19/01/2017 London News

Martin McGuinness is stepping down from politics for good.

On the programme this evening:

Calls for a radical overhaul of the congestion charge nearly

14 years after it was first introduced.

It is shocking, it is getting worse and worse. I have done 12 miles and

the last two and a half hours. A lose, lose for London -

the mayor's assessment of the PM's Brexit plan as City banks look

to relocate thousands of jobs. If businesses decide to leave London

they will not go to Paris, Madrid or Frankfurt, they will go to Hong

Kong, Singapore or New York. What the Surrey residents make of the

referendum on a 15% council tax rise to paper social care. Also, it was

her inspirational message to London schoolgirls and now the reflect on

what Michelle Obama taught them. Welcome to BBC London News

with me Riz Lateef. First tonight: A problem

which costs the capital billions every year

and it's getting worse - Now politicians at City Hall say

the Congestion Charge, which was introduced nearly 14 years

ago, doesn't go far enough to help tackle the issue,

and are calling for Ideas include a move to road

pricing, or paying per mile, and even a trial of a ban

on personal deliveries to offices. Here's our Transport

Correspondent Tom Edwards. Welcome to Charing Cross Road,

the third-most congested in London, where traffic creeps along

at walking pace, on average 3.6 mph. It feels like TFL are doing it

on purpose to put drivers off, A lot of the cut-through roads

are no longer there, they're cycle lanes only the way

you want to go. I have done 12 miles in the last

two and a half hours. A growing population, more vehicles,

more minicabs and delivery vans and construction,

and public roadworks for pedestrians Now a report calls for a reform

of the congestion charge. We need to be charging vehicles more

if they are travelling at peak times In the longer term we have got

to look at road pricing in London to tackle the congestion hotspots

to mean that if you do choose to use your car you will pay

a bit more for that, rather than those who

use public transport. But also we are looking at other

things such as tackling deliveries, moving some of those to night-time,

and also encouraging people not to have their delivery

sent to their work. Road pricing, though,

could be contentious. Singapore is one of the few places

where you pay per mile. Our concern is road pricing could be

used as a cash cow and could make We think it is important that any

new system reflects the economic value of a journey so deliveries

to London's museums and restaurants, that is a valuable contribution,

perhaps more so than a private Maybe the system

should reflect that. City Hall does concede

the 14-year-old congestion It could go 24-hour -

currently 30,000 private hire vehicles come into the zone

on a Saturday night. Or drivers could pay

different amounts at Although a ban on personal

deliveries to offices We do need to be making

the deliver industry much more It is not at the moment and is using

way too much road space, something like 20% of the traffic

on the roads in London at the moment We think there's a lot of really

good models we can use to actually try and organise these deliveries

in a much more efficient way. Today the mayor also issued

a pollution warning as traffic fumes Congestion is one of the big

challenges cities face. How he will tackle the jams will be

revealed in the next few months. A "lose, lose" for London

and the rest of the UK - that's the mayor's assessment

of the Prime Minister's Brexit plan as Theresa May today addressed

banking bosses in Switzerland. Sadiq Khan, who's also

at the World Economic Forum, restated his position

that the capital His comments follow yesterday's

announcement that several banks are planning to relocate

thousands of staff. Our Political Correspondent

Karl Mercer reports. It's the place where the world comes

every year to talk and do business. They do it under the watchful eyes

of marksmen, and the more And in Davos today the British Prime

Minister the London's Mayor both talking Brexit and the effect it

could have on the UK and on London. The mayor taking his message

to an international audience. You're going to get a hard Brexit,

whether you like it or not. No, what is with important

is sensible minds try and put So far, is there already signs

companies are leaving, You say you want people to access

the EU single market but how does London has been a city

which has attracted trade, talent and ideas from more

than 1000 years. That is the reason

he is selling hard. In recent days two major banks,

HSBC and UBS, have ordered cuts We have roughly 5000

people in London. Real passporting business

is probably down to about 1000 of those employees in London,

and for that we need to look at what the current deal

will be mapped out with. I am glad to hear from the European

side they want a symmetrical So we are still waiting

for what is happening. Today another of the banking world's

big guns had some words of comfort for the city,

though he too warned I do not believe the European

financial centre will leave I think the UK will continue to be

the financial lungs for Europe. We may have to move

certain activities, change the legal structure we use

to operate in Europe. The banks, financial services

institutions, the tech companies, the pharmaceuticals,

companies and businesses that create jobs, wealth and prosperity

want to stay in London. We have got to make it

easy for them to do so. The Prime Minister met senior

bankers this afternoon where we are told she stressed

the positive aspects I'm outside a theatre in Notting

Hill where people are angry at white actors playing the role of Chinese

characters. More now on today's announcement

that the people of Surrey are to be asked if they're prepared

to have their council tax The Conservative-controlled County

Council is going to hold It says it needs the extra money

because of a crisis in social care. Our Political Editor Tim

Donovan has been looking He joins us now. What do you make of

this? ?21 million of savings is what

Surrey County Council needs to find next year and it thinks this issue

is only going to get worse and that is why it has came up with this 15%

increase in council tax proposal. That would be around ?230 more on

the average council tax bill but it is needed. This afternoon I met

Catherine, she is suffering multiple sclerosis and it's any care home and

she has used up all her savings and Surrey County Council has just

agreed to pay her care which costs around ?6,000 a month.

I think the people of Surrey do need to dig into their pockets, much as

it pains me to come with the begging bowl and I do not like to do so,

what I'm doing this on half of all the disabled and vulnerable people

in Surrey -- on behalf of them. Having been through what I have gone

through with my daughter and look after her for several years until we

could not look after her at all any more this is what will have to be

paid for and the Government will have two puts a good case to the

country that income thanks must go up. That is not a current proposal.

Study is suggesting a 15% increase in council tax and there will now be

a referendum. What is the view down here? -- Surrey is suggesting. It is

awful. 15% is huge and is far too much. We are planting was that the

bills and do lots of other things for the county but social care is

very important and I think we should reconsider where our money is spent.

-- we are planting daffodils. I think social care is a good money --

good thing to put money into. But it is a lot of money sort that will

affect people in a negative way. What does the leader of the council

say? My colleague spoke to David Hodge a short time ago.

How bad things got in social care you are asking people of Surrey to

pay an extra 15% on council tax? We have reached the situation because

we must protect the services for the vital people in Surrey who need

them. We had our Government grant cut by 170 million since 2010.

People watching me think you should be going cap in hand to the

Government rather than the taxpayer. I spoke to the Government for five

months and have taken our case to them. They looked at our case, or

that our figures, we even had external auditors check those

figures to make sure we were right and they agreed they were right. So

a very difficult position? It is an impossible position and that cannot

win either way. Are you concerned about the response from the people

in Surrey? I believe they will be slightly upset, I believe they have

a right to be but at the end of the day I can only deliver the services

they needs and I am not prepared to slash them. What happens if the

answer is no? If we get a no response we will do what the Surrey

people ask us to do and that is cut the services. But then what happens?

We will cut them. And people will lose out? Exactly. And people will

be in danger? Exactly. It is unfair. And you are happy with that? No, not

at all. I will spend the next four months worried and concerned about

this and if the people of Surrey will trust us and put the confidence

in us because we cannot do anything else about it, the Government will

not provide us the money, I have asked, who is no money.

The Government says it has already provided some relief, ?900 million

extra across the country and in a statement it says, if the council

set its proposed budget in the taxpayers of Surrey will have a

final say in a referendum in May and we should trust the people.

A lot of people will watch that result very closely indeed, I am

sure. Tim, thank you very much. It has been some unexpected travel

disruption as Westminster and Waterloo Bridges were forced to

close. It is after reports of an unexploded World War II bomb in the

River Thames. These voters also show parts of Westminster being

evacuated. Roads in the area remain closed while specialist officers

remain on the scene assessing the device.

A protest is taking place outside a theatre in Notting Hill

over a production set in China which doesn't feature

The characters are all played by white actors.

It comes just days after Sky TV pulled an episode of a new comedy

show after complaints of a white actor playing the role

In the depths -- In the Depths of Dead Love is taking to the stage

tonight and the people behind the furious at the White actors are

playing the roles of Chinese characters. It is taking place in

Notting Hill and goes on stage and about an hour and a half. That is a

very small police presence across the road but this is a peaceful

protest which has gathered momentum on social media in particular. An

actor from the Harry Potter films that we sailing China is a real

place with real people and using what suits is unacceptable. She has

personally supported the protest. Let's get some more details. You are

a theatre director here, Andrew, and supporting the process. Actors have

always played people of different ethnicities? That is true. There was

a time when white people played a fellow but we do not do that any

more -- plague or fellow. At the end of the day there was a time we did

not allow people to go on stage because the work of a certain ethnic

background. Here is an incredible opportunity to engage with ethnic

minorities in a plate that is set in China with Chinese characters and

instead they went with four Caucasian actors for whom there is

plenty of work for. What do you want to see done? I would love to see the

theatre industry which has always been the forerunner with regards to

being progressive, to look at ways to champion people from minority

groups in stories. As for this production, what should be done?

This theatre does not have a clue and every state and they put out is

offensive to the script. I am a Caucasian guy but we have moved so

far for what of the past few years and it has dragged everyone back.

Let me speak to someone who is not a Caucasian guy. You actor from the

Royal Shakespeare Company. Why have you came here,? If you set a play in

ancient China with characters with Chinese names, I think you should

cast some Asian actors. Would you mind if it was an actor from

Thailand? I would not because that is Japan and East Asian. I think the

white middle-class hegemony in the arts should not be happening in

2017. They have said, we clearly misjudged the offence someone would

take, perhaps as a result of our failing to understand the cultural

exclusion. But the play is going ahead so let's see what happens.

Back to you. Still to come, we take a look at the latest short list of

proposals for the fourth plinth. since a huge explosion,

on a scale never seen before in the capital,

destroyed a whole community It happened at a munitions

factory in Silvertown Caroline Davies has been been

going through the archives and listening to eyewitness accounts

of some of those who were there. I was walking one night

and all of a sudden I looked up and the sky,

it It was the largest

explosion in London Over 70 people were killed,

900 homes were destroyed and You sort of held your breath

for a minute and this terrible bang. 100 years ago today

a munitions factory producing weapons for the First

World War exploded. You had the Red Cross

and Salvation Army come in, you have the Army searching

through the rubble looking Smaller explosions and munitions

factories were not unusual, and they killed people, but often

they were not reported. It was though it

could damage morale. But when 50 tonnes of TNT went up it

could not be ignored. We felt it as far away

as the arsenal, as far away as that, The factory's owners

had told the Government repeatedly that this was not a safe

place to produce the explosives. This is the memorial

that was built to remember those who died that

evening in the explosion, and you can see there

are some of the names of

the people who were working Of course, they were not

the only ones who died. There were children

in their beds, there were firemen who were trying to stop

the blaze and workers who were They were all destroyed

when But it was such a large explosion

it was not just here in Apparently at the Savoy Hotel some

guests reported windows shattered Afraid of damaging

the war effort, the Government report on the incident

wasn't released for over 30 years. Both then, as now, Silvertown

reminds London that the price of war A blue cockerell, a ship

in the bottle and now They're all artworks

taking pride of place Even though the latest piece will be

up there until next year - the shortlist of what could follow

the giant thumb has been unveiled today,

as our arts correspondent It's the 11th artwork to sit

on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth. And the David Shively's seven-metre

high sculpture, Really Good, will attempt to inspire optimism

until replaced in 2018. We are looking for artworks that

connect to the square, have a story to tell,

that are beautifully executed and will get a conversation

going with the public. So what will be given

the thumbs up next? Today the five short listed

proposals will work presented at the National Gallery,

offering the public a chance to share their opinion

on what should dominate the north-west corner of this

historic London site. Choices include a truck loaded

with oil cans and ladders, an empty robe, and a recreation

of a protective deity that was destroyed by so-called

Islamic State in 2015. It's the most international short

list so far, with the sole Londoner being Hackney resident

Heather Philipson, who presents a swirl of cream with a cherry,

fly and drone on top. The cream is something,

obviously cream is something that is a very unstable material

and something always on the verge of collapse and so the sculpture

holds within it this possibility of something that may be, kind of,

imminent catastrophe, perhaps. All five proposals can be seen

at the National Gallery for the next two months,

where the public can Do you like the idea of commissions

on the fourth plinth? I do like it because it is

an opportunity to see something The Heather Philipson one,

when it is constructed, I think it would work well

within the context of the other I think it is kind

of topical as well. We're looking for works

that we think can be popular but we also have to consider

all sorts of other criteria to do with their construction,

their feasibility, also other things The two chosen winners will be

announced in March and take pride of place on the plinth in 2018

and 2020, respectively. As Michelle Obama prepares to bow

out as America's first lady over the past eight years,

schoolgirls thousands of miles away here in London have been

reflecting on the impact she's had She gave an inspiring speech

at The Mulberry School for girls in 2015, and then

met the students again Here's some of them

describing a lasting It's hard to describe

in a few words. During her visit to the school

I was honoured to host I was one of the two girls

who actually toured We performed a dance pieces for

poetry, we sang for her. She just seems so impressed by the school and

lobbed some of the things we were doing. She gave a speech and just

empowered so many others. -- so many of us. At the end she came up to hug

the people in the first row and I got to hug her and she told me she

was so proud of me and it felt so special.

I think she wanted to come to this school to show how powerful girls

can be. I felt like that was the greatest

place I should be at that time. I am here because of you. It is a speech

I will remember forever because the messages she spoke about legitimised

the fear and misconceptions and discrimination we face in our

community. When I look out at all of these young women I see myself. I

felt her message was that no matter who you are and what barriers you

face you can accomplish anything. She decided to invite 20 Mulberry

School students back to the White House. I graduated from Mulberry

School last year and I am in law school right now and knowing

Michelle Obama also studied law was just maybe a bit of a core incidents

but it inspired me. I realised even as a 15-year-old girl I can still do

things but I have done a speech at the woman of the world Festival

where there were hundreds of adults will see to what I had to see it

felt incredible. She shaved my future. The -- she shaped the

future. Let's get a check on the weather now

shall we - and here's Wendy. We will see more scenes like this

through the next few days. That's after the frost on the grass. --

sparkling frost. There was still some ice on the wakes of this

evening. In between we had some beautiful blue skies right across

the capital and that is how it continues for the next few days.

Crisp mornings and blue skies. Some cloud in the mix what you can see on

the satellite picture but we are in a sunny spot at the moment. This

weak weather front has been here for a while and will continue for the

next few days but it is trapped underneath high pressure which will

not do very much and at high pressure will be with us until next

week and we have lots of settled whether a portfolio what's more

sunshine. It means clear skies overnight and temperatures for

falling right back and the frost forming. Once again, a hard frost

overnight. Some places getting down to minus five Celsius. Surely for

your commute to work. -- chilly. Temperatures will not get very high,

up to 5-7 C. Sparkling blue skies again and at the weekend we see more

sunshine breaking through and for Saturday there will be some cloud

around but we should seek some blue skies and the same goes for Sunday.

Next week, this high pressure still here so there may be more cloud on

Monday and Tuesday but staying settled, staying fairly chilly,

especially at night, and you will not need an umbrella for the next

few days. Four people have been killed and

dozens are still missing after an avalanche bodied gold tail used by

skiers in Italy. -- an avalanche covered a hotel used by skiers.

Northern Ireland's former First Minister, Martin McGuinness,

says he's stepping down permanently from political life.

You can find out more on our website and our Facebook page but from me

and the team here thank you for watching and have a lovely evening.

Goodbye.