine Zabrisky in Odessa, Ukraine about Prighozin's rise - and demise. 

Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
 
Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.
 
Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

The Life And Death Of Yevgeny Prigozhin

Adrian Goldberg hears from Nathan Akehurst a British volunteer, working on a search and rescue boat in the Mediterranean.  The vessel - the Sea Eye IV - has been impounded by the Italian authorities after saving 114 migrants who'd been drifting for days without food, fuel, and water. 
 
Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
 
Funded by subscriptions to the Byline Times.
 
Made by We Bring Audio for Byline Times.

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