To be honest with you it makes me sick.”The tirade continues “We’re not in the 1920s, any more The country’s not run by trade unions anymore. The BBC, according to MacKenzie, is also a “cartel” because it spans all media, without the ownership restrictions placed on the private sector such as his former employer and current sponsor Rupert Murdoch.”These guys, the BBC, they have had it all their own way for too long,” he rails. “The bloody establishment,” he blasts as he returns for the interview. “They can go and take a hike.” MacKenzie was, in his own words, “steaming mad”.

The object of his anger was the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union, the Geneva-based industry body.Smaller players like him are systematically excluded from getting a cut of important and sports broadcasting rights by what he claims is a “cartel”. The youthful staff looked happy enough too, despite their cramped conditions.I wondered if MacKenzie, famous for his “bollockings” of Sun journalists, had mellowed since his pounds 24.5m takeover of Talk Radio last November?He has, the staff tell me, but not much. MacKenzie, 52, may now have grey hair, but he can still flare up. There were no pictures of news bunnies or topless girls throwing darts to remind him of L!ve TV, the television station he used to run.What was apparent in the radio headquarters was real newsroom buzz.

A radio, a copy of the Financial Times and a notice board with “I believe in Free Speech”, Talk Radio’s new catch phrase sprawled across it. And that was about it.
There are no family photos, no mementos of MacKenzie’s meteoric career in journalism, no framed originals of his infamous headlines like “Gotcha!” or “Up Yours Delors”. FOR SOMEONE who perfected the reporter-in-the-dustbin style of tabloid journalism, Kelvin MacKenzie, the man who put the soaraway into The Sun, is disarmingly trusting. He leaves me alone for a while in his small office at Talk Radio for a start Not that there was much to see or even snoop through. BMW itself is considering producing the replacement of the 200 and 400 series in Hungary.Selling Rover would not secure BMW’s long-term future. A niche producer of 500,000 cars a year, it remains over-dependent on a one-car platform, the 3 series.Professor Dan Jones said: “The chances of BMW staying independent in the longer term are slim It has another three to five years The competition is getting tougher all the time Look at the new small Toyota Lexus Audi will continue to improve, as will Mercedes Benz.”. Either Ford or Volkswagen would be potential buyers or partners.

Ford would be preferred by the British Government because this would reduce the job losses in the supply industry.Even so, it would all be very painful – and Longbridge could easily prove surplus to requirements. Klaus- Jurgen Melz- ner, analyst at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, believes that trying to develop a full range of Rover models has been shown to be a mistake. Markus Plumer, analyst at WestLB, thinks Rover faces “an incredibly testing six months”.The temptation to sell all or part of Rover is great. But Stefan Quandt and Susanna Kletten nee Quandt, both members of the BMW supervisory board, insist they remain committed to an independent BMW.Mr Milberg will now have to decide whether BMW can remain independent, finance Rover’s losses and invest heavily in Longbridge.Many doubt that this is possible, given Rover’s recent performance. I am sure Chancellor Gerhard Schroder [a former member of Volkswagen's supervisory board] will be involved,” said Professor Daniel Jones of Cardiff Business School.Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen chairman, has beat a path to the door of the BMW’s controlling Quandt family.