06/03/2014 BBC London News

Yard's handling of the case. That's all from the BBC News at Six, so

it's goodbye from me. On BBC One we now join the BBC's news teals where

you are. Tonight, the damning review into the allegations of corruption.

The deputy mayor for policing says the force needs to earn the

confidence of Londoners. It's very important that The Met can come to

terms with the past but also that we secure the future, we need ht police

had all Londoners can have trust in. We speak to The Met police `nd the

brother of Stephen Lawrence. Calls for changes to the way anim`ls are

slaughtered for religious rdasons ` we get reaction from Londondrs

buying and selling kosher and halal meat. Plus the bad smell th`t won't

go away. Complaints of a lingering problem at a landfill site hn

Surrey. And: Prince Harry l`unches a sporting competition in London for

injured members of the armed forces. Sport is proven to have a htgely

positive effect on the rehabilitation of these guys.

Good evening and welcome to the programme. Public confidencd in the

Metropolitan Police could bd seriously harmed after the

announcement by the Home Secretary that there's to be a public inquiry

into the work of undercover officers. That was the view of the

Mayor this afternoon after dvidence of police corruption in the Stephen

Lawrence murder case came to light, in a damning review of Scotland

Yard's handling of the case. In a moment we'll hear from the police

and from Stephen Lawrence's brother. But first, here's our Polithcal

Correspondent, Karl Mercer. For more than 20 years, the Lawrence

family have battled on. In the early days, flowers were left at the spot

where their son was murdered. The message on the card reads "Justice

will be done". Today another example of why they feel it still h`sn't

been. A public enquiry annotnced into undercover policing and alleged

corruption at The Met. People will lose faith if they try to do

undercover and discredit thd family who love their child. I still have

faith in the police. They try to hide a lot of things, The Mdt, I

don't know what's going on there either! The Home Secretary hope the

judge`led inquiry will find out exactly what has been going on. In

policing as in other areas, the problems of the past have a danger

of endangering the presence. Policing stands damaged tod`y. Trust

and confidence in the mesh Brighton police and policing more generally

is vital. That trust has taken a few knocks over the past year or so The

"plebgate" row that saw an officer jailed. Revelations about undercover

officers having relationships with protestors. And concerns ovdr

inaccurate crime figures. Almost every day that you open a ndwspaper,

there is another story about the Metropolitan police. The Met's

commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe has recognised his force's reputation

has taken a hit. This was hhm last September. I want Londoners to love,

respect and be proud of thel met. That task will be made harddr by

today's report. The public hnquiry that follows will be equallx

difficult. The Independent Dllison Review has some serious and damaging

findings, we need to move qtickly to a public enquiry, digest thd report,

and it is essential that Thd Met comes to terms with the past but

also that we secure the futtre and ensure that there is a propdr

oversight of undercover polhce officers. That will be the bare

minimum expected of the new enquiry if The Met's reputation is to be

restored. Well a little earlier I spoke to Deputy Commissioner Craig

Mackey from the Metropolitan Police and asked him what his reaction was

to the findings of today's report? Like everyone, we were sadddned by

what we heard today. We can understand the impact that this has

had on the people of London. At the heart of what we do is keephng the

trust and confidence of the 8.4 million people of London who we

serve, and my thoughts, at ` personal level and professional

level, were absolutely with the Lawrence family and Duwayne Brooks.

He mentioned that it is important for Londoners to have trust and

respect for the police, the mayor has echoed those thoughts. How do

you plan on reassuring Londoners today? In terms of the two reports

published, in the report were published this afternoon, the

investigation which is run by an officer from Derbyshire, we have

been open and transparent in terms of what we have been doing, the

scale of the investigation `nd the fact that this looking at 40 years

worth of activity. It's quite shocking that some of these lapses

of judgement are fairly recdnt. Key evidence in investigations hnto

police corruption was the stbject of mass shredding in 2003. Also, hard

drive containing relevant d`ta took a year to find it was only found in

2013. In recent day shredding, it is one of the issues we will look at.

Like everyone, we only got that report today. So there are things to

do to look at, but finding data information over a 40 year history

is a challenge for any organisation. What is your lessage

to the Lawrence family tonight? I am not good do personal messagds over

the television, there will be opportunities to speak to them in

the days and weeks ahead, btt by message to Londoners is, we are open

and transparent in finding out what took place, what went on, what we

can learn from it and putting in context what we have done shnce

Listing to that in joining le now is Stephen Lawrence's brother Stuart

and the solicitor for Doreen Lawrence, Imran Khan. We he`rd him

say that they will speak to your family in the days and weeks to

come. What do you hope to hdar from The Met? Is there anything they

could say to make today's fhndings more palatable? No. To me

personally, I don't think so. I have tried to keep an open mind `s much

as possible, my whole familx has, and this is just another re`son why

we can't trust the police, we can't have any faith in the policd. We

have been here before on a number of investigations and enquiries to find

out what has happened, and back then we didn't get to the truth. We have

got a bit more of the truth today but how much more is there to come

out? How much more than tryhng to hide from us? We heard the

commissioner said only way to have trust and integrity is to bd open

and transparent about the p`st. You feel they are doing that in some way

now? Why have we waited unthl now to be told the truth? I thought through

the McPherson enquiry that they would tell the truth then, `nd we

could find some closure and moved on. We celebrated the 15 ye`rs of

the McPherson report last wdek, and this week, we are here again,

hearing more revelations, fhnding out more different things h`ve

happened. Can I ask you, wh`t do you make of this judge led publhc

enquiry announced today? I think it's the only thing that will

provide some sort of closurd. We hope that this time, the police are

going to keep their promises to cooperate and provide all they can.

But as he Stuart says, how can we have trust? That is one of the

reasons the Home Secretary hs ordering that, that an enquhry can

produce all the documents ndcessary, to have a transparent process and

cover as much of the historx as we can. We don't want another two or

three years of the family fhghting to justice and finding out they were

still more skeletons in the closet. You were 16 at the time, I believe.

You and your friends now, you feel the relationship with the police has

moved on in a positive way `t all? Again, yes and no. I try to be as

positive about the police as possible, I am a citizen in London

and I want to call on the police, but if certain members of the police

force will use their powers are their own personal issues or

vendettas or gripes, then no, I can't go ahead and say to other

people, trust the police, they will do a good job because at thd moment

we don't have much evidence of that positive outlook. You have been with

the family throughout this, one of the shocking findings is th`t the

family were effectively spidd on by The Met during the investig`tion.

What, if anything, did one suspect at the time? We had some suspicions

that because the family werd so vocal and the police so bad in their

approach to the family that they would try and do things which might

damage the family. I don't think any of us had any idea that there were

police officers amongst those campaign meetings, spying. That was

beyond belief, so those revdlations are among the most shocking, because

it's a real invasion of prophecy. I can understand if you are a

politician or involved in some nefarious activity but this is a

grieving family. This has bden going on to you and your family for 2

years. Do you feel like you will ever get closure? I would lhke to

have closure, I have a young family myself, I would like to put this

chapter of my life to one shde and be able to move on to a new chapter,

to look forward, try and enjoy life, try and show my son that London was

one way 21 years ago but now it has changed. That is what I would like

to be able to do. Thank you very much for coming in today.

Plenty more ahead tonight including: we are live on the Thames b`rrier to

find out how it coped during its busiest winter yet.

The leader of Britain's vets has called for a change to the way that

animals are slaughtered for the Muslim and Jewish faiths, arguing

they should be stunned first. But the Deputy Prime Minister h`s

defended the rights of religious groups to use traditional mdthods.

Shepherd's Bush offers, seldcting their halal meet, from anim`ls

killed a college of Muslim practice. The throat is slick, the anhmals

bled. There are calls for it to be stunned first but that is not

acceptable for some Muslims. We are being forced to move somethhng we're

not happy with. If I'm forcdd not to buy meat because it is not

slaughtered a certain way. Ht is very important to us how thd meat is

killed, I know it is cruel, don t get me wrong, I think we all feel

for the animals. But at the same time, this is the only way we can

eat. Some halal meat is alrdady stunned before slaughter but now the

leader of Britain's's vets wanted to apply to all halal and koshdr

products. He accepted comments are controversial. It will be unpopular

within those sects who hold firm beliefs, and what we need to get

away from is that we are calling for a ban of a religious belief. We are

calling for a ban on not sttnned slaughter. He says if they won't

accept change, ministers should consider a ban, something that has

happened in Denmark. But sole Jewish leaders feel his comments could be

exploited by far right groups. They insist slaughter methods for kosher

meat are humane. If you can imagine an animal which you have trhed to

knock out, in the case of a cow with the bolt, and it doesn't work,

you are leaving an animal stffering pain and distress and fear.

Somebody's fear, if they were forced to sell stunned meat, their

customers would vanish. It would turn a lot of people off and maybe

they would start slaughtering it on the quiet which would cause more

problems for the country. The Deputy Prime Minister said he disagreed

with a ban, saying it would remove the rights of people to practice

their religion. Still to cole: Prince Harry launches London

sporting competition for injured members of the Armed Forces. And

they protect the copyright of some of our favourite artists, P`ul

McCartney, Elton John and Jdsse J. We look at the work of PRS for

music. The Thames Barrier ` built to

protect London from flooding ` has closed a record 50 times thhs winter

` which was the wettest since records began. That means it's been

the busiest time in its 32 xear history. So how significant is this

and what does it mean for the landmark's long term future? Let's

join Emma North who's there now I suppose it's only a couple of months

ago that many of us Londoners took it for granted that the grotnd

beneath our feet were strikd which is curious given the fact that

London is built on a flood plain and we have the Thames, which is little

more than an extension of the sea. But of course, we have this, the

Thames barrier, doing its job beautifully for the last 30 years.

Boston is being raised about how much longer it can last. I took a

tour earlier. It is elegant, its engineering is brilliant and it has

been earning it keep like ndver before. We are in the tunnel... This

is where we feed this applids across the barrier. Above us is thd River

Thames. Now we are in the upper cylinder area. This is some of the

largest equipment on the barrier. Here we create hydraulic prdssure to

move all the equipment. This winter the barrier protected us from the

sea and the rainfall. It wotld close at high tide, creating a sp`ce at

low tide into which the floodwaters could flow. At its busiest, the

barrier was raised twice a day for ten days, pushing both the team and

it. Obviously but stresses `nd strains on the equipment of the

marvellous thing about it, ht's a great piece of kit and has proved

reliable over the recent closures with few equipment thoughts. And we

have lots of back`up systems. In the three decade since the barrher has

been in existence, climate change is more of a pressing issue as is

public funding. So the question is, how do we go about replacing it It

would be the taxpayer paying for it, but if we start thinking about it

now, we can have the best options and technology, and it would be a

bargain if it works. It has been argued that the Thames barrher has

pay for itself countless tiles already. What the future nedds is

not only another grand vision at a budget to match. We have bedn told

several times at the barrier is solid until at least 2070, `fter

that, a replacement must be up and running. So what might happdn to

this beautiful construction? Earlier I spoke to one employee who says he

already has this marked out as his own in case it gets turned hnto

luxury flats. Prince Harry was at the Olympic Park today to officially

launch a Paralympic`style sporting competition for injured service men

and women. He said he hoped 'the Invictus Games' involving 13 nations

would ensure troops who've lost limbs fighting for their cotntry

wouldn't be forgotten. Nicholas Witchell has more. The welf`re of

wounded servicemen and women has become one of his top priorhties.

Nearly 12 months ago, Harry visited the warrior games in the US, an

annual event at which young men and women who have suffered lifd

changing injuries in the cotrse of their military duties compete. Harry

made it his mission to bring games to Britain. That mission has been

accomplished. Rebranded the Invictus games, it will take place in

September and several other venues have been built for the London

Olympics. I wanted to bring this event to a broader and more

international audience. To hncrease the opportunity to others and for

others to participate and to inspire many more who have suffered life

changing injuries, either bx taking part in the games or simply watching

at home. It's expected that 300 wounded athletes from 13 different

countries will attend, taking part in eight different sports. Harry

says it is harnessing the power of competitive to inspire recovery

Sport is proven to have a htgely positive effect on the

rehabilitation of these guys. They finally get a chance to set their

mind to a task, bear in mind these are military people, they h`ve been

cut down in their prime. Invictus is the Latin word for unconquered, and

Harry and the organisers believe this one word sums up the spirit of

the athletes, the spirit of these games. The Invictus games whll open

in London on September ten. Photographs of some of the greatest

music artists over decades `re being shown as part of a new exhibition

celebrating British song wrhting. It's the first of a series of events

to mark the 100th anniversary the organisation which protects the

copyright of songwriters and composers ` as our Entertainment

Correspondent, Brenda Emmants, reports Time for a check on the

weather Adele is one of the most successful

artists in British music, who has made millions from her vocal and

songwriting talents, making sure that musicians such as her get paid

for their work PRS for music and last night held a gathering of

industry folk to celebrate their centenary. When somebody usds music,

it's not free. They have to pay a license to use it so that those who

wrote it can make a living. The organisation was formed agahnst the

backdrop of the First World War with one member, a soprano. A

century later, PRS for music boasts over 100,000 members in the UK with

2 million worldwide. Formerly known as the performing rights Society,

their first royalty cheque was paid to an English composer for ?50. A

majority editions welcomed the organisation taking care of their

business. There is no way artists could go around saying, did you play

that song? Did you play that in your gym already already a station or did

you use it in your film? We couldn't. All the big names like the

Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan didn't make a

penny for years, they didn't see it. So they are kind of naive in that

way, musicians. Broadcaster and musician is justified for shnging

the blues. She found her new album pirated online she uploaded it to

sell last month, showing th`t it still faces challenges. It was like

somebody had thrown my baby in the water. PRS do the best job they can

in making sure that our mondy comes to us, but generally, myself and

people like myself are fighting a losing balance. 100 events have been

found around the UK to recognise the impact of British music

internationally. It kicks off with an exhibition of songwriters across

the decades. The show will run at a such a London gallery until March

12. No significant rain in the forecast,

and I will be bold, it has been a nice day today. It is not

wall`to`wall sunshine but it feels like spring has sprung. 15 Celsius

today in Gravesend, the warlest day of the year. Even warmer,

potentially as we go through the weekend. Another degree or so by

Sunday. Tonight, this weathdr front is sinking towards us from the

North`West. It has been introducing some cloud towards us in thd last

few hours. So yes, we had some sunshine but the cloud is now with

us. It does keep the temper`ture is up as we go through the night. We

have seen some frost earlier this week but we won't see that tonight

because we have the cloud moving across us, bringing some light and

patchy rain by tomorrow. Th`t is keeping the temperature up. Not too

cold start tomorrow but it will be cloudy, damp for a time. Bits and

pieces of patchy rain thinnhng and breaking, they will clear away

gradually. By the afternoon, the sun starts to come out again by the

North`West, and temperatures will go up again. Tomorrow night, wd see

things clearing up for a tile. It looks like towards the Englhsh

Channel, we will see some cloud advancing from the south as we start

Saturday morning. The furthdr north you, the more cold it will be, some

cloud to continue first thing on Saturday, that it will be dry and

things will be looking nice by the end of the afternoon. We kedp a

southerly flow as we go through Sunday, 16 degrees is what we are

looking at by the afternoon. No significant rain in the next few

days! Recapping the main headlines... 21

years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Home Secretarx has

announced a public inquiry hnto undercover policing in response to a

damning review of Scotland Xard s handling of the case. Stephdn

Lawrence's brother told this programme he would like to put this

chapter of his life behind him and take steps forward to a better

London. MPs in Crimea have voted to leave Ukraine and become part of

Russia. The proposal will bd put to the people of Crimea in a rdferendum

in ten days' time. More on our website. Have a good evening.