25/04/2014 BBC London News

firepower in military exercises That is all from the BBC News at

six. It is goodbye from me. Now it is time to join the BBC news teams

where you are. Tonight on BBC London News. The tube strike is set to go

ahead after London Undergrotnd is accused of breaking a deal over

ticket officer closures. To begin with, TfL said thex will

willing to take a station`bx`station review and were going to be

open`minded. Now they seem to have reneged on that.

We'll be speaking to London Underground on the programmd for the

latest reaction. Also tonight: Suspended by UKIP but still standing

for election ` the Merton council candidate who made racist rdmarks.

Another landmark in building London's east to west rail link

Join me in east London 35 mdtres underground to take a look hnside

the tunnel being built for Crossrail.

Good evening and welcome to the programme.

London underground has been accused of breaking a deal over plans to

close ticket offices. It coles just days before the latest in a series

of strikes set to begin on Londay evening. In dispute, are thd

proposed job losses if tickdt offices close. This programle has

seen a document which shows that transport bosses agreed earlier this

year to review ticket officd closures. But Unions say London

Underground has reneged on that offer. Our Transport Correspondent

Tom Edwards reports. More strike disruption looms on the

Tube. At the centre of the dispute, the closure of all ticket offices.

The strike starts Monday night. I think people who work on thd Tubes

provide a pretty good service. I think they are treated very badly

and I would thoroughly support it. You've got to have sympathy for the

Tube workers, but by the sale token I think I'm on the side really of

the commuter who have got to get to their place of work. This ldtter

sent to the late Bob Crow. Ht halted February's strike over the same

issue. It says London Underground will discuss a review including

ticket offices which could result in some ticket offices remaining open.

Speaking to BBC London 94.9, London Underground say all ticket offices

will be closed. Are you elilinating the idea that the best servhce at a

particular station should bd to keep that office open? Ticket offices

will close across the network, there is no question. Will you be

reviewing that? What we will review is how many ticket sellers we have

available in the concourse `reas, how many supporting people we have

around to help. The breakdown of relations over the review is a big

part of this dispute. LU saxs the timetable for the closures hs up for

discussion and it's frustrated at a lack of imput from the RMT. Union

insiders have told me they think the chances of the strike on Monday

being called off are close to zero. They think London Underground now

has little interest in compromise and feel the company is now out to

crush the RMT. London Underground claim new technology means ticket it

offices aren't needed, staff will be moved into the ticket halls. 95

jobs will go but there will be no compulsory redundancies. However,

unions have concerns over s`fety. There will be some of what will be

called Visitor Information Centres which could be added to, but Labour

says politics is being put `bove passengers. I think it's a really

dramatic change to London's underground to close all of the

ticket offices. And to begin with, TfL said they were willing to

undertake a station`by`stathon review and they were going to be

open`minded. But now they sdem to have reneged on that and ard going

back to what is a very rigid and uncompromising view. I cert`inly

think London's passengers otght to be in this debate and ought to have

a chance to comment on what's going to be provided at their loc`l

stations. Business groups h`ve said they are baffled as to why this deal

has unravelled. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has condemned the strike.

The RMT has written to London Underground requesting further

talks. Well, we can speak now to the

Managing Director of London Underground, Mike Brown. Thhs is

pretty simple isn't it? In February you offered to review the closure of

some ticket offices and now you re insisting they'll all close. You've

gone back on your word. Absolutely not. That is not the case. We have

said we will take any proposals the RMT put forward and we would

consider our response. Not `n alternative proposal has bedn put to

us other than us taking everything off the table. Let me quote your

letter. Your letter says sole ticket offices could remain open. Xou don't

want to listen to us. Let md put your letter to you. I said, if they

were able to come up with constructed ideas and we will come

up with a possibility of looking at a review of ticket offices. But that

has not been a constructive proposal put forward. We have reviewdd how we

treat our employees in this. Nobody will lose their job, not a single

employee will be forced out of the organisation. I'd don't know

anywhere else in the world... When you made that offer in this letter

they suspended strike action and they say they have written to you to

ask for talks? We have been talking to them for 40 days. The other union

who was involved in previous disputes is not involved at this

time. I want to continue with those talks. I am open throughout this

process is that if there ard constructive ideas that how we can

respond to modern technologx and provide a decent face`to`face

service for our passengers `nd help them out keep the fares low. For

commuters watching this, we have had five months of no agreement between

either parties and yet it sdems your position is hardening and you are

moving further away from thd agreement? Absolutely not, H have

never had a hard position in this. We have listened to our employees.

Our proposals through these transitional arrangements, no other

lawyer in the Private of public sector is being as decent. ``

employer. We have changed otr position. But what we have not had

from the RMT is any construct a dialogue or ideas from them. I do

regret that. I hope they can come up with some proposals and if they do,

I promise to listen to them. The RMT refute that, but thanks for joining

me. Lots more to come including: The

Heineken Cup, the greatest prize in European club rugby and tomorrow

Saracens will try to get to their first`ever final again as they take

on French giants Clermont Atvergne in semis here at Twickenham.

A UKIP council candidate who made racist and anti islamic rem`rks is

still to stand for the partx in next month's local elections. Th`t's

despite being suspended by his party leadership. Andre Lampitt wrote his

offensive messages on social media. UKIP is now conducting an

investigation into how he w`s selected to stand in Merton. Here's

our Political Correspondent, Karl Mercer. On Wednesday, Andre Lampitt

was one of the faces of UKIP's party political broadcast ahead of next

month 's local elections. A builder in Merton, he was also one of the

party's candidates hoping to be elected to the local council. Since

the lads from Eastern Europd are prepared to work for a lot less than

anybody else, I found it a real struggle. It's getting hard to

provide for my family. But ht's his views on social media that have got

Mr Lampitt into trouble. Wrhting on Twitter, he's described Isl`m as a

pathetic, Satanic religion. He said Nigerians were generally bad and

said about Africans, let thdm kill themselves. We live in such a

multicultural world and sochety to have someone with those views and

opinions actually being allowed to stand for what is bigotry and

racism, it shouldn't be allowed As a voter, no he should not bd

permitted to have such racist comments and be allowed to stand,

unless he wants to stand as a racist candidate. He's also critichsed the

Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Saying he wasn't really British but was

Polish. Andre Lampitt has not been answering calls from the BBC but his

party leader has acted. He has suspended him from the partx.

Someone's made a mistake, so I'm going to have an investigathon into

this and somebody must be disciplined for this. We haven't got

a monopoly on stupidity or on people saying repellent things. But

obviously given the criticism we faced last year, we have put

measures in place and mistakes have happened. I am sorry about ht. Nigel

Farage may have suspended hhs candidate, but this is the list that

voters in St Helier 's ward in Merton will face when they go to the

polls on May the 22nd. Finalised this morning after yesterdax 's

deadline to candidates, it clearly shows Mr Lampitt is standing and

shows his name is against that of the United Kingdom Independdnce

Party. The row over his comlents, it seems may have come too latd to stop

him going before voters. Thd 42`year`old mother accused of

murdering three of her children has broken down in tears at her first

court appearance. Tania Clarence was remanded in custody over thd deaths

of her three`year`old twins, Ben and Max and four`year`old Olivi`.

Tributes left outside the f`mily home.

This is where tension has bden focused since Tuesday evening when

the children were found dead in their bedrooms. This morning the

focus shifted a few miles away to Wimbledon Magistrates' Court where

their mother made her first appearance, having been charged with

their murder. Just before T`nia Clarence was led into the dock, the

public gallery in court number seven was filled with friends and family

members, including a clearlx emotional Gary Clarence. He listened

as his 42`year`old wife, who was dressed in black and sobbing

throughout, stated her name, her address and her date of birth. Then

it was put to her she had mtrdered her children, Olivia, Ben and Max.

Gary Clarence, seen here le`ving court on the left, had been in South

Africa with the couple's eight`year`old daughter when he was

told of the death of his chhldren. He flew back yesterday, along with

members of his family, who were also in court. They released a statement

saying they had suffered an extreme tragedy and were under tremdndous

pressure and strain. The postmortem on Olivia and her twin brothers Ben

and Max, seen here with thehr father, is ongoing. All thrde

children suffered from spin`l muscular atrophy, a condition which

can be life limiting. Tania Clarence has been remanded in custodx and

will appear at the Old Baildy on the 29th April.

A former met police officer will appear in court accused of hndecent

assault of a minor. Gurpal Virdi is alleged to have indecently `ssaulted

a boy under the age of 16 in 19 6. He will appear at Westminstdr

Magistrates' Court next month. A judge in the United States has

ordered a hearing to considdr new evidence in the case of a British

businessman in Miami for a double murder in 1987. The 75`year`old

spent a decade on death row before his punishment was reduced to two

life sentences. He says the evidence shows Colombian drug traffickers

were responsible for the killings. It is the biggest infrastructure

project in Europe with a budget of an early ?15 billion. The l`test

work on the Crossrail project is involved digging deep beneath

Stepney. This is a stones throw away from the

Olympic Park and in five ye`rs' time will be the entrance to the

Crossrail tunnel. Every building site needs good luck, espechally a

project of this scale. 10,000 people working over 40 building sites

across the capital to link the far West in Berkshire to the far east in

Essex. Excavation work is still taking place, but when it is

complete, this is the point I which trains from Shenfield and Essex will

go into the tunnel straight into central London. For passengdrs at

Ilford, the current journey time between Ilford and on street is

around 40 minutes with one change onto the Central line. Crossrail

will change that. Not only will there be a train every five minutes,

at the journey time will be 24 minutes with no changes. In Stepney

Green, this and will be a kdy point on the route. This is where trains

heading east bound from Whitechapel will fork into two branches. That

way to Stratford and Essex `nd then that way to Canary Wharf. Wd will be

able to offer those passengdrs walk through trains, quieter and

smoother. They will be able to take up to 1500 people, compared to a

London underground train th`t takes 700 people. Three quarters of the

tunnelling has been completdd. The Crossrail teams say they ard on time

and on budget with passengers able to use the service by 2019.

Still to come: We visit London's sewers to see the problems caused by

cooking fat thrown down the drain. Time now to get all eyes on Chelsea

and Liverpool this weekend. Not just for fans in the capital? It could be

a decisive weekend for teams in the Premier League at the top and the

bottom. Chelsea could raise their thtle

hopes a winning away at Livdrpool. They may have to prioritise again

because of the champions le`gue How are you doing? I would like to

talk to the Queen, please. There hasn't been another managerhal

change at White Hart Lane. @merican comedian was the face for an

advertising campaign for a coverage of the Premier League. And ht wasn't

just TV adverts, inside and outside of subway trains in New York got a

Premier League treatment. Even London cabs and the gamble `ppears

to have paid off. What happdns in our country is people like to watch

the best of everything, whether it is the best hockey, basket `ll or

you know, they want to watch the best soccer. The Premier Le`gue

offers the best soccer. NBC played ?150 million to show The Gales in

the US. 28 million Americans have tuned in at least once, double to

the number of viewers compared to last year. The big block buster or

product for Americans to watch this weekend comes from Anfield where

Chelsea, hoping to keep thehr slim title dreams alive, take on

Liverpool. Do you want me to laugh or to cry. Jose Mourinho wasn't keen

on giving away the plot, as in Will he play a weakened team and rest his

players for their champions league semifinal? Chelsea fans think

Chelsea deserves more respect than what Chelsea is getting. Thd second

thing they want is Chelsea to go to Liverpool and play as always, at the

maximum, giving everything they have. Which players is our

decision. Liverpool haven't won a title in a long time. With lore fans

watching than ever, they will be hoping for a Chelsea victorx, if

only to make the final few games even more exciting.

Away from Chelsea, Crystal Palace play Manchester City knowing they

could also have a big impact on the winner of the Premier Leagud. At the

city they take on Liverpool and go into this weekend on the back of

this vibe straight wins. Manager, Tony Pulis have guided them to

safety but wanted to praise the whole team for their efforts. It is

not about individuals, it is about everybody around the football club.

You galvanise people, you ptll people together and you get them to

work together. That is not just the 11 on the pitch, it is everxbody.

That is what we have done as a football club.

Tomorrow netball fans will be hoping that it's third time lucky for

Surrey Storm who play Manchdster Thunder in the Superleague Grand

Final. Netball's club show`piece is being played at the Worcestdr Arena

tomorrow night and the final is a repeat of the 2012 final. Strrey

Storm have never won the Super League title despite two prdvious

final appearances. Onto rugby union and tomorrow Saracens will lake

another attempt to reach thd biggest stage in European club rugbx ` the

Heienken Cup final. They pl`y their semi at Twickenham against French

side Clermont Auvergne. But pressure is starting to mount on the London

club to start filling their trophy cabinet. Last week it was another

win for Saracens in the Aviva Premiership. They have clocked 8

out of 20 wins in the leagud this season. But this weekend thdy bid to

make their first ever Europdan Heineken Cup final. Taking on French

side, Clerment Auvergne, thd SARSis know that they fell at the

semi`final stage last season, also to a French club.

You have two class teams at the top of their game with wonderful players

on both sides. They will go hammer and tongs at each other. It will be

a brutal match. To get to the semi`final is a clear

achievement but clearly we want to go further.

Alarm bells rang out when Owen Farrell picked up a foot injury but

he pulled through in time to face Clermont's star`studded lind`up

They have left me alone with the trophy, so who would not be doing a

little armwork there. Yes, ht is heavy! But when it comes to Saracens

and trophies like this, last season they reached the semi`finals of

league, Europe and the L B Cup but came away with nothing. This season,

it is the league and the European double. But the pressure is starting

to build for the on`pitch stccess to breed silverware.

We are determined to go further than last year. To go as far as we can in

the competition. We want to ensure that we perform to the level that we

think we are capable of. I would rather be criticised for losing a

semi`final than not being there at all. And consistently we ard getting

there. We know if we are in enough of them we will win one of them

With three weeks for the cup organisers to fill Twickenh`m with

the clash, hopes are that the supporters turn out for the Saracens

tomorrow and cheer them on to the first ever European final and the

first trophy in three years. Well, a pretty massive weekdnd for

all of the London clubs. If you want to keep abreast of it don't forget

the radio station, BBC London 9 . 9. That is all the sport.

Good luck to everyone taking part tomorrow. How do you get rid of used

cooking fat when you have fhnished with it? Too many of us are throwing

it down the drain it is causing many unpleasant problems in the sewers.

We are going under ground, hnto a system that has served bene`th us in

one of the world's greatest cities for more than 150 years. But modern

life is testing London's sewers like never before. The main problem is

hot cooking oil, poured down the sink which cools and soldifhes down

here. What we have done so far is to climb

down the ladder into the sewer. Look, already, my gloves ard caked

in fat. There is fat absolutely everywhere down here! Then ht

creates what is known as a fatberg, and unlike icebergs, these `re

man`made. This one in Kingston on Thames was the biggest discovered.

Today's is about 150m long. What we have here is a layer of fat

about that thick, the water is going down the stairs and is going under

the fat that is floating on the top. The fat sets hard, and when I say

hard, I mean solid. Then we come back with the lachines

and suck it all out. It is really like clay. Amazing. It is lhke a

chalk. Solid and dry. Combined fat, oil or grease, known

in the trade as fog, with whpes cotton buds and other unsuitable

items thrown down the toilets, in drains and sewers, blocks and can

flood. The advice is to put the oil into the containers and then into

the bin. But it is not the greenest solution. If we collect it `t

source, like we are doing, collecting it directly from the

restaurants before it becomds a problems in the sewers, we can take

it to a power station that can create green energy for London. But

still, a huge amount is getting through.

It is solid stuff. It takes a bit of breaking! Oh, fresh air! Th`t was

quite an experience. An intrepid John Maguire reporting

there. Let's have a look at the weather this even evening and at the

weather with Jay Wynne. It was preter uninspiring today A

lot of cloud. But not just the London areas what covered in cloud.

Much of the rest of the United Kingdom was swamped by the blanket

of cloud. It was low cloud `nd under that it was grey with mist `nd haze.

Also a bit of rain. We missdd on the heaviest rain, that passed to the

south and to the west. But there are further showers to come over the

next few hours. But once thd showers have moved away it should ttrn drier

for a time. By the end of the night I suspect to see the next b`tch of

rain. In the next few hours there are showers. They are moving to the

north. Then it drys up for ` while. Then the winds freshening up, the

cloud thickening again and the rain showing its hand in the south and

the west. A windy start to the day. Mild as well. But also wet. But hang

in there. Give it a few hours and the rain moves to the north. Then it

will brighten up. A little bit of sunshine and the

chance of a few sharp showers into the afternoon. But with sunshine, we

should get the temperatures up to 15 or 16 Celsius.

There is a big game taking place at dicken ham tomorrow. The we`ther

should improve but always a chance of showers `` twingenham.

There are further showers to come on Saturday evening.

Bear that in mind if you have plans to get out and about. The breeze

will ease through the weekend. On Sunday it will be a day of sunny

spells and a scattering of showers. The showers can be on the sharp

side. But spells of sunshind again and with the sunshine the

temperatures at about 16 Celsius. That is 61 Fahrenheit. So showers

around through the weekend. The winds are strong on Saturdax. Notice

how they ease down through Sunday and on into Monday. By Mond`y it

looks like a dry day with a fair bit of cloud but also just that little

bit warmer. Thank you very much.

Raise ?LINEBREAK Now, the m`in news headlines: The Government blocked

plans by Royal Bank of Scotland to pay its staff bonuses of twhce their

salary. The Ukraine's Prime Minister accused Russia of wanting to start

World War Three. Western leaders are threatening

fresh saxes `` sanctions. From mid`night, it could be harder

to get a mortgage. Mortgage lenders required to ask probing questionses

about home buyers outgoings and expenditure. And London Unddrground

accused of breaking a deal on plans to close ticket offices, coling days

before a series of tube strhkes due to begin on Monday. That is about it

from plea. I will be back l`tter during the 10.00pm news. For now,

from everyone on the team, do have a lovely evening and a great weekend.

at the European elections on May the 22nd.

even though that would wreck the recovery and destroy jobs.

The Conservatives are now openly flirting with exit.

they just don't have the courage of their convictions on this.

They wouldn't lift a finger to help keep Britain in the EU