16/03/2017 London News

The residents who claim the noise is ruining their lives.

It's impossible to sleep and my GP, also my colleagues and friends, have

expressed a lot of concern seeing the deterioration of my health.

We'll hear what transport bosses have to say.

A man in his 50s has died after a suspected gas explosion

I'm at the scene with all the very latest shortly.

the new installation throwing light on how clean the Thames is.

And why this giant puppet took a walk round Trafalgar Square today.

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

First tonight, the dark side of the night tube.

Headaches, tinnitus and sleepless nights

City Hall's Environment Committee heard today how brought on for some

residents by the arrival of the 24 hour service last August.

Transport bosses, who have also been questioned,

have promised to investigate any complaints.

A service every 15 minutes at weekends and a promise to transport

Londoners's lies. Some stayed the night she has ruined us. In Ian's

health above the Jubilee line, we are using an app to get a rough idea

of how loud the tube is. We have moved out because I am not

prepared... There you go. That is on the phone app. Above the Victoria

line, she cannot move -- afford to move out. I have developed which is,

I cannot hear properly. I feel noise distortion in my ears. And

therefore, I mean, it's very difficult to function in my normal

life. The world health organiser said the sound at night should not

measure more than 35 decibels. The Londoners who came to City Hall

today told of levels above 50 decibel. So the TEFL, how loud is

too loud? We have got the world health organisation. We treat each

complaint individually and we will look for an engineering solution. We

don't set a limit. What threshold do you work to? We don't. The noise is

a noise because they are other low-frequency, they can travel

through our bones. It is a noise that is difficult to mask out, by

playing the radio or defend against by wearing earplugs. The issue is,

it is not constant either so we don't really have the ability, and

individual living in this area would not have the ability to adapt to it.

As we get used to living out of a while, it makes us more sensitive to

stand in general. What has frustrated some is that their

complaints seem to have fallen on deaf ears. I think TEFL must start

to respond to people quickly and effectively. They need to identify

what the problems are and put in place arrangements to fix those

problems and tell people what they agreed to do is stick to their

promises. -- TFL. TFL says they are dedicated to being a good neighbour.

Grinding fastenings and fixing may one day do the job better now, there

are warnings that the problem of pollution may not just refer to the

air that we breathe but to the sounds that surround us also.

And let's just stay on the subject of the night tube for a moment

because there's been some other news about strike action.

When and why? This is the first time since the night you'd started at the

end of last summer that drivers have voted for strike action. They are

going to strike over two Saturdays in April. Two out of three Aslef

members voted. It is over there job opportunities. They are arguing that

the weekend drivers on the night you by being blocked for applied to

full-time jobs and they do not get overtime. They say they are giving

transport for London more than the usual seven days warning in order to

do this because I think they want to get this sorted out. The strikes are

going to happen on the night of the eighth and 29th of April, to

Saturday nights into Sunday morning. No no cheaper than if the strike

goes ahead. Aslef say they have lots of time just drop the track. London

Underground say they have always been operating the tube under an

agreement that they came to with the unions themselves. If the strike

goes ahead, those dates, the eighth and 29th of April. Thank you very

much. We are hearing tonight that a man

has died after an explosion It happened earlier this afternoon

and Dan Freedman is in Highgate It was around two o'clock this

afternoon in this very quiet part of north London, very close to

Hampstead Heath that residents say that about two o'clock they heard a

sound that sounded like a bomb going off.

I just heard a massive explosion and I could feel it

almost in my fingers and, yeah, I didn't see anything but

I ran up here to the balcony to have a look and I couldn't see anything

But I must say my first thought was it sounded like a car bomb or it

I spoke to one of the police officers there who said he

had, that on-site, they were cutting up

a gas tank and there was an

The air ambulance attended and a man was taken to hospital with

life-threatening injuries. We have heard subsequently in the last hour

or so, police have confirmed that a man in his 50s has now died. There

have been no arrests in connection with this incident but the Health

and Safety Executive have been informed. No doubt an investigation

will follow. It is worth saying that residents had met with the developer

whilst this development was ongoing, raising concerns about safety and

they were given assurances that underground tanks on the site,

believed to contain gas, would be dealt with safely. Of course, a long

way to go to find out what happened here today.

With the latest therefrom Highgate, thank you.

You're watching BBC London News, coming up later in the programme:

I know this sounds odd but if you join me in a few minutes,

I will show you how the side of that building is

bringing art and science together from tonight.

A Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with four offences,

including common assault, and possession of a bladed weapon,

after apparently smashing the windscreen of a car in

Video footage of the incident in Camden last September

It appears to show PC Joshua Savage attacking the vehicle

after repeatedly telling the driver to "get out of the car".

Scotland Yard says he remains on "restricted duties".

Croydon has cut all funding for IVF treatment.

It's the first London borough to do this,

the decision has been taken by the Croydon Clinical

The CCG is trying to save millions of pounds after it was placed

in financial special measures last year.

Now all this week, we've been exploring the great

divide between London and the rest of the UK,

It highlighted how different parts of the country

Is it time for London to change the way t runs its affairs?

So tonight, what can we learn from Wales,

which has a fraction of the capital's population

Our political editor Tim Donovan reports from Wrexham.

In Wales, things like education and health have

On the question of financial freedoms and tax-raising powers,

Control of business rates has already been handed over, stamp duty

will follow next year, though it will be called

something different - a land transaction tax.

And the Welsh are also set to have the

On the outskirts of Wrexham, this firm

provides telephone answering and other office services.

Devolving powers for business rates is a brilliant thing.

It means that local regions can encourage the right

support the right businesses and basically help to make them

On the personal side of things, in terms of the stamp, in

terms of income taxes, I don't see that as a benefit at all.

It's a short-term solution, it is going to

incentivise people to move into areas of basically lower tax and

then exactly the same people, they will go somewhere else

But would Londoners want any tax changes,

what's the evidence from Wrexham on that income tax option?

I think the National Health Service and

education, I would be quite content to pay more income tax in order to,

No, I don't agree that they should have

If it helps the economy, I'm all for it.

Of course I am, anything to help the lost economy.

I've lived in Wales for most of my adult life but

I think that the powers should remain with the central government

across the whole country for tax-raising purposes.

Wrexham, like Wales as a whole, voted to leave but

with the chance of Scotland and Northern Ireland breaking away,

some here understand the calls for London

London, as a stand-alone economy, would probably stand up very well.

Some people wonder whether it should be allowed to do that.

Yes, well, you could certainly ask that

I think in the long run, that is not the way to go.

In the long run, I think there is still a

very strong case for the UK to be a unified econony.

And London's taxpayers subsidise Wales by about ?3 billion

a year, according to the London School of Economics.

People in London need to realise that

absolutely, you have got an enormous amount

of wealth cooped up within

that, within that city and there is an obligation under the whole of

Britain that we need to support and develop opportunities outside.

We should not remove those kind of safety nets and we shouldn't...

There is a principle of solidarity as well.

Brexit may have answered one big question but it's raised others

within the UK about the relationship of different regions and letting

them raise and spend more of what they need.

Tower Hamlets council could have all its powers

restored following two years of government intervention.

Its powers were removed in 2014 under its previous

mayor, Lutfur Rahman, following an inspection by auditors.

They found cases of malpractice and a failure to provide value

for money, and government commissioners were sent

The new Mayor, John Biggs, welcomed today's announcement

and said the council had since undergone a "complete

Police are warning people to look out for tiny cameras

which are being used by fraudsters to capture PIN numbers.

The cameras are no bigger than a pinhead and are often

positioned either above the screen or facing the pinpad.

They've been spotted at four cash machines in central London -

Funding for a multimillion-pound refurbishment of Buckingham Palace

Officials say the essential work, costing almost ?370 million

and set to take ten years, is needed to avoid the risk

Ageing cables, lead pipes, wiring and boilers will be replaced,

Next, it's a collaboration of art and science,

In the past few minutes, lights have been switched on,

on the Sea Containers building whose display will vary according

He can tell us more about how it works.

Lets face it, you, me and millions of Londoners are guilty of taking

back, the River Thames, the granted. Even though our great city has

developed and been built along it for centuries. That is why the light

on the side of that building which have come on over the last few

minutes, they are there to change all that. It is a work of art by

renowned artists, on the other hand, you have got to think of it like

this. Think of it as a giant water testing kit, testing the cleanliness

of the water that blows just below it. It sounds a bit mad, well, it

did to me. Let's find out more about this. Is it a work of genius or is

it a bit nuts? It is about telling Londoners about the health of their

own river. At the moment, the lights are on, what does that tell us about

the river tonight? The artwork has three different states, declining,

moderate and improving. Right now, it is showing the River health is

improving. What it does do different levels of animation, it tells you

about the health of the river itself. I was looking at how dirty

the River Thames can get with plastic bottles buried in an all

sorts of rubbish which Londoners on purpose and in that do you think the

lights can change the way Londoners behave? We hope this installation

will really make Londoners think more about the health of their

River. What kind of things should we be looking at changing? In order to

help our River? There are a number of things that Londoners can do, one

of the most important things is making sure we do not later and we

don't accidentally briefings into the river itself. Do you see that as

a work of art or an environmentally friendly project going on? It is

beautiful. It is both, it is both. It is an installation that we hope

is beautiful and Londoners enjoy but also gives us information about the

health of the river itself. It certainly does, this is a permanent

installation on the south bank of the river which use the from

embankment will stop you will be able to see it going up and down

every day, see how clean or not the tensors. It will vary every day.

Hopefully ill get to change the way we are when it comes to our

environmental health. The question is, how bright will

those light shine? Possibly one of the most

bizarre things you'll see, an improvised performance by actors

for an audience of animals. We will tell you what it is all

about later. So today's the day when thousands

of young people have been taking part in the annual BBC School Report

- and making the news and highlighting stories

important to them. Let's hear now from pupils

from Park View School in Tottenham and their take

on the issue of feminism. Feminism may have negative

connotations for some but here at Park View, we have decided

to address it without any What exactly inspired

you to encourage feminism? It was the young people

around me that inspired me to The young girls that I work with,

the girls that I teach on They are the reason why

I started this campaign. Did you face any obstacles

while setting up The campaign has covered

everything from working on our girls' self-esteem

to encouraging boys to embrace feminism and helping them realise

that actually everybody We are promoting feminism

by putting up posters This poster campaign

involves both students and The most common misconception

about feminism is that As a male, do you find

it difficult to I think the reality

is that not all men of feminism and that

I think it's so important for men to

express their feminist viewpoints. As a male, do you think it's

difficult to express these views on feminism when there's

so much opposition? As I try, you know, bringing up

the topic of feminism, I always get brushed aside as if,

you know, feminism isn't relevant and, you know,

it just creates a barrier between my friends' values

and my values, sort of, yes. Don't accept this unequal way

of treating others every day. Like lesser than inferior,

because of the exterior. Open up, widen your range, express

yourself, be bold for change. Today here at Park View, we have

spent time exploring this issue of gender inequality and we have

gathered that regardless of who you And you can find plenty of stories

by other young reporters, including pupils grilling

the boss of the BBC, just go Now, asking questions in the House

of Commons is what many MPs are expected to do,

but Dawn Butler is believed to have made history today

by becoming the first ever MP She asked the government to further

protect British Sign Language. The 18th of March marks the 40th

anniversary since the UK Government Will the Minister agree

time to bring and gave legal status like

other recognised languages? Dawn Butler receiving a round of

applause. Actors improvised for an bemused

audience of sheep, pigs These goats have come all the way

from Wales for this... Unscripted, unplanned,

the performers improvise,

depending on how they think We're really interested in seeing

whether we can show people that there are different ways

of looking at them and having different relationships with them

and a different understanding

of what they are rather than merely as products,

maybe, in our homes, usually to eat, not for me, but lots of people

just eat and to buy and to herd and to put into cages of

that kind of thing. Animals aren't expected to perform,

organisers stress this is All funded by the Wellcome

collection, this is a We very quickly found

ourselves in an unknown territory where everything we

thought we knew about being artists, being thinkers, everything

we thought we knew about human-animal relationships

was called into question by the presence of these

other animals and are really profound and moving and strange

and fascinating way. Well, the organisers

say they picked this particular warehouse because it had

the right light and the right temperature and it is close

to a farm in there as they could People are asked to watch and then

give their reactions. I'm not sure what I

gained except, like, the idea of turning the dynamic

relationship of human and animal I felt very nervous,

I felt their nervousness which was Literally in their responses

to art makes them more human, even though

they are animals, it There is no specific aim here,

organisers want to leave I'm just going to say -

you are welcome to get in touch And if you want to have another look

- just head to our Facebook page If you were in Trafalgar Square

today - you might have been greeted by this five metre tall,

walking and talking puppet ahead There'll be a three day celebration

here in the capital - culminating in a huge parade marking

the influence of the Irish Caroline Davies looks ahead to this

weekend's festivities. Come over and say hello. It is here,

green and bigger than ever. A joint St Patrick's wondered Trafalgar

Square this morning ahead of celebrations starting tomorrow. They

can look out for Irish dancers on the tube as well as musicians and

poetry readings. The festival, it will be here in Trafalgar Square on

Sunday. There will be a whole parade during the whole day as well as the

taste of Ireland with food and drinks as well. Also the musicians

and dancers. The first parade within 2002 but this year the festival is

extending over three days. Tony is taking tours of London's Irish

history. Paddy built London has a great deal of truth in it. It takes

in the region's canal, built by Irish workers. They have been a huge

influence on the came here in the 12th century, the things about the

Irish who build about the Victoria line. Think about the Irish who will

be Thames barrier. Think about the Irish Europe dominated in the world

of rock 'n' roll in London. Think about Johnny Leyden or Johnny

rotten, or shame. It is not just about the history, then use across

the capital are preparing for a busy week. -- venues across. There is

certainly enough people for a good celebration. It is a big thing

nowadays, the influx of Irish people into the UK and London over the past

years have been huge. A massive amount of young crowd of people,

living in Hackney and he's London and we are bringing these people

together and showing them that we can offer something that is

different from a lot of traditional forums. It just feels like Irish

culture is such a big part of London now. Wherever you are spending it,

have a very happy day. -- St Patrick's day.

It's that time of the evening for a check on the weather

Yesterday it felt like spring has sprung. Less so today. Maybe the

next few days, the sunshine will be in fairly short supply, a lot of dry

weather also. This was the picture to date taken over in high Wycombe,

you can see quite cloudy and grey skies. Cooler than it was yesterday,

12 Celsius today. 18 Celsius yesterday in the sunshine. Some

sunshine around, more towards south-east London. You can see if we

run the sequence of the satellite picture how we have this belt of

cloud that came down from the Midlands. Tending to break up around

the London area so it was more cloudy to the north and the west.

The cloud thickening actually later this evening, a few spots of rain.

Not any more than that. That will move away, skies will clear later on

in the right and it will turn quite chilly. Colder air coming our way.

In the Chilterns, two or three Celsius. A bit of a chilly start,

some sunshine around. The winds will be freshening through the day and as

we head to the afternoon, more cloud coming in from the west as well.

Chances are it will still be tried doing daylight hours tomorrow and we

were found these temperatures getting around 12 or 13. -- still

dry. There is rain on the picture now. A lot of the rain coming on a

westerly wind, gets blocked out by the Welsh hills. We could see bits

and pieces of rain on Friday evening and Friday night. No greater mags

and properly by the time we get to Saturday morning, it will be dry or

cloudy. Some brighter spells, a little bit of sunshine perhaps on

Saturday. We have to wait until very late in the day disease spots of

rain arriving from the north. These are the temperatures. -- to see

spots of rain. Temperatures could be as high as 15 Celsius. Maximum

temperature on Sunday and into Monday also. Rain not far away,

there will be a lot of cloud around as well. Much stronger winds will

take the edge off of the temperatures.

The government has rejected calls for a second referendum on Scottish

independence saying 'now is not the time'.

Nicola Sturgeon warned that blocking the vote would be

The Conservative Party has been fined ?70,000

for breaking spending rules during elections in 2014 and 2015.

They insist any failures were due to "administrative errors".

The former British cyclist Josh Edmondson has admitted he broke

the rules by secretly injecting himself with vitamins whilst

A man's died following an explosion at a building site in

And some residents living near the night tube claim they've

developed illnesses and experienced sleepless nights since its

Transport bosses say they'll investigate.

We'll be back though, with the latest for you during

From all of us on the team - thanks for watching and do

It was the most beautiful view I've ever been through.

For one second, I was swimming on my back, and I was looking to the sky.

I was swimming across the Aegean Sea.

I was a refugee, going from Syria to Germany.

MasterChef is back, to find the country's best home chef.

The MasterChef kitchen is alive once more. Come on, let's go!

That's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.

This could be the start of something truly amazing.