18/09/2014 BBC London News

and on BBC One, we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Condemning the actions of Islamic militants in Syria.

Muslims in the capital unitd to distance themselves and

We want to condemn them and say they do not represent Islam in any way.

We want to shed light on thd true meaning of Islam and what Islam has

to say about the likes of ISIS. Muslim leaders appeal

for the release A video of another British hostage

emerges. Revealed ` the stations hit

the hardest with staff lossds as Inspectors discover hundreds

of asylum seekers crammed I think I might be a better actor

than I was four months ago, in some ways.

Plus, Martin Freeman on playing Richard III and

Welcome to BBC London News with me Riz Lateef.

Some prominent Muslim figurds in London have added their names to

an appeal for the release of hostage Alan Henning, held by

Meanwhile, a group of young Muslims in the capital have launched

a social media campaign condemning the actions of IS, highlighting that

they do not represent the Islamic faith or the Muslim communities

It comes as a government advisor on racism today warned of an increased

Our Home Affairs Corresponddnt Guy Smith reports.

It is the first time leaders and Imams from most branches of Islam in

the UK have come together to say, not in our name. In a letter to a

national newspaper. Prominent Muslims, many from mosques hn

London, issued a joint appe`l to the kidnappers of Alan Henning to

release him. They expressed horror and revulsion at the recent murders

by so`called Islamic State. They are acting as monsters, perpetr`ting the

worst crimes against humanity. This is not jihad, it is a war against

all humanity. One of the people that helped arrange the statement runs

and interfaith forum in the capital. Their aggression and brutalhty is

nothing to do with Islam. This is a bunch of lunatics trying to use

Islam as a disguise to further their control over the region. ISHS does

not represent any Muslim. It is totally not is on it. They have been

rejecting the rhetoric of Hdydon is none. This woman appears in the

video. She told me there is no room for extremism in Islam. The hashtag,

#notinmyname is trending on Twitter. We want to encourage the Muslims

Britain to speak out against ISIS. So far, it is successful, there are

Muslims and non`Muslims sprdading this message. Her father fotght

along the Taliban in Afghanhstan, but now works to help young Muslims

in danger of being radicalised. I can guarantee there are hundreds, if

not thousands of them, that want out. They did not sign up for this

hostile brutality. They signed up for humanitarian issues, thdy wanted

to fight President Assad and his regime. They didn't want to fight

innocent women and children, kill messengers and aid workers. But what

is the impact back home? Thdre are fears of an increased risk of

Islamophobic attacks. After the first beheading of photojournalist

James Foley, seen here on the left, The Met police said there w`s not a

significant rise in hate crhme in London. There are no figures yet for

the other two murders. With me now is Fiyaz Mughal

from the organisation Faith Matters, and one of those who signed today's

letter of appeal. Good evening. With this awftl news

of a video of another Briton emerging, what, if anything, do you

think a letter like this, what difference would it make? It has an

impact two ways. The first way is to send a clear message to those

thinking of going to Syria that it is not the path for British Muslims

to take. The message is, don't go out there, the British Muslhm

community is making it clear that is the wrong move to take. The second

thing is that we know ISIS, or IS, they are very active on sochal

media. This is a call through social media and other methods, as we have

seen with the hashtag #notinmyname, for somebody to pick this up, have

some element in their heart, to talk to the people holding Alan Henning

for a potential release. Yot talked about social media, perhaps we can

learn something from the yotng people we saw in the report. Pretty

powerful stuff. We know that social media seems to be the communication

of choice for extremism. Is this that you're using the same ledium to

fight back? It is, really. We know that groups like IS using social

media, accounts are opened hn multiple names. This is the way to

tackle a lot of the ideologx, the battle is online. These young people

are doing the right thing. The more we can tackle it through social

media and websites, that thhs is the wrong way to go, the better. It is a

positive, progressive move by young British muslins in London today A

warning from a government adviser on racism about the increased risk of

Islamophobic attacks. Are you getting that same sense? After Lee

Rigby, we were the first agdncy to pick up a large spike in

Islamophobic instances. Aftdr Rotherham, specifically out of

Rotherham, a smaller spike, nowhere near what happened after Led

Rigby's murder. But it gives us a wholesale picture of what mhght be

taking place in communities. There are national and international

impacts. Thankfully, we havdn't got tension on the streets of otr

country, a lot of work has been done to reduce that. Your organisation,

Faith Matters, it works with all sorts of religions. What kind of

reaction have you had from them We are quite unique in England,

communities get on, they gel and support each other. We work with

Jewish communities, a whole range of different faiths come together to

try to build alliances and understanding, and reduced tensions.

That is why we believe we are in a unique position in this country

Fiyaz Mughal, thank you. Pldnty more to come tonight, including:

Targetting China's super`rich ` the trade contingent from the c`pital

hoping to boost the capital's fortunes.

Let's turn to our second story, let me just grab it for you. Solething

seems to be... Right, let md start again.

Details have emerged about the number of staff

individual underground stathons will lose as part of plans to close

It's claimed 13 stations will lose more than half their current staff,

prompting fresh concerns from passengers and transport groups

London Underground denies its plans will make the network less safe

Nick Beake is at Oxford Circus tube tonight.

Well, the London Underground is changing. This week, for thd first

time, we have been able to tse contactless cards to get around

This proposal to close everx ticket office in the capital has proved

controversial. There have bden concerns about safety and

particularly about job lossds. Today, for the first time, we have

had some detail about what ht could mean for individual stations. Plans

to close all of London's ticket offices and cut up to 950 jobs have

already sparked two strikes, with passengers caught in the middle

Today, details emerged for the first time about exactly how individual

stations would be affected. Labour claims 13 stations across London

with each lose more than half their staff. Among them, Barons Court

Edgware, Dagenham heatwave, East Ham and Southfields. Are there dnough

staff to meet the needs of the passengers? I don't think the

evidence is there that is the case. We are not against modernis`tion, I

don't think anybody is. But they are equating what Nye 's Asian with a

dramatic loss of staff. Herd at Kilburn, there are 12 staff. ``

modernisation. That would bd halved and passengers have concerns. When

it is put to the test, therd will not always be the cover. If there is

sickness and that, there will not be able to stand for them. People with

a disability, it's not right for them to be expected to use lachines.

If there is an incident and the man is taken away from his job, who is

there? Today, transport bosses insisted every station would be

manned while tubes were running and the safety of passengers wotld not

be compromise. The quality of service is going to be enhanced

Yes, there will be fewer st`ff overall, we have been clear about

that from the beginning. Because we can redeploy the lion's share of

stuff out there to be in front of customers, customers will sde more

staff than they do today. Therefore, the service will be much better It

was claimed today that 588 front line station staff will be lost a

16% cut across the network. London Underground says it is constlting

with the unions on a final figure and discussing how each station will

be ultimately affected. London Underground say hundreds of staff

have come forward saying thdy would like to take voluntary redundancy.

This remains an extremely contentious issue for the unions.

They are extremely angry. Wd have seen it calls two sets of strikes.

The hope for London passengdrs is that both sides can work together

and come to some sort of solution. 600 asylum seekers have been found

living in a small hotel in Crystal Housing inspectors from

Croydon Council visited the hotel after locals complained abott noise

and anti`social behaviour. They found one room with

nine people sleeping in it. The local MP has urged the

Home Office to take action. The Queens Hotel in Crystal Palace,

warehousing enforcement offhcers from Croydon Council discovdred

around 600 asylum seekers h`d been This man from Burma has been in this

hotel for almost a month and says he Luckily, the people where I was

living, they were friendly. We have to stay in the queud

for around one two hours. The local MP is angry with the Home

Office, saying no one in thd local community was consulted abott a plan

to use the hotel in this wax. The Home Office had to answdr some

questions about why they thhnk it is appropriate to turn a hotel into a

B hostel for 600 people overnight, without any conshderation

with the local community. Since when have they had thhs

policy, and how quickly can they disperse these people around so

that they are located in ardas that The Home Office says it has asked

its providers to reduce substantially the number of people

staying here and cease further bookings by the end of the week He

says the conditions here have improved, and he now shares a room

with four people. Croydon Council says it is now satisfied thd

accommodation is adequate and it will be following up with wdekly

visits. A consortium of some of London's

high`end retailers have travelled to China in a bid to entice thd super

rich to come here and spend. There are fears that

the capital could be losing out to other European cities,

as Marc Ashdown reports. Brisk business in the heart of the

West End. There are shoppers from across the globe. But such hs the

concern of a lack of Chinesd visitors, a delegation of top

retailers has travelled to Shanghai to try to liberate their often deep

pockets. It's incredibly important we are seen as a leading pl`yer

within the world. There is so much that London has to offer,

creativity, luxury, fantasthc, is. It's important that we remahn

relevant to the world as it changes. The Chinese market is dynamhc, it is

moving very rapidly, it is changing and their taste is evolved. One big

problem in attracting peopld is that we remain outside the group of 6

European countries that havd abolished passport and borddr

controls. It means a visitor from China only has to apply for one of

these are to visit all of these countries. To come here, thdy have

to apply to a second one and many simply don't. As a result, Paris

attracts between five and 80 times as many Chinese visitors as London.

It is estimated costs the UK ?1 2 billion in lost revenue every year.

In a few years, it could rise to ?3.1 billion, mainly due to China's

growth. So, this visit is t`rgeting the ultra rich. But it could be

argued if they do not know `bout London's luxury offerings bx now,

it's a bit late. Think they do, but it's a very competitive market. Many

people have not necessarily associated Britain with luxtry

goods. In fact, we are an enormous force, with brands like Selfridge's,

Harrods, Burberry, Mulberry and so on, we have phenomenal brands. We

are fighting our corner. Thd government says it is helping by

streamlining the application process. Some say it is not enough

and if the trend is not revdrsed, other areas could be hit as well.

The East Londoners revisiting the hop`picking tradition

I am at the Trafalgar Studios where we talk to Martin Freeman, star of

Richard III, and Jane Horrocks, who will soon be on that stage hn East

is East. Football now,

and within the last hour`and`a`half, Fulham have confirmed they've

sacked their manager Felix Lagath. Fair to say, his future has looked

uncertain? It has, because Fulham's form has been dismal. He cale here

with a glittering reputation, having won the German league three times.

Fulham were hoping he would have been the one to keep them in the

Premier League. He was their third manager of last season, following

Martin Jol and Rene Meulensteen It was all a bit of a mess. Thd owner

hoped Felix Magath would kedp them up, but as the former captahn Brede

Hangeland said this summer, he just made things worse, because Fulham

really went down with a bit of a whimper. And if you go out of the

Premier League, it costs thd club millions of pounds. Fulham certainly

do not look like hitting back up quickly, being bottom of thd

Championship as they are. I have lost six of their opening sdven

games. Last night they were leading against Nottingham Forest whth just

13 minutes to go, but lost. The boss said after the match that the start

of the season had been a catastrophe, and the owner certainly

agreed. For the moment, Kit Symons, the Under`21 manager, steps up to

take temporary charge. He is in the frame to be the permanent boss, as

is Steve Clarke and Chris Htghton. Today marks one year to go tntil the

start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. It will kick off here in London when

England take on Fiji at Twickenham. One of the tournament's amb`ssadors

is Saracens flanker Maggie @lphonsi, who only last month helped Dngland's

women to World Cup glory in Paris. Here's our sports reporter

Sara Orchard. Maggie Alphonsi has now rethred from

the international game, with memories of her own World Ctp

victory in France still fresh in the mind. She is now channelling her

experiences into her work as an ambassador for the men's World Cup

next year. What is nice is that I have done it,

I know what it is like, and I have won one of these, it is nicd when

people ask you what to expect, and just generally, what does a

tournament feel like? Maggid regularly rubs shoulders with

Twickenham royalty, but her sporting desire still burns, and she is

turning her hand to athletics, setting her sights on the Olympics.

Potentially, in throwing, I could make it. I have got two years. It

can be done. Former wasps and London Irish player Lawrence went from

rugby to this case and made it to London 2012. `` to discuss. And

Maggie Alphonsi was a junior champion in both discuss and shot. I

have actually thrown the disc is many times. And I did all rhght

actually. Having been born `nd bred on a diet of rugby in north London,

her new venture could see hdr travelling to Loughborough to make

her new Olympic dream come true For more than a century,

it was an annual holiday for tens of thousands of Londoners,

who left the East End to he`d to The tradition came to an end

in the ?60s. But this September, it has been

revived, and people from Barking and Dagenham who went there as children

have returned to the fields. This lady has not made this journey

since 1948. Brought up in the East End, the annual trip was a working

holiday for her family for `rcades. More than 60 years on, therd is

still the same sense of exchtement. I would like to see if all the fruit

trees are still there, that we used to scrum from! And just gendral feel

of the place, whether it fedls the same, that is what I am exchted

about. NEWSCAST: hop picking is a family

affair, the same families h`ve been coming for the fields for as long as

they can remember. At its pdak, 200,000 people, mainly women and

children, made the journey to Kent for the hop harvest. Many wdnt back

to the same farms generation after generation. They may only h`ve been

paid a pittance, but it was a chance to enjoy the countryside. It was a

communal effort, really, especially when it came to the cooking and the

games and the songs that we used to sing. But when you were working at

the bin, it was every man for himself, really. It was serhous

stuff! It was serious! Sincd specialist machinery was invented in

the 1950s, it has been posshble to harvest tops, even on a big farm

like this, with just a handful of people. Before that, they ndeded

hundreds, and many of them were recruited from the East End. The

trip is part of a 0 project recreating historic experiences and

with the population of artisan beer, there will be a tipple to enjoy at

the end of it. It is not just about re`enacting something, it is about

doing something together as a group again, it is productive. Thhs may

have been a community arts project, but the farmer was so impressed by

these workers, that there is an open invitation to return next ydar.

Next, when Richard III met the cast of East Is East.

Martin Freeman is playing the 15th century king

As that comes to a close, Jane Horrocks

and co`stars take to the sale stage for the multicultural play.

Two very different productions by the same artistic director

Our arts correspondent Brenda Emmanus reports.

Meet the cast of East Is East, the Asian family comedy, returnhng to

the London stage after 15 ydars as part of Jamie Lloyd's second season

at the Trafalgar Studios. This was a special event at the venue, bringing

together the cast of his current show, starring Martin freem`n in

Richard III, to hand on the button to those in his next production

What do you mean when you ddscribe it as an actor's Theatre? It is

about giving act as an opportunity to do roles that they might have

always wanted to do, or perhaps other people have not given to

them. This season has provided marching with his first offhcial

Shakespearean role, and a rdturn to the stage after four years. I know

you do not really do this sort of thing. His role as Watson in

Sherlock won him a Best Supporting Actor award at the Emmys, btt he was

not there to receive it. Were you surprised about the award? Happily

surprised, it was a lovely surprise, yes. Obviously, I would havd liked

to have gone. I am old`fashhoned, but the show that you are doing must

go on. However exciting all the other stuff is, it is not the actual

work. People have paid to come and see the play and I think yot owe it

to them. This handover event is a unique Trafalgar Studios tr`dition,

with the cast of the current production meeting those of the show

to follow. It is a kind of bonding session and exchange of ide`s. Next

month, Jane Horrocks will t`ke to the stage as the long`suffering

English mother in East Is E`st. I think a lot of people are excited

about it, because there was such a following with a film, and not many

people saw it as a play, so that is exciting, to see it live. I think I

might be a better actor than I was four months ago, because it demands

that. The play does, the production does, the other actors do. Ht feels

like a huge mountain. A hugd mountain we are climbing evdry day.

Martin has just over a week of mountain climbing as the villainous

King for Jane and her cast bring the multicultural comedy to the

Trafalgar Studios. Time for a check on the we`ther now

with Jon Hammond. And it has been a warm day? It

really has been. 26 degrees, you do not get that very often in the

middle of September. Heading towards the weekend, it will be turning

cooler. Fresher as well. We have had some sharp showers today. These will

be moving away this evening, many of us will avoid them, as we go through

the night. However, some showers developing again later on in the

night, coming up from the south You might wake up to a rumble of

thunder. Temperatures `16`17 as we start the day, so it will bd another

warm one, and humid. Some places will avoid these showers, I must

stress. Not as much sunshind as many of us had today. If the sun does

come out, again, it will fedl pretty warm and humid. The wind will be

fairly light. Looking furthdr ahead, everything hinges on a cold front

running down from the north. It will introduce fresher air eventtally,

but not on Saturday. Temper`tures, if the sun does come out, whll be

pretty high. Looking further ahead, for the rest of the weekend and

beyond, it turns fresher, btt brighter. Sunday looks lovely, and

Monday is not shaping up to badly, either. Temperatures not as high,

but we are going to see somd sunshine.

A new video has appeared showing a British hostage believed to be

being held by extremists from Islamic State.

But the man is wearing orange clothing, and his scripted speech

Voting is under way in the referendum on whether Scotland

Turnout is expected to be vdry high, with more than 4.2 million people

It has emerged that a Latvian man wanted in connection

with the disappearance of Alice Gross is a convicted murderdr.

The 14`year`old schoolgirl from Hanwell was last seen three

More on the day's stories on our website.

And Asad Ahmad will be back with our late news.

From me and the team here, good evening.

MENACING VOICE: You will rob the Bank of Karabraxos.