18/06/2014 BBC London News

the London Mayor, Boris Johnson Now though, on BBC One, it's

time for the news where you are Now though, on BBC One, it's

time for the news where you forced to rerun last month's

election. Lutfar Rahman inshsts election was above board but some of

his opponents claim voters were intimidated at polling stathons and

in some cases even told how to vote. I declare that Lutfar Rahman is duly

elected as Mayor of Tower H`mlets. A second term as Mayor won after an

acrimonious campaign and for some the bitter taste endures. Four local

people have served Lutfar R`hman with allegations of malpractice We

are examining the allegations and are collating the information. Among

those allegations were that votes were cast in the name of people not

entitled to be on the electoral register, that voting papers,

including postal votes, werd acquired and marked in favotr of

Lutfar Rahman, and canvassers were encouraging support for him. The

Returning Officer is accused of allowing agents for Lutfar Rahman to

canvass for votes in polling stations, to accompany voters when

they cast their vote, and to leave campaign material in and around

voting compartments. It is `lso alleged that Labour's mayor`l

candidate was falsely accusdd of racism. I was very angry with that

and felt it was a cynical ddvice used by them. I don't want to come

across as a bad loser. The result was declared and I am the lhars but

if serious questions are behng asked, they have to be explored

Would they have affected thd result? Tower Hamlets Council said `ll the

candidates accepted the mayoral result and the petition raise nod

new issues. Is matters is fairly rare and this is

very much the first stage of this petition. What happens now hs that

the people behind it have 28 days to seek a hearing before a High Court

judge, who will then decide whether there are grounds to take this

further. And if there were, that might one day mean that ballot boxes

being reopened and the counting being done again and even rdrunning

the election. Police investigating an illdgal rave

in Croydon over the weekend have released CCTV images of sevdn men

they want to speak to. More than 1,000 people went to the evdnt at a

disused postal sorting office. A 15`year`old boy fell ill at the

party and later died, it is believed from the drug overdose. Offhcers say

none of the men pictured here are thought to be connected to his

death. Julian Assange, the founder of the

website WikiLeaks, has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy for two

years now. It has come at a cost to taxpayers. Scotland Yard has

revealed they've spent more than ?6 million policing the embassx just in

case he leaves. He is wanted in Sweden after allegedly sexu`lly

assaulting two women. There are few signs he will be leaving London

soon. For the officers outside thd

Ecuadorian embassy it must feel like a never ending circle. Watched by

Julian Assange's supporters, the police have been here for two years

now, ready to arrest the WikiLeaks founder if he leaves the buhlding.

They are still waiting and the Met is still paying. Police resources

are stretched and now is thd time for the Mayor to ask the Government

for them to foot the bill. There needs to be more pressure bdhind the

scenes to resolve this once and for all. The Met says the bill for

guarding Assange has now topped ?6 million. Most of that came from the

diplomatic protection budget, but more than ?1 million has bedn in

police overtime. A couple of months ago Julian Assange spoke to the BBC

from within the embassy. Others are in a more difficult environlent But

what's his life like in there two years on? A veteran journalhst

knows. He visited his friend last week. It's hard in there without the

air, without the sunlight. Ht is difficult. You realise wherd you

are. Does he have a treadmill? He does, and a bicycle I think, with a

stationary bicycle you can do some exercise. He has a group of

WikiLeaks people with him, `nd he is constantly busy. His morale is good.

Critics say Assange has end`ngered lives by publish as mass of top

secret military intelligencd. Supporters say he's a fightdr for

the truth who can end up in prison in the US if he leavers the embassy.

He's been here two years. It has cost the Met more than ?6 mhllion

and there is absolutely no indication that Julian Assange will

be leaving here any time soon. And this former Government lawydr says

there's no chance the officdrs will be withdrawn. The reason for that `

the UK'sen responsibilities to Europe. ?6 million or whatever it is

is a relatively small sum considering this is a very rare case

involving international oblhgations to other countries. So if I were the

Home Secretary or the Mayor of London or whoever is accountable for

that spending, I would think it was money well spent rather than the

expenditure I needed to put into immediately. Boris Johnson says the

Met hasn't yet asked the Government for extra money to cover thd

security costs. That could change depending on how long this

particularly expensive resident remains here.

Nice tie. And yours is lovely too. Agreed minds.

High pressure dominated the scene. We saw the cloud clear and there was

plenty of sunshine. Much of the capital will stay dry tonight, but

cloud will blanket temperattres so another warm and muggy night to

come. Tomorrow, plenty of sunshind around.

Particularly for the first part of the day. It will turn warm,

especially where we have thd sunshine. Cloud to begin with and

that will break up. Lots of sunshine and then a band of cloud will start

to spread down from the north during the afternoon. There may be one or

two showers as it reaches southern parts of the capital. Most places

remain dry. Top temperatures of 25 Celsius. The outlook for thd

Celsius. The outlook for the weekend is looking pretty good.

If you have outdoor plans, plenty of fine weather, warm nest the south.

Is today, warm nest the north. Normally