:00:00. > :00:00.moment. That has got to be a good thing. That is all from us.
:00:00. > :00:10.Tonight on BBC London News: Stop and search, the Met Commissioner reveals
:00:11. > :00:16.how he considered ending the controversial tactic to help improve
:00:17. > :00:20.community relations. We reveal the results of a BBC London poll on
:00:21. > :00:29.public trust in the Met as the Mayor defends the force. What is not right
:00:30. > :00:32.is to continue to mount an attack on the Metropolitan police force over
:00:33. > :00:40.what they are doing which is for the good. Passages are evacuated after
:00:41. > :00:43.playing a plane aboard its take at city airport. Plus letting Crossrail
:00:44. > :00:56.take the strain, confirmation of plans to extend it to Reading by
:00:57. > :00:59.2019. Am I going to like this guy? And love at first smell, why looks
:01:00. > :01:10.aren't everything in London's latest dating game.
:01:11. > :01:15.Good evening. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has revealed how
:01:16. > :01:17.he considered stopping the controversial tactic of stop and
:01:18. > :01:23.search to help improve community relations. Sir Bernard Hogan`Howe
:01:24. > :01:29.also suggested a change in the law to help the force better reflect the
:01:30. > :01:33.Londoners it serves. Over the next five years he would like to see 50%
:01:34. > :01:37.of new recruits come from an ethnic minority background. His comments
:01:38. > :01:41.come on the day a poll commissioned for BBC London suggests four in five
:01:42. > :01:45.Londoners still have trust in the force despite the recent scandals
:01:46. > :01:52.about spying and corruption. Our political correspondent Karl Mercer
:01:53. > :01:58.reports. It has not been an easy week for the
:01:59. > :02:03.Commissioner. He has faced questions from MPs and been heavily criticised
:02:04. > :02:06.by national newspapers. Now in a special debate to be broadcast
:02:07. > :02:11.tomorrow night he has gone face`to`face with Londoners. He is
:02:12. > :02:17.trying to tackle some of the toughest issues the force is facing.
:02:18. > :02:22.First time I got stop was at the age of 12 on my estate. They say what
:02:23. > :02:30.they always say, you fit the description. Carl Lamey is no
:02:31. > :02:36.stranger to stop and search, the commission are no stranger to his
:02:37. > :02:39.complaints. It is contentious for the reasons you have described and I
:02:40. > :02:45.have contemplated stopping it. Everybody I have talked to have said
:02:46. > :02:50.you have got to do it properly to the right people in the right way.
:02:51. > :02:55.Stop and search has fallen by a third, but the issue is still a
:02:56. > :02:58.tough one for the Met. This morning the Commissioner said he wanted a
:02:59. > :03:04.change in the law to recruit more black officers. I have ordered and
:03:05. > :03:10.asked for a change in the law and I would like to have a system which
:03:11. > :03:15.was 50`50. In Northern Ireland when they changed from the RUC to the PS
:03:16. > :03:23.and I they said they had to recruit equal numbers. You would like 50`50
:03:24. > :03:28.of black Asian and white? That is broadly what London is now. In
:03:29. > :03:33.Scotland Yard they are trying to tackle long`standing problems. It
:03:34. > :03:37.has not been an easy year for the Metropolitan police with revelations
:03:38. > :03:41.about Spire on the Lawrence family, officers being jailed over the
:03:42. > :03:48.Plebgate affair and questions being raised over corruption. But has this
:03:49. > :03:55.damaged the Met's reputation? One poll of 1000 adults suggests 81%
:03:56. > :04:01.trust the police, slightly down from the 85% who said they did last June.
:04:02. > :04:06.When it comes to stop and search 74% said they felt it was an effective
:04:07. > :04:12.tool for please, although just over half said it was unfairly targeted
:04:13. > :04:17.on black men. When it came to what the Met looked like, 80% said it was
:04:18. > :04:23.important it reflected the ethnic make`up of London. On the issue of
:04:24. > :04:29.corruption 22% felt corruption was widespread in the force. Can you
:04:30. > :04:34.look big in the eye and assure me there is no corruption in the Met
:04:35. > :04:41.today? No, I cannot do that entirely. But we have got a lot of
:04:42. > :04:47.integrity in the Met. It is a lot better than it has been in the past.
:04:48. > :04:53.Where we have got 50,000 people, can I say everyone is a saint? No, I
:04:54. > :05:00.cannot. The vast majority do a fantastic job. Londoners agree that
:05:01. > :05:03.these are trying times for the capital's police force. Overall
:05:04. > :05:07.crime may be going down, but the coming months will see more public
:05:08. > :05:12.scrutiny and there is an enquiry into the Met around the corner.
:05:13. > :05:16.With me now is our home affairs corresponding Guy Smith. The deputy
:05:17. > :05:23.commissioner was questioned about the mass shredding files relating to
:05:24. > :05:28.police corruption. Yes, a decade ago a lorry load of intelligence files
:05:29. > :05:32.on police corruption was shredded. Today the deputy commissioner said a
:05:33. > :05:37.computer back`up had also disappeared. It was because of a
:05:38. > :05:43.catastrophic computer failure. Some of that information may be lost
:05:44. > :05:46.forever. But we understand investigators are forensically
:05:47. > :05:52.examining a hard drive they have recently found, so some information
:05:53. > :05:58.might be salvaged. The Mayor got heated about the focus on Met. Boris
:05:59. > :06:02.Johnson as the Mayor is supposed to hold the Met to account and the
:06:03. > :06:06.police and crime committee is supposed to scrutinise him. Some
:06:07. > :06:11.London Assembly members were questioning whether he had a grip on
:06:12. > :06:17.the job of overseeing the Met and he was asked about serious allegations
:06:18. > :06:23.about undercover officers and alleged inappropriate behaviour. It
:06:24. > :06:28.got pretty heated. I am on the defensive and I am defending the
:06:29. > :06:34.role of undercover police officers. I am not being flippant, I am
:06:35. > :06:37.extremely angry. I think, in my view, I think undercover policing is
:06:38. > :06:44.being undermined which is unacceptable. He was then asked
:06:45. > :06:47.whether it was acceptable for undercover officers to spy on the
:06:48. > :06:53.Lawrence family when they were grieving. It is right it has been
:06:54. > :06:58.exposed and it is right we should get to the bottom of what has
:06:59. > :07:02.happened. What is not right is to continue to mount an attack on the
:07:03. > :07:05.Metropolitan police force and what they are doing which is
:07:06. > :07:11.overwhelmingly for the good and I am fed up of attacks on policing in
:07:12. > :07:15.London. It has been a very difficult couple of weeks for the Met after a
:07:16. > :07:19.report into police spying and alleged corruption in the Stephen
:07:20. > :07:28.Lawrence case. The challenge for them now is to win back public
:07:29. > :07:31.trust. Thank you. On a special programme tomorrow evening Sir
:07:32. > :07:41.Bernard Hogan`Howe faces questions from an audience of Londoners at
:07:42. > :07:45.7:30pm on BBC One. Coming up later: The gay couple preparing a midnight
:07:46. > :07:55.marriage to take advantage of a change in the law.
:07:56. > :08:00.Passengers were evacuated from a plane preparing to take off from
:08:01. > :08:05.London's city airport this afternoon following an engine problem. It
:08:06. > :08:10.forced the closure of the airport for a time. Victoria is there with
:08:11. > :08:17.more details. It depends on who you talk to as to
:08:18. > :08:24.how this incident categorised itself this afternoon. The playing is just
:08:25. > :08:37.behind us. It is a Swiss aeroplane, quite a small aeroplane, four
:08:38. > :08:41.engines. LX 437 was due to take off at 14:55pm this afternoon and it
:08:42. > :08:46.failed to make it off the ground after a minor incident. What we
:08:47. > :08:53.understand happened from one of the passengers is there was an explosion
:08:54. > :08:57.from one of the engines. He said the flight taxied along the runway and
:08:58. > :09:02.was about to take off and it did not. He was sitting by the window
:09:03. > :09:07.and he saw planes `` flames coming out of the engine and there was a
:09:08. > :09:13.panic on board. The captain made an announcement and the parachutes were
:09:14. > :09:17.deployed and the passengers got off. There were three minor injuries that
:09:18. > :09:23.were treated on the scene. Fire engines were there as well. What is
:09:24. > :09:25.interesting is the air accident investigation Branch are
:09:26. > :09:31.investigating what they described as a serious incident.
:09:32. > :09:35.Today we got confirmation of plans to extend Crossrail through to
:09:36. > :09:39.Reading. The Government said it would bring an economic boost to the
:09:40. > :09:42.area. The line was due to run from Shenfield in the east to Maidenhead
:09:43. > :09:44.in Berkshire. The Mayor said the project, part funded by the
:09:45. > :09:49.capital's businesses, was another example of how London benefited
:09:50. > :10:00.other parts of the country. Here is our political editor Tim Donovan.
:10:01. > :10:05.Why stop and start at Maidenhead it has been figured when you could go
:10:06. > :10:09.on a few more miles to Reading? A city with thousands of people
:10:10. > :10:14.travelling to and from the capital each day. Half the stress is whether
:10:15. > :10:20.the connection is going to be there. You are wondering whether the Tube
:10:21. > :10:25.line is delayed. One Crossrail station here and another new one at
:10:26. > :10:30.Twyford will boost the area says one of its MPs. It will be a great place
:10:31. > :10:35.for businesses to locate and for people to live and it will be a
:10:36. > :10:39.place of choice because it will be the hub of all the major
:10:40. > :10:45.interchanges. In the capital the tunnel link is all set to be on
:10:46. > :10:49.schedule. It will bring more passengers and more revenue, but it
:10:50. > :10:54.remains just London businesses footing one third of the project.
:10:55. > :11:00.What happens in London is of benefit to the whole of the UK. By extending
:11:01. > :11:06.Crossrail to Reading is a small example of the way London helps to
:11:07. > :11:11.support the rest of the economy. We recognise it is a driver for
:11:12. > :11:17.infrastructure. It will be fairer to people outside London. And why stop
:11:18. > :11:22.at this? The new head of Network Rail said the case for a second
:11:23. > :11:27.Crossrail was an arguable and the boss of one major construction firm
:11:28. > :11:34.said that should carry straight on from Crossrail one. There would be a
:11:35. > :11:38.lot of sense in that. The UK has an experienced team in Crossrail one.
:11:39. > :11:43.They learnt a lot of lessons and developed a lot of great thinking
:11:44. > :11:49.and capability, so why not roll that team on in some way? For now the
:11:50. > :11:53.focus remains getting the first services running on this Crossrail
:11:54. > :11:57.by 2018 and the route complete one year later.
:11:58. > :11:59.The inquest into the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky
:12:00. > :12:02.has recorded an open verdict. The 67`year`old who had claimed
:12:03. > :12:04.political asylum in Britain was discovered slumped on the bathroom
:12:05. > :12:10.floor at his ex`wife's luxury property in Berkshire last year with
:12:11. > :12:12.a ligature around his neck. Mr Berezovsky had spent millions in a
:12:13. > :12:24.long`running legal case against the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
:12:25. > :12:30.The prosecution is coming to a close in the trial of a man accused of
:12:31. > :12:35.murdering PC Keith Blakes Lock in Tottenham in 1985. Today the court
:12:36. > :12:39.heard a poem the defendant wrote in 1988. Kurt Barling is at the Old
:12:40. > :12:48.Bailey. What is the significance of this poem? Caught 16 heard indeed
:12:49. > :12:52.these final pieces of direct evidence that the prosecution
:12:53. > :12:57.alleges links Nicky Jacobs to the murder of PC Keith Blakelaw. The
:12:58. > :13:03.first is the poem you mentioned written by Mr Jacobs when he was a
:13:04. > :13:08.teenager in prison in 1988. Most of it is inappropriate for a family
:13:09. > :13:13.programme, but two key passages go to the heart of the charge of
:13:14. > :13:18.murder. In one he wrote of his intention to kill a police officer,
:13:19. > :13:23.that PC Blakelock was the unlucky one and when the police saw the
:13:24. > :13:30.rioters they scattered, but PC Blakelock did not get away and was
:13:31. > :13:37.set upon. Some of the poem is the ramblings of a teenage mind perhaps,
:13:38. > :13:43.but in a second passage he wrote, we chopped him on his shoulder, his
:13:44. > :13:48.head, his chest, his next, we chop him all over. We killed him and felt
:13:49. > :13:56.much better. It will be for the jury to decide if this juvenile poem
:13:57. > :14:02.written 26 years ago is an indirect admission of guilt, or whether it is
:14:03. > :14:11.something else altogether. You also heard from another witness? Sergeant
:14:12. > :14:17.Hancock was an officer who arrested Nicholas Jacobs for suspected
:14:18. > :14:23.burglary in May, 2000. He told the court Mr Jacobs told him he was the
:14:24. > :14:26.one who killed PC Blakelock. But under cross`examination he agreed it
:14:27. > :14:32.was something he had not written about and he never told a senior
:14:33. > :14:43.officer and only gave a statement 12 years after the event. Nicky Jacobs
:14:44. > :14:46.denies murder. Latest figures from hospitals in the capital show that
:14:47. > :14:48.the overall standard of emergency and maternity services has improved,
:14:49. > :14:51.but levels of care still vary depending on where you live.
:14:52. > :14:54.The NHS introduced new targets after data showed patients admitted for
:14:55. > :15:06.emergency treatment on Saturdays and Sundays have a higher risk of dying.
:15:07. > :15:09.Tarah Welsh has the details. Many mothers will tell you the
:15:10. > :15:14.happiness they get from their baby makes the pain of childbirth worth
:15:15. > :15:19.it. But the experience they get from a hospital can vary. I felt
:15:20. > :15:25.privileged to have had what I had from the consultants down to the
:15:26. > :15:32.midwife. We was told there was no bed and no obstetrician. A study
:15:33. > :15:37.found the London maternal death rate is higher than the rest of the UK.
:15:38. > :15:42.Not one hospital in London has a consultant on its labour ward all of
:15:43. > :15:47.the time. Much less cover and care during the weekend and overnight it
:15:48. > :15:53.was quite shocking at times. The NHS says 81% of the capital's hospitals
:15:54. > :16:04.have one: From a midwife. This independent practitioner says that
:16:05. > :16:11.every hospital should `` 121 care. Without legislation, there is always
:16:12. > :16:18.going to be places that managed not to do that. Hospitals have to assess
:16:19. > :16:24.themselves on how care was provided on weekdays and weekends when you
:16:25. > :16:27.have a 10% higher rate of dying. In most every London hospital, you can
:16:28. > :16:33.expect there to be an experienced doctor in A 24 hours a day. You
:16:34. > :16:38.will get that E.ON. But come here to have a baby and you will not
:16:39. > :16:47.necessarily get that care from a midwife `` you will get that here.
:16:48. > :16:50.When it comes to emergency surges `` surgery, you are likely to see a
:16:51. > :16:55.consultant within 12 hours during the week. We know there is variation
:16:56. > :17:00.in some of the standards are difficult to meet. What we are very
:17:01. > :17:04.encouraged by is that teams of doctors and nurses have at least
:17:05. > :17:10.begun to change the way they work in order to ensure that there is
:17:11. > :17:14.consistency of clinical practice. There is progress in hospitals but
:17:15. > :17:22.it still depends on when and where you go.
:17:23. > :17:25.Still to come before 7pm: Love at first smell ` why looks aren't
:17:26. > :17:37.everything in London's latest dating game.
:17:38. > :17:49.I am bringing you the weather. See you later. Goodbye.
:17:50. > :17:53.Until now, civil partnerships have been the only option for gay couples
:17:54. > :17:56.wanting to formalise their relationship. But from this weekend,
:17:57. > :17:59.they will be able to marry. The law changes at midnight on Friday and
:18:00. > :18:02.one couple will be gathering their friends and family in Westminster to
:18:03. > :18:10.tie the knot straightaway. Roya Neekah went to meet them.
:18:11. > :18:17.I take you, John, to be my wedded husband. It may not be their big day
:18:18. > :18:20.just yet, but tomorrow at the stroke of midnight this couple will make
:18:21. > :18:25.history when same`sex marriage finally becomes legal in this
:18:26. > :18:31.country. They will marry at a library in central London. It will
:18:32. > :18:35.finally mark their equal footing in society with heterosexual couples. I
:18:36. > :18:40.think I will go for something plain. They have been preparing for their
:18:41. > :18:45.wedding day, just like any other couple. In addition to the nerves
:18:46. > :18:51.and excitement, they know their wedding marks a new era. We are
:18:52. > :18:59.changing a fundamental building block of our society, marriage. That
:19:00. > :19:02.is quite daunting. Also, you could say that because we are changing
:19:03. > :19:07.that institution of marriage and moving it forward, we are improving
:19:08. > :19:11.it. They will tie the knot in a double wedding ceremony alongside
:19:12. > :19:17.their friends, a heterosexual couple. Like them, John and Bernardo
:19:18. > :19:23.are able to celebrate their relationship through the union of
:19:24. > :19:27.marriage. I think it is a good opportunity for a gay couple to show
:19:28. > :19:34.to the rest of the world that at the end of the day we are equal. Here we
:19:35. > :19:40.are with a couple of straight friends, they want to get married in
:19:41. > :19:44.the same way as us. Although Church of England weddings are still not
:19:45. > :19:48.available for gay couples, they feel the ability to get married is a
:19:49. > :19:53.definite step in the right direction towards equality. For this couple,
:19:54. > :19:57.this is significant. Until now, they would have been rehearsing a civil
:19:58. > :20:05.partnership. On Saturday, they will be among the very first couples to
:20:06. > :20:09.legally become husband and husband. And you can see more on that on Gay,
:20:10. > :20:21.Married and Legal on fourth April at 7.30pm on BBC One. Now, if you
:20:22. > :20:23.haven't had much luck with the dating game and think you've tried
:20:24. > :20:26.everything, think again. Match`makers in the capital say a
:20:27. > :20:29.plastic bag stuffed with smelly T`shirts could be the key to finding
:20:30. > :20:34.your perfect partner. Helen Drew has been finding out more.
:20:35. > :20:40.Could it be that love is in the air this week? Pheromone parties have
:20:41. > :20:43.wafted over from America and the idea is you choose who to date by
:20:44. > :20:48.their smell. You turn up to the party with a teacher you have slept
:20:49. > :20:56.in for three nights before popping it in a bag to seal be sent `` seal
:20:57. > :20:59.the smell. Someone will have to smell this and decide if it smells
:21:00. > :21:08.nice. People get sniffing on the night. A bit different. This smells
:21:09. > :21:17.musty. Maybe that is not the right smell to be looking for. Very clean.
:21:18. > :21:21.A few smell of smoke, cooking. I have rejected those and gone for a
:21:22. > :21:26.few that smelt clean with a bit of an edge.
:21:27. > :21:31.Assuming you can find a T`shirt that is not too bad, you have your photo
:21:32. > :21:38.taken holding up its number. The photo is projected onto the wall and
:21:39. > :21:42.then people can be united. There is science behind the parties. We all
:21:43. > :21:46.give off pheromones and many believe they play a big role in attraction.
:21:47. > :21:53.In fact, some have higher hopes than others. I came here to find a wife.
:21:54. > :21:59.Hopefully for life. It is difficult to connect with people in London. I
:22:00. > :22:04.like weird things. I thought maybe this will help make a connection.
:22:05. > :22:09.Even the party's organiser had reservations at first. I did not how
:22:10. > :22:14.the London crowd would take to the idea. It has been successful in
:22:15. > :22:20.America. It has never happened in London before. The verdict? I have
:22:21. > :22:27.not met the woman of my dreams yet. Maybe I have and I do not know it.
:22:28. > :22:31.The next pheromone filled party will take place in East London in July so
:22:32. > :22:36.you have got a while to work on the aroma.
:22:37. > :22:46.I will let you judge that one! As we have been hearing, thousands of
:22:47. > :22:49.pupils have been taking part in the BBC's School Report, spending the
:22:50. > :22:52.day in newsrooms across the country. I'm pleased to say we were one of
:22:53. > :22:55.them. Nicola, Freddie and Daniel from Sunbury Manor School joined
:22:56. > :22:58.Wendy Hurrell to see how the weather forecast is put together. We'll hear
:22:59. > :23:01.Wendy in a moment. But first, here's how they got on.
:23:02. > :23:06.Early on, a woman rang the BBC and said there was a hurricane on the
:23:07. > :23:10.way. There is in. It is not easy to predict the weather. When Michael
:23:11. > :23:16.Fish broadcast that report, he had no idea the UK would experience one
:23:17. > :23:20.of the worst storms on record. A lot has changed. Technology is more
:23:21. > :23:26.advanced. Millions has been spent on computers to get the forecast spot
:23:27. > :23:35.on. We are here to learn how to make a weather forecast. Wendy helps us
:23:36. > :23:38.with questions. What is the first ever weather forecasting tool?
:23:39. > :23:46.Goodness gracious. In caveman days, they used stones. If they were wet,
:23:47. > :23:50.they knew it was raining. This is showing the radar picture. All of
:23:51. > :23:57.the showers we have had today. Then beware the studio with Freddy
:23:58. > :24:03.recording the weather Outlook `` then down to the studio. This is the
:24:04. > :24:16.important bit, the weather. It was cold in the breeze. It will
:24:17. > :24:23.term `` turn warmer. Lively showers today. We had rumbles of thunder, a
:24:24. > :24:27.bit of hail in places. As we go through the night, mostly it will be
:24:28. > :24:34.dry. The wind will be lighter and there will be breaks in the cloud.
:24:35. > :24:41.One or two missed or fog patches. A touch of fog in sheltered spots.
:24:42. > :24:46.Close to freezing. Temperatures in the towns and cities more like four
:24:47. > :24:49.or five degrees. Tomorrow's starting with a little bit of misty
:24:50. > :24:56.murkiness. There may be one or two showers mainly in the south`west.
:24:57. > :25:00.Actually, in the afternoon, a lot of dry and increasingly sunny weather.
:25:01. > :25:06.Again, there will be a breeze. Quite brisk. It will slowly turn around to
:25:07. > :25:10.the south`east. That will help to lift the temperature. 15 degrees
:25:11. > :25:15.tomorrow. It is looking pretty good for the weekend. We have got high
:25:16. > :25:20.pressure in charge. It blocks of any of the low`pressure systems out on
:25:21. > :25:27.the Atlantic. It will draw in and from the south`east. That is a
:25:28. > :25:33.little bit warmer. `` draw in no. Hazy sunshine for the weekend. It
:25:34. > :25:36.will be warmer as well. Southeasterly winds. As an early
:25:37. > :25:41.warning, it is time to put the clocks forward on Saturday night. I
:25:42. > :25:45.will remind you of that again. Here is the proper Outlook with Freddy.
:25:46. > :25:52.This is your weekend news. On Saturday, it will be 18 degrees. It
:25:53. > :25:59.will be a little bit cloudy but why more sunny. On Sunday, more cloudy
:26:00. > :26:05.than sunny. 19 degrees. On Monday, it will be rainy showers but not a
:26:06. > :26:13.lot of Sun. Loads of clouds. Slightly warmer. It is all coming
:26:14. > :26:16.from the south`east. See you later. Well done, Freddie, Nicola and
:26:17. > :26:25.Daniel. The main headlines now: Regulators
:26:26. > :26:27.will investigate whether the big six UK energy suppliers prevent
:26:28. > :26:33.effective competition in the UK energy market. Ofgem says the
:26:34. > :26:37.investigation will take around 18 months.
:26:38. > :26:40.A damning report into how police forces in England and Wales deal
:26:41. > :26:43.with domestic violence has found that victims are being put at
:26:44. > :26:48.unnecessary risk. A review found forces have unacceptable weaknesses
:26:49. > :26:51.in the way they investigate cases. The chief medical officer for
:26:52. > :26:56.England has warned that obesity has become too normal in society.
:26:57. > :27:01.The Met Commissioner has revealed how he considered ending the
:27:02. > :27:05.controversial tactic of stop and search. He said he wants to improve
:27:06. > :27:13.diversity in the force. More on our website. From me and all
:27:14. > :27:17.of the team, thank you for watching. Have a lovely evening.