26/03/2014 BBC London News

in a moment with analysis of that debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel

Good evening. Prince Charles has given his opinion on solving

London's housing problem. He believes architects should look at

using mansion blocks more effectively ` as well as building

more squares as they did in Georgian and Victorian times. But the Mayor

has responded by saying it's crazy to write off the idea of having more

high`rise buildings. Alex Bushill reports.

Tower block versus terrace. Modernists versus traditionalists.

The Mayor versus the Prince. The Prince of Wales today outlined his

vision of a London based on the beauty of the Maida Vale mansion

block and the terraces of Notting Hill. I'm greatly encouraged by the

report's central recommendation that we should consider mid`rise as one

of the key solutions to London's necessary expansion. He was

launching a Prince's Foundation housing report. With 36,000 new

households expected each year and only 24,000 being built, there will

be a shortfall of nearly 600,000 by 2022. His solution ` more mid`sized

housing, around five storeys, along transport corridors, especially in

the suburbs. And more infill building, typically where bombs once

fell. The report also criticises much of high`rise living as a sink

estates in the sky. Not fair, says this award`winning architect. He

lives with his family at the Barbican's towers. High`rise living

gives you the ability to access things like sunlight, daylight,

ventilation, all of the things that are quite problematic when you're

naturally trying to deliver infill housing in some of the inner`city

boroughs of London. For others, there is a bigger question ` how to

provide affordable housing on increasingly unaffordable land.

Everybody understands that we have to densify the city. The problem is

how to do that when land is so terribly expensive. Although the

report does talk about the price of land in London, it doesn't seem to

offer any solutions. And tonight the mayor weighed in. Everybody in an

ideal world would like to see just loads of London terraced streets and

squares and so on. But it is possible, on many sites, to build

good, sensible, affordable high`rise accommodation. Beautiful homes where

there's good transport links. It's absolutely crazy to rule out

high`rise in those cases. Regardless of which is best ` steel and glass,

bricks and mortar ` the fact that the Mayor and the Prince have so

publicly disagreed shows just how hard it is to build any consensus,

let alone enough homes for London. The brother of one of the men who

killed Lee Rigby in Woolwich last year says his sibling feels sorry

for the dead soldier's sun ` but doesn't regret the murder. Michael

Adebolajo's brother Jeremiah was speaking to the BBC, as our home

affairs correspondent Guy Smith reports.

The judge described the murder of Lee Rigby as barbaric. He said the

two British Muslim converts killed the 25`year`old soldier in a way

that would generate maximum media coverage. That the men, both from

London, gloried in what they had done. Michael Adebolajo was given a

whole`life term with no chance of parole. His accomplice jailed for a

minimum of 45 years. Today Adebolajo's brother told the BBC he

believed the sentencing was Islamophobic. Not only that but I

think it was more trial by the public. There was a lot of public

outrage, as could be understood. I mean, the death of a soldier in any

country would provoke... Would provoke the outrage that it did. I

would suggest that Justice Sweeney was simply giving in to that

pressure. The sentencing has nothing to do with Islamophobia whatsoever.

And what Adebolajo s brother said is, in fact, quite perverse and

provocative in the extreme and should be condemned. I recall the

trial's judge castigating the two murderers for trying to excuse their

evil crime through an affiliation with Islam. The brother claimed

Adebolajo is sorry for the distress caused to Lee Rigby's son.

Young health care students at a London university are amongst the

first in the country to experience what it's like to be old age

pensioner ` with the help of a specially designed suit. It

restricts movement and changes the way you see and hear. Nick Beake has

been having a closer look. We're just going to go up a flight

of stairs, OK? It's one small step and it's hard work. Can you see how

many stairs there are? Hardly. 23`year`old Jalaruban is putting

himself in the shoes of the patients he'll be treating in hospital.

There's a very heavily weighted body suit to give the idea of weariness

ofmovement, lack of flexibility in the spine. For the past few months,

trainee health care assistants have been using this age`simulator suit.

It greatly restricts movement and the special glasses replicate the

likes of cataracts. Can you hear me? Yeah, I can hear

you. What does it feel like? It feels very heavy. I can barely move

myself. It's being used in the wake of scandals such as Mid Staffs,

where hundreds of patients were neglected, maltreated and shown

little empathy. Just walking around in this suit is extremely difficult.

The strain on all your limbs and your back is considerable. And when

you put these glasses on, the experience is made even more

difficult. You might see that my hands are twitching at the moment.

That's because there is an electrical pulse being sent through

them to simulate twitching. So a normal day`to`day experience like

pouring a glass of water is made considerably more difficult. No

problems with mobility at Age Concern Kingston today, a drop`in

centre for the over`60s. What's the verdict here? If you restrict

people's movements and stuff like that, a young person, surely it can

only teach them what they're going to look forward to in old age. I

think it's a marvellous idea. Nobody realises what it's like to lose your

balance. It's for that reason they hope this can build a better

understanding of an older body and mind and lead to better care.

BBC London has learnt that Crossrail will be extended to Reading. The

plan was for it to end at Maidenhead ` but sources have told us it'll now

go ten miles further west ` so a journey from Reading to London will

take 50 minutes. An official announcement is expected tomorrow.

That's it from me. Now the weather with Wendy Hurrell. Good evening. If

it feels chilly to you, it is going to be warming up at the weekend.

Tonight, though, despite the fact that we've got a fair amount of

cloud, any breaks in it will be enough to turn a bit frosty and

since we've also got some showers around, there could be some icy

patches as well. Temperatures fall to freezing if not below in

sheltered spots. A bit of mist and murk tomorrow morning. The brightest

part of the day will be the morning. Come the afternoon, there will be

showers around, generally more isolated than today but they could

be quite lively. You might see hail and there will be a cold wind still

blowing. On the outlook, it is warming up towards the weekend.

Here's Nick Miller with more. Some of the many faces of spring

weather showed themselves today. Sun in Scotland, snow in the showers

that moved in across England. Hail as well. Adrian took this picture

from Essex and the chilly feel stays with us for the rest of the week

along with further showers. If you don't like this, wait for this!

Temperatures heading up at the weekend. To achieve that, we need to

change the weather pattern which is tailored towards a cold wind coming

in from the North Sea and low pressure giving us showers. Cold

enough for the rest of the night for the showers to fall as snow on