10/05/2017 London News

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

Coming up this evening before seven...

As education becomes the latest election battle ground,

we hear from a school so concerned about funding it's turned to music

You will ask if election promises will bring the money.

Also tonight, a pregnant motorist who ploughed a cyclist off the road

An 84-year-old woman is left trapped in a hospital toilet overnight

after staff thought she'd been discharged.

And why pop star Paul Weller is pushing for this "exclusive club"

So, education has been one of the key campaign issues

of the day for some political parties, which is of particular

Over recent years, London's state schools have led the way

for the entire country when it comes to improvements, but they're now

Thousands of staff, parents and pupils are concerned

about what's to come, so in a school in Haringey,

Here's our political correspondent Karl Mercer.

It is not just the politicians who are talking

about school funding, but surely it is coming to something

when primary school children have to put it the top

This video was made by parents at Saint Aidan's School

in Haringey, an "outstanding" and oversubscribed primary,

but a school, like many across London,

Since I have been headteacher, it has been unprecedented

Fitting then, perhaps, that today's maths lesson is on subtraction.

The school thinks its budget will be more than ?100,000 short

The head will study the election manifestos, what the party

But will she believe any of the promises?

We are in a position now where if there was a manifesto

pledge that pupil funding would not be capped, that is not the reality.

We have got eight percent cuts by 2020.

Just because increasing costs that we had to meet.

So we're struggling already before the national funding formula hits.

It would be fair to say you are a little bit sceptical

For the first time here, parents have been asked for money

to help the school out, and some joining the Board

of Governors to find out the true scale of things.

It is pretty grim, Is what I was thinking.

I went from being just a parent in the playground

to getting involved, and it is pretty scary

when you are on the inside and can see what the staff and support staff

are having to deal with every single day and trying to make cuts at every

single line of your budget and still deliver fantastic

Today Labour and the Lib Dems have made big promises on funding

for the likes of these youngsters, but saying they will protect money

for schools, spending more than at present.

We are dealing with two separate problems in London.

One is the impact of a funding change which is moving school

70% of London's schools will lose as a consequence of that alone.

And then on top of that, there is a nationwide

We will ensure that schools receive the same real terms per-pupil

funding in every year for the next Parliament, as they do currently,

and there will been no need for these curts,

and particular cuts have been talked about in terms of teaching staff.

The Conservatives were unable to put up a London spokesperson,

but said school spending was now at record levels.

And said they were helping schools deliver on savings.

Our political editor Tim Donovan is here.

It's striking isn't it, that the Conservatives,

Once again we were not able to speak that Conservatives on what is it

important issue. Finding this day this day after day. There is a bit

of a pattern emerging. You could say so far in the campaign, it is

defining the conservative approach. Very tightly controlled, the

campaign focused on the leader. At a regional level, looking at London

policies, it has been difficult to talk to people from the party to

defend policies, not just schools. Today we were talking about the

potential for closures of hospitals, A units in south-west London.

There is a quality, needing to comply with EU limits. Neither of

the two cases could speak to anyone. Just knife crime and police numbers.

Again, we did not have a party representative. There is absolutely

no obligation for a party to do anything. There are no rules here,

and many people might say why risk it? Many people feel the

Conservatives election to lose on top of that, when they want to

launch their manifesto, when they want to launch initiatives in the

capital, we will talk about them what you think will happen before?

Well they put someone up who will address these issues and speak,

rightly going to stay still? There are no indications yet that they

will alter this strategy. But it might change. There is nothing in

London polling. There is a poll in the Evening Standard. They believe

the gap has narrowed between the Conservatives and Labour. Down to

about four or five points. The paper says on the basis of that it could

take four or five seats of Labour. So there is no sign of there being

an adverse effect from the strategy at the moment. It will be

interesting to watch. Thank you very much.

A female motorist from Hackney, who chased and ploughed

into a cyclist causing him serious injuries, has been

Justine Henshaw-Bryan, who's pregnant, hit Damien Doughty

after he confronted her for using a mobile phone behind the wheel.

She can tell us more. This happened last February in Stoke Newington.

Justine Henshaw-Bryan had been on her phone while driving and the

cyclist, Damien Doughty, spotted her. They had a row at the lights

and according to the judge, she then turned on him. She had previously

knocked her wing Mera and encouraged by her boyfriend, she chased him

through the streets. There is CCTV footage released, some of the images

are somewhat disturbing. It shows the car Excel are rating down a side

street, she knocks him off his bike, but she did not stop. He

subsequently hit a tree, he was in intensive care for two weeks with a

broken hand and injuries to his leather and ribs. He was then off

work for weeks and have had to find alternative employment. What was

that during the sentencing? Justine Henshaw-Bryan is now pregnant, she

was not at the time of the incident full stop she also cares for her

mother and a victim of domestic violence. He did say that he

believes prison would be difficult for him, but the judge pointed out

that cyclists in London have two ensure this on a daily basis. He

sentenced her to three years and disqualified her from driving for

4.5 years. She will serve half the sentence. She cried as she was led

away and told her parents she loved them.

Thank you very much. The husband of a woman who's serving

a prison sentence in Iran says the passport of their three-year-old

daughter, who's been stranded in the country for a year,

has finally been returned. The child's mother,

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from Hampstead, was arrested

and convicted in Tehran on spying Our reporter, Dan Freedman has

been speaking with her We had good news. Apple had hurt

passport returned. -- Gabriela has had her passport returned. The

embassy almost promised a humanitarian visa for me to go to

Iran. So we are one step closer to bringing them both home. So what

does Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe make of the news? If I'm honest, she was

slightly alarmed as well. She's worried that I will take Gabriela

away from her, so I reassured her that it will be her decision and I

did not want to come and take... But I will not break the promised full

stop it is her decision and she will decide is what is best. She gets to

see Gabriela twice a week now and that has lifted her up hugely.

Day-to-day she seems in a better place than she was a few months

back. Still very low, very down, sometimes very angry with our

Government, Iranian Government, everyone that is faltered. But it

was good news and we will see where it will go. Does Gabriela understand

what has happened? Sinn stands that her mum is in prison and prison is

something that she visits. She does not understand why she cannot go see

daddy and will sometimes get upset. Two weekends ago we had a family

wedding and is we ran her on Skype from the wedding. She was upset

because she wanted to come to the wedding. She is not three years old

yet, so she does not understand. As she grows, she asks me why and

begins to understand that she has a lively yet to come back to. If

anything, that has been clarified... And business users as British.

Gabriela, it is something she's not sure about. She's too little to

think about it. Airing wishes largely forgotten and she's a little

Iranian baby in some ways. I certainly think her future is back

in London. Richard Ratcliffe speaking to our reporter.

Ambulance Services in Hertfordshire are under attack after health bosses

awarded a contract to transport patients to a private company.

Complaints include calls going answered

Nicola Hasler has been speaking to patients attending

Mount Vernon Hospital who've had a number of bad experiences.

Adrian Coelho was being treated for prostate cancer and needed

The appointment time was to pass and I'm still here,

frantic letters, phone calls to the transport people,

"Where's my transport, am I booked in it?"

He was taken to hospital by this company, Private

Ambulance Services Limited, who are contracted by the NHS

to take very sick patients to hospital appointments.

They took over the contract in March.

I don't think any patient that is suffering from cancer...

You have got one big worry, you don't need another one.

Denise Windle was so worried about whether her transport

would turn up, she no longer wanted to attend her radiotherapy sessions.

You're ill anyway, so you just don't need all that on top

You need to do that your transport's there, with a friendly face

and someone will pick you up, talk to you, treat you like you're

a person, walk you to the garden gate or to your door,

rather than just throw you out of your car with your bag.

I have been doing this for about five to six years now.

Riz Basharat used to be an ambulance driver in Bedfordshire,

but when PAS took over the contract, he says patients started to suffer.

Patients were left in hospitals waiting for up to four hours,

three hours, up to five and a half hours on some occasions.

The worst thing about it was we had been waiting outside the hospital,

So basically the patients were ready to go inside the hospital,

The piecemeal privatisation of patient transport services has

But listening to these patients raises questions over

whether the current model of the NHS commissioning services

through competitive tender is the right one for patients.

The NHS commissioners in Hertfordshire and

Private Ambulance Services say they have apologised

to Denise and Adrian for the unacceptable service,

but as yet neither of them has received the apology.

It's Wednesday the 10th of May, and you're watching

There is more sunshine on their way, but we need more rain. Will there be

rain in the forecast? Find out later.

An 84-year-old woman was left trapped in a hospital toilet

for 12 hours after staff at Croydon University Hospital

Janina Borasinski's son, even filed a missing persons report -

as frantic efforts were made to find her.

Tarah Welsh is at the hospital now and can tell us more.

How are you now? How you feeling? Not too bad? OK. Janina Borasinski

was admitted to hospital on Saturday because she was struggling to me.

Her son flew home from Germany. When he got to the hospital after 9pm,

they said she had been discharged was up I said bearing in mind she

was not verbally dressed, she did not have footwear, she had no funny,

travel card, how was she going to get home? They looked on the

computer and said she's over 84, so we will have organised transport for

her. At that point, I phoned home to see she was there, no answer, so I

assumed hospital transport with my maul was en route. There was a

missing person's shirt, but the next morning she was found in a toilet

similar to this one by a cleaner. Foreign 84-year-old person, that

sort of ideal is very debilitating, so was confused and unwell. But

because of the mobility issues, could she could not get from the

toilet to the door. Also the alarm was too far to reach, so she was

stuck for 12 hours with no food or water. I'm in a state of disbelief

as to how this could happen, how a patient could be mislaid, if you

like, and left in a toilet which could not have been far away from

the discharge area. In a statement, Croydon services said the...

Son says she is improving, but she's still very poorly and he wants to

know where his mother was was this along.

It's Europe's largest centre for the arts,

and yesterday the artistic director of the Southbank Centre was

Jude Kelly was honoured at the Business Woman

of the Year Awards, and Alice Bhandhukravi

She's the head of one of Britain's most important cultural institution

the Southbank Centre, which plays hosts to thousands of artistic

And yesterday Jude Kelly was given a Business

Woman of the Year Social Purpose Prize.

For her, striving to improve society is part and parcel of

And this particular place, created in

1951, has always been about trying to ensure that the arts and culture

allow the stories of everyone to be told, include everyone in the work.

Because sometimes the arts can be quite discriminatory, they can feel

like it's for the few and not for the the many and this

a place that takes exactly the opposite opinion.

She's characteristically modest, but Jude Kelly's Women of the World

Festival, which started here in London, has now spread to 20

It is life-enhancing and it's also full of purpose.

People like it, it's not frivolous, but

And the rest of the year has other treats in store -

such as performing artist, MIA, bringing her unique style to the

She is bringing to the Meltdown all kinds of artists who

most people wouldn't normally hear of, from different parts of London

and the world and again we will get audiences who have never been

With a cast of hundreds, including Lewisham's Jude Law and even

Leytonstone's David Beckham, director Guy Ritchie's

new film is being premiered in Leicester Square this evening.

It's a take on the story of King Arthur, and Sonja Jessup

This is the classic tale of King Arthur. Sort of classic. You have a

but a new twist on this. It has not been told as many times as you may

think, but I felt as though I could give it a new spin. I wanted to

honour the essence of the story, at the same time I wanted to make it

accessible to a contemporary audience. I think some people might

find that irreverent, but I'm out to entertain. It stars King Arthur, we

have Jude Law as a villain, we have also got a lot of talk about David

Beckham's acting debut. He is a friend of yours. Why did you cast

him in this and did you give him any acting tip is? He's a natural

performer anyway for the PD need much help. I find him very capable.

I did not want him around in the movie, so I tried to smother him as

much as you can. He really very talented. Where do you want me?

Bouncing on my knee. Where'd you think I want you?

We have got to Jude Law is of little less uncle -- villainous uncle. He

makes a fantastic villain, and I thought it was about time he did

something with various. It made sense that we should do something

that was more villainous. I cannot let you go without asking, you are

also directing a live-action version of Aladdin? That is the idea. You

will hold open auditions in Holburn. I did not know about that until

about an hour ago. We are still looking for certain characters, yes.

What will you be looking for? I look for a leading, primarily. There are

a lot of Jasmine 's. We need the perfect Aladdin. Good luck with that

search. In the UK, there is a lot of talent. You will be surprised how

much talent there is that resides here. We have searched the whole

world. The best people come from the UK. Hopefully they are from London!

Thank you for joining us. You have to be part of an exclusive

club to get in, and even then there's only room for a few people

at a time. These green rest stops -

you'll have seen them around central London,

but maybe not thought anything more of them -

are for cab drivers. They've been around

since Victorian times, but are now struggling for business,

as Gareth Furby reports. It is 8AM, and we are about to visit

one of London's most exclusive It has 13 club premises,

and Tracy runs one of them. You are very lucky to

come in here, actually. But no-one is likely to say

it is gentlemen only. Instead of crystal glass and port,

there is strong tea, This is a cabman's

shelter, and as the pictures inside remind us,

it is a tradition that Tracy has been tending to London's

cabbies for 13 years. Because we have a laugh

every single day. One day he is black,

one day he is white. Enjoying their break this

morning, Ritchie and Where else can you eat round

this neighbourhood for ?2.50? And also appreciated,

those members' mugs. And that is my mug,

and it is a Chelsea mug, But like this mug, are cabman

shelters a much-loved friend that is perhaps starting

to have Because the benches can

sometimes be a little empty. The trade is falling off

because the drivers are not coming in because they are not

working so much, or if they are working,

they People are having to do

longer hours in the cab. They have to work

harder, and they have just not got the time

to But on the rank right

next to this shelter, we found some cabbies

who aren't tempted. there, apparently it is meant to be

quite cliquey, so I understand. A solution being suggested

is encourage more sales through the And outside today,

who should turn up but the pop star Paul Weller,

happy to support his local shelter. I'm going to miss Tracy's

food if she goes. Times may be tougher

for cabbies in their shelters, but they have got

history behind them, Go to one of those shelters were a

cup of tea. Now lets check on the

weather with Stav. Lovely and warm across the capital.

We saw a top temperature of 19 cells is that was not the top temperature

of the country, but a fine evening to come overnight as their right

clear skies, light winds, so a fairly nippy one, but what's the end

of the night,... They may be lower than that in the Home Counties.

Tomorrow is a different feel. It will be fairly warm. Through the

afternoon it will feel much more humid than it as done. Daily

sunshine and then we will see cloud, showery outbreaks of rain, they

pushed their way northwards. Sunshine will return and lift

temperatures up, potentially between 20-23dC. Behind me you will notice

possible thunderstorms in the west of London during the afternoon and

into the evening. Torrential storms on the M4. Friday, we see another

band of rain moving northwards, rain for the gardens. Some very humid air

moving in with it. Even more humid on Friday. Outbreaks of rain to the

morning, and then we will see sunshine developing, showers in the

afternoon. I think the showers could turn sundry to the north of our

patch, if you're heading north, to watch out. I think for our area,

maybe 19 degrees, should feel very pleasant. Then into the weekend, we

see south-westerly winds take over, so that pushes the humid air out. It

is a nice feeling on Saturday and Sunday. One or two showers away, top

temperature 19 or 20 Celsius. Looking good for our region into the

weekend. I think a lot of the showers could be to the north and

west and potentially we could stay dry and avoid showers. It looks

pretty good. Before we go this evening,

let me just remind you of the day's President Trump has said he'll

replace the sacked head of the FBI with someone who,

in his words, would "restore In a tweet, Mr Trump wrote that

James Comey had lost the confidence Labour has promised big increases

in funding for education in England The Conservatives say school funding

has already reached record levels. If you want to see the programme

again, or missed

some while you popped to the kitchen