20/06/2014 BBC London News

destination. That is all from us. Now, thme for

the news where you are. governing body from a primary school

in Tower Hamlets. The counchl wants to replace the 15 governors at the

school in Whitechapel after what it calls a catastrophic drop in

standards and the complete breakdown in relations with some of the

governors. Three years ago, this school was rated good with

outstanding features. Now it appears to have suffered an alarming

decline. Moves are under wax to remove the management. The vast

majority of pupils are Bangladeshi and most speak English as a second

language. Tower Hamlets objdcted to the appointment of a new

headteacher. The following summer, the exams were 40%, the lowdst ever

recorded in the borough. Thd previous year, they had been 82 . In

September 2013, the school was labelled a cause for concern. In

December, the council applidd to the Secretary of State for the governors

to be removed. This month, Ofsted launched an emergency inspection.

Today, parents reflected concerns about the school's decline.

people thinking that they change the school. The results were low? Yeah,

Are you worried? Basically, my son is going to another You're loving

school. Him? Yeah. I went to a few meetings, some group trying to take

over the school. My parents were not involved. That refers to a failed

attempt by governors to makd the school an academy, out of council

control, an illustration of how far relations have soured. The council

said it's been a complete break down. In 2006, when the school was

performing above expectations, David Cameron chose this school to deliver

his plans for integrating mhnority communities.

We can get more on this now from our reporter Nick. Are we dealing with

another Trojan horse style problem similar to in Birmingham? That's a

legitimate question to explore, not least because the inspectors in the

Midlands found that hardlind Muslims had targeted five schools and also,

in light of that experience, they were widening their investigation.

They have been looking at places in East London. Today, though, they

said that although this month's inspection was an emergency one it

wasn't due to any fears of ` takeover plot. Also the Dep`rtment

of Education said that they'd found no evidence of any extremist

activity. Tower Hamlets council is concerned about what it calls a

catastrophic collapse in results at the school. That's why it's calling

on the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, to formally remove thd

governors. We spoke to one governor today and also the head teacher at

the school. They both said they wouldn't be commenting until Ofsted

has published its findings of the emergency inspection earlier this

month. Thank you you. `` thank you.

Next week, the herbal stimulant khat will be banned in Britain and

treated as a class C drug. For hundreds of years it's been chewed

from people `` by people from Yemen and Somalia. Police starting

explaining the new policy to people today.

Friday prayers have just ended, this campaigner is stirring up stpport

for the criminalisation of khat The police are spreading the word.

Listen carefully not everyone supports the ban. Chewing the leaves

of the herb for a euphoric high has been a social pastime in thd coffee

shops of Somali communities for generations. There is littld dispute

that khat use has caused huge problems for this community. And the

ban seems largely welcomed. There is an underlying anger that thd ban

will create more job problels, more money worries for this commtnity.

This is going to close and the Government they don't have `n

alternative to help her, to do the business. How many people use your

coffee shop every day and h`ve khat? 200 to 300. A day? Yes, customers.

As this community grows in London, so has khat use. Depression,

domestic violence and joblessness is plaguing this community and plane

blame the mood`alitiering shde effects of khat. This man w`s a

user. For us, for the community it might be cloudy in London, but the

sun is shining for all thosd families at the end of domestic

violence, it's the end of abuse it's the end of children who

couldn't spend time with thdir families. Up to 56 tons of the herb

is imported from the Kenyan mountains to Britain's stredts every

year. Dealers and coffee shops sell it up for up ?4 a bundle. Now a long

and profitable chain is out of business. We're taking a softly

softly approach with our colmunities much it's all about education,

telling them it's coming. Wd're taking a tiered approach to people

who are getting caught with it. The Met are wary of potential community

tensions. Arrests won't be ` last resource on our borders. To stop

khat use going underground smugglers won't get off so lightly. As one

user told me today ` khat is our alcohol.

That's it from me for tonight. Let's get the weather forecast for the

weekend and this evening from Chris. Fingers crossed.

Yes, it's looking good. Prolising you a lot of sunshine and it will

feel warm as well. Before wd get there, there'll be patches of cloud

moving southwards overnight. Not too much mind you. It stays mild tonight

with temperatures no lower than around 14 degrees in the centre of

town. Now the start of the weekend looking like a stunning day. On

Saturday, plenty of sunshind. It will be warmer than it was today. 23

degrees today. I think as wd go through Saturday, we will sde plenty

of sunshine, not very much cloud at all. In the best of the sunshine,

we're looking at highs up to fairly widely the mid`20, 25 degreds

Celsius on the cards in the centre of town. Yeah I think I can smell

the barbeques being set alrdady Looking at the forecast for Sunday,

there'll be a subtle chain. High pressure is with us, but thd main

difference is we start to h`ve easterly winds up the Thames Estuary

that. Means it won't be quite as warm in the centre of town. Not bad

mind you, 24 degrees on the cards am probably the best of the sunshine

out towards the West. Here's my colleague Darren bet with a look at

the national picture. Hello there. Tomorrow is the longest

day, the summer solstice, it's not often that we bring you good news,

but it does look promising for this weekend. There may be a little rain

in the far north of Scotland, otherwise it should be dry and

there'll be good spells of sunshine. With light winds, it should feel

quite warm as well. The reason for the quiet weather, this blocking

area of high pressure out to the west. We do have weak weather fronts

towards the Northern Isles. Nor cloud for the -- more cloud in the

northern half of Scotland. The night is dry, clear spells an lite winds

as well. Temperatures, well typically in towns and cities 1 or

13 degrees. It will be Cilicy in