09/01/2017 London News

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

as a Tube strike paralyses the transport network,

It is a case of just do the best you can, really.

I'm so frustrated that the trade unions have organised this strike

And the strike even caused some university students

The Princes Trust tells us nearly half of young Londoners don't feel

# Just for once don't stop and stare... #.

Here come "The Girls" - we go behind the scenes of

Welcome to BBC London News, with me, Riz Lateef.

Although for millions of commuters it's anything but -

trying to get home after a chaotic start to the week.

And still to come this week, more strikes on Southern rail

and industrial action by BA cabin crew.

Today's action affected much of the Tube network and closed

all underground stations in central London.

We start tonight with our Transport correspondent Tom Edwards

This was a long queues, delays and the disruption. This was Waterloo.

Commuters switched to the buses. It is a nightmare because I'm trying to

get to work and I will get in later. Any sympathy for the strike? Some, I

know what they are after. It seems to be OK, what they want, but it is

wrong affecting people trying to get to work. At Finsbury Park,

frustration. Many did not know about the strike, and they could not get

onto the packed buses. Horrible, horrible. I have been waiting years

since 530. You have not been here since then, have you? Yes. I have

not been able to get on yet, disability. At Clapham Junction, the

stations struggled to cope. Commuters switch to the trains. At

one point overcrowding meant it had to be evacuated. And this was

Victoria. To be honest, I do not know why they are striking but it is

affecting me. I am just trying to be on time. The roads took the brunt

with average speed dropping to two miles an hour in some areas as old

heritage buses were brought back into service to try and help. The

Thames Clippers on the Ripper coped well, but this was structured. It is

not our fault, we are paying money, OK? We should not have to walk or

run. This was the bus queue at Liverpool Street and that stretched

around the station. While many took to two wheels and cycled, the bike

hire scheme did have some glitches. This was elephant and Castle. This

dispute goes back to 2015 and the closure of all London Underground

ticket offices and the loss of 838 jobs. Abundant underground now

admits more staff are required on the Tube but the sticking point and

the reason for the strike is how many? At King's Cross, Mark Hughes

for cabs and buses, there were some Tube teams but not many. Is this the

24-hour strike? I do not support it, it is ridiculous. They have to do

what they have to do. This strike has reduced London's transport

system to a crawl. The badges for commuters is that this dispute has

not yet been resolved. -- the bad news.

The strike is not officially over -- the strike is now officially over,

had finished half an hour ago. However, people, as you have seen,

people are queueing and waiting to see if they can get in, more out of

hope than expectation. Looking at the official statistics that

Transport for London have given to us, they have said that 70% of

stations did eventually opened today and also all Tube lines had a

service. That might be the case, but it has been a miserable day if you

are a commuter. What it also shows is that whoever the mayor is, the

transport union still wield considerable in London.

Thank you for that update, Tom Edwards.

Well, commuters aren't the only ones frustrated because today

was the first day of exams for many university students.

If that wasn't stressful enough, the Tube strike meant some

arrived late or missed their assessments altogether.

Here's our education reporter Marc Ashdown on a testing

The start of exam season could not have come at a worse time. Thousands

of university students were among those in today's commuter crush, not

the kind of cramming they had in mind. Most did make it, but not

without a real fight. Parts of the station have been closed, so we got

a one-hour bus to Shepherd's Bush and running from beer to hear, which

meant we were just in time for the exam, but it was quite stressful,

probably more stressful than the exam itself! That led to claims from

many on social media that it is unfair to expect students to sit

exams during strikes. I have been up since five o'clock this morning

because we had to leave early. I think they should have rescheduled.

When you look at it, I understand that they have booked this place,

but I think more for the students have to commute you. You are not

going to perform well after you have done that. It took us more than one

hour to come down from Waterloo and cost ?50. We will be waiting to more

minutes and not like the 15 minutes we had to wait in the morning. We

will have to get up earlier to make sure that we get here in time. A bit

of a nightmare. We were exhausted before the exam. King's Lynn did not

want to give us an interview but they have said they will continue to

run exams all the key. They have said they are working with students

to review the situation and allow flexibility, where possible, for

those affected by the strikes. It was a similar story in Camden where

UCL students struggle to get to their exams. It is so difficult to

get these exams arranged anyway that on this occasion we have all been

expected to make the effort to get to the exam on time. There are more

exams across London all week, the Tube may or may have been done for

one day, but the next Southern rail strike begins tomorrow.

Well, the Mayor, who during his election campaign said he would roll

up his sleeves to make sure there are zero days of strikes,

So does he see it as a sign of failure?

Here's our political correspondent, Karl Mercer.

Sadly, not to each other, but fighting a war of

The Mayor and Transport For London condemning the strikes...

Their only common ground they claim - a willingness to talk.

Yeah, we are absolutely open to talks at any moment in time. We will

get back there tomorrow, as soon as they want. Get on with it. We have

to resolve these things amicably around the table. I would suggest

once they get through this we get back around the table.

Are you discussing when you will talk them? We have said that we will

do this through the auspices of ACAS. We have made it clear to them

that we are available for talks and we would expect them to be in

contact with a similar way. But nothing is planned as we speak?

Nothing at the moment. Not good news then for Londoners

who battled to work today. I think the strike today is

completely unnecessary and causing misery to millions of commuters.

Businesses will lose millions of pounds in revenues and patients will

not be able to reach their hospital appointments, the strike could have

been avoided. We have to get the mere and the attention of the senior

team to let them know that we cannot essentially be pushed away with an

inadequate offer. It's an embarrassment for the Mayor,

who said during his election campaign he'd aim for zero

days of strikes... Much harder to deliver

when you're actually in power. And to put more staff back

in stations to help solve the dispute would mean taking money

from somewhere else. If as a result of this we must

change things within our organisation, to ensure that we

provide that right service at the front line, those of the decisions

people make and that is what we will do. So you might have to move the

Budget is around? It is not about extra money, it is about moving the

Budget above. The politics of the strike will be

far from the minds of commuters, but it seems they have also put

the Mayor at odds with his party. Would you like to see the Labour

Party nationally condemn the strike for the damage caused to the economy

of London? All I can talk about is London and I know that the strike

could have been avoided, I know that it is unnecessary. The Ljubomir has

described this as unnecessary, the strike. Well, look, I was not in the

room when the discussions were taking place. But I do know that

there is a ledger -- legitimate beef when we lose that much money to the

economy. Not quite on the same

page it would seem then. The Mayor's immediate focus

though will be on getting So today's strike may

have just finished, Yes, not the start that the unions

and the London mayor would have wanted. But the unions have shown

Sadiq Khan that they can bring London to a standstill and they will

be hoping to get back around the table and talk. As I have said Anton

said in his piece, this comes down to money and the numbers. TFL and

the mayor has said that they will put 200 staff back in and of they do

that, if not more than that, because the unions have said that is not

enough, they will have to find the money from elsewhere in the TFL

Budget, it is a tricky one. And as we mentioned earlier,

this is a week that's going to test Yes, they will get home tonight and

those of the travellers who have come from further afield and perhaps

using Southern rail, they will be facing two days of strikes, strikes

on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, that will bring that network to a

standstill and there will be severe disruption on the other days and we

know that British Airways cabin crew are beginning a 48 hours strike

tomorrow as well. For the moment, Karl Mercer, thank you.

We will have more on those other strikes later in the programme.

Well, strikes aside, stay with us because still to come tonight...

I will be speaking to Gary Barlow about this new musical and the

producer Tim Firth. Although the latest weather to come later in the

programme. -- all of the latest. Young people living in the capital

say they are stuck in a cycle The Prince's Trust has found

that almost half of 16 It comes on the day

that the Prime Minister introduced new measures to spot the signs

of mental illness early on. You just feel isolated and out

of touch with the world. You just like nobody cares

and you've given up, Feeling despair was just

part of life for Faz growing up in east London,

but the serious mental From the age of about eight years

old I have been feeling I did not know what that was

until recently, if I am honest. I was just really sad all the time,

I just felt like I was not good enough and didn't have any goals

and hopes for the future More than 2000 16 to 25-year-olds

were asked about their state 37% felt it down or depressed

and 46% were anxious. It is about giving them the skills

and the confidence as early as possible to help them with their

struggle. But now Faz has been supported by the Prince's Trust and

is mentoring other young people in London suffering with depression. It

is a process that will now be supported in schools by the

Government. We will pilot a new approaches such as offering mental

health first aid training for teachers and staff, to help them

identify and assist children experiencing mental problems. We

will try new approaches to ensure that schools and colleges work

closely with local NHS services to help local mental health services.

Campaigners have said every person that is given out was a poor product

on this will reduce the long-term burden on the NHS. For Faz it has

meant getting back a life worth living. To know that there was

people younger than me going through the same thing, that breaks my heart

because I felt like I was alone, no one would understand me and was no

way I could get out of this. To be added are pleased I was in and be

able to give support to other young people, I see no reason why I should

not help them. Sarah Harris, BBC London News.

A jury has heard how police failed to tape off a pathway under a tree

in central London that later fell causing the death of housekeeper.

Teresita Sison was walking to work in October 2014

when the tree came down, causing a wall to collapse on her.

The tree was uprooted in high winds as the UK was battered

by the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo.

The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice also heard

that the 80-year-old poplar showed signs of decay.

Thousands of police officers are to be asked if they want to be

routinely armed with a gun or electric Taser.

The Met says more than 90% of officers are currently unarmed

and there were no plans to change this.

The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents London's 32,000

officers, says that with more of them being armed to counter

the threat of terrorism, it was only fair to ask them

And Karl mentioned the ongoing problems on Southern rail.

Well, one woman has told the BBC how she feels

she was forced to quit her job because of the poor service.

As Sonja Jessup reports, both sides in the long-running

bitter dispute have been brought together as part of

a special televised debate being broadcast tonight.

Taking centre stage, but would they have any answers? Southern rail and

the RMT union faced a studio audience, many of whom had personal

experience of the ongoing rail crisis. Emma Green, a single mother,

had started a new job in London only to feel forced to quit. Literally

from the first aid I experienced horrendous delays, getting warm on

average 2.5 hours after I had left the office and up to as bad as for

hours. My question to the panel is how many more people's lives must be

affected, how many have to leave their jobs or lose their jobs and

have their family life significantly disrupted as a result of your

services? And may I add, these are not purely down strikes, they were

bad before the strike started. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

. Southern rail has been locked in a bitter dispute with unions over

driver only operated trains. What is stopping the settlement is the

attitude of the company towards changing the way that the trains are

operated and they are backed up by the DFT and Chris Grayling and they

are refusing to come to a compromise. I am deeply sorry for

the inconvenience caused to customers now and I think the

union's action is grossly disproportionate and I also think

that they are causing immeasurable damage, not only to passengers, but

also to the regional economy. There were questions also for politicians.

Why had they not done more? When it comes down to it, we the Suju is

about safety, not politics, so there must be a technical solution rather

than a political intervention. Have we not been let down by the

government on this issue, should they not have intervened earlier? It

is not the government that is refusing to drive trains which the

independent safety regulator has talked about. Others have suggested

that the late -- Mayor of London should get involved directly. They

have to respond to local concerns, that transforms the network and we

do not have that for some of these train operators at the moment. The

main sticking point remains, would a second person be employed on every

train? People want this brought to an end and you can do that. You can

do that as well. But you will not do that. If you can guarantee a second

person on steamy tangle and Andrew Wright a deal now. BBC London

understands the dead talk informally afterwords, but no deal was reached.

The moral's strike is still set to go ahead. -- to moral's strike. --

BBC London understands the dead speak informally afterwords but no

deal was reached. And you can see the full debate

Southern Rail Crisis later this evening at 7.30pm,

here, on BBC One. The Girls is a new musical comedy

written by Take That's Gary Barlow The two grew up together in the same

village in the north of England The production is based on the 2003

film Calendar Girls and will open Our entertainment correspondent,

Brenda Emmanus, has been to meet The 2000 the film, the calendar

girls, was a huge success, taking over ?75 million worldwide. We will

need considerably bigger buns. The true story of a women's institution

group who decided to fund raise for a local hospital by posing nude for

a calendar had inadvertently become movie stars and then he had played

before now finding life as a musical, courtesy of Take That front

man Gary Barlow and writer Tim Firth. Is it not wonderful that the

story is in it third incarnation? It is, and a reason to do it was that

the play followed the movie and any sense, the musical allowed us to

expand that story and spend more time on new story elements like

those of the husbands and the children. So it gave a new life to

the full story. Seems on stage with the task of the original calendar

girls in Manchester, Gary Barlow is excited to see his new musical come

to the West End. What about this story, but attractive pop star to

it? Initially my friend Tim Firth, who I have known for many years, I

will not even count them! But I have watched them have success with the

film and the play and we both went to watch it up in Milton Keynes and

I was sat there are, initially wondering why he had invited me, but

then I realised what he wanted to do, that was the good music to it.

It is very moving, it is a true story and it is in Northern, very

moving piece and instantly, I could hear the music and I could hear what

I could bring to this. The women whose amazing true story

has inspired the film, play and musical have much to be proud of,

having helped to raise nearly ?5 million for the charity Blood Wise.

What has your input added to this story? What has been musical version

of it done? The funny bits seem even funnier because the sad bits are

sadder. It is broken. They will rehearse for another couple of weeks

but prepare for laughter, tears and sticky buns when the new musical,

The Girls, opens at the London theatre.

Let's return to our top story now and commuters are trying to get home

We can join Tom Edwards at Oxford Circus now.

Although the strike ended almost an hour ago, how are things looking?

Well, some people, would you believe, are still waiting to see if

the Tube will open. I think it is going to be a very long wait. TFL

have said services will not return to normal until tomorrow. Also, in

the last few minutes we have received a statement from Downing

Street from the Prime Minister Theresa May who has called this

action unfair and unjustified. What you must remember is that this

dispute is far from over, there is a long way to go. It has not yet been

resolved. OK, well, with the latest from

Oxford Circus, Tom, thank you very much.

Well, as you can imagine, social media has been in overdrive

today as people struggled into and now back from work.

Our correspondent Alex Bushill has a round-up of some of the best posts

Liverpool Street station, the queue for the bus that said it all. Many

wondered if it would never end. Others had anticipated just how hard

the journey end would be, like Jacqueline who posted this... Some

were lucky, however, extremely lucky, like one commuter who posted

this picture of what he said was his eerily quiet train.

This year had a more scenic route on one of the vintage buses laid on to

cope with the demand. -- this viewer. Both were oblivious to what

others were enduring. Yes, still no end in sight. There were queues

everywhere jubilant. Even for the tens of thousands who walked here.

This prompted all sorts of comparisons like this from Clara...

Many agreed, if you did not laugh, you would cry. Alex Bushill, BBC

London News. That is so true. Time for a check on the weather,

and Wendy, it's not great out there for anyone struggling to get

home, is it? Yes, the weather did not help. We

started OK but by the time ago to the middle of the afternoon. It was

a case of raindrops on Windows from the North West. And by the time we

got to sunset, it was pretty glum, damp and grey as well. But it was

not too cold. The attempt was 11 degrees in London, Sir David is

beginning mild but it will turn much colder as they go through it. There

is some colder weather to come tonight. Here is the brain that we

had throughout the day and some quite heavy burst of it. Not least,

a little line of showers that followed on. That was just around

this evening's rush hour. That is now out of the way and we will have

dry and clear conditions for most of tonight with a bit of a breeze

picking up. Little bits of patchy cloud as well and that means we will

not have temperatures falling below freezing, that agrees with that

little bit of cloud. We are looking at loads of three or 4 degrees

across London and the Home Counties and it will be each cellist Antony

and Cleopatra model. We will have sunshine to moral first thing at

least, it will be a breezy day once a day gets going and that sunshine

is replaced by some cloud from a wide weather front that will dry

slowly over the waters and introduce perhaps one or two patch outbreaks

of rain towards the evening's rush of. Temperatures, the notch or two

Matt Gallon on what we had today, around seven or 9 degrees but the

really cold weather sets in eventually during Wednesday. This

cold front will go through, then we have been subjected to this

North-Westerly wind. That really is going to make things feel quite

better as we go to the end of the beat. Some snow showers are

developing across the North of England. Not too much of a problem

here. It will start mild on Wednesday, the temperatures reached

double figures after the cold front comes through, after that

North-Westerly wind drops. We will hear words like better getting used

towards the end of the week. There should be some sunny spells but in

many showers that crop up through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, do

not be surprised if there is some wintriness and this one will make it

feel really, really cold. We will keep an eye on the end of the week.

Chilly weather to come. Thank you for the warning, windy.

Just recapping the national headlines...

Martin McGuinness has announced his resignation

as Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland in protest

at the Democratic Unionist Party's handling of a botched

The Prime Minister's outlined plans to address what she calls

the "hidden injustice" of mental illness.

She wants to change attitudes towards the condition

and improve support in schools and the workplace.

The Hollywood musical LA LA Land has broken the record for the most

Golden Globe Awards, winning seven prizes.

British actors also enjoyed a golden night in the TV categories,

with prizes for The Night Manager and The Crown.

I'll be back later during the Ten O'clock News, but for now,

from everyone on the team, have a lovely evening.