27/03/2014 BBC London News

moment. That has got to be a good thing. That is all from us.

Tonight on BBC London News: Stop and search, the Met Commissioner reveals

how he considered ending the controversial tactic to help improve

community relations. We reveal the results of a BBC London poll on

public trust in the Met as the Mayor defends the force. What is not right

is to continue to mount an attack on the Metropolitan police force over

what they are doing which is for the good. Passages are evacuated after

playing a plane aboard its take at city airport. Plus letting Crossrail

take the strain, confirmation of plans to extend it to Reading by

2019. Am I going to like this guy? And love at first smell, why looks

aren't everything in London's latest dating game.

Good evening. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has revealed how

he considered stopping the controversial tactic of stop and

search to help improve community relations. Sir Bernard Hogan`Howe

also suggested a change in the law to help the force better reflect the

Londoners it serves. Over the next five years he would like to see 50%

of new recruits come from an ethnic minority background. His comments

come on the day a poll commissioned for BBC London suggests four in five

Londoners still have trust in the force despite the recent scandals

about spying and corruption. Our political correspondent Karl Mercer

reports. It has not been an easy week for the

Commissioner. He has faced questions from MPs and been heavily criticised

by national newspapers. Now in a special debate to be broadcast

tomorrow night he has gone face`to`face with Londoners. He is

trying to tackle some of the toughest issues the force is facing.

First time I got stop was at the age of 12 on my estate. They say what

they always say, you fit the description. Carl Lamey is no

stranger to stop and search, the commission are no stranger to his

complaints. It is contentious for the reasons you have described and I

have contemplated stopping it. Everybody I have talked to have said

you have got to do it properly to the right people in the right way.

Stop and search has fallen by a third, but the issue is still a

tough one for the Met. This morning the Commissioner said he wanted a

change in the law to recruit more black officers. I have ordered and

asked for a change in the law and I would like to have a system which

was 50`50. In Northern Ireland when they changed from the RUC to the PS

and I they said they had to recruit equal numbers. You would like 50`50

of black Asian and white? That is broadly what London is now. In

Scotland Yard they are trying to tackle long`standing problems. It

has not been an easy year for the Metropolitan police with revelations

about Spire on the Lawrence family, officers being jailed over the

Plebgate affair and questions being raised over corruption. But has this

damaged the Met's reputation? One poll of 1000 adults suggests 81%

trust the police, slightly down from the 85% who said they did last June.

When it comes to stop and search 74% said they felt it was an effective

tool for please, although just over half said it was unfairly targeted

on black men. When it came to what the Met looked like, 80% said it was

important it reflected the ethnic make`up of London. On the issue of

corruption 22% felt corruption was widespread in the force. Can you

look big in the eye and assure me there is no corruption in the Met

today? No, I cannot do that entirely. But we have got a lot of

integrity in the Met. It is a lot better than it has been in the past.

Where we have got 50,000 people, can I say everyone is a saint? No, I

cannot. The vast majority do a fantastic job. Londoners agree that

these are trying times for the capital's police force. Overall

crime may be going down, but the coming months will see more public

scrutiny and there is an enquiry into the Met around the corner.

With me now is our home affairs corresponding Guy Smith. The deputy

commissioner was questioned about the mass shredding files relating to

police corruption. Yes, a decade ago a lorry load of intelligence files

on police corruption was shredded. Today the deputy commissioner said a

computer back`up had also disappeared. It was because of a

catastrophic computer failure. Some of that information may be lost

forever. But we understand investigators are forensically

examining a hard drive they have recently found, so some information

might be salvaged. The Mayor got heated about the focus on Met. Boris

Johnson as the Mayor is supposed to hold the Met to account and the

police and crime committee is supposed to scrutinise him. Some

London Assembly members were questioning whether he had a grip on

the job of overseeing the Met and he was asked about serious allegations

about undercover officers and alleged inappropriate behaviour. It

got pretty heated. I am on the defensive and I am defending the

role of undercover police officers. I am not being flippant, I am

extremely angry. I think, in my view, I think undercover policing is

being undermined which is unacceptable. He was then asked

whether it was acceptable for undercover officers to spy on the

Lawrence family when they were grieving. It is right it has been

exposed and it is right we should get to the bottom of what has

happened. What is not right is to continue to mount an attack on the

Metropolitan police force and what they are doing which is

overwhelmingly for the good and I am fed up of attacks on policing in

London. It has been a very difficult couple of weeks for the Met after a

report into police spying and alleged corruption in the Stephen

Lawrence case. The challenge for them now is to win back public

trust. Thank you. On a special programme tomorrow evening Sir

Bernard Hogan`Howe faces questions from an audience of Londoners at

7:30pm on BBC One. Coming up later: The gay couple preparing a midnight

marriage to take advantage of a change in the law.

Passengers were evacuated from a plane preparing to take off from

London's city airport this afternoon following an engine problem. It

forced the closure of the airport for a time. Victoria is there with

more details. It depends on who you talk to as to

how this incident categorised itself this afternoon. The playing is just

behind us. It is a Swiss aeroplane, quite a small aeroplane, four

engines. LX 437 was due to take off at 14:55pm this afternoon and it

failed to make it off the ground after a minor incident. What we

understand happened from one of the passengers is there was an explosion

from one of the engines. He said the flight taxied along the runway and

was about to take off and it did not. He was sitting by the window

and he saw planes `` flames coming out of the engine and there was a

panic on board. The captain made an announcement and the parachutes were

deployed and the passengers got off. There were three minor injuries that

were treated on the scene. Fire engines were there as well. What is

interesting is the air accident investigation Branch are

investigating what they described as a serious incident.

Today we got confirmation of plans to extend Crossrail through to

Reading. The Government said it would bring an economic boost to the

area. The line was due to run from Shenfield in the east to Maidenhead

in Berkshire. The Mayor said the project, part funded by the

capital's businesses, was another example of how London benefited

other parts of the country. Here is our political editor Tim Donovan.

Why stop and start at Maidenhead it has been figured when you could go

on a few more miles to Reading? A city with thousands of people

travelling to and from the capital each day. Half the stress is whether

the connection is going to be there. You are wondering whether the Tube

line is delayed. One Crossrail station here and another new one at

Twyford will boost the area says one of its MPs. It will be a great place

for businesses to locate and for people to live and it will be a

place of choice because it will be the hub of all the major

interchanges. In the capital the tunnel link is all set to be on

schedule. It will bring more passengers and more revenue, but it

remains just London businesses footing one third of the project.

What happens in London is of benefit to the whole of the UK. By extending

Crossrail to Reading is a small example of the way London helps to

support the rest of the economy. We recognise it is a driver for

infrastructure. It will be fairer to people outside London. And why stop

at this? The new head of Network Rail said the case for a second

Crossrail was an arguable and the boss of one major construction firm

said that should carry straight on from Crossrail one. There would be a

lot of sense in that. The UK has an experienced team in Crossrail one.

They learnt a lot of lessons and developed a lot of great thinking

and capability, so why not roll that team on in some way? For now the

focus remains getting the first services running on this Crossrail

by 2018 and the route complete one year later.

The inquest into the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky

has recorded an open verdict. The 67`year`old who had claimed

political asylum in Britain was discovered slumped on the bathroom

floor at his ex`wife's luxury property in Berkshire last year with

a ligature around his neck. Mr Berezovsky had spent millions in a

long`running legal case against the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

The prosecution is coming to a close in the trial of a man accused of

murdering PC Keith Blakes Lock in Tottenham in 1985. Today the court

heard a poem the defendant wrote in 1988. Kurt Barling is at the Old

Bailey. What is the significance of this poem? Caught 16 heard indeed

these final pieces of direct evidence that the prosecution

alleges links Nicky Jacobs to the murder of PC Keith Blakelaw. The

first is the poem you mentioned written by Mr Jacobs when he was a

teenager in prison in 1988. Most of it is inappropriate for a family

programme, but two key passages go to the heart of the charge of

murder. In one he wrote of his intention to kill a police officer,

that PC Blakelock was the unlucky one and when the police saw the

rioters they scattered, but PC Blakelock did not get away and was

set upon. Some of the poem is the ramblings of a teenage mind perhaps,

but in a second passage he wrote, we chopped him on his shoulder, his

head, his chest, his next, we chop him all over. We killed him and felt

much better. It will be for the jury to decide if this juvenile poem

written 26 years ago is an indirect admission of guilt, or whether it is

something else altogether. You also heard from another witness? Sergeant

Hancock was an officer who arrested Nicholas Jacobs for suspected

burglary in May, 2000. He told the court Mr Jacobs told him he was the

one who killed PC Blakelock. But under cross`examination he agreed it

was something he had not written about and he never told a senior

officer and only gave a statement 12 years after the event. Nicky Jacobs

denies murder. Latest figures from hospitals in the capital show that

the overall standard of emergency and maternity services has improved,

but levels of care still vary depending on where you live.

The NHS introduced new targets after data showed patients admitted for

emergency treatment on Saturdays and Sundays have a higher risk of dying.

Tarah Welsh has the details. Many mothers will tell you the

happiness they get from their baby makes the pain of childbirth worth

it. But the experience they get from a hospital can vary. I felt

privileged to have had what I had from the consultants down to the

midwife. We was told there was no bed and no obstetrician. A study

found the London maternal death rate is higher than the rest of the UK.

Not one hospital in London has a consultant on its labour ward all of

the time. Much less cover and care during the weekend and overnight it

was quite shocking at times. The NHS says 81% of the capital's hospitals

have one: From a midwife. This independent practitioner says that

every hospital should `` 121 care. Without legislation, there is always

going to be places that managed not to do that. Hospitals have to assess

themselves on how care was provided on weekdays and weekends when you

have a 10% higher rate of dying. In most every London hospital, you can

expect there to be an experienced doctor in A 24 hours a day. You

will get that E.ON. But come here to have a baby and you will not

necessarily get that care from a midwife `` you will get that here.

When it comes to emergency surges `` surgery, you are likely to see a

consultant within 12 hours during the week. We know there is variation

in some of the standards are difficult to meet. What we are very

encouraged by is that teams of doctors and nurses have at least

begun to change the way they work in order to ensure that there is

consistency of clinical practice. There is progress in hospitals but

it still depends on when and where you go.

Still to come before 7pm: Love at first smell ` why looks aren't

everything in London's latest dating game.

I am bringing you the weather. See you later. Goodbye.

Until now, civil partnerships have been the only option for gay couples

wanting to formalise their relationship. But from this weekend,

they will be able to marry. The law changes at midnight on Friday and

one couple will be gathering their friends and family in Westminster to

tie the knot straightaway. Roya Neekah went to meet them.

I take you, John, to be my wedded husband. It may not be their big day

just yet, but tomorrow at the stroke of midnight this couple will make

history when same`sex marriage finally becomes legal in this

country. They will marry at a library in central London. It will

finally mark their equal footing in society with heterosexual couples. I

think I will go for something plain. They have been preparing for their

wedding day, just like any other couple. In addition to the nerves

and excitement, they know their wedding marks a new era. We are

changing a fundamental building block of our society, marriage. That

is quite daunting. Also, you could say that because we are changing

that institution of marriage and moving it forward, we are improving

it. They will tie the knot in a double wedding ceremony alongside

their friends, a heterosexual couple. Like them, John and Bernardo

are able to celebrate their relationship through the union of

marriage. I think it is a good opportunity for a gay couple to show

to the rest of the world that at the end of the day we are equal. Here we

are with a couple of straight friends, they want to get married in

the same way as us. Although Church of England weddings are still not

available for gay couples, they feel the ability to get married is a

definite step in the right direction towards equality. For this couple,

this is significant. Until now, they would have been rehearsing a civil

partnership. On Saturday, they will be among the very first couples to

legally become husband and husband. And you can see more on that on Gay,

Married and Legal on fourth April at 7.30pm on BBC One. Now, if you

haven't had much luck with the dating game and think you've tried

everything, think again. Match`makers in the capital say a

plastic bag stuffed with smelly T`shirts could be the key to finding

your perfect partner. Helen Drew has been finding out more.

Could it be that love is in the air this week? Pheromone parties have

wafted over from America and the idea is you choose who to date by

their smell. You turn up to the party with a teacher you have slept

in for three nights before popping it in a bag to seal be sent `` seal

the smell. Someone will have to smell this and decide if it smells

nice. People get sniffing on the night. A bit different. This smells

musty. Maybe that is not the right smell to be looking for. Very clean.

A few smell of smoke, cooking. I have rejected those and gone for a

few that smelt clean with a bit of an edge.

Assuming you can find a T`shirt that is not too bad, you have your photo

taken holding up its number. The photo is projected onto the wall and

then people can be united. There is science behind the parties. We all

give off pheromones and many believe they play a big role in attraction.

In fact, some have higher hopes than others. I came here to find a wife.

Hopefully for life. It is difficult to connect with people in London. I

like weird things. I thought maybe this will help make a connection.

Even the party's organiser had reservations at first. I did not how

the London crowd would take to the idea. It has been successful in

America. It has never happened in London before. The verdict? I have

not met the woman of my dreams yet. Maybe I have and I do not know it.

The next pheromone filled party will take place in East London in July so

you have got a while to work on the aroma.

I will let you judge that one! As we have been hearing, thousands of

pupils have been taking part in the BBC's School Report, spending the

day in newsrooms across the country. I'm pleased to say we were one of

them. Nicola, Freddie and Daniel from Sunbury Manor School joined

Wendy Hurrell to see how the weather forecast is put together. We'll hear

Wendy in a moment. But first, here's how they got on.

Early on, a woman rang the BBC and said there was a hurricane on the

way. There is in. It is not easy to predict the weather. When Michael

Fish broadcast that report, he had no idea the UK would experience one

of the worst storms on record. A lot has changed. Technology is more

advanced. Millions has been spent on computers to get the forecast spot

on. We are here to learn how to make a weather forecast. Wendy helps us

with questions. What is the first ever weather forecasting tool?

Goodness gracious. In caveman days, they used stones. If they were wet,

they knew it was raining. This is showing the radar picture. All of

the showers we have had today. Then beware the studio with Freddy

recording the weather Outlook `` then down to the studio. This is the

important bit, the weather. It was cold in the breeze. It will

term `` turn warmer. Lively showers today. We had rumbles of thunder, a

bit of hail in places. As we go through the night, mostly it will be

dry. The wind will be lighter and there will be breaks in the cloud.

One or two missed or fog patches. A touch of fog in sheltered spots.

Close to freezing. Temperatures in the towns and cities more like four

or five degrees. Tomorrow's starting with a little bit of misty

murkiness. There may be one or two showers mainly in the south`west.

Actually, in the afternoon, a lot of dry and increasingly sunny weather.

Again, there will be a breeze. Quite brisk. It will slowly turn around to

the south`east. That will help to lift the temperature. 15 degrees

tomorrow. It is looking pretty good for the weekend. We have got high

pressure in charge. It blocks of any of the low`pressure systems out on

the Atlantic. It will draw in and from the south`east. That is a

little bit warmer. `` draw in no. Hazy sunshine for the weekend. It

will be warmer as well. Southeasterly winds. As an early

warning, it is time to put the clocks forward on Saturday night. I

will remind you of that again. Here is the proper Outlook with Freddy.

This is your weekend news. On Saturday, it will be 18 degrees. It

will be a little bit cloudy but why more sunny. On Sunday, more cloudy

than sunny. 19 degrees. On Monday, it will be rainy showers but not a

lot of Sun. Loads of clouds. Slightly warmer. It is all coming

from the south`east. See you later. Well done, Freddie, Nicola and

Daniel. The main headlines now: Regulators

will investigate whether the big six UK energy suppliers prevent

effective competition in the UK energy market. Ofgem says the

investigation will take around 18 months.

A damning report into how police forces in England and Wales deal

with domestic violence has found that victims are being put at

unnecessary risk. A review found forces have unacceptable weaknesses

in the way they investigate cases. The chief medical officer for

England has warned that obesity has become too normal in society.

The Met Commissioner has revealed how he considered ending the

controversial tactic of stop and search. He said he wants to improve

diversity in the force. More on our website. From me and all

of the team, thank you for watching. Have a lovely evening.