04/01/2017 London News

one of Britain's oldest institutions tells us why its global heart

London I'm sure will still remain the global heart of insurers

globally. The private ambulance crews

responding to emergencies, That was it. One hour on blue

lights, that's it. That's astonishing. It is astonishing.

Plus putting coffee waste to good use.

how the capital's cappuccino drinkers are helping

And Dippy bids farewell to the public, as the dinosaur

prepares to leave the Natural History museum for

Good evening, welcome to BBC London News with me, Riz Lateef.

With negotiations over Britain's exit from the EU

still some months away, plans are already being

The insurance giant Lloyd's of London is leading the way,

confirming that it will move some staff to a new European base

if new trading rules impact its business.

With others likely to follow, is the capital on the verge

Continuing our Brexit series, Marc Ashdown looks at what it

Some predict a Brexit boost, others have that sinking feeling. All agree

speed is now vital. A lot of uncertainty. There is a real air of

uncertainty. There is no benefit from dragging things out. The Square

mile wants clarity and quickly. Lloyds of London has been

underpinning the underpinnings in the insurance world for more than

300 years. Used to managing risk, contingency plans are being

finalised if Brexit negotiations impact business. Some staff could be

moved. We have got to have people physically in another country

looking at that business. Previously, they would have been

based in London. But that is only for Lloyds, a small proportion but

if other businesses have two follow suit, that means that there will be

people based outside of London. But London I'm sure will still remain

the heart of insurers globally. It's actually a more positive sign.

Before the referendum, there were scare stories of large company is

moving their headquarters abroad. But nevertheless, is this a sign of

a brain drain? This company helps 20,000 clients collect payments from

customers. Smaller businesses like this are also watching nervously. We

are used to kind of adapting and changing quite quickly and I think

that is possibly one advantage that we have as a smaller, younger

company is that we can move a little bit more quickly and easily. They

now have clients across the European Union and are making plans to move

some of their operation abroad, depending on what the government can

broker. There are two really important things, continued access

to the European market in terms of financial access, that is par

sporting for us, and also some form of free movement of workers, or a

very efficient immigration system. Some have seen it all before and

believe the next few years will be boomtime. This man has worked in

finance for 26 years. Where once he saw the Japanese, then Europeans

investing hand over fist, now he says it is the Chinese ready to fuel

London's economy. This idea that there will be an exodus of

businesses and people goes against what we are seeing. London is

something quite exceptional. It is a destination for people and capital

around the world, far beyond the European Union. And it is that

factor that promises to keep London growing in the years ahead. So,

Brexit will bring positives, it will bring negatives. For some, there is

a whole world of opportunity opening up. For others, life may be about to

get a bit more tricky but all agree the uncertainty is no good for

anyone. And tomorrow night we'll be looking

at how the hospitality trade, a sector reliant on the largest

number of EU born workers Why tonight's London Derby

has a lot riding on it. Premier League leaders Chelsea are

chasing a place in the record books. Todd are desperate to stop them.

A BBC investigation has found that some staff who have driven private

ambulances in Essex were trained for as little as an hour

for responding to blue light emergencies.

That's a fraction of the four weeks' training that NHS drivers receive.

Current staff members have also claimed that some equipment

in the Private Ambulance Service in Basildon is in poor condition -

The Victoria Derbyshire programme's James Melley, has this report.

When we dial 999 for a medical emergency, most people expect NHS

ambulances and their highly trained crews to respond.

But increasingly, NHS trusts are having to use private

One of these companies is the Private Ambulance Service,

It carries out work like taking patients to hospital appointments,

transferring sick people between hospitals, and also provides

cover for 999 calls for the East of England NHS Ambulance Trust.

But whistle-blowers have told us staff are not properly trained,

and the equipment they use is not up to scratch.

Paul would only speak to us if we disguised his identity.

He worked for PAS as a medic, but lost his job last year.

I never had any induction or training.

Pretty much just sent out and that was it.

So you had no induction, no training?

It was quite clear that I was working with people that,

not through their own fault, were not trained.

They were not competent in the job and they certainly

were not confident in dealing with situations.

Didn't know how to take simple things like blood sugars, ECGs.

Didn't know how to do manual blood pressures.

We started to hear more disturbing stories about the lack of basic

training for staff at the Private Ambulance Service.

Dan Duke worked at the company in patient transport

The job could require him to drive under blue lights when taking

an emergency patient between different hospitals.

What training where you actually given in order to drive

One hour's training on blue lights, that's it.

So what is an acceptable level of training to drive under blue lights?

Our whole course is four weeks long and the first two

weeks are the foundation, if you like, to actually move

We approached the Private Ambulance Service for

And told us, the Private Ambulance Service offers a high

level of patient care to all patients transported

And we do not accept the nature of the allegations

We outsource our blue light driver training to an approved training

We started using our current provider in January 2016.

All staff received induction training and full

Staff joining us from other companies have two complete clinical

skills assessments and driving assessments prior to

The NHS East of England Ambulance Service, which uses the Private

Ambulance Service to provide cover for emergency calls,

told us, the East of England Ambulance Service needs

to use private companies to meet patient demand.

These services are regulated by the CQC and are internally vetted.

The East Midlands and the trust is increasing

But nationally, NHS trusts are struggling with the level

of patient demand, so private ambulance providers,

which are regulated, are increasingly likely to respond

An 18-year-old who died in August last year after taking drugs

during a night out at the club Fabric smuggled drugs

into the venue in his boxer shorts before buying more.

That's what an inquest heard today into the death of Jack Crossley.

His was one of several similar cases that lead to the nightclub's

Well, Alice Salfield joins me now from outside the club.

The inquest heard from two of Jack Crossley 's friends who were with

him here at Fabric the day he died. They said he had been to the club

twice before. Both times taking the drug MDMA but they believe these

were the only times Jack had ever taken drugs. They said that on the

5th of August, all three of them hit MDMA in their boxer shorts while

queueing to get into Fabric and took the drugs over the course of the

night and once they'd finished these, Jack bought some more from

someone inside the club which he also took. Around 5:30am, they went

to leave that one of the security guard thought Jack looked unwell and

took him into a medical area and he suffered a cardiac arrest whilst

being treated by paramedics. He was later taken to hospital where he

died. Today, the coroner said that the cause of Jack's death was MDMA

toxicity and that he had been a naive drug user, just going to a

club and doing what everyone else around him appeared to be doing but

she said in this case it had ended in tragedy.

We know that the club behind you has been closed since September but it

is set to reopen later this week. Yes, since 2010, there have been six

deaths related to drug activity at Fabric and in September, Islington

Council revoked the club's license, forcing it to shut. Since then, the

club and the council have come to an agreement, allowing Fabric to reopen

with new conditions and today, Jack's uncle spoke about how the

family feel about the relaunch of Fabric this Friday. It is not really

about any case of retribution or getting justice, today was just

about understanding what happened to Jack, how it happened, and how we

can avoid it happening to anybody else in the future. If Fabric sheds,

it is going to be another club somewhere else opening up and

another venue, it makes no difference to us. Today, the general

manager of Fabric spokes to the inquest about the changes that would

be put in place at the club. These include completely new security

procedures and banning under 19. He said anyone caught with drugs at the

club would be banned for life but he wanted to stress that the problem

was wider than just here at Fabric and that more education on drugs

generally was what was needed. Thank you for the latest.

A teenage freerunner from Guildford has died

after an accident on the Paris Metro.

Tributes have been paid to 17-year-old Nye Frankie Newman

whose death on New Year's day, was confirmed by his parkour group,

a craze which sees people climb and jump in urban environments.

They claim he wasn't train surfing at the time.

A road has been badly damaged in north west London after a water

main burst early this morning. London Fire Brigade were sent

to Breakspear Road South in Ickenham to provide help to residents.

Affinity Water is carrying out repairs, but the road is expected

A group of East London school children are fighting proposals

to build concrete factories on the Olympic Park in Stratford.

They claim any development on the site would destroy air

quality and be detrimental to the health of future generations.

And as Emilia Papadopolous reports, they're using their skills from

A really short chimney compared to a really tall chimney. This might look

like a normal lesson but these schoolchildren are tree coming up

with a plan to tackle one of London's biggest issues, pollution.

Their school is just a stone's throw from the Olympic Park and ever since

plans to build three concrete factories near it emerged, they have

been determined to stop it going ahead. It could affect my family and

me as well. And there are some other people that are living near as well.

If you think about it, there are a lot of people that it could affect.

There is going to be loads of pollution coming into the park. If

plans are approved, the factories would be built right next to the

Olympic Stadium and campaigners say it would mean constant heavy traffic

with hundreds of lorries coming in and out of the area every day. An

online petition has been started with 11,000 signatures. But these

children are also using algebra to make their case and show how the

factories would affect air quality is. We are making a report using our

English writing skills and then maths as we will send out to the

local community and work with local residents. And the teenagers are not

the only ones opposing the plans. The land has been made available for

industrial use but I don't think a concrete plant is what was envisaged

for the Olympic legacy. I think we demand better for the community. Air

quality is a huge problem in London and the way it is affecting young

people in schools has become a huge concern, there are even some

suggestions that schools should be fitted with carbon monoxide

monitors. When pollution is high, pupils might be forced to stay

indoors. The companies behind the proposals have not commented but the

development corporation in charge of the site says they're planning

committee are due to make a final decision at the end of the month.

It's one of the fiercest rivalries in English football and tonight's

London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea has plenty

Not only can the Blues extend their lead at the top

of the Premier League but they're are also chasing a place

Let's join Chris Slegg, who can explain.

Yes, Chelsea are a team re-formed under their Italian manager, Antonio

Conte, who took charge in the summer. This time last year, they

were in disarray. Jose Mourinho had been sacked amid reports of a paym

in tip -- player mutiny. Right now though, they lead the player league

and are five points ahead of second placed Liverpool. Five points

further back in fifth at Tottenham who are having a decent season but

their fading title hopes could be delivered a fatal blow to night

really if they don't win this match. And as you say, it is not just three

points at stake for Chelsea, they could do something that no team

since league football originated in England in 1888 has ever done and

that is win 14 consecutive league matches in the top division in the

same season. Arsenal in 2002 did win 14 consecutive league matches but

that was spread across two seasons with the summer break in between.

The Chelsea boss is proud to have his team on the cusp of this record.

It is a great achievement for us because to win 13 games in a row is

not easy. It is very difficult. We have a tough game. A really tough

game against Tottenham. And for sure, it is a good team, a very

strong team. Yes, Pochettino 's team are very strong at the moment and

are in great form. This could be the last batch we see at the existing

White Hart Lane between these sides. They could be drawn together in the

FA Cup. Tottenham plan to move into Wembley next season while their new

stadium continues to be built around their current home. That is still

the plan. I spoke to the club today and it is not 100% confirmed that

Tottenham will play at Wembley next season. They are still calling it an

option. There have been many great matches here down the years and

hopefully we will get another one here tonight.

A poignant game all round. Thanks very much indeed, Chris.

We speak to the star of The Kite Runner as it takes

to the London stage. And dismantling a dinosaur,

as Dippy the Diplodocus bids farewell to the National History

Before that though - how the capital's cappuccino

drinkers are helping harvest - Mushrooms.

It may sound bizarre, but whilst most used coffee

Two brothers from south London have been putting

As Thomas Magill has been finding out.

City farming and not a tractor insight but instead this and even

more surprising, it's not a field where Alex is heading but here, a

derelict Cafe at the elephant and Castle where something rather

extraordinary is happening. Here we are in the first mushroom farm in

London, which actually uses coffee grounds to grow core main mushrooms.

And that unwanted Coffey ground is collected every morning from cafes

across south London. As a nation, we dump tonnes of the stuff every year

in landfill and that is unsustainable. Bringing farming back

into the city can solve a lot of issues. We take ingredients like

coffee grounds which have nutrients readily available for the mushrooms

to grow out of them. This method of growing mushrooms is

super fast and today after much nurturing, cultivating and tending,

it is the moment of truth. The company 's first fall harvest. I am

quite pleased, they are quite large as well. After just six weeks, the

mushrooms are ready to be sold in restaurants right here. Restaurants

like this one, part of one of London's newest food markets. The

guys insist generating ingredients for your evening meal from your

morning coffee is only the beginning of what they say is a growing

industry. We have in this case these mushrooms that come from waste

produced here, then the mushrooms are grown here and then they are

sold to restaurants and consumers. No transportation, no costs that

make it more expensive than the ones you would find in the supermarket.

For now, the aim is to get other cafes to donate their used coffee

grounds so similar farms can spring up in dark corners near you.

It's the powerful story of the unlikely friendship

between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant,

set against the backdrop of the history of Afghanistan.

The Kite Runner has sold over 30 million copies worldwide

Now the best selling novel is about to hit the west end stage,

with a Londoner taking the lead role.

As Louisa Preston has been finding out.

The Kite Runner film followed the box huge success, telling the story

of two Afghan friends. Now it is set to open in the West End and the

central character is being played by Londoner Ben Turner. The book and

film were so successful. There is a lot of anticipation for this in

London. That is right. It is a lot of people's favourite book,

favourite film, and we have been selling really well for previews and

all of that and the response so far has been amazing. Winter used to be

my favourite season in Kabul. It was the time of the kite fighting

tournament. The play has sold out to crowds across the country but now it

is hitting the West End and there is real excitement. It must be amazing

to be playing in the West End. I was here ten years playing a tiny little

part with a dodgy French accent. It is quite nice to be back here

playing the lead in my hometown. He started his acting career on the

stage but is known to millions as one of the stars of casualty. To get

to work with the camera every day for 12 hours a day for four years,

six days a week was incredible. And genuinely, it was some of the

happiest years of my life. I still think of the casualty lot as my

family. But he is thrilled to be back home and playing to a London

audience. We have got a lot of people walking past the theatre

every day, text in me, saying they have seen me on the side of the

windows. I think Mum has popped seven times to come and see the

show. It is a proud moment for me and all my family.

Ben will be playing in the Wyndham Theatre until March.

Now, you might want to take a good look - because as of...

Around an hour ago visitors to the Natural History Museum

will no longer get to see Dippy the Dinosaur.

It's been it's home for over a century, but now the process

of dismantling and cleaning it begins, ahead of its two-year UK

There is a good chance at some point in your life you've stood right here

and locked up at this very special Londoner, Dippy the Diplodocus. Yes,

that is exactly how you say it and assuming you have, you are one of 90

million people who have done exactly the same thing. I think it's

amazing. It's massive and it's really cool to see it. Cool to see

it again because you don't get many opportunities to see something of

this size ever in your life really. Maybe I can see other dinosaurs.

Dippy first came to London in 94 -- 1905. He or she was cast from a

specimen in America after King Edward VII said he would like to see

a replica at the Natural History Museum in London. The dinosaur

complete with royal approval appeared. And has stayed ever since.

Until now. Over the next month, we will be taking each bone down, each

of those 292 bones will be cleaning them and expecting -- inspecting

them. This is what will replace Dippy, the real skeleton of a blue

whale diving from the ceiling. It could properly do with a nickname.

But that will not trouble Dippy. He will enjoy a well earned break from

over 100 years of attention. Bone chillingly cold. From dinosaur

bones to bone chilling weather. It has been a chilly all day today. We

have had a little sunshine that came through later on today but as you

can see from this picture, the clouds broke up. We saw some spells

of sunshine. Earlier on, the thickest of the clouds did bring a

few splashes of rain. You can see the breaks in the cloud now moving

southwards into the London area and tonight under clear skies, blue

shading spreading across the map. That shows where we are expecting

quite a hard frost. Temperatures even in the centre of London minus

one. Maybe -6 or seven in other areas. After that frosty start

tomorrow, we will have blue skies and sunshine all the way. There

might be someone screen scraping to be done first. But then as we go

through the day, I have not forgotten to put the cloud on the

graphics. It is just going to be largely dry and sunny. But it is not

going to help the temperatures very much. Now, tomorrow night, Thursday

night, into the early hours of Friday, it gets cold again but this

time, we will see a bit more in the way of fog developing. Bear that in

mind if you are travelling early on Friday. It will be freezing frog as

well. We start the day on Friday with high pressure. Here comes a

change out to the west. Frontal systems starting to push in and that

will bring rain later on Friday. After a dry start, maybe some early

bright weather and then we will see rain spilling into the picture.

Temperatures just beginning to creep up and that is the trend into the

weekend. It is going to turn considerably milder. Back up into

double figures but more cloud than some rain at times. We will lose the

chill but we will also lose the sunshine.

Sir Ivan Rogers, who's quit as Britain's top EU diplomat,

has accused the government of muddled thinking

The resignation has set off a heated row over the role of the civil

A vigil is to take place in memory of Yasser Yacub,

the man shot dead by a police marksman in Huddersfield on Monday.

There was a protest in the city last night and local MP Naz Shah

The high street retailer Next has warned of tougher trading

It blamed uncertainty over Brexit and a squeeze on consumer spending.

Right, that's all we've got time for.

Asad Ahmad will be back tonight with our late news.

So from all of us on the team here, thanks for watching

as he explores Naples, Venice and Florence.

It's like we're walking through a giant's armpit.

We can follow the escape route of Michelangelo.

Mildred is our first student from a non-witching family.