07/03/2014 BBC London News

at Six. On BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Tonight on BBC London News: Scandal heaped upon scandal at Scotland

Yard. The Mayor says it's vital the truth

comes out. But this man, who's been alleging corruption at the force for

years, says he has no faith he'll ever learn the truth about his

brother's murder. I have tried to place my confidence in the police,

the Home Office, before, many, many times. I really don't know.

We'll hear from the Police Commissioner as he tries to reassure

London he's the man to lead the force out of the crisis.

Also tonight: A worker dies on the Crossrail project, killed by a lump

of concrete. Later, I will be reporting on Smart

traffic lights and how they are being used to improve pedestrian

safety. Hello to all the pupils. How Harry made the day for a group

of school children. It is a once`in`a`lifetime event that I

could go see. If I could see more, I would.

Good evening. The Stephen Lawrence case continues

to expose failures within the Metropolitan Police. Following

yesterday's devastating report which found that a police spy had been

working within the Lawrence camp, the Mayor has said it is vital that

the truth should come out, and that any corrupt or criminal police

behaviour should be prosecuted with the full force of the law. Today,

the head of The Met's counter`terror unit was moved from his post. Karl

Mercer is at Scotland Yard tonight. Karl, how did this come about? A

deeply damaging blow in a deeply damaging week for the Metropolitan

Police. This afternoon, Commander Richard Walton, head of the

counter`terrorism command, and one of Scotland Yard's senior and most

trusted officers had been moved to a non`operational role and referred to

the Independent Police Complaints Commission. We learned yesterday

that in 1998 he had been an active `` Acting Detective is to his role

had been to help write the submissions for the Macpherson

review into the Stephen Lawrence murder. He met a man, an undercover

police officer, known as the spying in the Lawrence family camp. It was

a meeting described yesterday as completely improper and it raises

questions about his conduct back then, which has led to him being

moved to the nonoperational role, and the referral to the IPCC. We

have a statement from him. He said, I welcome any scrutiny of my role in

these events over more than 16 years ago, including the forthcoming

public enquiry. I understand we have heard from the mayor. Yes, strong

words from Boris Johnson, describing yesterday's report from Mark Ellison

QC has deeply disturbing. He talked of very troubling allegations when

it came to the role of undercover police and said it was vital that

the truth comes out. Importantly, his statement went on to say that he

believed suburban Hogan`Howe, the chief political `` Sir Bernard

Hogan`Howe was the right man to lead the force into the future.

Well, the brother of a man who's been alleging corruption at the Met

for decades has told BBC London he has no faith in the force to get to

the truth. Alistair Morgan's brother Daniel was found dead with an axe in

his head in a car park in south east London in 1987. Yesterday, the Home

Secretary said there were links between his death and an allegedly

corrupt Metropolitan Police detective. Chris Rogers reports.

The Ellison Review port reveals two police scandals, spying and

corruption, both linked to police investigations into the murder of

Stephen Lawrence. But as Theresa May and announced another enquiry into

possible miscarriages of justice, she also highlighted another case.

Ellison also refers to possible links between an allegedly corrupt

officer involved in the Stephen Lawrence case, and the investigation

into the murder of Daniel Morgan. What are the possible links between

an allegedly corrupt police officer and the investigation into the

murder of Daniel Morgan? The 37`year`old from Wales was a private

investigator. In 1987, his family claim he was on the verge of

exposing police corruption. He was found with an axe in his head in a

car parked at a pub in south`east London. His murder has never been

solved. An independent judge led panel of experts is examining claims

that police corruption prevented a conviction despite five

investigations. Ahead of the findings, the Ellison Review port

highlights that officers under suspicion of corruption, including

Detective Sergeant John Davidson, were connected to the Morgan murder

investigation. I believe there was police involvement in the cover`up

of my brother's murder. He was very concerned about police corruption

and was talking to people about it. For nearly three decades, Daniel

Morgan's family have campaign for whoever filled him to be brought to

justice. He was murdered six years before Stephen Lawrence, a murder

that has exposed racism, spying and corruption in the force. The Met

have also admitted that they failed to face up to the corruption in my

brother's murder. And if this had been dealt with properly at the

time, as it deserved to be, then there might have been a completely

different outcome in the earlier Lawrence enquiries. The Home

Secretary says she believes the judge led panel into Daniel

Morgan's murder may uncover more evidence of corruption. Time and

time again I have tried to place my confidence in the police. It is

always another detail that you find out and you think, oh, Jesus, you

know. If you ask if I have any confidence in the police, I don't.

The Met police say they are devastated by the findings of the

Ellison report. Now, they must rebuild public trust, an

overwhelming task as more revelations are likely to emerge.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard

Hogan`Howe, has been speaking about the problems he's now facing with

the BBC's Home Editor, Mark Easton. He began by asking the Commissioner

how the public can trust the police after the findings of the Ellison

Review. Can you guarantee that a corrupt

police officer did not interfere with the investigation into Stephen

Lawrence? I am afraid I can't, which is what Mark Ellison's report says

he wants more information about. I'm sure that any investigation will be

carried out. So it is possible that a corrupt police officer tainted the

Stephen Lawrence investigation? I can only refer back to Mark

Ellison's work, and he indicates that he is not convinced that

investigation has been fully explored. I am sure that will

happen. This has been referred to the director`general of the National

Crime Agency to decide how best this can be investigated in future. We

may be seeing hundreds of convictions quashed as a result of

the activities of undercover police officers. How much does that trouble

you? It is very worrying. I have said I think this is a very serious

issue. The Home Secretary is concerned, as is Parliament, that we

have to look back into at least 25 cases to see whether there has been

a miscarriage of justice. It is a serious issue. We have to rely on

the criminal justice system to be honest and open. Richard Walton, we

hear, has been moved. Can you explain that? First of all, there

are some parts of that report about this officer that caused concerns.

And he is in a very significant position in terms of our

counterterrorist response. We think it is the best thing to do at the

moment. A decision has been made within the disciplinary process to

move him to another role. I think that is the best thing to do. We

have to be fair. We know we have a report. There is an enquiry to

follow. At the end of that, a decision will be made about whether

or not this officer is responsible for anything. Why is it that no

police officer has been held accountable for any part of the

Stephen Lawrence scandal? I can't really answer that. As I tried to

say from the beginning, I can't account for the past, I can't reset

the clock and change history. I can do a lot about now and you have

challenged me about what we can do to make sure we search for

information. I can reset the clock for the future. I want to give

people confidence we are improving the Met. I don't think we should dam

the present entirely by the past. Stay with us tonight, as there's a

lot more to come. The council call it regeneration but

some businesses call it devastation. I will be finding out about the row

over rebuilding Tottenham. A construction worker on the ?15

billion Crossrail project has died after a piece of concrete fell

on`him. The 43`year`old was spraying concrete in a tunnel in Holborn when

he was killed in the early hours of this morning. It's the project's

first fatality. Here's Marc Ashdown. It might be Europe's largest

infrastructure project at the unwritten motto at Crossrail is that

every worker has the right to go home safely at the end of their

shift. Today, that failed. A 43`year old contractor was working about ten

metres underground here, using spray concrete, which they used to seal

the tunnels. He suffered a head injury and although ambulance,

police and fire crews were called, he died at the scene. One worker

leaving the site this morning described it as like a death in the

family. A piece of concrete from the ceiling fell and hit him. Concrete

spraying has been suspended. Crossrail has a good safety record.

This is the first death. But unions say standards must be better

monitored. Fatalities in London have doubled from four up to eight

eighths two year period and this has to be addressed. The best way of

addressing it is with trade union involvement in health and save the

on every construction site, from when the shovel goes into the job

finishing. The project was trying to build on the success of the London

Olympics, the first Games with no fatalities during construction.

Standards in the capital are well respected in the industry and this

death will have an impact. You will see the legacy for decades, because

Crossrail is setting the standards for infrastructure in the UK and in

Europe as well. If it is major infrastructure projects, there will

be lessons learned. For now, police and the Health and Safety at Work

Act to remain on site as a private ambulance arrived to remove the

body. A dark day of `` a dark day for Crossrail and the colleagues.

New homes. New shops. New jobs. And a new football stadium. That's the

vision for the regeneration of Tottenham after the riots. But

whilst some people agree that the area will be given a new lease of

life, there are others who say the heart of Tottenham is being ripped

out of the community. Tarah Welsh is in the area now.

Tottenham is already changing. A new stadium is already being built.

Haringey Council says it wants to do more. It wants to make it a better

place for people to live. No one is arguing with that but what is in

dispute is how it is done. Alex has been serving chicken and chips to

the people of Tottenham for over 30 is but the local council want to

modernise the area, and that could been flattening his shop and others.

We have seen riots and the recession and we survived. So why do we want

someone to come and kick us out for no reason? Just leave us alone to

trade where we have been trading. We earned the right to be part of this

regeneration. The way the council has consulted has left a bitter

taste in some people's mouths. This booklet shows a vision of what the

area could look like but shopkeepers say they have been airbrushed out

before a decision has even been made. This is a set of

recommendations for the council to look at this and think about whether

we agree and want to impairment some of this. The vision is to deliver

what the residents want, better homes and schools, making Tottenham

a stronger place to live. This is the area behind the shops, a large

housing estate. The council want to pull it down and build new homes but

that would mean getting rid of the shops, and an industrial estate down

the road from here. Brian is just one of over 20 businesses on this

estate. His family have been here since the war. There are 200 people

on the estate, without the other little bits attached. It is over 200

jobs they will lose. They will put 12,000 people in here, but where

will they work? There is nothing in Tottenham. The council say the

majority of the residents want regeneration but they accept that

people do not want to lose local shops. We need the shops. Why are

they going to knock them down? Houses are more important. Chicken

is chicken. They want to knock down the chicken shop, you know. That

says it all. There is an appetite for change but not at the cost of

community spirit. There really is a good community spirit here. I was in

the library earlier and there were lots of families and children. And a

gentleman came up to me and said, what we must do is to make these

decisions together, because what we decide now affects these children

until they are old people. Of course, that decision will have to

be made by the Council, and it won't be until the summer. For years

passengers have seen the former Eurostar platforms standing empty.

From May, they will be back in use. Today trains departed on a

demonstration run. 100 extra carriages will be introduced over

the next year allowing thousands of extra passengers to travel at peak

times. Every platform at Waterloo has to be used to 100% at rush

hour. If anything goes wrong, it has a bigger impact on passengers. By

having a spare platform and a little bit more capacity from the old

Eurostar legacy, it allows us to provide more resilience.

In a world first, London's streets are to get what's called intelligent

pedestrian crossings. They can detect how many people are waiting

to cross a road and then change the lights accordingly. It means

pedestrians are prioritised. If the pilot is successful then it could be

adapted to prioritise cyclists too. Here's our transport correspondent,

Tom Edwards. They are usually busy and crowded.

Sometimes queueing means it can be a rush to get across the capital's

roads safely. Do you feel rushed? A little bit. They did not give you

enough time? Could be a little bit longer. I do not access it until it

says go across. We are starting to build up a count of the number of

people... This is the latest idea from DFL. If there is a crowd, Smart

traffic lights can lengthen the crossing time. As we understand more

about the pedestrians, we can balance it with the traffic. You

will find a much more evenly split between moving the traffic

efficiently and getting the people across the road. A new robot...

Traffic lights have come a long way. In the 1930 three Matt, this is what

greeted pedestrians. Now they use cameras `` in the 1930s. This is a

world first and what happens in London is often copied right around

the world. Eventually the system will also be able to keep lights

green fur motorists if the pedestrian pushes the button and

walks away. Will it mean longer waits for drivers? Potentially. That

would be in a scenario where it is a fair outcome. If you have 100 people

waiting to cross the road and two people in cars, it would not be fair

for the 100 people to be held up. The trial starts in the summer, all

part of using technology to try and get more capacity out of the

capital's roads. Still to come before 7pm: a

star`studded thank you for London's young volunteers.

Time for sport this Friday evening with Sara Orchard. Netball isn't a

sport we here enough about, so we've got that with some rugby too.

I do indeed, Asad. But first, it's football and it's FA Cup quarter

finals weekend. We've got two London clubs still in the mix. Arsenal take

on Everton at the Emirates, whilst Championship`side Charlton play

Sheffield United. And as Warren Nettleford reports, both games could

have a huge influence on the London clubs' seasons.

This weekend to teams are one game away from an FA Cup semifinal

parents at Wembley. Arsenal have not tasted Trophy success in nine years

`` semifinal appearance. Charlton have had to be more patient. In

1947, Charlton won the FA Cup. As it is the only win in their history,

the success still inspires the current players. This club has been

through the metal. Coming down through the Premier League. We are

on our way back now. It would be a reward to all of the fans for the

loyalty. We still get a lot of people through the gate. In no way

are Sheffield United, the league one team have already beaten Aston Villa

so the game will not be easy. It will be hard for the fans too. They

will have to travel to Sheffield. I do not know what the thought

processes behind the kick`off times. I know they want to show it live.

Our fans will get there. Arsenal will face Everton, Arsene Wenger

described them as the best they had faced at the Emirates this season.

We had a disappointing result at Stoke City. It is very important for

us to come back strong. The FA Cup is our absolute priority just

because it is our next game. Charlton may have waited 67 years

compared to Arsenal's nine years for a major trophy, but both clubs are

focused on winning. Good luck to Arsenal and Charlton

and any fans who are struggling to get to the match, there's full

commentary of Charlton away to Sheffield United this Sunday on BBC

London digital radio. Kick off is at midday. QPR Chairman Tony Fernandes

has said that he remains committed to the club despite announcing

record losses. QPR lost ?65 million last season and their debts doubled

when they were relegated from the Premier League. They could now face

fines totalling tens of millions of pounds due to financial fair play

rules. Charges have been dropped against

three Tottenham fans who faced prosecution for chanting the Y word

at games last autumn. The police have previously warned fans not to

use the word. But the Crown Prosecution Service said the word

could not legally be counted as threatening, abusive or insulting in

the circumstances and there was not a realistic prospect of conviction.

Records will be broken in London tomorrow night when Netball Super

League sides Surrey Storm and Hertfordshire Mavericks meet at the

Copper Box on the Olympic Park. The game is still yet to sell out, but

so far 3,000 tickets have been sold for the match. That number doubles

the current record for attendance at a domestic netball game in the UK.

The sport has been growing over the years. We have made sure we give

people the experience. This game is going to be amazing. I think it is

taking a while but we have really pushed for on and off the court. It

should be a great match. For anyone lucky enough to go to Twickenham on

Sunday, that should be a great match as well.

As far as school trips go, this wasn't a bad one for thousands of

London children today. They'd been invited to Wembley Arena for a

concert featuring Ellie Goulding and Dizzee Rascal, with other guests

including a former US Vice`President and Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson.

Emilia Papadopodous explains what it was all about. This report contains

some flashing images. It is described as the most exciting

classroom in the world. They get to watch pop stars perform... I

apologise for those of you accept expecting Harry Stiles... And hear

from some of the most influential people on the planet. 12,000

children got to experience Wembley Arena. This is the first day to be

some Murray held outside of North America. It is a very popular event

`` this is the first day of its kind to be held outside of North America.

Everyone here has earned a ticket by doing something to help the local

community. These students were awarded with tickets because of

their work full could orient schoolchildren. It has been really

cool `` their work for Ecuadorian schoolchildren. It is a

once`in`a`lifetime event. If I could see more, I would. From this London

dance group to the former US vice president, Al Gore, there was no

shortage of inspiration. One left and inspiration on everyone. We

should respect each other. 16`year`old Marlies five who was

shot in head by the Taliban a year and a half ago. To be able to speak

so eloquently and tried to rally the world around women's writes, what an

inspiration. The organisers hope it can be an annual event. For the

pupils, it does not get much better as far as school days go.

That is what I call a school trip! The weather for tonight?

What a beautiful day today again. The warmest day of the year so far.

We beat yesterday. 17 degrees. Through the weekend, it continues

drive. It will be warm for the time of year. `` it continues drive.

Sunday afternoons. Sunday should be sunny right the way through the day.

Tomorrow starts with cloud. We started with cloud this morning.

Tonight, the weather front will pivot and coming from the south. It

is dry and clear at the moment and it will stay dry. But we have cloud

invading to the Southern counties and pushing across London through

the night. The temperatures will not be that cold after a fairly chilly

start. It is a cloudy start to the weekend but dry. The cloud will pull

off towards the north and the sun will come out. By lunchtime, all of

us have plenty of sunshine. These temperatures may be a little bit

conservative. Tomorrow night will be chilly. The skies. But not too cold.

Not frost. Maybe a little bit of a chilly feel first thing Sunday

morning. We will keep the sunshine through the day. Should be lovely if

you are off to Twickenham to see the rugby. I have not put a temperature

on here because we will be watching it with all of the sunshine to see

exactly what happens. We have the southerly flow of air and it is nice

and warm and feeling like spring. Into the start of the new working

week, we keep with the high pressure. There is a? About how much

sunshine there will be around. `` there is eight question about how

much sunshine will be around. By Sunday, we could see 17, maybe 18

degrees. Fantastic. I think we deserve it.

To my's main headlines: The head of the Metropolitan Police has admitted

a report revealing officers fired on the family of Stephen Lawrence is

devastating for the force. A public inquiry has been ordered into the

work of undercover police officers. The head of counterterrorism at the

Met Police has been moved from his post following publication of the

Ellison Review ought into the original Stephen Lawrence murder

investigation. In Moscow, the head of the upper

house of the Russian parliament has said it will support Crimea in its

bid to become part of Russia if the people of the region vote in favour.

That is it for now. I will be back later during the 10pm news. And a

half of everyone on the team, have a very good evening.