12/02/2018 Inside Out London

Hello, I'm Sean Fletcher,

you're watching Inside Out London.

Here's what's coming

up on tonight's show.

We expose how the fake fur you're

being sold could be made

from foreign factory-farmed animals.

These animals are kept in filthy,

cramped cages, they are killed

in the most horrendous ways,

and all for the sake

of a decoration.

How London aid workers are trying

to save lives in the world's

largest refugee camp.

We've just been talking

to another lady who's just

taken 11 days to travel

here after watching

her husband get shot.

It's really horrendous stories,

and they really need our help.

And why 50 years on,

the iconic jumbo jet

is still the queen of the skies.

It was wider, bigger, taller,

everything you can think of.

Faux or fake fur is all the rage

this winter, from the bobbles

on hats to the trim on coats,

and for many of us it's an ethical

choice to buy imitation fur rather

than the real thing.

But an Inside Out investigation has

revealed that some of the supposedly

fake fur we're being sold

is actually from real animals,

slaughtered in overseas factories.

Alex Bushill has this

exclusive report.

Think animal fur and chances

are you think designer,

luxurious, expensive.

You might also think

cruel and barbaric.

That's why so many of us choose faux

or fake fur to adorn our clothes.

But how many of us can

tell the difference?

Not sure, feel like I'm

flummoxed with it.

Would change my mind

and say that one was real.

Tonight I'm going to reveal how

we are being misled and sold a lie.

How the rag trade the length

and breadth of London may have been

flooded with imported farmed animal

fur masquerading as fake fur.

Our investigation starts

here, Camden Market.

One of the most famous

markets in the world.

28 million people come

here every year, 100,000

each weekend, all drawn

here by its vibrant street fashion.

Armed with a secret camera,

we joined the crowds

looking for a purchase.

A coat with a fur trim.

Is this real fur or fake fur?

According to the price it's fake.

Because if it was real, it would be

£300 or £400.

It's definitely fake fur, yeah?

Definitely fake one, yeah.

The price is fake one, of course.

I don't want to buy

if it's real fur.

No, no, real is very expensive, sir.

Real is very expensive.

100%, yeah?

100%, yeah.

100% fake fur?

101%.

And here is the coat we just bought,

it even has a label

saying 100% polyester.

So clearly no animal fur here?

Only one way to find out.

Dr Phil Greaves is the country's

leading micro fibre expert.

We asked him to run all the tests

needed to find out for sure if this

was real fur or faux fur.

What is it?

It's animal fibre as it's got

this structural feature

which only animal fibres have.

It's got an external margin

of scales, an internal

medullary structure,

pigment within the fibres,

it consists of two coats

and the fibres are tapered

towards the tips.

So that's 100% certain?

100%.

But which animal species exactly?

We asked him to run more tests.

While we wait for those results

to come back, it's worth

remembering what we were told

when we bought that coat.

At 30 quid it's so cheap

it has to be fake fur.

A lot of people think for is

expensive and would look at a £10

hit and not think for a second it

was real. We encourage people not to

sleepwalk into buying real for and

supporting such an apartment

industry.

Her charity has even gone

undercover themselves,

filming this footage

of what they describe

as battery fur farms in China.

In the cages, row after

row of racoon dogs.

The Humane Society has long

campaigned to highlight the issue

of cheap imported real

fur, which they say

is now produced to such

an industrial scale at farms

like this that the price has dropped

to rock bottom.

That's why they say these

hides could easily be

bound for a high street

or market near you.

So just how bad is the

problem here in London?

It's time to go bargain-hunting

again with our secret camera.

This time, the length

of London from here,

Shepherd's Bush Market,

to Stratford Market in the east.

In all we filmed 17 shops

and stalls, again and again

they told us it was fake

fur when it wasn't.

I don't think it's real, man.

Nothing in this shop

is meat out of an animal.

It's like a fake fur,

so it looks real, but it's not real.

And again in Shepherd's Bush Market.

It's not real.

Take me to court.

Take you to court, yeah?

Take me to court over

it but it's not, 100%.

And then in Stratford,

again we were misled.

This time the fur she sold us even

had traces of cat hair.

It's synthetic items,

you know, it's not real.

Real can't be for this

price, you know.

We were even told by one stall

holder that animal rights were top

of her list as she sold us real fur.

I wouldn't sell it if it was real

because I love animals.

The thought of an animal being

killed just to put a bobble on you.

But that's exactly what she has done

- her garment had mink fur on it.

And that coat we were fist sold,

well, that's racoon dog.

And the tests are back for the rest

of the clothes we bought as well.

It found everything

you sent me had animal fur.

Ranging from rabbit, to mink,

to racoon dog, to fox.

None of these are labelled

as being made from animal fur.

And I think the parallel

is if a vegetarian bought burgers

and found they were made from real

meat, there would be

an outcry ? well, this

is a similar thing with fur.

Julie is a vegetarian,

a vegan, in fact.

She complained that this

hairclip had a pompom that

looked suspiciously real.

She was reassured by

the shop they weren't.

They were.

Mink fur, in fact.

If I did buy that, wearing it

thinking it was faux fur,

makes me really ill.

I'd feel really sick.

I know what they go

through and it's not worth it.

The Humane Society says Julie is far

from alone in complaining

about being mis-sold real fur.

It's an appalling act to mislead

a would-be ethical consumer

into buying a product

from an industry which causes such

enormous suffering to millions

and millions of animals,

animals kept in tiny wire

cages, fed on waste,

denied veterinary care,

all for a frivolous pompom

or a trim on a coat.

So she's clear the supply chain has

been undermined by cheap real fur.

We wanted to test that

thought for ourselves.

That's why we've come here

to Commercial Road in east London.

I've had a tip-off that this is one

of the places to best understand how

it is that the supply chain may now

have been overrun with cheap,

imported real fur.

Many of the wholesalers here supply

shops and stalls across London.

So, pretending we wanted stock

for our own market stall,

we went into a wholesaler.

It's a family run business

and many of the items

contain real fur here.

The manager then tells us we can

dupe customers who only want

fake fur to buy real fur instead,

using the tags as a ploy.

Just say, I don't know.

It doesn't say anything

on this, so I can only

tell you it's faux fur.

Later when challenged he explained

that this is common practice

amongst other wholesalers.

A trick of the trade.

The law is the same for wholesalers,

shops and stall holders -

you can't mislead people

to secure a sale.

So what do those who mis-sold us

real fur have to say for themselves?

Remember this lady?

Well, we caught up with her,

and while showing me photos of stray

cats she said she'd taken in,

she gave me this reply.

I honestly didn't realise it had

real fur in it at all.

I bought it from my supplier

that I had been doing

business with for years.

And I had it in the shop and wasn't

aware that it contained

real fur or anything.

And now we've told you it

has, how do you feel?

I'm extremely upset,

I'm a staunch animal lover.

We asked everyone who sold us real

fur as faux fur to explain.

Some simply didn't

comment, like these two.

So we don't know if they

themselves were victims,

duped by their suppliers.

Others like this lady

said she was shocked,

relied on the label and was assured

by her supplier it wasn't real fur.

She's now removed

the items from sale.

Others like this stall holder said

they had wrongly assumed

it was manmade and had never

intended to mislead.

That's all of little comfort

to anyone who may have inadvertedly

bought real fur instead of faux fur.

A Parliamentary inquiry has just

been announced to look

at this specific issue.

Our investigation will form part

of the evidence it looks at.

So, how do those punters feel

when I tell them that they too have

been tricked into thinking the fur

was fake when it wasn't?

What would you say if I

told you that was cat?

I have two cats, that

would make me very sad.

That is ? that's cat fur.

No, it's not!

How do you feel about that?

Horrible, I don't want

to touch it again.

Really annoyed, I'd be so upset.

So wilfully misled, or sold a lie?

Perhaps just an innocent mistake?

You decide.

Again and again in markets

across London we were duped

into buying fake fur that was real.

Time now to shut up shop.

The question is, what to

do with all this fur?

And here it is all bagged

up and ready to go,

straight in the bin.

Alex Bushill reporting there.

Now then, still to come on tonight's

show:

You had no ideal for the first

landing how high up you were. It was

like a block of flats.

Three London aid workers have

travelled out to one of the world's

largest refugee camp in Bangladesh,

which in recent months has become

home to hundreds of thousands

of Rohingya Muslims fleeing

persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.

The workers filmed some

heart-breaking video diaries

of their efforts to help some

of the desperate refugees.

Chris Rogers has the story.

I should warn you that some

of the content in his

report is distressing.

Our London aid workers

are heading into the world's

largest refugee camp.

This is home to more than 800,000

Rohingya Muslim refugees.

And thousands keep crossing

the border, escaping persecution

in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.

Dr Ramiz Momeni,

Genevieve Jones-Hernandez

and Sarah Wade have travelled

the world helping refugees.

But nothing can prepare them

for what lies ahead,

all of which they capture on camera.

We're on our way now

to the Myanmar refugee camp.

It is a restricted site,

it's controlled by the army.

I've had a few comments

here and there obviously asking me

if I am doing the right thing,

leaving a toddler behind

for a period of time,

but ultimately he's surrounded

by family, friends.

You know, this is why I work

for charity, I work for charity

because I want to help people

who really need it.

There isn't anywhere else that any

of us would rather be

because the need is so great here.

This is the gateway to the camp,

where aid workers register

and refugees receive essentials.

There are 6000 that's come

in in the last three days.

What it is that they receive here

is a bag with a bucket and I guess

some building essentials.

The Humanitas charity are heading

deep into the camp where there is no

aid to set up a medical centre.

We are walking to set

up our clinic where no-one else,

no-one else has reached yet,

so obviously it's going to be tough.

I'm speechless in terms of how far

this extends into this land.

It just goes on and

on and on forever.

The next day, word

spreads help has arrived.

But can a small team of aid

workers from London cope

with this many patients?

They have to prioritise women

and children suffering from lack

of food, disease and injuries

from their journey to the camp.

He has got a child who hasn't

eaten for three days

and has bad diarrhoea.

Some children have been

born on the 800 mile

trek from in Myanmar.

Hundreds of others have

been born in the camp.

This is a newborn baby that was born

yesterday and they tied

the umbilical cord with just

a piece of rope.

They are just in incredible

pain with these sores

all over their heads and really dry

skin and cracked skin

over their body, so we were,

you know, literally just rubbing

them down with Vaseline and cream

just to sooth that pain.

Today, like, it's been nonstop

and they are shivering,

coughing, throwing up.

It's just, it's...

I don't know, I can't, seriously.

Every day the team manage

to see around 80 patients,

but with hundreds of thousands

needing help they move their clinic

around the camp, trying to reach

as many as they can.

Their mother did not make the trip

so she had to pass her baby

onto her bigger baby to bring here.

The baby is ten and a half days

and hasn't been breast fed.

There are so many babies,

newborns 14 days old,

don't have any food, starving.

It's an underweight baby.

She was prescribed vitamins just

for her but not for the baby.

Honestly, it's like the baby's

dying, so we've just organised

for her to get go and get referred

because she needs to go to

the hospital and for that she needs

to have her ID card.

And then straight after her we've

just been talking to another lady

who's just took 11 days to travel

here after watching

her husband get shot.

It's really horrendous stories

and they really need our help.

Do you know why she had to leave?

Yes, they came here

because they are torturing them.

What's her name?

She is 13 years old.

Does she remember what happened

before she came here?

These people drove them away.

She saw that houses are being

torched and killing happening,

so this is why she came here.

The Myanmar government

strongly denies it is

persecuting the Rohingya.

The UN describes their treatment

as ethnic genocide.

I'm just fascinated by how

resilient these people

are with their cooking,

their survival.

They've got a car battery I think

connecting themselves up

to a little bit of electricity,

they've got their

firewood over there.

Some families have lived here

for years, in a stateless world,

stuck on the border of two countries

that do not want them.

I'm going to continue

to see the patients we saw

yesterday and check up,

and then we're going head

all the way down there

for the second part of the day.

So, tell her that we are very sorry

that she lost the baby.

I think we expected to turn up

and be working alongside a lot more

organisations or volunteers.

Her pulse is very low so we're just

rushing to the hospital we got these

newly arrived Rohingya

with severe, severe dehydration.

There is an absolute lack

of aid for these people.

Larger, international aid

organisations complain Myanmar has

blocked aid convoys and staff

reaching the refugee camp.

It's time for the team head home,

but more refugees arrive,

in biblical numbers.

All of these people tired, sick,

hungry and yet to reach their final

destination in this camp

and set up home.

It's not so much as of a difficult

thing to be here, I think it'll be

more of a difficult thing to leave

knowing that we are leaving these

people in such a dire situation.

Somehow they're incredible and,

you know, the way I see it,

we're here to be a positive

influence, you know,

so we have to come with energy,

come with smiles, come

with balloons, bubbles

as well as the medicine,

show them that people care.

Half a century ago Heathrow Airport

was frantically preparing

for the invasion of an American

giant that promised flying for all.

London was the very first

destination of the 747 jumbo jet ?

a craft nearly three times the size

of existing airliners.

Now, 50 years on, with the very last

American-owned 747 bidding

farewell to Heathrow,

Mark Jordan has been

tracking down the pioneers

of the iconic Queen of the Skies.

Aviation history this winter

as United flew the last American

owned 747 out of Heathrow.

Around the world the jumbo jet's

been saying goodbye to some

of the five billion they've flown.

We are so sad to see her leave.

Journey's end, as many come to rest

in desert boneyards.

Going to miss you, girl.

50 years ago the jumbo jet was born.

I've been tracking those pioneers

that made London the first

destination of the 747.

I'm taking one of its

first British pilots

from prototype to today's 747.

It was quite a challenge to fly

the airplane efficiently

without breaking all the engines!

And catch me if you can -

bound for London, that

world-first flight.

So this is you on the first flight?

Yes.

Born 1968, an age of

space, speed and size.

Apollo, Concorde and the jumbo.

As Duxford's amazing

British Aircraft collection shows,

Britain was a jet-age pioneer,

but its biggest

aircraft held just 150.

The 747 was going to take 400.

Before the jumbo, a round trip

between London and New York was over

£5000 in today's money.

Without the 747 it had been

a rich man's occupation.

It reduced the cost of flying

in effect to a level

where the ordinary person

could afford to fly.

For many months, London Airport has

been preparing for the day

when the first doors

of the jumbo open.

I remember as crew walking

step by step looking up,

and the closer we got

the bigger it got.

I remember thinking,

how are we going to do this?

Seats as far as you could see,

it was very frightening.

Overwhelming!

The 747 is coming in a big way.

Every country you went to,

crowds standing watching it come in.

As test flights and tours created

jumbo mania at Heathrow,

Britain's BOAC sent their man,

Hugh Dibley, to America

to learn how to fly a jumbo.

No simulators ? just the real thing!

I think there were about ten of us

on the flight deck watching this.

You have no idea for

the first landing how high

up from the ground - it really

was like landing a block of flats!

Also, the wheels are a long

way behind you, wheels

still over the grass.

Yes, it was very nice to look

down on the peasants

and the mini jets below!

As Hugh grappled with his flying

block of flats, designers got

to work on ocean liner style

interiors in every colour.

When the British Airline starts

using jumbo jets in May,

the glam girls who fly in them

will have a complete new wardrobe.

We've brought Hugh back to Heathrow

with Al Bridger, BA's top 747 pilot.

Slightly different to

what you are used to.

Well this is a big

change, of course.

Flatbed seats.

Americans have retired

the 747 for smaller more

fuel efficient craft,

BA revamped these even larger modern

ones for five more years.

So this is the bit you have come

to see ? flight deck.

It's all by screen whereas we had

clockwork instruments.

Back in the day Boeing installed

revolutionary autopilot.

But BOAC didn't trust it so put

in their own sextants!

The things used by sail

ships to read the stars.

The first three jumbos

for BOAC had a sextant mount

in case the automatic

navigation didn't work.

Modern 747s are a long way

from the jet engines

Hugh had to deal with.

We were having six

engine changes per week.

Engine failures were routine.

You had to watch it all the time

as there were occasions when it

didn't work very well.

Wheras these are so reliable.

But it was Pan Am that made that

world inaugural flight

from New York to London.

From a photo of the crew,

I finally track down Elise in Oslo.

Hello, amazing to meet you!

So this is you on that first flight.

Just after landing in London,and me

between the captains.

Does the hat still fit?

Yes.

But the glitz of that very first

flight was tarnished

by those jet engines.

Something happened for take off,one

of the engines heated up, some

said they saw flames but the captain

decided to go back to the terminal.

The world's press watched

the worlds biggest jet return.

Some clearly had Titanic fears.

Some people went off aircraft

and said never again

and never came back.

About 30 passengers never came back.

Seven hours later, those remaining

took off on what's became one

of the safest aircraft in the world.

It was very quiet when we took off.

Nervous?

Of course, it was a new thing.

So, we decided to start

serving champagne.

Our purser told us,

keep serving champagne ?

they wont know if they are in

They landed safe

but late at Heathrow.

In the early days Pan Am and BOAC

left for New York at the same time

with their new jumbos.

The race was on.

They had a flight to New York

and it was always a little

competition to get there.

We always managed to get away

first, we always managed

to get to Kennedy first.

Nothing has changed!

And here's the funny thing.

When Boeing created the 747

they thought it a mere stop gap

before supersonic travel took over.

But Concorde came and went.

The jumbo is still here.

But for how much longer?

This month Delta flew America's very

last passenger 747 to its graveyard.

This is where the whales come

to rest when they are

done with their job.

If you are flying a 747 400

you are flying every pilot's dream.

What a way to say goodbye

to the airplane and create

a memory for our wedding.

I'm going to cry

because it's so sad.

We kind of grew up on this airplane.

When the airplane goes

to the boneyard everybody signs

it and puts a little

something saying farewell.

This plane will hold

our heart forever.

Oh, I think one's heart aches to see

any machine being broken up

Oh, I think one's heart aches to see

any machine being broken up,

especially the 747.

When one thinks back to the time

when we had such great times.

And it allowed so many people

to fly all over the world.

Mark Jordan there.

I can still remember when I first

travelled on a jumbo jet.

Truly, an amazing experience!

Well that's about all

for tonight's Inside Out.

Before we go, though,

let's have a quick look at what's

coming up in our next programme

in two weeks' time.

The only Way is up -

is building on our rooftops

the solution to London's housing

crisis?

The combination of building in the

aerospace but doing it when all the

work is done off-site, so it

minimises inconvenience. It has to

be an exciting concept.

Why hiring a professional 'friend'

to help with your court case

could do more harm than good.

They are clogging the courts, they

give false hope to people.

And that's it for this

week's Inside Out.

just head to our website

bbc.co.uk/insideout -

just click on London.

Thanks very much for watching,we'll

be back on air in two weeks' time

time, I'll see you then.