11/03/2014 BBC London News

Now the BBC's nude teens where you are. Goodbye. `` news teams.

Tonight, on BBC London News. Tributes are paid from across the

political spectrum to Bob Crow, the controversial union leader who died

at the age of 52 of the. We look at Bob Crow's legacy for London. Also

tonight. A police officer who repeatedly punched a suspected

shoplifter is given a community sentence. Children in the capital

are eating too much salt. Research shows much of it comes from bread

and kcereal. The only place in Britain you can get a degree in

circus skills. Good evening. Tributes have been

paid from across the political spectrum to Bob Crow, the leader of

the RMT union who died suddenly this morning at the age of 52. The

combative figure polarised opinion, some saw him as a passionate leader

who fought effectively for his members' welfare and rights, others

as a left`wing radical who too often tried to bring London to a halt

through strikes on the Tube. Let's go live to our transport

correspondent, Tom Edwards who is at the RMT headquarters in Euston. Tom.

Yes. Flowers have been left here outside the door at the

headquarters. These offices have been shut for most of the day. The

news came through at about 10.00am. When it did, it was a huge shock.

Outside the union headquarters the news hit hard. It's believed the

RMT's general secretary, Bob Crow, died of a heart attack this morning.

Bob's death leaves a massive gap in the lives of everyone who was

fortunate enough to know him and represents a huge loss to the trade

union and labour movement, both in this country and internationally.

Specifically, for the RMT members Bob left with stun `` led with

stunning success. At Covent Garden, Tube workers paid their respects. He

did a lot for our staff and got us a lot of benefits and things, pay wise

whatever. One of them things. This is what he was most well`known for.

Bob Crow started on the Tube at the age of 16. An East Londoner, he rose

quickly through the union ranks. We are staying out until we get the

just deal these people deserve. The successful candidate was Bob Crow.

By 2002 he had worked up to general secretary of the RMT. I'm proud and

privileged to have fought side by side with Bob Crow. You hoe know he

was respected by employers and loved by his members. Because he always

did what he could to get the best possible deal Del for them. A very

shrewd negotiator. Someone it will be frankly difficult to replace. Bob

Crow used strikes to defend his member's pay and conditions. Most

recently, his union walked out over ticket office closures. This is what

passeners injuries made of the news. Sometimes he made me angry. Then

other times you think, here is somebody who actually sort of is

passionate about what they believe in. Very sad. I think he helped his

workers and I think he was a very good union representative. He may

have done it in ways that people didn't like, that was his way. I'm

sorry Bob, there is a table to be sat round by you and your team. We

can't do it while you put a gun to your head. You are putting a gun...

A few weeks ago he clashed with the Mayor Boris Johnson, he was

criticised by some media. Even if they disagreed with the strikes,

transport bosses and Mayors respected him. What I admired was

his defence of what he thought of as his members' views. His members'

interests. Bob Crow fought and his redcressor, they had a fight to say

you will not run the Tube by a breaking the backs of our people.

They will have a decent wage and pension. I wish that had happened

for all the working`class jobs that had been squeezed. Commentators say

he was a shrewd operator. Although he was divisive. He knew just how to

use the muscle the union had, particularly in a city where it

depends so much on the Underground. He knew exactly how to use the

threat of strikes in order to get endlessly improved terms and

conditions. We are making it quite clear that the dispute have just

seen in London will be like a vacar's tea party if they attempt...

In a recent interview he was typically unapologetic about

objecting to driveless Tube trains. Today even his opponents called him

"a fighter and a man of character." Joining me now is transport

commentator, Christian Wolmar, who is seeking to be Labour's candidate

for the next Mayoral elections. Welcome to you. Most people would

know him as the face of Tube strikes in London. How did you see him and

remember him I think he was a very canny negotiator. He represented his

members' interests, as Boris Johnson said. And, he was much more than the

kind of firebrand bully boy that is being presented. He is charming. He

was, above all, very clever at m nip lating the media. Do you think he

was perhaps too good a negotiator. He heard the endless strikes,

holding Londoners to ransom Assad some would see it? There wasn't that

many strikes. He galvanised his members so they supported a ballot

for industrial action. There were very few strikes at the end of it.

He was a good negotiator. If he sometimes did too well, that wasn't

his fault. It was the fault of managers on the other side of the

table too ready to give in to him. To those who don't know the figure

or the name back crow, what is his legacy for London, do you think? I

think he will be a hard act to follow. Basically, he was seen,

interestingly enough, by Transport for London as relatively moderate.

And, I think the problem will be that ` People will be surprised to

hear that? People will be surprised to hear that. The unions mighting

throw up someone who is more ready to go on strike. Bob could cut a

deal. That was something said to me by someone inside Transport for

London. That is a danger that perhaps the person who succeeds him

would be more extreme? Absolutely. And, what ` what has to happen is

that the managers at Transport for London must have the strength to

stand up to that and not kind of allow themselves to be bullied. On

the other hand, the union needs somebody like Bob who represents the

members. Something that we heard a lot of today, we heard Tom Edwards

mention it there, people didn't always agree with him, certainly,

they did respect him? Everybody respected him. Indeed, everybody

liked him. There are hypocritical right`wing commentators saying what

aened on the other handerful chap he is. Most people who came across him

thought he was a charming guy, a nice guy, and genuine. Let's not

forget of course our thoughts are today with his family and friends.

Christian Wolmar, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you.

Absolutely. Plenty more ahead tonight. Including: In Europe to

attract foreign investors. Is the Mayor fuelling the capital's

property boom? Children in the capital are risking

heart problems and strokes in later life by eating too much salt ha is

what a study of around 300 youngsters in London has found.

Researchers at Queen Mary University are saying children are eating an

unhealthy amount of salt on a daily basis much comelinging from ``

coming from breads and cereals. Ed held up as the most important meal

of the day. Not one you would think of adding salt to. Researchers have

found there is plenty already lurking in Sophie's rice puffs and

toast. We try to limit the amount of salt in the food that we prepare

yourselves. `` ourselves. When we are buying ready processed foods in,

to discover they have more salt than we would put in our food if we made

the food ourself`, comes as a a shock. What if after breakfast

Sophie had a sandwich for lunch, two more pieces of bread then maybe

sausages and beans for tea. About eight to nine grams a day, which is

way above what a child of that age should be eating. That's six grams.

That is the maximum amount anned a ument should `` adult should eat in

the day. It was found that 70% ate more than

the recommended amount. Teenagers were the worst offenders, consuming

7.6 grams a day. The study found that a third of children salts came

from bread, or breakfast cereals. If we can get children to not each so

much salt, if you fewer of them will go on in later life to develop high

blood pressure and won't need to take drugs or die from a stroke or

heart attack unnecessarily. They are unnecessary causes of death. We can

prevent them. How do we stop our children from getting so much salt?

What do we feed them instead? The researchers say the only way to

escape from this hidden salt is to avoid packaged foods, stop eating

out, and prepare all meals from scratch using fresh, raw

ingredients. Not an easy task. So the pressure is on the food

companies to get rid of the salt. They say they are cutting the amount

in many of their products, but for now it's up to the parents to

monitor what goes into the lunchboxes. A policeman who

assaulted a suspected shoplifter repeatedly punching her in the head,

has been sentenced to a community order. The officer was caught on

camera assaulting the woman at a store on Regent Street. Sonja Jessup

joins us from Westminster Magistrates' Court. What other

details do you have? Well, this all happened at the Uniqlo store on

Regent Street. November 2012, PC James Kiddie had been called there

after a security guard stopped a suspected shoplifter. A 30`year`old

woman called Sarah Reed. Kidd told the court she snarled at him and

bitten imhad on the finger and claimed she had the AIDS virus. The

court was shown CCTV pictures. They show him talking to her, everything

calm. He grabs her. He grabs her by the hair. Pulls her to the floor and

punches her several time in the head. He leans on her neck until the

backup arrives. He sentenced to 150 hour community order. What did the

judge said? She accepted that Sarah Reed had been difficult and

aggressive. The court was told she was a drug addict and later

convicted of shoplifting. Judge Roscoe said she understood his

reactions were: As a Kidd has been ordered to pay more

than ?500 in costs. He has been suspended from the Met. Todayer. The

Commissioner said, there is no place in the Met for officers who do not

uphold our values. Many thanks. The brother of a man from Crawley,

thought to be Britain's first suicide bomber, in Syria, has spoken

exclusively to the BBC describing his brother as "a hero." Abdul

Waheed Majid hasn't been seen since a lorry packed with explosives was

driven into a Syrian jail last month. His brother says he made the

ultimate sacrifice to save the Syrian people.

His journey began in Crawley but it ended thousands of miles away when

he got behind the wheel of this truck and became the first British

person to carry out a suicide arming in Syria. Now his brother has spoken

exclusively to the BBC. He said his family believe that Majeed was

trying to release prisoners. My brother was not a terrorist but a

hero. He made the ultimate sacrifice to save the Syrian people. This ``

suicide attack happened over a month ago. Majeed was named a few days

later. Then a few days later the Sussex MP took to the floor of the

House of Commons asking what was being done to tackle radicalisation

in places like Crawley. We need to go beyond the strategy so far to try

and tackle extremism and we need to support communities better to

identify where people may be at risk of radicalisation. So did a man with

a steady job become radicalised? As a younger man, he had attended talks

by a banned group. Its leader claimed Majeed regularly drove him

to meetings in Crawley. Some of the men in that circle were later

convicted in a massive MI5 and police operation which thwarted plot

to blow up targets including Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

Majeed was never implicated in that plot. They say he had left the group

behind but is actions in Syria have triggered alarm back home. There has

been its reaction the brothers' `` the brother's claims in Crawley.

Probably in his mind he was a hero and another people's it wasn't. His

family say they are still trying to come to terms with his death. My

brother was not a terrorist. He was a hero. He was not a threat to the

British public and never has been. You can see more on that report on

Newsnight tonight at 10.30. Now we heard Boris Johnson paying

tribute to Bob Crow earlier. The Mayor was speaking to us in Cannes,

where he's attending Europe's largest property fair to attract

foreign investors. His opponents claim he's fuelling the capital's

housing bubble. But Boris Johnson says he's struck a deal with

developers which is good for Londoners. Our political editor, Tim

Donovan, sent this report. It is where developers meet

investors on the French Riviera and where some come because they are

interested in buying a bit of London. The man accepted today that

foreign buyers may have pushed prices to higher in some prime

locations though not, he said, in the capital as a whole. And he

brought news that about 60 developers had agreed not to market

properties abroad first in future. They will stop any practice of

marketing homes abroad in advance and they will suggest all such homes

should be offered first or at least simultaneously with the home market.

Critics said it was hardly more than a gesture and some property experts

here wondered whether it might drive investment away. We need to be

careful. The overseas market is an important part of London developers.

Without that we might see issues with people coming forward. He came

for less than a day but some have questioned whether he should come at

all. His predecessor used to come here as well. He was partial, too,

to a tall building. But according to his critics, he is a little too at

home with developers and foreign investors. Protesters had criticised

his courting foreign developers and property buyers. Don't sell our

city. It is for Londoners, not foreign investors. But other London

councils see this as a place to do business. Hounslow are proposing to

redevelop and of the town centre. You are saying you have to come here

to broker a deal with an English developer? That is how it works. You

are going to get more developers here than you would read in your

whole career. He said today you can't stick fingers up at

international investors but needed to harmless `` harness the

confidence to get more affordable homes long`term. Do you not worry

that you are letting down a generation of Londoners? On the

contrary. We are attracting the investment that is going to lengthen

London's leader of the financial, commercial and cultural capital of

the world, but also enable people who at the moment can't afford to

live in London to be able to get the home that will help them to live

near their place of work. Others may question it but he says

international confidence in London has rarely been higher, and now we

need to keep the money rolling in. Still to come tonight: After

Charlton sack their manager, could Italian giants AC Milan be providing

his replacement? The only place in Britain where you

can earn a degree in circus has been officially recognised as a place for

excellence by the government. The centre in Hoxton, which helped train

some of the acrobats who took part in the Olympics' opening ceremony,

wants to make circus performances a mainstream art form. Sophie

Hutchinson has this report. For a quarter of a century,

tightrope walkers and trapeze artists have been trained here in

east London. But today the school known as Circus capital Micro space

got new billing. Today is really exciting. Circus takes its rival

place alongside opera, ballet, theatre, or those other forms that

have national states. The Culture Secretary, not unfamiliar with life

in the circus, albeit a political one, came to launch the

organisation's new name. The school has trained more than 50,000

students and even offers a degree in Circus arts. You have to know where

all of the balancing points are. You can control what is going on in the

rest of your body. What is the teaching I hear? The teaching has

been absolutely crucial. But you must have to be inquiry flexible?

You need to be really strong as well. This is what a normal day's

study looks like air. You can see the great skill and concentration

that is needed. That is partly why I decided not to go upon the trapeze

but just to stand very still on this spot. But this is not just a bit of

fun. Circus is now a billion`dollar business. The National Centre says

it students have an almost 100% employment rate after graduation,

and in this climate that is certainly a hard act to follow.

Turning to football now, and, following this morning's news that

Charlton sacked their manager, they already have a new one. Our sports

reporter, Sara Orchard, is here to tell us more.

Clearly a busy day. It came after just 8am confirmation that Charles

and has sacked Chris Powell. He had been at the Valley since January,

2011. He had led them to promotion from league one in 2012. But this

season they are at the bottom of the championship and lots of rumours in

recent weeks that he had fallen out with the new owner. Yes, following

that news he had been sacked, just in the last few hours, confirmation

that another Belgian is in charge. What do we know about the new

manager? We understand he has been at the training ground today

agreeing his contract. He does now the owner. He comes from AC Milan,

where he has been working as a technical director there with their

academy. He has had two spells as leader of the Belgian club. He does

have links with Jose Mourinho off the was invited to join up with his

Real Madrid coaching team for a spell in 2011. `` after he was

invited. And a quick word on Arsenal, who have a huge game

tonight. It is massive. They are away in the Champions League. It is

the second leg against Bayern Munich. They are 2`0 down and Bayern

Munich are a team averaging three goals a game this season. The

massive task, but Arsene Wenger fancy their chances. At the moment

they are the team that is of course full of confidence. They are doing

well. But we had a great opportunity to do it. I am confident that

mentally we will be ready to play at our best. To see if Arsenal can pull

it off, the kick`off is at 7.45. Let's return now to our top story,

the sudden death of union leader Bob Crow. Our transport correspondent,

Tom Edwards, is outside the RMT headquarters.

Lots of tributes today from right across the political spectrum. Ed

Miliband said I didn't always agree with him politically but I always

respected the tireless commitment to fighting for the men and women of

his union. Network Rail's Mark Hanna said he possessed a deep

understanding of the rail industry and his contribution to it was

significant. The CBI General Secretary said we have often

disagree on employment relations but Bob Crow was a committed advocate

for his members. I interviewed Bob Crow about ten days ago. He was

typically abrasive and unapologetic about driverless tube trains. He

said we're not having it. The world of London transport has lost a big

player tonight. Time now for a check on the weather

with Wendy. Time now for a check

Hopefully! Well, if you can see me... We have got decent conditions

to end today. Tomorrow there is going to be something a bit quicker

end that. It will be sunnier soon as we go through the day tomorrow. This

was the satellite picture from today. It showed the picture quite

well. We were shrouded in cloud as we went through the first part of

the day. Towards the afternoon, this huge hole was ripped in the middle

of it. We had a bright end to the day. Tomorrow is going to be a

repeat of that. We started this even in with those clear skies. For the

first part of the night, the temperature will fall back quickly.

If you are a bit further south tonight, you make hang on to a bit

more cloud. `` you may hang on. It is into Essex and Bucks that we are

likely to see clear skies through the night. Temperatures will be down

to about three Celsius. Elsewhere, loads of about four or five. There

could be frost in the most sheltered spots. Also some murky bits first

thing, particularly over the Chilterns and the downs. Through the

second part of the morning, and especially into the afternoon, we

will once again see some sunshine breaking through. The wind will be

light. It is coming in again, more easterly direction. That means

tempters will be highest further west. The heat of the city is taking

temperatures up to around 15 degrees west of London. You can see hints of

cloud and some sea fog creeping in towards the end of the day. That is

going to come through and maybe cause a bit of problem first thing

on Thursday morning. It could cause on transport disruption because

there will be some fog around. It looks like it is go to clear and

give us some sunshine in the afternoon. `` it is going. The

outlook is for age riot, settled spell to continue. The cloudy icon

`` the cloudy icons are pessimistic. The same goes for the start of the

weekend. Temperatures could be heading up a bit higher than that in

a few places but they will be more of a breeze springing up.

of Good to see you, when the! A recap

now. Tributes from across the political

spectrum have been paid to Bob Crow. The RMT union leader died suddenly

this morning at the age of 52. The Co`op Group is facing further

turmoil following the sudden resignation of its chief executive.

Euan Sutherland, whose multi million`pound salary was leaked at

the weekend, claimed the organisation had become

ungovernable. Investigators searching for the

missing Malaysian Airlines plane say the two men who boarded using stolen

passports were probably Iranian asylum seekers, not terrorists.

The brother of a man thought to be Britain's first suicide bomber in

Syria has described his brother as a hero. Abdul Waheed Majeed hasn't

been seen since a lorry packed with explosives was driven into a Syrian

jail. And a police officer who assaulted a

suspected shoplifter has been sentenced to a community order. PC

James Kiddie was caught on camera repeatedly punching the woman at a

store on Regent Street. More on the day's stories on our

website. Alex Bushill will be back with our late news. From me and the

team here, thanks for joining us and have a good evening.