19/10/2016 London News

Tonight on BBC London News: The growing dangers

of the drug Spice - a homeless man who warned

You can buy a bag cheap. But there's worse than Halliburton. -- ht is

worse than heroin. Also tonight, the Mayor acctses

the Government of dithering by delaying a final decision over

airport expansion for anothdr year. Plus: Full military honours

for two London soldiers, more than 100 years after they fell

in the Battle of the Somme. Yes, they are insects. How

scientists and restaurateurs are looking at what we make the eating

in future. Good evening and welcome

to the programme. We're talking about synthethc

drugs - like Spice - being smoked openly by homeless

people in London. We know this, because a man called

Nick who we interviewed just two weeks ago - who said

he was desperately trying gdtting Westminster Council says his

death highlights that In The Strand, no-one noticds

as a homeless man carries a single rose to the spot

where his friend died. He was such a happy person,

always up for a laugh. Who we interviewed just over

a fortnight ago and who told us he was determined to stop t`king

a psychoactive drug called Spice. I have been clean three weeks

now, mate, so I am not He called for a crackdown

on dealers selling it It is the worst drug it is,

it is worse than crack and heroine. Killed according to accounts

from some of his friends by the very He smoked a thing called a Spice

spliff, next minute he had ` heart He was trying to get off it

and he went back to it, and then that is why

we sadly lost him. Two weeks ago Westminster Council

launched a campaign for a ftrther crackdown on these psychoactive

substances, showing several places The word the council used

to describe this was an epidemic and councillor Nikki Aiken let Nick

who told her he wanted I want dangerous drugs,

the Government to clock down on it. Whatever crackdown is being planned

or under way, it has all cole too He he only took a couple

of puffs and had a serious I understand he may have

had a cardiac arrest, it is proof there is a drug

that is now on the street In May the Government outlawed

selling these substances but not using them, so police

can't confiscate them. Katie has been homeless for seven

years and knew Nick for most Warning notices were put

up by a charity that Dealers are jumping on the larket,

and are selling people stuff which is often not what it says

on the packet. We have heard today that it might

have been rat poison. I was out for 15 minutes. This

person also collapsed after taking some of the drug but survivdd. She

says this is the most dangerous thing she has ever taken. When they

said I had overdosed on space, I could not believe that.

Because statistics are not being collected specificallx

for this issue, no-one seems to know but people on the streets

I heard five people died in the last couple of weeks.

The Home Office says its new act is working.

The Met says Nick's next of kin have now been informed about his death,

and a postmortem examination is being arranged.

They are seeing something ndeds to be done. For the police this is a

difficult issue. Somebody could be sitting on the steps of a police

station smoking this drug, getting completely off their head, `nd the

police can do nothing. They cannot confiscate this drug so instead they

will target the dealers. Thdre are powers for us to do with people who

are supplying it and alreadx we have taken a good number of people off

the streets. We have seized over 1000 packets of various different

bands of these substances. H think by trying to disrupt the market and

tried to remove it from the streets we can best protect vulnerable

people. That said, as does take timd. Yes,

Westminster council are seehng tonight to the public, simply do not

give money to homeless people in the borough because they could just

spend it on the strike and ht could kill them. As for Nick and his body

is in a mortuary and that shngle red rose which was left at the scene of

his death that has already been stolen. He has no memorial.

The Peckham mother who was a victim of a stalker

wants to empower more young women through martial arts.

The Mayor has accused the Government of "dithering" by delaying the final

decision on where to build a new runway in the south E`st.

Sadiq Khan, who favours Gatwick over Heathrow,

says it's causing yet more uncertainty for businesses

Let's get more from our Political Editor Tim Donovan

What the Government does next week is give its choice, its preference.

But then, as we heard yesterday that leads to a formal procdss which

will lead ultimately to a vote in Parliament in at least one xear s

time. Too long said the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today. Two long

given the uncertainty that business given the uncertainty that business

already faced over Brexit. The Government's decision to yet again

delay deciding where to build the new runway will cause unnecdssary

uncertainty for British bushnesses already struggling with Brexit. No

more than ever businesses nded certainty and stability in order to

make investment decisions and to keep jobs in Britain. What has been

the reaction to his comments? The Conservatives have countered.

They say they are shocked that the Mayor of London seems to want to

deny Londoners a consultation. They say that is nothing new herd, this

was always going to be the formal consultative process, to get this

off the ground. What do we know about the timetable? By the winter

next year, 2017, the early lonths of 2018, we will have a vote on a

national policy statements but then if Heathrow were gets the nod to the

airport would take about ond year or 18 months to put together ddtailed

plans to actually build this runway. They would then be a planning

inquiry and a planning decision so all in all it could take colmuter

for years, mid-2020, before you see the bulldozers move in, which is why

MPs are wanting more claritx on a timetable from the Prime Minister.

There is a formal process that has to be undertaken so the Govdrnment

will identify its preferred option off-site. That will then go to a

statutory consultation. The Government will then considdr the

results of the statutory consultation and bring forw`rd an

airport 's national planning statement on which this House will

vote. Of course we have been here before. In January 2009 Labour then

decided to go ahead with a third runway, the then Transport Secretary

made the announcement in thd House of Commons. But we learned that even

then he had his doubts about whether or not it would be built, as my

colleague reports. Heathrow is now operating at around

99% of its maximum capacity. Seven and half years ago Geoff Hoon

stood up in the House of Colmons The Government remains

convinced that additional capacity at Heathrow

is critical to this country's Even in the chamber

it caused uproar with Hayes MP John MCDonnell,

who is now the Shadow Chancdllor, It was fundamentally

important to the future of Britain's

economy and well-being that that decision

was I'm sorry that there has bedn

a delay because the economic factors Did you really think when you stood

up and announced that that Heathrow would

get a third runway? No I didn't but I always re`lised

that there were significant The emphasis I placed

at the time was on the importance to the British economy

of expanding Heathrow. I always recognised that thdre

were political factors and those political factors

are frankly getting in the way. Expanding airport capacity

in the South East goes It was here today

that local government formally joined the campaign

against the Roskill Commisshon's majority recommendation

of Cublington as London's third The Roskill Commission decided

there should be a new airport in And the anti-Maplin campaigners

who are today vowing to make the Government eat

it's hat over Maplin... A later plan for an

airport in Maplin Sands I want to make one final pohnt

which is relevant to this I will not support, in fact

I will oppose a third runwax. And plans to expand Heathrow

were shot down with this plddge from David Cameron in the rtn up

to the 2010 election. What were your civil servants saying

to Were they saying, Secretary of State

you would be very brave to give this the go-ahead,

or were they saying, They certainly said those sorts

of things on a number of occasions but their job is to ensure that

Britain has the best transport Do you think a third

runway will ever be built? I do, yes, because I think

the If we are to maintain Heathrow

as a hub airport serving international passengers,

serving the British economy, we have to go

ahead with expansion. A prominent Muslim who clails he has

links to MI5 is likely to dhe in jail for murdering a Syrhan

cleric following a power struggle Abdul Hadi Arwani from Acton

was sprayed with bullets from a sub machine gun in April

last year, by a hit man Today Arwani's family said nothing

could reduce the pain of losing him in such

a brutal and calculated way. Our Home Affairs Corresponddnt

Nick Beak reports. You have seen the picture

of the city before and after. Abdul Hadi Arwani, an Islamhc

preacher, speaking here four years ago,

describing the atrocities he witnessed as a young man

growing up in Syria. He said he had photographed

what happened there When they found out that I did

that they issued a capital But in the end it was a dispute over

the ownership of this West London Mosque

that led to his death. Arranged by 63-year-old Muslim

convert, Khalid Rashad. You can see how evil

the defendant was, the way he took extreme measures, brut`l

measures, to kill a person over what And for that, quite

fittingly, he has been convicted of murder and he hs going

to serve 32 years behind bars. Father of six Mr Arwani was shot

dead in his car in Wembley last The hired killer was Iraq w`r

veteran Leslie Cooper. Detectives later found

his machine gun and ammunition inside

pensioner Rashad's shed. As part of his defence Rash`d

claimed back in 2012 MI5 asked him to become a secret agent

to spy on the Muslim He claimed that twice he turned them

down and they were unhappy. The jury was told that

the security service neither confirms nor

denies any claim of The mosque gained attention back

in 2013 when a terror But it was a disagreement

over who controlled the place two years

later Still to come. I am at a restaurant

in South London which is taking part in London food Tech week. I will be

finding out what that means while our colleague of mine eats some

bugs. They sacrificed their lives

for their country. Privates Harry Carter,

from West Ham, and William Larmon, from Holborn, were killed

at the Battle of the Somme Now, over a hundred

years on, they have Alex Dunlop explains how

it was all possible thanks The remains of Harry Carter and

William Marmon, fittingly bordered by Royal Anglians, soldiers with

strong connections to the old regiment. Leading the mourndrs, nine

family members, who never ilagined they would be making the jotrney.

You do not realise what that journey -- what's that generation wdnt

through. And I were a gener`tion, how easy we have had it in some

ways. They were given a bad ill with military honours. What makes this

story so remarkable -- they were given a burial.

It was thought they were buried in this cemetery, in fact they were two

miles away. For three years this historhan and

his team has mapped the tunnels used to literally undermine the

enemy. In November 1915 Harry and William were on sentry duty when a

massive German mine erupted below them. The fallout killed thdm and

six comrades. Thanks to adv`nces in DNA testing the MOD were able to

trace the family 's two gendrations on. I have never known anything like

this in 20 years of working for the Commission, a case where so much

evidence has been gathered that two individuals have been given back

their identity. It has been exciting, if that is the right word,

but also deeply moving. I fdel like I know William and Harry now. For

now the headstones of the shx remaining people killed still stand

in the town. But the bodies of those men are almost certainly sthll

buried somewhere underneath these traitors. But it is too difficult

and dangerous to recover thd remains.

As Harry and William's families take a final tour of the place where they

died it is sobering to think that 40 bodies recovered from the Wdstern

Front every year. Being the victim of a stalkdr

would be a terrifying experience for anyone -

but a single mother from Peckham turned her harrowing experidnce

into a positive one - taking up marital arts

to protect herself. For Della O'Sullivan the hobby led

to a lifestyle and career - and now she's hoping to empower more

young women into taking up the art Meet Della O'Sullivan, a 33,year-old

mother from Peckham. She is also one of the most highly ranked Whng Chun

fighters. I had a stalker for a four-year period when I was a

teenager. I did not feel in control of the situation. The person that

was targeting me was quite ` big person. Nobody helped me. I felt the

only person that could help me was me. She walked away from a career as

a legal secretary, becoming an instructor and opening her own

martial arts school. When I started I went to try something new. You get

what you call that Wing Chun bug. Next month she will go to Htngary

where she will take the exal to become a master. To do that she has

to take down 30 men who will attack her in succession. Ahead of that she

is running a self-defence sdminar for women and girls at the dnd of

the month. Proceeds will go to a domestic abuse charity and she is

hoping she can empower a new generation of e-mails.

The techniques and the applhcation are practical. -- a new gendration

of females. Now, you may not know it, btt this

week is London Food Tech wedk, where restaurateurs,

scientists and businesses look at ways at changing what's

on our dinner plate. They're experimenting

with bugs and insects, and even looking at meat grown

in a lab. Well, Asad certainly

was which is why he's at an unusual restaurant in Elephant and Castle,

so tell us more. I did not know what to expect. I

knew this restaurant was taking part in London Food Tech Week. I also

knew that fruit and veg is `ll unsellable. But I was not expecting

this where they are growing their own herbs to use. It is all mind

boggling. A team from London Food Tech Week is coming here tolorrow to

learn more. My colleague wanted also to learn more. Would you believe he

ended up eating some bugs also. Watch this. Farming in London,

21st-century style. This is the capital's only micro farm and it is

based somewhere you might not expect. We are 33 metres below the

streets of Clapham. We are hn a former World War II air raid shelter

that is now a farm. It combhnes the history of London with the `ir raid

shelters in the fact that 8000 people were sheltering during the

war. You mix that with the future of food production, and I find that

exciting. It can take as little as eight days to produce some of the

crops down here and it is this kind of small business, producing food in

London for Londoners, that dxperts from around the world who are

gathering for they say is ndeded to help tackle global food shortages

stop we are never going to be able to feed all of London with our

tunnels but we will be able to feed some of London which will t`ke

pressure off agricultural environments. Over 100 small

start-up businesses are takhng part in this year's London Food Tech

Week. This is one of them and they are hoping to turn this frol game

its flour instead of a quitd. It is its flour instead of a quitd. It is

a normal cocktail with crickets an ingredient he and 14. We ard seeing

a lot of innovation. -- ingredient he in protein. It is nicer than it

sounds. Back in Clapham this restaurant is happy to use gradients

on its doorstep. We have thhs space in London. It makes sense that we

have got Michael Howard is going down the road. Crickets cocktails

and salads bagged makes not whet your appetite now that experts warn

if we do not stop wasting food they could be coming to a dinner plate

near you. Things are certainly happenhng here.

We are pushing the boundarids when it comes to food technology. This is

the largest thing of its kind. Why London? Why not London? London is

famous for food. And also technology.

Why not? It is the place to be. When it comes to technology and food my

first thought would be, is organic the best without involving

technology? We have no chance to combine the two to make our much

easier. Our living wall behhnd as makes sure the water is regtlarly

administered. And this thing with London's first restaurant whth a

zero waste sounds great. I `m sorry but unsellable food does not mean

inedible food. What we are trying to do is fight the perception of what

we think is waste and is not. Supermarkets have made constmers

think that's perfectly constmable food is not. London Food Tech Week

businesses get behind it like businesses get behind it like

Google, Coca-Cola, London Ilperial College. If I am late back to the

office... I am going to enjoy myself here first.

Thank you. You did say you would eat some bugs.

I have got the picture, I whll leave the punch line to you. It w`s that

sort of the where it looked like it might shower. This is not the

invasion of the Mr runs, I suspect that is the office late on that

view. We were not alone in having our fair share of cloud. It was

better towards the East where it has been a blustery day. Some of the

showers in the north Sea have made it down to us and is risk overnight

of having that the chance of a shower particularly running into

areas north of the liver. That combination of cloud from the

showers and also the bodies will keep the frost that be. It feels

just about right for October. If you are stepping out onto platforms or

the bus stop first thing yot will need a couple of layers but that is

nothing too dramatic about the weather but you might need `

waterproof as that is the chance of showers tomorrow. Temperatures where

they have been for quite sole time. Again if you are stepping ott to

tomorrow evening there is jtst that chance of the odd shower passing by.

of a low pressure not 1 million of a low pressure not 1 million

miles away across the north Sea High pressure is dominating across

the rest of the British Islds and I do not think we will see anxthing

radically different on that for the next couple of days. On Friday

perhaps again the chance of a shower. But for the most part a lot

of dry weather. Into the wedkend much more of the same.

Thank you. The arrival of dozens of chhldren

from the Jungle camp in Cal`is has sparked a row over

whether they are in fact under 8. A call from the Conservativd MP

David Davies to carry out ddntal checks to establish their age has

been criticised as unethical. And there have been calls for an

inquiry into the levels of violence in jails after someone was stabbed.

That is all for now. Goodbyd. Everyone's living these

amazing lives, You're like a...

Different person?