20/03/2017 London News

If the government makes any further cuts to the police service as a

consequence the funding formula change, keeping police numbers

where they are going to be a real stretch.

Acid attacks double in a year - we look at whether it's becoming

The Londoner so moved by images of suffering -

he's spent years out there distributing aid.

And why the claws are out over this sign in south east London.

Good evening and welcome to the programme with me, Riz Lateef.

The Mayor says he wants a return to neighbourhood policing,

but has warned that funding cuts will make it difficult

promising a 3-person team for every area across the capital. But that's

smaller than the teams are their decade ago. What's more, they Mayor

is warning that funding cuts will make it difficult to keep officers

numbers up. But the details come here's our political correspondent.

He has said that keeping Londoners safe is his key priority.

Today, the Mayor laid out the policing plan

We have got to help the police do their job and that is why

we are announcing a police and crime plan today.

Speaking at a South London school this morning he promised a return

But it's a plan that comes with a warning

I have kept the strategic target of the 2000 officers

but the realities of the police, if the government makes any further

cuts to the police service as a consequence of the funding

formula being changed, keeping police numbers

where they are is going to be a real, real stretch.

We have of course heard the neighbourhood policing mantra

before, under a different Prime Minister, a different Mayor,

The prize is a fantastic one and an inspiring one,

which is that the law-abiding majority in the community take back

control of that community and so people feel whatever

Fast forward a year, a new commissioner,

And this concept of safer neighbourhoods that we've got

here is very much the pattern of policing in London

The broad pattern of change and the rise in confidence in local

Back then, this was how London's neighbourhood police teams looked,

each with a dedicated Sergeant, two PCs and three PCSOs.

That number was later cut and today's promise from the Mayor

Each ward promised two PCs and one PCSO.

A reflection of tougher times, perhaps.

Do you think you can continue to police London effectively given

What sum of money we get given is a matter for politicians,

What we do is we point out the challenges of

policing a great city like this

A there will be plenty of those challenges ahead

Should the emergency services be exempt from charges to drive

Figures obtained by BBC London reveal there were more than 450

victims of acid attacks last year - almost double the number

There are fears that could now be being used secondary children.

Charlotte Franks has been investigating.

The pain to cover everything. I thought I was going to go blind

festival. It was just burning, that was all I could feel. -- line and

first of oil. Last year, he was a victim of an acid attack by a gang

of teenagers in London. He was badly injured. The shock first of all. He

threw water on my face straight after and that washed the acid off

my face. This type of crime was once considered by police as a relatively

rare but over the last six years there has been an upward trend.

Figures obtained by BBC London have revealed acid attacks are now at

their highest levels since 2011 with 452 victims in London last year

alone, almost 100% more than the year before and almost 150% more

than in 2014. Her in -- here in Newham there were more attacks that

anywhere in London. Some blame it on the fact that acid is cheap and

readily available. I was able to buy a bottle with no questions asked. It

is the cause of this that acidic substances are being used by some

gang members. It is more humiliating than a knife wound, you could get

stabbed and that knife wound can be concealed underclothing, it could be

in a place that's not brother but whereas an acid attack is

permanently damaging. Furthermore, there are huge concerns that

secondary schoolchildren are getting their hands on it. Bludgeoning work

with schools. We are urging parents to make sure that they do know what

they're teenagers are carrying. -- we are doing work with schools.

Figures show that acid is well used cherry assaults and rates. The

commonly held leave is that the majority of the victims are women

but surprisingly in London they are mostly men. For ten two the scars

may have faded on the outside but internally he is battling -- for

Imran the scars may have faded. It is very worrying. Something like

that, I think it is worth than a knife wound and it is taking over.

Next, they maybe both feared and misunderstood

but Sharia councils, bodies set up to administer Islamic

rulings, operate in some muslim communities in the capital.

A new voluntary code of conduct is being introduced to try and regulate

them. Most councils were founded to deal with an divorce is the Muslim

women. They have no legal standing that rely on the weight that the

councils carry in the community. Alex Bushell has this special

report. He would think it's OK to come

and have a bust up with me. It still breaks my heart that it

took a punch from my brother-in-law It is only now that Mariam

is emerging from a violent Mrs Hassan is a scholar

helping her to divorce her abusive This is also one of the most feared

and misunderstood religious practices in the country,

a sharia Council in session. But for Mariam, the reality

could not be further I did not feel at

all under pressure. I was able to just speak

and I opened up to Mrs Hassan more than I have to anybody,

more than I have to my own family. Clearly, Mariam has benefited

from the work of a sharia Council. It is also now one of 20 councils

that have signed up to a new code To ensure best practice

and minimum standards. The whole concept of sharia councils

were so unstructured and because there has been nobody

controlling, nobody watching, no accountability, people have been

able to setup sharia Council in the backroom of a mosque,

of the house, and just say I am a sharia Council,

I will deal with the community around me and then be able

to say what they like and if they have an interpretation

of Islamic law that is quite misogynistic, that is quite harsh,

that is quite violent, That's why she considers this

new code of conduct part of the modernising agenda

led by this man. Among many measures all ruling

will be now in English The pre-eminence of English civil

law will be reinforced as well. In the comfort of Regents Park

mosque, he says that a religious training for scholars is key,

making it harder for about he deems training for scholars is key,

making it harder for what he deems cultural practices that can too

often force women to return A lot of these criticisms,

they are not criticisms of the law, they are criticisms of the conduct

and one of the things we're trying to do is to eradicate that conduct

and those procedures. There are, though, still many

who are unconvinced. The government reviewing

the integration last year included claims some councils promote

extremist values and Others ask why there are so few

women scholars who sit Despite the criticism and concern

today is still significant, marking as it does how the leading

sharia councils are themselves trying to ensure they are as fair

and transparent as a candidate whilst remaining true

to the teachings of the Koran. And Alex, there is a wider context

to the timing of this Yes, an array of reports are

currently underway in Parliament. The Home Office has one, the home

affairs select committee is undergoing one which is due to

report back any day and an independent peer is pushing through

a bill through parliament trying to force sharia councils to be subject

to the same equality legislation as many other public bodies. The effect

of that would be to end that disparity between women having to go

to sharia councils and a divorce that is contested and men currently

not having to repeat last majority of sharia councils. I spoke to her

today and she explained why even with this code of conduct more

reform is needed. There is a lot of evidence that there's a lot of

pressure from some of sharia councils to send money back to

marriages in which they are suffering abuse and one of the

arguments in the year must not bring shame on the family, shame on the

community -- to send women back. So many women upset arrives to stay in

abusive relationships. This is why this announcement of a code of

conduct is so significant today. It covers around two thirds of the

sharia councils across the country. It has been led by a macro councils

here in London Dan assures willingness to both accept that

reform is needed and be in charge of that reform process. It may be too

little too late because there is a sense I think within government that

regulation may now be coming from government itself but we will see.

We've heard much about the success of London's technology sector,

in relation to their European rivals.

But a group of delegates from Paris have come to the capital,

with the aim of luring companies in Financial Technology,

known as Fintech, across the Channel.

We can cross to Alice who has got more on this for us. The Fintech

sector is the fastest growing sector in the UK economy. It contributed to

put ?2 billion in 2015 and that is a fact not overlooked by our European

competitors and that is why these delegates from Paris have been sent

here to London for the second time in just six weeks to try and sell

the merits of the French capital. And how will they try and persuade

them? Well, they will make the point to the company is based here that

once we leave the European Union, they will no longer be able to claim

that they had a European headquarters. More importantly they

will be able to point out that they will no longer have access to the

European single market. How successful will they be? Well, here

in London we have a history on our side. We have long been nurturing

the Fintech talent and specialist, not to mention the fact that there

will always be banks here and where there are banks, there will be a

need for financial technology. That said, there will be some who fear

this potential threat to this thriving sector. Many thanks.

Former Chancellor George Osborne has defended his appointment as editor

He faced criticism and calls to step down as an MP

for Tatton, after his new job was announced last week.

He was responding to an urgent question from Labour

In my view, this Parliament is enhanced when we have people

of different experience take part in robust debate and when people

who have held senior ministerial office continue to contribute

But I will listen to what my colleagues have

The Mayor's made it clear reducing pollution is one

But emergency services say that over 900 vehicles will breach

the ultra low emission zone when it's introduced in 2019.

And it could cost them thousands of pounds in charges.

The Met Police has asked for concessions on its vehicles

with some politicians calling for all emergency

Here's our transport correspondent Tom Edwards.

In two years' time, more polluting vehicles will have to pay ?12.50

But that could also include over 900 emergency vehicles and now

there are calls for them to be exempt.

You are talking about free services that literally

The Mayor should not be charging them to carry out that process.

We feel that all three of those services should be exempt.

We're not saying they shouldn't be brought into line

with the better emission standards, but it should be over

All of them have plans to renew their vehicle fleet

and they should be allowed to do that without the extra burden

According to a freedom of information request

by the Assembly Tories, the emergency services are concerned

about how much the ultralow emission zone will cost.

It's claimed the net will have to replace 82% of its fleet.

The London Fire Service will have 52 noncompliant vehicles

and the London Ambulance Service, 86 vehicles would have to pay.

There are children in parts of London whose lungs underdeveloped.

The Tories have done nothing for the last eight

years and they should rightfully be ashamed.

I consulted widely on my new ultralow emissions

zone and you know what, the police, the Fire Service,

and ambulance service, they don't object.

They welcomed me addressing the issue around their quality

and what they are going to do is make sure that their ULES

compliant vehicles are used in the ULES area.

Tackling pollution is a priority for the Mayor.

How it should be done and who should pay, not everyone agrees.

The younger generation pays tribute on her 100th birthday.

And peace bring equinox it may be that there will be a distinct chill

in the air this week. More in the forecast later. -- and the spring

equinox. The war in Syria is something most

of us have only experienced through our TV screens,

but for one Londoner, it's taken In 2012 Tauqir Sharif boarded an aid

convoy to Syria planning to stay But five years later he's

still there with his wife and three children working amidst

the devastating conflict. This is his story as

told by George Henton. Tauquir and his team are travelling

to the front lines to pick up families evacuated from Aleppo

and taken to camps There's so many people

and it's cold, it's wet, it's being dropped off in the middle

of the night. Some of the families

here in our temporary relief centre and I won't lie,

their stories are We have this sister here, she's

a widow, her husband was killed, but many of her family

members were killed. We're just sitting here with some

of her children and she just showed us a video of her son

who is basically under the rubble. You can see here, they were unable

to pull him out, you can just Tauquir and his team

regularly distribute aid. Much of it donated from

supporters back in the UK. The harsh winter conditions mean yet

more suffering for those Despite the relative safety,

life in the camps is hard. Tauquir's parents

live in East London. They've not seen their son for five

years and they've never Tauquir as a young person,

he was very active and It makes us proud

that he's doing this. When he was growing up in Newham

there was an incident where he was stabbed and we thought

we might lose him. Which would we rather have, him

helping people and losing his life or dying in the streets

of Newham or wherever else? And you can see more of Tauquir's

remarkable experience on Inside Out London at 7.30pm this

evening here on BBC One. Serious doubts remain over

the future of one of London's oldest football clubs after a hearing

at the High Court today. Leyton Orient were the subject

of a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue Customs

over unpaid taxes. It's owner has been granted an extra

ten weeks to pay off his debts Let's get more from Chris Slegg

what details emerged today? The Italian owner of the club,

Francesco Becchetti, paid that tax bill at the last minute. We believe

that debt was ?250,000 and that is why he has been given a stay of

execution. Wheeler dealers many other people money, he ?35,000 to

the council, he owes the club photographer ?6,000. A letter read

out in his absence asked for eight weeks to inject ?1 million into the

club, which provides us with H a figure of his outstanding debt.

There were very many later Orient fans here today to discover the

club's fate. They alighted in trepidation. There is a lot of

relief that the club survives now but they still real concern.

He leaves the club in a state of significant uncertainty and frankly

There is everything to suggest up until now that Mr Becchetti

work can't necessarily be relied upon and as such the notion and the

promise he has made to court to put ?1 million

to ten weeks is something we're going to have to wait and see the

What happened next? Possible scenarios, the set of his debt,

continues as owner, fans would say continues as a unstable owner.

Secondly he fails to pay that debt, the club could cease to exist, moral

realistically they look to start next season on -10 points. The dream

scenario for the fans if he finds someone to sell the club but that

looks unlikely, especially with the club bottom of the football league

and set to be relegated for the first time in 100 years out of the

book truly. Worrying times for Leyton Orient. -- out of the

football league. Now, should the CAT be

taken out of Catford? That's the key question dividing

opinion in South East London. Thousands of people have signed

a campaign to preserve the 'fibreglass feline'

amidst plans to redevelop As Sarah Harris reports,

some see it as a landmark, A's been patched on high, guarding

the entrance to the shopping centre as long as many can remember but

whether the giant fibreglass feline is an icon or eyesore is dividing

its namesake town of Catford in south-east London. They should not

remove it. The matter how much they want to commercialise Catford, this

is what Catford is, that is a heritage for Catford. No, no,

because if you are looking to have a big shopping complex, you don't want

something say, that's outdated. A bit of a beast when unit at! It is

our old and 90 caps that is we like it! The model was designed in 1974,

to open the new and modern catfish chopper centre. But the town's

association with Cats goes back for centuries according to a local

historian. It is a medieval name. It dates back to when this area was

part of the great North Road and just here was part of the fraud and

the cat is the old English for cat coming from the Latin for cat. Cats

were here before they were domesticated. Catford town centre is

not for a multi-million pound development. Council leaders say the

cat will have to be taken down to make way for the bulldozers. I hated

but equally people like it. Some people love cats and some people

don't. I don't know, it gives a place in name and a focal point and

that is what they have focused on, so that is why we need to keep it

somewhere where people can see it. 2000 people have already signed the

petition to keep Catford's cat just where it is. A final decision on its

future home is likely to be taken next year. Sarah Harris, BBC London

News. Now, the phrase "National Treasure"

has a tendency to be overused. But surely noone could argue it

applies to Dame Vera Lynn and has Today, as she celebrated her 100th

birthday, people across the capital paid tribute to the singer,

who was born in East London. It included pupils at her former

primary school singing to her using Skype,

as Tolu Adeoye reports. Her's was the voice that lifted the

spirits of those fighting during the Second World War and coveted

families waiting at home. Dame Vera Lynn was born in East Ham to a

dressmaker and a plumber and hundreds years ago today. To help

mark the milestone, pupils at her old school in East hands gave a very

special performance, seeing de novo's most famous song.

#. Don't know when, # But I know we'll meet again some

sunny day there! # Thank you so much for that it was

very well sung. I have very happy memories of my primary school and I

do hope that you're happy there now. Elsewhere, permanent tributes were

erected to celebrate the occasion. New signs can now be found on three

of the borough's streets, including at Dame Vera Lynn's Bath Street. And

at Buckingham Palace, they marched to a different tune, the band

playing her most famous son. Heartfelt tributes to the most

famous daughter on her 100th birthday. Thank you very much. It

was lovely. Many happy returns to Dame Vera

Lynn. Before we get a check on the weather

- we just wanted to show you this incredible picture of London

which is a big hit on social media. It's the view of our city from

the International Space Station - 250 miles from earth taken by a Nasa

Astronaut. So let's see how the weather here

on earth is shaping up this week. Shiny, London, isn't it? Very

bright! Yes, and it was very bright down here on earth towards the end

of the day at least but we had some horrible rain to contentment in the

meantime. The bright weather does not mean it will become them

throughout this week, quite the opposite. It is turning colder and

it will remain rather breezy as it was today. The cloud that we had

brought some rain. You can see some well-defined edge on that cloud.

That is the demarcation between the milder air from the east and the

cool air from the West now. Today, we did get to 14 Celsius, just

clinging onto that milder weather. But, because of weather sweeps in.

You might think I am going mad because these winds are

south-westerly but the origins of them up across the Canadian Arctic

so it is cold air coming in are south-westerly direction. It is

kicking in as we go through the night, that 11 Celsius out there at

the moment but with the breeze blowing, the skies clearing,

temperatures will fall back tonight. It will take a sheltered spot to get

a touch of frost locally but it is not at the question was temperatures

will be close to freezing and I think you'll notice that the thing

tomorrow morning when you are setting off to work, cold air being

swept around by the breeze picking up. Some strength in the sun and

there will be plenty throughout the morning tomorrow but there will be

some cloud and other two shadows into the afternoon. Temperatures to

three Celsius where they were today. Wednesday, a pretty horrible day.

There will be rain after rush hour that will take time to clear but in

compensation to cheer you up, high pressure for the weekend, so it will

dry out and settle down but there is a long process before that happens.

Some rain around on Thursday, a lot of cloud on Friday, the sun should

return for the weekend but it will be too warm. And 13 Celsius, I 13!

Thank you. Tonight's main use. Britain will begin the official

process of leaving the EE one the 29th of March next week. The reason

they will send a letter to the EEC that will trigger up to two years of

talks on the terms of Britain's exit. And the Mayor has said he

wants a return to neighbourhood policing. Sadiq Khan launched its

policing plan today but one that undercuts that make it difficult to

keep officer numbers up. That's it for now but if you are in board

games, to check out our Facebook page as there is something new in

monopoly. I'll be back with the latest for you during the ten

o'clock News. Until then, from all of us here, thank you for watching

and enjoy your evening. Goodbye. The 24-year-old man

has been charged with murder. You made sure an innocent man

is charged! What gives you the right

to say that he's innocent? If police wrongdoing

is part of this, I want to know. Huntley's definitely

hiding something.