27/03/2017 London News

Tonight on BBC London News: so it's goodbye from me,

As it emerges that the Westminster attacker was driving more

The man who reviewed security for the mayor warns

I think it was a wake-up call. It is always a danger because of the

effectiveness of the security and intelligence services we fall into a

complacent mindset. Meanwhile tributes to the victims

continue to grow outside Parliament. The Mayor holds urgent

counter-terror talks Plus the capital's top

tourist attractions - we look at the picture in London -

as latest visitor And on display for the first

time in 200 years - the unique dinner set given

to the Duke of Wellington First tonight: As it emerged that

Khalid Masood was driving more Well, this afternoon the Mayor

arrived in Brussels ahead of a Brexit

speech tomorrow morning. His long-planned trip has been

amended to hold urgent counter Let's get more from our

political editor Tim Donovan is following developments

and can tell us more. It was going to be a week long and

take in several cities and Edward designed, this trip, to coincide

with the build-up to an triggering of Article 50 which will happen on

Wednesday. It was going to take in places like Warsaw, Madrid and

Berlin as well as Brussels. It would of had a more promotional tone,

showcasing London and reminding people London will do well even with

the Brexit, we know what the mayor's position is on that, but events last

week changed things. The mayor's office tipping to think again and

also because he does not want to be away at such a time as this was an

investigation was a worrying -- well left to run. Also here in Brussels

and then in Paris, it has adopted a more of the focus on security, on

what to do about the terror threat. It was in Brussels one year ago

there was a similar attack and they were only just marking that an

adversary when the attack happened in London. And the mayor in the last

hour here has met the EU Commissioner for security and they

have been discussing the potential impact of the Brexit on security.

The person responsible for the attack last week,

Adrian Elms, was born in Kent, born and raised in our country,

and so we've got to recognise that the threat of terrorism comes

Many of the attacks across Europe have been from European citizens

and so it is not simply a question of naively thinking that by leaving

the EU we will be able to block out terror attacks on London.

Back to the original reason for his trip to Brussels, what is his key

message he wants to get across and Brexit? Aside from security which

will now feature, one of the things he will say in a speech tomorrow

morning is to make an appeal to those EU negotiators who will be

battling, if you like, locking horns with UK negotiators, is please do

not punish London. There have been some suggestions the commission

president is saying this will be a tough time for the UK, although he

made it clear in an interview with the BBC there will be no hostility

but what the mayor is saying is if you end up being too stringent on

London negotiations it will not be Frankfurt or Paris or Brussels but

will gain if London's financial centre suffers, it will be in New

York and Singapore. He is also likely to repeat this refrain we

heard from him early after the referendum result, he thinks the

Government should make this very important gesture of offering EU

resident in London and the UK immediate certainty, unilaterally,

but the future. -- about their future. Thank you.

As it emerged that Khalid Masood was driving more

than 70 miles per hour before mounting the pavement and hitting

pedestrians on Westminster bridge, a warning that the attack

was a "wake-up call" for London's anti-terror chiefs.

It comes from Lord Toby Harris who last year conducted a major

review into the capital's security measures.

for greater street protection for Londoners.

Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Nick Beake.

The carnage began when a Khalid Masood drove on to Westminster

Bridge. BBC London has learnt the bulb is believed he was driving at

up to 76 mph. -- police believe. Killing three and injuring 50,

including a Romanian service who fell into the water. Last autumn

Toby Harris carried out a review of how prepared London was for a major

attack. He says last Wednesday was a wake-up call. The reality is it is

all too easy in any major city for a individual to arm themselves with a

knife, hire a vehicle, as this individual appears to have done. His

report made more than 100 recommendations to better prevent an

attack but even more armed police was not one of them and he still

stands by that. He did call for urgent action in other areas. One

key recommendation he made was for more of these, large, to be

installed to protect pedestrians. He also said authorities should

consider using more temporary barriers to keep people safe. If you

go down Whitehall you will see all sorts of protections in place, they

are not ugly and they fit in with the architecture yet provide

substantial additional protection for those public buildings and the

people on the streets. That is a demonstration of what can be done

and something I think we need to look at more widely around the whole

of London and outside. And they save lives? Potential that will save

lives. As a superintendent in the Metropolitan Police this man was

responsible for security in Westminster. He is disappointed more

bollards and barriers are not in place. It has been remarkably silent

because in the recommendations Lord Harris says it needs less urgently

and also said the Home Office looked at this many years ago but decided

to sit on the fence -- needs less urgently. After Paris and the Mace

and other attacks in Europe, I have not seen much visible change --

after Nice. And that concerns me. City Hall says it has delivered a

quarter of the recommendations. Some implementations -- some have been

implemented but the important thing is to recognise, look at what the

experts say in relation to terror threat level is, which has been

severe for a while and in the words of the Commissioner who just

retired, last June he said as far as he terror attack was concerned that

-- it was a question of when and not if. It is widely accepted some

attacks will get through but now there is a debate on the best way to

try and stop another one happening. Well, while the Mayor holds

those talks in Brussels - here, tributes to those

who lost their lives last week's terror attack continue

to grow in Westminster. Victoria Hollins has been

taking a look and joins us What a surprising standing here in

front of the Houses of Parliament is not the number of flowers left here,

it is the smell coming from them, the smell of spring time and the

heart of Westminster. There are hundreds and hundreds of flowers

here and messages from MPs, police officers and general well-wishers.

In the shadow of Big Ben on a warm spring day a reminder of the tragedy

that took place here at just five days ago. Amongst those who came to

see the tributes were Joshua and Camilla, Americans about studying

here. It shows a strength in community that British culture is

strong and no matter what happens people will come together and show

their support. It is very humbling to see all these people coming out

and supporting each other and the camaraderie it ignites but it is

also so overwhelmingly unfortunate what happened and saddening. The

messages around Parliament reflect the range of victims, young and old.

Thoughts, too, from fellow police officers and the messages of

children. And as the tourists take pictures and buskers play on

Westminster Bridge, Londoners reflect on the aftermath. It shows

London cares, everyone is in it together, it could have been anyone.

Seeing police everywhere you feel safer but on the flip side you do

not feel safer because they are holding guns which puts you slightly

on edge. It is scary because it brings it home but it still makes

you feel safe there are people around that will help you. Many

visitors watched what happened in their home countries, most I spoke

to were undeterred life goes on and there is a real resilient attitude

here. These things happen but, you know, it will be OK. Did you have

there can -- second thoughts about coming on this trip? Not at all. The

tributes continue. London seems a city shaken but largely defiant.

Jim Fitzpatrick MP was in lockdown in the House of Commons when this

happened. What does it mean to you having been through all this and see

all these tributes here? In the tributes are from all over, visitors

to London, Londoners, one from the football Association, a Charlton

athletic tributes here, one from San Francisco police Department, the

carpet of flowers represents all shades of humanity. There are people

from everywhere you want to pay tribute to PC Keith Palmer and

respect the victims of last week's tragedy. It is a moving site. This

sadly is not the first terrorist attack you have seen as an MP. What

impact does have a new? Like in who has been involved in anything like

this it is shocking, worrying and make you think about what is

happening but we were lucky, we were on the inside, they were victims on

the road, people dying outside Parliament. We had some discomfort

and some inconvenience but we were locked in the palace in complete

safety. After, the postmortem takes place in terms of analysing could

have been done better and learning the lessons. Will this change

Westminster because it still looks an accessible place? Even the union

flag is back no longer at half mast. Parliament met on Thursday and

Friday, it is in full session again today. The essence is it is business

as usual with the -- without forgetting the victims and those

still recovering. Thank you. There are still many victims recovering

from this attack, perhaps they will take some strength from the

outpouring of grief and some of the tributes outside Parliament. -- from

some of these tributes. Still to come, join me in one of

London's most prestigious addresses what I take a closer look at this

priceless dinner service owned by the Duke of Wellington, and on show

for the first time here. There is more sunshine on the way

and likely we will see the warmest day of the year so far on Thursday.

More in the full forecast later. One of the capital's biggest rail

services is to be run with the help The Government says

the new franchise will see a ?1.2 billion investment

into South West Trains, which will mean an extra 52,000

seats during peak times in and out and 90 new trains for

passengers on Reading, Our Transport Correspondent,

Tom Edwards, reports. They are some of the busiest

commuter lines in the country, serving the busiest

station, Waterloo. Now the South West franchise

will be taken over in a joint venture between First Group

and the Hong Kong People like to see more trains

but there are big issues. Just the simple issue

that any operator could do is making sure that

if there is a delay Deliver services with more

carriages, less crowding so you do not have to get rush hour trains

sitting on the floor. It is not a bad service,

South West trains have done quite well, I think,

compared to a lot of other services. London's commuter railway

has at last began 21 years ago South West trains

was the first private franchise The change comes at a crucial time,

with Waterloo Station The Government says the new operator

will oversee ?1 billion investment and there will be 90 new trains

and refunds will also be given for There will be more

capacity, more reliable services, more frequent services

and faster services. Is it risky doing it in the middle

of the Waterloo upgrade? We've thought very

carefully about how to make We will be talking to both sides,

and already have been, and we will make sure

there is a smooth handover. The Chinese company MTR

already run services out of Liverpool Street

and The unions say the takeover

is a scandal, Labour wants a rail Passenger groups

are hopeful, though. It will not be an overnight

revolution, it will be a I think what passengers

want to see is the day to Performance has been patchy recently

and people want to see that with lots of platforms

being shut at Waterloo. After that the improvements

will start to come in slowly but I think passengers will believe it

when they see it on the day. It also means the mayor's

ambitions to take over rail services

are currently dead. Southwest passengers will see

a new operator in August. Almost 200 people were evacuated

from a five-star hotel near Piccadilly Circus this morning,

after a fire broke in the basement. Staff at Le Meridien hotel told BBC

London that they saw smoke Guests were moved temporarily

to nearby hotels. Six fire engines were called

to the scene and an investigation revealed a small fire had started

in the basement. Guests were able to return

to their rooms in the afternoon. Latest figures show that London

is still at the top of the table when it comes to leading tourist

attractions in the UK. So how did the EU referendum

affect visitor numbers and which was the most

popular last year? A bit of a clue - Dan Freedman

is there for us tonight. Ever since the referendum last year

the Mayor of London's mantra has been London remains open, a clear

message to businesses and tourists to keep visiting, but these figures

are the first opportunity we have had to test out whether people have

listened. I am at the British Museum where they have 400,000 fewer

visitors this year -- last year compared to 2015. However it is

still London's most popular attraction with 6.5 million visitors

last year. The overall visitor numbers are the same year on year

with no change. 66 million people in total and post-EU referendum we saw

the impact of a fall in sterling boost visitor numbers by 17% at the

end of last year. That is because even though the referendum was the

end of June sterling started to drop early July and people did not put

their holidays immediately, they done it weeks and months I had sort

in September we see the impact take hold. This man is from the

Association of leading visitor attractions who compiled the

figures. A few attractions were not included, most notably the London

Eye but it is fairly comprehensive. What do you make of these figures?

Some attractions had a record year but some particular in central

London were flatter, partly as a result of security fears, so the

real not helping terribly well but also someone being compared to a

blockbuster year of the previous year. Talk to us about those

security fears. Thrown into sharp context after last week. Thankful

that we have seen very few cancellations as a result of last

week and this seems to be minimal response from overseas tourists.

Bookings are still very healthy and visitors are just thinking, we need

to be alert but not alarmed. We are still predicting a very good year

for London this year. While the flat growth in London while we sort this

7% growth outside? We have record numbers to the whole of the UK while

London was slightly down but there was a displacement effect, sought

Hampton Court doing well but central London not so great. We are hopeful

that will turn around with these blockbuster exhibitions coming to

London this year and I think it will be a good year. Thank you for

joining us outside the British Museum, still London's most popular

attraction. Now, most young music fans can only

dream of getting tips So imagine how a group

of teenagers felt getting an insight into songwriting

from X Factor star, Olly Murs. It's all part of a bid to give

teenage cancer patients and survivors a memory

of a lifetime, He is the pop star from Essex who

shot to fame on the X factor and got on to have four number one albums.

So with Olly Murs turn up to see these teenagers reversing today...

They could not quite believe it. I am jealous. I want to be able to

play the drums are so bad. But I am terrible. I've got a bit of rhythm

but... I was playing along and doing fine and looked up when they saw he

was there and drop the drumsticks and I was like, and then he came

over and started talking to me and it was amazing. A father who is 14

is being treated for cancer. Today she was among young patients were

visiting the Royal Albert Hall. -- Ivanna. The first verse is the

chorus. Then at that repeat the whole time. I was amazed the song

into others. They wrote about what they are going through and they can

really understand and relate to that sort it is about them putting down

on the paper how they feel and I could have the sense that when I

heard it. Why did you want to be involved? Because it is just an

incredible charity. It is not sad, it is full of energy and positivity

and positivity and the kids are great and fun and with all the

worries they are going through and problems they are going through. All

this week stars will be taking to the stage for the Teenage Cancer

Trust. It is the 17th year the trust has held gigs here and has raised

more than ?24 million. We have teenage Cancer trust units across

the country but we desperately need more nurses to make sure young

people do not face cancer alone and that is what the money raised from

his gigs help us achieve. These teenagers will be in the audience

watching tonight. It's a bigger hopefully never forget. -- it is a

day they will hopefully never forget.

He's one of Britain's greatest war heroes -

As a thank you for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo

he was given a specially commissioned dinner set.

Now, 200 years after it was given by the Prussians

it's now going on show to the public,

as it would have been used at the Duke's London home.

Many of you will have passed this grand building

here on Hyde Park Corner plenty of times.

Apsley house, also known as Number One London,

so-called because when Knightsbridge was but a mere village and this

was the first property you got to when you entered London proper.

And I am here today to take a close look at a very special collection.

Here we are in the wonderful Waterloo Gallery, and in

front of us the fabulous Prussian dinner service.

And in terms of dinner services, it doesn't really get more

You have wonderful candelabra, you have fabulous soup tureens.

This soup tureens here is supported by lions.

You even have fabulous ice cream pales that

you can bring to the table because they are so decorative.

Of course, surrounding all that are these wonderful dessert plates.

And the dessert plates depict scenes from Wellington's life,

from his schooldays at Eton to his years in India and even

the opening of Waterloo Bridge, each one a piece of art.

And art works all over the house testify to the grandeur of this home

and the importance of the man himself, a man to whom the whole

It was at the end of 23 years of warfare in Europe.

So some people just think Waterloo happened one day and that was it,

Napoleon was defeated, but Napoleon had been dominant

So there was absolute jubilation when Wellington managed

The whole of Europe celebrated Wellington.

So this room hosted countless opulent banquets where Wellington

reputedly serve as favourite, Parmesan ice cream.

For those who still celebrates him, this house is a treasure trove.

Parmesan ice cream, that is new to me.

It's been a lovely sunny start to the week.

Let's see how the rest of it is looking with Georgina.

We certainly know how to celebrate the sunshine here in London with

some beautiful pictures posted by our weather watchers. This was taken

in Twickenham. And this one, a lone daffodil basking in the sunshine.

Thank you to all our weather watchers. Tonight we have a lot of

clear sky today but a bit more cloud through this evening. Still some

clear spells with temperatures in central London only eight Celsius.

Further north of it is likely to be and we could see some mist and fog

developing. Tomorrow morning some of the mist and fog taking time to

clear but by the afternoon more cloud after a sunny start. Perhaps

they few showers but a lot of dry weather. We missed a lot of this

messy at whether to our West. Some cloud on Wednesday but bright and

sunny spells breaking through. Thursday looking fairly hazy

sunshine but that is the day we see very high temperatures. You can see

in central London reaching 19 Celsius. It may be in the right spot

we seek 21 Celsius and that would make it the warmest day of the year

so far. But a lot of warm weather this week and a lot of dry weather

also. Always the chance of the outbreak, tomorrow night, for

example, some overnight drizzle but Friday and Saturday that any wet

weather of significance will be taking place but always the chance

of a breeze through the week. Some warm and dry weather but most of the

wet weather at the back end of the week and the weekend as well.

Thank you very much, Georgina. Police believe that the attacker

was Khalid Masood was driving more than 70 miles per hour before

mounting the pavement. In the week that Brexit will be

triggered, the Prime Minister and Nicola Sturgeon met today,

only to see the row over another Scottish

independence referendum deepen. But I'll be back later

during the later during So from all of us here,

thanks for watching