17/04/2014 BBC London News

in Ukraine. That is all from the BBC News at six. It is goodbye from me

and on BBC One we can join the BBC News teams where you are. Tonight on

BBC London News... Five days of strike action planned on the

Underground as the row over plans to close ticket offices intensifies. We

are looking at the future of how the London Underground and the cheap

network operates. We are fighting for passengers and our members. The

union is urged to get back around the table and talk. Also tonight...

Fears GP surgeries will face closure because of cuts to their funding.

Claims the poorest will be hardest hit. Plus, on the 30th anniversary

of her death, a former colleague of PC Yvonne Fletcher vows to continue

in his fight for justice. I said I have no idea what happened. I will

get who is responsible. I will find out who did it. And the Parisians'

love affair with locks. And the efforts to curb the craze from

taking`off here in the capital. Good evening and welcome to the

programme. Members of the RMT union are to stage five days of strike

action in a long`running dispute over plans to close ticket offices

on the underground. The first walk`out will begin at 9pm on Monday

28th April and last two days, while a three`day walk`out is planned to

start the following week on Monday fifth May. Today, the Mayor

criticised the RMT for his words, taking the nuclear option, and urged

the union to call off the strike and resume talks. Our political

correspondent, Karl Mercer, has more. Locked out again, this was

London in February when the RMT staged a two`day strike ever plans

to shut ticket offices across the capital. The scenes are all too

familiar. A second strike was called off to allow time for talks between

the Tube unions and the London Underground. It seems those talks

have ended with the two sides are closer together. We are in a

situation where the talks have been a bit of a sham. The favourite word

seems to be, no, we will not move on the booking offices. We will close

every single one. This is stupid. We have had 40 meetings. Three trade

unions are in discussion with us. We have nearly 1000 volunteers to leave

the job on favourable terms. This is completely unnecessary. Londoners

face five days of strikes in the next few weeks.

There are two sides to this argument. You can feel for them. At

the same time, you are thinking about the disruption it causes too

many hard`working people. I understand why they do it but I

think five days is too long. It has been tough getting to the office I

and I am not looking forward to it. You are joking, aren't you? Shutting

ticket offices will cost 700 jobs. London Underground says no one will

be made London who does not want to be. We are still open to discussions

with London underground. We want them to be more flexible. So far

they have been completely inflexible. I do not think five days

of dispute will make them popular. I do not think it will make a lot of

difference. There could be tough journeys at the end of the month.

Lots more to come, including... I am the highways agency control centre

at South menswear inside it is incredibly calm. Outside it is the

Easter getaway. It has been described as one of the

police 's biggest ever gun seizures, and arsenal of weapons

including a machine gun were discovered in Waltham Forest. Let's

get more on this from Emma, who is at Scotland Yard for us. Police went

to a house in Balmoral Road in Leyton, near to the entrance of

Leyton Orient for book club. They found an astonishing number of

firearms. `` Leyton Orient Football Club. There were rifles, shotguns

and pistols. They also found a considerable amount of ammunition,

some of it home made. The man you mentioned was not known to police

until yesterday. Unconfirmed reports say he worked at the council. The

operation has been taken over by officers from Operation Trident.

They have to work out how such a huge amount of firearms could have

been accumulated without having been spotted before. They also have to

work out what the destination of these guns was, whether they were a

bizarre collection whether they were intended for more sinister hands. GP

leaders are warning that some of the capital surgeries could face closure

because of cuts to budgets. Despite a government pledge this week for

more funding to make some surgery is more accessible, not all GPs are

benefiting. It is feared that the poorest in society will be the

hardest hit. At eight months old, this boy and his twin sister are new

patients. Their mother has been coming for more than a decade. The

doctor says funding cuts might even mean the surgery will not be here

next year. I am worried. I have loved living and working in this

area. I have been committed to it for 22 years. I love my patience. We

have good relationships. I am almost speechless and almost want to cry at

the thought that might will go. She says the practice will lose almost

?220,000 a year. It goes back to 2004 when the way GPs were funded

changed. The ones that lost out were given an annual lump sum. It is that

that. . NHS England says the money will be reinvested to make all GP

practices financially equal. Some will be better off. The NHS has

identified 98 practices in England that could close. I would have

thought this surgery would have been a good example to them to make sure

that all surgeries follow their example. This comes despite a recent

announcement that the Government is putting ?11 million into the capital

's surgeries. The British Medical Association says these changes will

be most painful for the city 's most deprived areas. They will receive

funding /Labour supporting the essential work they were doing in

Tower Hamlets. That has been taken away from them and what will be

replaced or not be enough to meet the needs of the population they

serve. NHS England said it will meet with the practices to find that how

it can support them. The future of this surgery is very uncertain. In

the 1990s, the capital was regarded by some foreign agencies as Arab ``

Arabistan. Many Arab and North African organisations are returning

to London to raise funds, awareness and regroup. The Government is

another's about the return of this. The lie that British Government

agencies told themselves in the 90s very naively was, if we let them be

here, they will not attack us. The London bombings changed all of that.

They were starting to get wise to read before that. Abu Hamza,

initially, we thought he was just a noisy or it. There was some

dangerous radicalisation going on. That was anathema to most British

Muslims. They were passing through the circles and then going on to

carry out these acts of violence. Since then, there was a lot more

understanding of the environment in which people move. The announcement

on April the 1st which will be a review of the Muslim brotherhood 's

activities, it does not mean there will get closed down but the

Government does not know much about what the do and needs to find out.

How do you find a balance between allowing those groups to enjoy the

freedom of speech we have and removing those that pose a danger to

the rest of the world? Does about whether they cross the line into

terrorism. `` it is about. Ultimately it is up to the

discretion of the Home Secretary. She needs to know whether they are

involved in terrorism and whether they have leaks to anyone overseas.

Foreign governments have been giving Number ten bit of the Home

Secretary. She needs to know whether they are involved in terrorism and

whether they have leaks to anyone overseas. Foreign governments have

been giving Number ten vitamin ear`bashing the Muslim Brotherhood

says, these are professionals who have been here four years and they

are not breaking any laws. It is all about whether anybody is actually

involved in the violence because there is no crime in opposing a

government report from here. `` abroad. Today marks 30 years since

the murder of police officer Yvonne Fletcher, fatally shot outside the

Libyan embassy. Just 25 years old, she was policing a protest against

Colonel Gaddafi's regime, when she was hit by a burst of gunfire from a

first`floor window. Her killer has never been found but today a service

was held in St James' Square in her memory. Our home affairs

correspondent, Guy Smith, was there. Moments after PC Yvonne Fletcher was

shot, a gunman had opened fire from inside the Libyan Embassy. She was

hit in the stomach. Her colleague, John Murray, was standing beside

her. He promised in the ambulance he would find out who had shot her.

Hours later, she was dead. Here, a memorial service will take

place outside the Libyan Embassy this morning. 30 years on and the

former Police Constable is still fighting for justice. She was

bubbly, she was bright. She was popular. Not only amongst her

colleagues, but with members of the public in Covent Garden, where we

used to work. This morning, John Murray was getting ready to travel

to Central London for today's memorial service. Over the years, he

says he has written repeatedly asking the authorities about their

commitment to continue the search for Yvonne's killer. I have written

to the Foreign Secretary, who has refused to see me. I have written to

Boris Johnson, the mayor, who has refused to speak to me. I have

written to the current Police Commissioner and have had no

response from him at all. He does not know why. In 2011, he visited

Libya to track down one of the key suspects, but to no avail. Today

there were unconfirmed reports that this man might be hiding in Egypt.

At today's service, The Met Commissioner sat alongside Yvonne's

family, tributes being paid to a fallen officer. John is very

passionate about this case but he is no more passionate than I am. We are

determined to make progress in it. I am confident we will. Also the

Foreign Office says it is important to support the police investigation,

not private initiatives. The mayor's office says it would be

inappropriate to interfere. Much has happened over the past three decades

and the investigation has been difficult. The regime in Libya has

changed and there is hope that, one day, Yvonne Fletcher's killer, will

be caught. S being paid to a fallen officer.

I probably don't have to tell you it is the busiest day on Britain's

roads with millions making a get away in all 3.4 million people are

expected to have a "staycation" in the UK. With the M25 and M1 expected

to bear the brunt of the heaviest traffic it will be a busy weekend

for the four main airports in London, with three`quarters of a

million people flying out of them. For those travelling by train there

is a warning of disruption with engineering works planned.

Victoria has all the latest on the Easter get away. She is live at the

Highways Agency control centre. How it `` `` how is it looks there

tonight? Very calm here. All of these people behind me are watching

intently, hundreds of miles of motorways round the regions. Keeping

everyone safe and getting to their destinations safely. A minute ago

the control room manager rushed across the control room, because

there was a cyclist on the M1. Not exactly the sort of traffic you

would expect. What happened there? I think one was trying to get home

quickly and took a short cut but we wouldn't advice it. It is very

dangerous. How has today been so far? It is supposed to have been

very busy. We were expecting it to be busy. It is not as busy as we

thought. Tell us about the M25. We talked about you opening the hard

shoulder, as a fourth way for people to travel. How is that working? It

came under criticism at the time. It is working well. It gives us earlier

capacity, we had an incident at junction 25 and the congestion Bill

built up. Having that extra lane helped us dissipate the traffic

lot the roads as well as the busy lot the roads as well as the busy

traffic today, on this Thursday, will there be roadworks to come up

against? Not on the Easter period. We have cleared seven out of ten to

make it easier for people to travel. What is the worst thing you are

coming across, your worst nightmare? The worst is a road traffic

collision, particularly in one of the busy routes. Thank you very much

indeed for allowing us to come here. A few other things on the

underground Piccadilly and District line, part closure, Eurostar, 15%

higher bookings than last year but it has cancelled sick trains today

in France. A train in France hit a person. Your best bet is is listen

to BBC Radio London news on 94.9. And also online. Terrific travel

online. Have a safe Easter. Back to you.

Thank you. Still to come. From Paris, with

love. The romantic craze for leaving securing locks to the capital's

landmarks. You will like forecast for the start of the weekend but not

on Sunday, I have the full forecast later on.

`` the forecast. AALINEBREAK Last night Arsenal

Ladies opened their Women's Super League season with a 1`1 draw, away

at Notts County. Scientists at a London laboratory studying how

babies learn are launching a world first ` looking into why and how

some develop ADHD. The Birbeck has already made huge steps in

understanding autism in young children. Now, it's the first to

launch a new project into Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, as

Jean Mackenzie reports. Six`month`old Rosie is being shown

picturew of faces and mechanical objects. Researcherw want to know if

she has a different emotional response to each. The hat she's

wearing should tell them. It shines light into the brain. This shows

where the blood is flowing to, so what part of the brain is working.

It's one of the experiments here designed to improve our

understanding of how babies learn and develop. We learn about how

often infants understand more than we think we do. Sometimes infants

can't show us what they know, but by looking at brain imaging we can see

patterns of brain activity that suggest they are really

understanding. Learning how babies typically develop helps the lab spot

atypical behaviour. It's already made advances in understanding

autism by studying babies who have older siblings with the condition.

Fiona's son is severely autistic, and his younger siblings are

involved in the programme. Autism is just a phrase that described the

symptoms of a number of people, it's got nothing do with the causes of

autism. It's very frustrating to only talk about symptoms, so

anything that gets closer to the cause, not necessarily to eradicate

it, but to understand it and to give better therapies and support is what

I would imagine most parents in my situation are crying out for. Are

you ready for some more? Here it comes! One of the biggest challenges

is keeping the babies happy. Bubbles are used as a distraction while

they're fitted with an EEG headnet. This records electrical activity in

the brain. But the babies' fuses can be short. So what makes mums get

involved? It makes me look at him differently myself, to see if I

think he's learned the things they say he possibly is learning at this

age, and has the right hemisphere and left hemisphere joined up yet?

Is he clapping his hands, those sorts of things? It's really

interesting. The lab is now starting a major

study into attention deficit disorder and hoping to delve further

into babies' heads. Now the sport. No doubt plenty for fans over the

weekend. You are right. There is plenty. But none for this man. Eric

will miss the rest of the season because of a back injury, he signed

from Roma last summer for ?30 million as a replacement for Gareth

Bale. He hassing on managed to make 17 appearances this season and

hasn't played since December. Now, last night Arsenal Ladies opening

their Women's Super League season with a 1`1 draw away. Tonight

Chelsea Ladies play their first game on the road at Bristol. The Blues

will have high hopes, following the signing of Korean midfielder Ji

So`Yun. The 22`year`old is a household name in parts of Asia, but

has been settling in nicely to life in England, with the help of a few

home comforts. Hello. My name is Ji So`Yun.

Ji is Chelsea Ladies' latest star signing. They've all been training

hard, ahead of their first WSL match, but they did take Ji for a

trip to the Korean supermarket in New Malden for a taste of home.

I haven't eaten Korean food in a while. It was all delicious,

especially the dumplings. It was good for everyone else to try, but I

felt bad it was just the three of us eating. Next time I hope to take

more of the Chelsea staff and players to try Korean food.

Ji certainly had enough in her basket for the whole team. Living

with team`mates Laura Coombs and Emma Williamson, she's happy making

player appearance for the club's foundation, but sometimes the

language barrier can make life interesting.

We try to talk to each other, but we use Google Translate, which is not

always the best thing. There was on morning where me and

Emma were walking out the door for training and Ji was sat in her

pyjamas. I don't think she quite understoodd we had training.

Ji So`Yun arrival is significant for a number of reasons. She could have

played anywhere in the world but chose England. That shows the weight

and popularity of the WSL. On top of that, with promotion and relegation

introduced this season, it shows Chelsea Ladies' intent to remain in

the top tier. It's massive for the club. If the

club wants to carry on going forward and we want to have the best players

at our team, we ??FORCED CYAN I want to help show

that Chelsea Ladies is a strong team, and them achieve what they

can. I also want to score lots of goals, but it's not about me getting

goal scoring records, it's about Chelsea winning trophies. And

hopefully as the trophies come, so will Ji's English. Thank you so

much. She was speaking to me on Tuesday,

ahead of the news of the South Korean ferry disaster, Chelsea

ladies travel away this evening. Now, we have had some breaking news

in the last hour, that tennis player Laura Robson has announced she won't

be playing at Wimbledon and she is due to have wrist surgery. The

British female number one made the announcement on her Facebook page

and hopes the operation will mean she will be able to play pain free.

She will miss the French Open. Very sad news there for the girl

from Wimbledon as well. What a disappointment. Thank you.

Now, you may have spotted these hanging on bridges, and fences round

London, they are called love locks, they are padlocks hung by besotted

couples as a symbol of their everlasting love. They are catching

on here. Are they an eyesore? All shapes sized and colours and

each adorned with its own message, these are stages of love, written by

lover, and locked on to the Millennium Bridge I think it is

rather old fashioned and rather nice. I left one in Paris it was

close to Christmas time and right after Nelson Mandela passed away. I

must admit I didn't like them in Venice. They looked ugly. You would

nerve consider doing one here? There are claims they began in Serbia in

World War II. Now the trend has grown popular across the rest of

Europe. The idea is that couples attach the lock to a place that

means something special to them. They throw the key over the side,

watch it sink to the bottom, but remain safe in the knowledge that

their hearts will be eternally locked together. Not even thinks it

is romantic. The City of London Corporation regularly cuts the locks

down, and in Paris, campaigners are calling for it to be made illegal.

There is the safety issues with the weight of the lock, but also just

this loss of these pupil historic structures, for Londoner, I would

say, you know `` Londoner, this is a cautionary tale what is happening in

Paris. It is not just the pay fours landmarks that have drawn lover,

this fence guards a derelict piece of land near Shoreditch People are

able to express something in the public area and they are doing it

without permission and improvising and expressing themselves, declaring

their love and everybody can see it. Do you not think it is vandalism.

People say it is akin to graffiti. . The link between this and graffiti

are remote. I don't regard it as anything other than a sort of poetic

expression of people's desires and opinion out on the street. Romantic

location or not it seems couples are looking for way to express their

love. It is unphone if scorned lovers have used the services of

this establishment near by. The all`important Easter weather

with Nick. No pressure, it better be good. Long weekend. Am I up to it?

We are about the find out. Start with the good stuff. The cloud we

have seen roll this is about to clear away, for the start of the

weekend, we will see a fair amount of sunshine, but there is a reason I

have left Sunday and money Monday blank. We will deal with the good

stuff, that is the brightening story for tomorrow. This is the cloud that

came in today, it is going to push away southwards as the night goes

on, that said, over the next couple of hour there's is a chance for a

splash of a shower somewhere, but it is going to be a mainly dry evening,

and the clearer skies come in after midnight and as that happens the the

temperatures will dip away. They will turn out to be chilly again, we

may see in the countryside a touch of ground frost going into the

morning, some of us will be in low single figures but there will be

plenty of sunshine to start the day, tomorrow. But, it is not going to be

as warm as it has been today. There is going to be noticeable breeze as

well. In when the sun is shining, which it will be for much of the

day, that is OK. Occasionally we will lose the sun behind patchy

cloud. If you are in the breeze, it may feel chilly, especially if you

are heading further east, towards the coastline, we will see

temperatures in low double figures at best, they will be about 15

degrees. Another cold night on Friday going into Saturday morning,

again with a touch of frost. Saturday will deliver a bit more

cloud coming our way, still some sunny spells and there is the chance

for an odd shower popping up but there is worse than showers coming

as we go into Sunday. So, here is the change, it is time to fill in

the blanks and this area of low pressure is coming in for Easter

Day. It promises a bit of rain. It could be a soaker for a time on

Sunday before it clears to shower, we could see 25 millimetres of rain.

So we fill in the blanks, rain on Sunday, but then on Monday,

temperature comes up a bit. A lot of cloud round, but we will be mainly

dry on Easter Monday. I think I have delivered a haar decent Easter

forecast. Putting a brave face on it. Just about got away with it. A

quick reminder of the main BBC headlines. The search is continuing

for survivors of the south Korean ferry disaster, nearly 300 people

are miss, many of them school`children as bad weather

hinders the operation. London Underground workers have announced

five days of strike action to protest against plans to close

ticket office, two days of strike action are planned for the 28th

April, with another three day walk out the following week.

And that is it for now. I will be back later during the Ten O'Clock

News. For now have a very good evening. Goodbye.