22/04/2014 BBC London News

Moyes has been sacked after a season of blue results. He spent just ten

months in the job. It is time for the news where

Tonight on BBC London ` crime in the capital is down but critics say the

figures are misleading. So many crimes involve human trafficking or

cyber crimes, they are not reported. We need to make sure we are

accurately getting a true reflection of crime across London. We will be

asking if Londoners feel any safer. Also tonight: Talks have begun to

try to prevent five days of strikes on the Tube over ticket office

closures. Every council seat in London is up

for grabs next month. We ask ` what are the key issues that may affect

the way you vote. Plus: the London actor who's landed a debut role

alongside a Hollywood A`Lister. Good evening. Crime in London has

fallen. New figures show that nearly 50,000 fewer offences were reported

last year than in the previous 12 months. There were fewer burglaries,

robberies, and mobile phone tlefts. The Metropolitan `` mobile phone

thefts. The Metropolitan Police say they have a strategy against crime.

Critics say the figures are misleading and they've accused

Scotland Yard of massaging figures for certain types of crime.

These are been the #k458ence facing the Met. Robbery, burglary, violence

and even murder. And this has been part of the

answer, according to the Met. Three years of highly`visible police

operations across London, targeting speing civic problems. It seems to

be working. `` specific problems. Total crime is down. In the past

year, by more than 6%. Robberies have fallen by almost one`fifth.

Burglaries, by 8%. And other high`volume crime, motor vehicle

theft, by nearly 6%. If we look at gun crime, it's dropped by 17%.

Knife crime, also has decreased. Youth violence, which was such an

issue a few years ago s down by 4%. And if we look at the worse crime of

all, murder, then compared to other capital cities, London is relatively

safe. In particular, Ealing. Crime falling here by more than 14%. The

biggest drop in the capital. There are a lot of police around here. I

see a lot around. I'm safe here. I feel safe in Ealing. We do feel

safe. I think we have had more police on patrol about the place.

It's welcome that crime seems to be falling in London but the pattern

differs across each of the London Boroughs. The real issue for me is

how we are actually tackling crime and whether we are actually solving

crime in London. When you look at those figures, only one in six

crimes is solved in London. The bigger problem is trust in how the

police record crime. This officer has accused the Met of routinely

fiddling the figures, telling MPs in one borough, 300 burglaries

disappeared over a couple of weeks. Things would clearly be being

reported as burglaries. You then re`run the same report, there had

been a human intervention, ie a management intervention and they had

disappeared in a puff of smoke. Earlier this year the Met

Commissioner admitted he was concerned. I have accepted from the

start that in fact there are more things to do. This month a

parliamentary Select Committee report, titledIng caught Red Handed,

criticised the police for being less than honest. Ultimately inaccurate

figures gives an inaccurate figure of where crime is taking place.

Joining me now is Metropolitan police Assistant Commissioner, Simon

Byrne. Scotland Yard must have been a happy place to be today We are

pleased with what the figures show. At the end of the day, the amount of

people that haven't been victims is effectively the size of a small

town. Nearly 50,000 people haven't had the experience of having their

home burgled and being attacked in the street and so on and so forth.

It is important. But when we talk about crime figures we qualify it

that there is always more to do to make the capital safer. How

confident can Londoners be that the falling crime you point, to and I

don't know how to put it subtley so you will say it ` is the case.

That's the elephant in the room conversation at the moment. Can you

trust the figures? I encourage people to think about ` if I'm

running a business, this is the nearest thing to my bottom line I

can offer the public. I have to be confident what is reported is

accurate. There has been a lot of debate recently about that whole

issue. From the Met's point of view, we are one of the most regulated

police forces in the country. We have had an independent inspection

by a body called HMIC. The mayor's office have also looked at our crime

figures. We have detailed internal checks and balances. Let me bring

viewers up to date. If you run a business, you say you have to be

accurate. If you were running it, it would be out of business. Crime

figures have been stripped of approval because of questions about

be a radioscy. And your crime Commissioner said figures have been

fiddled and it is ongoing. MPs have said there is strong evidence that

the police under`record crime. That's really not good? It is not

reliable for you to come on and say crime is going down and for us to

say ` that's great, Sir. I think you have to accept these are damning

allegations from a broad church of opinion. Which the Commissioner

accepts. He does. Your clip showed he recognised we need to assure

ourselves that all we are doing is robust in terms of the checks and

balances my officers make every day to make sure, if you are saying your

home is burgled we record it accurately. If we cannot trust the

figures that the police give, how can we as Londoners, trust the

police? There are a few issues when you look at the to tal it why of

what we are talking B firstly, recorded crime is falling

dramatically in some instances. You can't make nearly 7,000 robberies

disappear. You can't make nearly 8,000 burglaries disappear. If you

took burglary as one example, even if you don't trust our figures, most

people have to report through their insurance company to get that next

bit, which is getting your property replaced. There are certain types of

crime you can be more confident or accurate. There are others, based on

personal experience, whether they are being assaulted or not, where

there can sometimes be room or error and where we know and are frustrated

that people don't report enough of it to us. We could talk about this

for a long time yet, but thank you for coming on.

Stay with us tonight. There is lots more to come, including: 70,000

people sign a petition against cuts at Kew. Its director tells us it may

increase charges to make ends meet. Talks aimed at averting tube strikes

next week and and the week after have resumed. The walkout is over

the proposed closure of ticket offices with London Underground

saying their plans will radically improve customer service. Not

surprisingly, the RMT union strongly disagrees.

This dispute disrupted the Tube back in February. Now the same thing

could happen again. This afternoon, unions and transport bosses met to

try to avert another strike. This is about modernising the Tube.

This is about really providing increased benefits to our customers,

getting more face`to`face contact with our customers. Instead of

people being behind pieces of glass in ticket offices, we want our staff

out on frontline helping our customers. London Underground wants

to close all ticket offices and cut 950 jobs. In talks over the last

eight weeks, it claims it's made the changes for staff fairer. The RMT

union disputes that, though, and says cutting jobs will affect

safety. A strike is planned for next Monday, for two days and the

following week, for three. Today there has also been a change

of language from London Underground. In an open letter to Londoners, it

says, "Stations will become personalise #d, customer service

strss. We cannot stand by and force customers to pay for ticket offices

through their fares. What." What is interesting, is with the RMT

leadership up for grabs, are saying that election could play a part in

these negotiations. Do you think had it will have an impact, the RMT

leadership up for grabs? None whatsoever. This is a dispute about

the London Underground and the staff who work on T that's all this

dispute is about. `` work on it. It is what it has been about since 21st

November last year when the underground told us they had to save

?4.2 billion between now and the end of 2021, they had to close every

London Underground ticket office. Also they had to reapply for their

jobs and this is the first wave. These talks will probably go on all

week. If it is not resolved, expect much more of this from Monday night.

A man from Staines who opened a scuba diving business in the

Philippines has been shot dead on the island where he lived.

35`year`old Tony Gilchrist was shot by a security guard who he had

sacked for turning up late for work after a drinking session. His

brother described Mr Gilchrist as a compassionate person who cared

deeply about the Philippines. The former X Factor judge, Tulisa

Contostavlos, has appeared in court accused of being involved in

brokering a drug deal. The former N dubs singer from Friern Barnet in

north London is charged with offering to supply an undercover

newspaper supporter with a class A drug. The 25`year`old denies the

allegation. She'll return to Southwark Crown Court in June.

A petition against a cut in funding at Kew Gardens has been signed by

almost ?70,000 people. The Government has told Kew it faces a

total cut of ?1.5 million which will lead to job losses and a possible

rise in ticket prices. Our reporter, Yvonne Hall is in Kew for us now.

It is a lovely spring evening here at Kew Gardens with everything just

about to burst into life. Kew gardens is renowned for its

scientific and educational programmes across the world. There

is concern this work is threatened by a ?5 mill divron short fall in

funding, including a ?1.5 million cut by the Government over the next

two years. Unions here say they fear 125 jobs could be lost but directors

say they'll try and keep the cuts to a minimum.

We are going to have to reduce headcount quite significant cli. Our

aim is to do that `` significantly. Our aim is to do that whilst avoid

voiding redundancies. We will try to make efficiencies with minimum or

zero impact on visitors and science colleagues. In terms of pricing, we

may have to increase it. If we do, we will do it modestly and

carefully. Well, we asked the Government for

response to the growing protests about these cuts. The Department for

the Environment told us, "Like all departments we are making savings

and playing our part in reducing the deficit but we are pleased they have

been able to offer relative protection to Kew. They are funded

from a variety of sources and we continue to work closely with Kew to

help them to explore further options." That's unlikely to pacify

the growing protests about these cuts. Nearly 70,000 people have now

signed an online petition. They are being backed by Sir David

Attenborough, the local MP and local councillors. Meetings are being

planned here over the next few months to try to decide what can be

cut and what can be saved. Next month, Londoners will go to the

polls to decide who will run their local councils. All seats in all 32

boroughs are up for grabs. But what are the key issues like lie to sway

the way you vote? Tim Donovan looks ahead to May 22nd.

This was the picture, after the last London council elections in 2010,

held on the same day as the general election. Labour controlled 17

boroughs. The Conservatives had 11 and the Liberal Democrats were in

charge of two and that left two boroughs where there was no overall

control. That means no party had a majority of seats. Now, since then,

two more councils have become no overall control. That's Harrow and

Havering. Har yes was previously Labour`run and Dobb harrow was

previously Labour`run. Now thee elections come at a time of

considerable financial constraints on all councils The Conservatives

council in London have rolled that you are sleeves on it but have done

it by cutting out the fat, the back office, administrative office,

slimming down drastically but thinking of new, clever, more

go`ahead ways to deliver frontline services. Labour councils have built

twice as many affordable housing as Conservative councils. Labour

councils are having free school means in school. They pay a living

wage. Labour councils are trying to protect police officers on the

street. Good examples in tough Financial Times. You won't waste

money in hard times and spend it on the priorities. We have kept

swimming pools and libraries oe. We have built affordable housing when

we are in power. Other councils have use used reductions of government

finances as an excuse for not doing what they should. Back in 2010,

Labour won the most seats with 876 council councillors, the

Conservatives 717. Liberal Democrats 246 and the Green 11. But UKIP have

made their mark since 2010, maybe as a result of several defests from

other parties which mean they had 19 councillors going into these

elections while the Greens had dropped to 2. We are looking to

protect public services, fight against the privatisation and

reverse it where we can and we are looking at the fact we knead a much

better environment on a local scale, air quality, air pollution has to be

tackled but also, we have to deal with climate change. All All three

parties are losing votes national by to the United Kingdom Independence

Party. We would like to kneel London, we will, in these elections

in May, pick up somewhere between 20 to 50 seats. London will also be

voting to elect members of the European Parliament. London elects

eight MEPs at the moment. Labour currently have two. The

Conservatives three and the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Greens one

each. And the result of that election will be known on Sunday,

May 25th. Now still to come before the end of

the programme: I'm in Madrid to find out if Chelsea can take a step

towards another Champions' League final.

A company in East London has been awarded one of the highest accolades

a business can achieve. London tradition produces and exports

traditional duffle coats and they have seen their overseas sales grow

massively in the past six years. Now that success has earned the firm a

Queen 's Award for Enterprise as Victoria Graham reports.

Big pockets and the ubiquitous toggles. It was a code created for

the Royal Navy in the Second World War to protect men from the biting

winds of the North Sea and the Atlantic. Here in this quiet

backwater lies a boom in business, employing local people who are

transforming what became a fashion staple of the 60s into an

international fashion must have. The company prides itself on using

manpower over machine. Every code is hand cut and hand finished. To

achieve that experience is key. Our people traditionally learn how to

make garments, how to work in this industry and we have very skilled

people and I think we are the best people. I am very fortunate to be

working with this company and we are making the highest quality product

in London and the bestseller in the shops and hopefully we will keep on

going. Today the design has evolved, but its history remains one of its

biggest attractions. It is a wonderful British product and is

made in England, made in London, and it is totally authentic. Anything

that has authenticity and heritage is going to be popular. It is great

news and one that other companies can follow as well. British

tradition is there and if people have the foresight and ability to

get up and find foreign buyers, rewards are there for them. The

reward recognises companies that have made an outstanding

contribution to the British company and it should help this company to

fly the flag for British business for many years to come. In less than

an hour Chelsea will kick off against Atletico Madrid in their

first leg of the Champions League. Atletico Madrid are currently top of

their league, whilst Chelsea's chances here have faded. Warren

Nettleford said this report from Madrid.

No city has one more European cups, nine, but they all belong to Real

Madrid and if they are the King's club, then Atletico Madrid is the

club for the workers. But times are changing and Atletico Madrid have

won the Europa kit `` cup twice. They are also top of the Spanish

league. For Chelsea the last few days have been traumatic. Losing to

Bolton in the Premier league, it is dented their title hopes. But on his

return to Spain he was keen to talk up the potential impact of the

striker Fernando Torres, a former Atletico Madrid Madrid player. He is

a real Atletico Madrid supporter, a big one, but he is a professional. I

have no doubts that the minute he is on the pitch tomorrow he is going to

try to do everything for Chelsea. But what about the talented Belgian

keeper currently on loan to Atletico Madrid on Chelsea. Chelsea believed

the clause in his contract meant he would not play for them, but that

clause has been waived. There is a much broader question, which is how

does he feel about the way this has been handled by the two clubs? How

does he feel about potentially going back to Chelsea? Fans seemed to have

mixed feelings for him. We played a lot of money for him a few years

ago, he should not be playing. He is not going to concede on purpose. As

the fans gathered for tonight's match, the evening is perfectly

poised, the club characterised as one for the Spanish workers, taking

one owned by a wealthy oligarchs. It was an unlikely career move, the

chance to co`star alongside a Hollywood actors, but for Adam

Pearson from Croydon, who suffers from a red genetic condition, that

is what happened after he landed a role in a new film with Scarlett

Johanssen. Adam is used to people staring, he

was born with a condition that causes noncancerous tumours to grow

on nerve tissue. There is a difference when people are being

curious and when they are being ignorant or malicious. I had an

incident when I was out in Croydon doing some shopping and some

schoolgirls came in. They were talking as if I was not in the room

and taking photos on their phones. It has not been easy, but Adam has

never let his appearance hold him back and he is not shy. This

billboard was displayed at King's Cross station. Being a television

producer he is used to being behind the camera, but things changed when

he was offered a direction and a role in the new film. He found out

he would be acting alongside one of the biggest names in Hollywood,

Scarlett Johanssen. When was the last time you had a girlfriend? I

never had one. I thought it was awesome. In the

film Scarlett Johanssen plays an alien who roams the streets of

Glasgow killing unsuspecting men. Adam is one of her victims. It is

about acceptance and how society looks without knowledge and

prejudice. It was a really good role I could get behind and sink my teeth

into. If one person sees it and it changes the way they think about

disability and disfigurement, I have done my job. Despite the tours he

has endured, Adam's confidence has never been knocked and he hopes his

new`found fame will go a long way to challenge the stigma of

disfigurement. It could be the start of a brand`new Hollywood career.

The weather forecast is not great, but it is not bad.

It is in between. It is warm but wishy`washy. We have basically got

high pressure over Scandinavia and we are not under the effects of

that, but we have got low`pressure systems in the Atlantic which are

not affecting us really. Basically this area nothing is going on, so

the weather is not going to do anything dynamic over the next few

days. At the moment we have got a fair amount of cloud drifting

around, but also bright and sunny spells. Some showers have the

potential to be on the heavy side, but they will fizzle out overnight.

We will have some breaks in the cloud, so there may be a few missed

or fog patches developing. We will have temperatures around eight or

nine. Out in the countryside we may get down to six or seven, but it is

not a cold night. We start the day tomorrow with a fair amount of cloud

which will be drifting to and fro as we go through the afternoon. There

will be some breaks in the cloud and there will be some sunny spells. It

will feel quite warm with temperatures reaching about 18

degrees. Towards the end of the day this weather front might introduce

rain into the very final part of the day. That crosses overnight. We are

in the middle bit where there is not much going on, so for Friday we do

not have the effects of the low`pressure or the high and there

will be cloud around. A bit more on the boring side. Uncertainty over

the weekend and it looks as if we might get low`pressure. Wishy`washy

weather this week, but not a wash`out. You also said flabby

area. It was an interesting forecast.

Let's remind ourselves of the headlines: Manchester United have

sacked their manager David Moyes just ten months after he signed a

six`year contract to replace Sir Alex Ferguson. Ryan Giggs will take

temporary control. UKIP leader Nigel Farage has launched his party's

campaign for the European and local elections. He has defended a series

of posters which claimed Europeans are taking British jobs. His

opponents claim they are racist. A seven`year`old boy who was badly

burned in a fire in the street in Aberdeen has died in hospital.

Preston Flores's family says his loss has ripped them apart. Crime

has dropped in the capital over the last year. Critics claim the figures

are misleading. And talks have begun to try and avert a five`day Tube

strike. The industrial action is due to start next Monday. I will be back

with the ten o'clock News on BBC One.

Some people don't think real change in Europe is possible.

Some people don't think real change is necessary.

Some people don't think it's worth fighting for.

But we want to make Europe work for Britain,

and give you the final say with an in-out referendum in 2017.

have made Britain's economy stronger and more competitive.

a record number of people in work. And we're predicted to be