30/05/2017 London News

The Mayor claims half of the Met's police stations could close

There is nowhere else to cut, we will be cutting to the bone,

that means half of the police stations across London closing down.

With falling crime, and there has been falling crime

in all of those years, the Met Police is probably now more

efficient and effective than it has been at any time.

Plus, we get the views of the fastest growing demographic

Detectives hunt for two boys on bikes who fired

into a crowd of people, gunning down an innocent

He may be celebrating a record-breaking FA Cup win

but are Arsenal fans celebrating news that Arsene Wenger

One father's way of helping his son with revision that's

snowballed into an app for thousands of students.

Welcome to the programme with me, Riz Lateef.

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed that "up to half"

of all police stations in the capital could close

He blames the Conservatives, saying cuts of ?400 million over

the next three years will make it "extremely difficult" to keep

The Tories say they are protecting police funding and Scotland Yard

Our political editor Tim Donovan reports.

Bobbies or buildings, what if that is the choice now,

Can't we have the police stations and the bobbies?

What would happen if you had to choose?

I would rather have the bobbies on the street.

Just working out of fewer police stations maybe?

Well, it doesn't really work, does it?

People need face-to-face interaction and customer service,

I do not want to see a lot of buildings close.

If they do decide to cut buildings, we require a lot of police officers,

More than 60 front office counters have closed in recent years,

the shutters come down on stations like this one in Rotherhithe.

More than 70 are left, like West End Central here but half

now appear under threat, according to the Mayor.

We have been working closely with the Met Police service

The choice is cutting front-line police officers -

nobody wants to do that - or having to close half of

I have been witness to the devastating effects of police

cuts during your time as Home Secretary.

Theresa May was challenged last night over policing,

but the Tories have said the Mayor is just scaremongering

and that there is enough money to go around.

What actually has happened here in the Metropolitan Police

is that there has been a rethink about how best you can deploy

the policing resources you have got to make the most effective...

Get them on the front line, get the back office stuff done

by people who are not actually going on to the front line,

and what I would say to you is that I think with falling crime,

and there has been falling crime in all those years,

the Met Police is probably now more efficient and effective than it

And as well as lobbying the government for more, has

When it came to the Budget this year, the Mayor took ?30 million out

of policing that would have funded and got us up to 32,000 police

officers on our streets in London, and he also put 20 million

into reserve, so if he is serious about keeping London safe,

he should put as much money as he could into policing,

as well as then make the case to government.

Limited money, what is best for the public?

Difficult decisions to be made in the coming years.

One of the areas that's come under heavy scrutiny has been

And of course we know that older voters are a key

Here in London, the number of over 60s is expected to increase

The number of over 80s is rising even quicker -

Alex Bushill has been taking a look at what's now been

Could it hit people here in the capital the hardest?

Two families in two different cities but with the same single problem -

Nicola cares for her father Alec in Nottingham.

Margaret cares for her husband Eddie at home in Richmond.

It has been dubbed the dementia tax, the Conservative policy would mean

you would stop paying for your own care when your wealth

At present, only a little more than ?23,000 is protected.

Margaret and Eddie's house in Richmond is worth

more than ?1 million, so they could be hit with the total

We are being looked at almost as cash cows to fill a gap

but I do not think it will solve the longer-term problem at all.

The next generation will not have that money and there will be far

more older people moving into dementia in future generations.

Theresa May has said there will now be a cap on how

much is taken overall, but not exactly how

The Conservatives have said it is right that wealthier

For Nicola and her father in Nottingham, they will certainly

pay less, a maximum of just ?100,000 as his house is worth far less

Not only are you dealing with the misfortune of this

particular illness, but you are having

Others like Richard believe that as this tax is only after death,

it is right that you pay more if you are wealthy.

The proposed changes, as I understand, is that that amount

will be up to 100,000, so I assume that in her case,

she would never have had to have paid for care home fees,

which in turn would mean she would be able to do

a lot more activity-wise, go on holidays and do

So, while there is agreement that the issue of paying for social

care needs to be addressed, exactly how remains

Well, questions on social care and other key issues will be put

to politicians by Londoners at a debate tonight -

here's our political correspondent Karl Mercer.

For a debate you need a good crowd and we have more than 100 Londoners

you're ready to put some key questions to some of the top

politicians from London. What else? You need a set. This is our set.

Here is our election symbol. We have people doing last-minute

preparations and getting the show ready. This is where the audience

will beat and then you need a panel and a great set. We have both of

those. Who is on our panel? Peter Whittle, the Ukip Deputy Leader is

here. Also the Minister for London, Gavin Barwell this year for the

Conservatives. Moving along, here is the an abbot, the Shadow Home

Secretary putting the Labour Party point of view across. Next to her, I

hope he will not Mike McCollum him the oldest age, the former Business

Secretary of the Lib Dems, Vince Cable. And then a representative of

the Green Party from the London Assembly. We need the crowd and we

need the ringmaster, Jeremy Vine, the man in charge tonight. What are

they expecting? We must focus on Brexit because it is a huge issue.

We will let the 100 or so people in the room decide where the debate

goes from there but that is clearly Central. There are so many different

points of view in London. It was a city that's chose to remain, but

also a lot of Brexiteers. Yes, very much some Brexit boroughs. There are

the issues of social care and housing which is massive in London.

Some have said they will never buy a house in London. Last week, the

Manchester attacks, security and safety is bound to come up. Yes,

that is a huge political issue in the room tonight. It will be

fascinating to see how they stop clots that they suspect are already

underway. What about people who are on watch list but have not done

anything wrong, all big questions. Yes, if you want to see the

mergansers, you can see the debate after the Ten O'Clock News tonight.

Thank you Karl Mercer and Jeremy Vine. Still to come...

A royal reception as Prince Harry meets the UK athletes competing

at the Invictus Games later this year.

After a topsy-turvy bank holiday weekend, what will the rest of the

niqab in-store? Join me later. -- rest of the weather have in store?

Detectives are hunting for two boys on bikes who fired

into a crowd of people, killing an innocent

It happened in Kilburn on Friday night in a suspected

Her family are still searching for answers.

At just 20 years old, Montana had her whole life ahead of. On Friday

evening, it ended abruptly in a of bullets. There were lots of children

outside playing, about ten of them outside. There was one shot, someone

slightly hesitated, one shot and then three shots afterwards. She was

standing up when I came out over the balcony. I have seen her fall onto

the floor. Like, holding her side. She said she was shot and needed

help. She did not seem to be in pain because she must have been in so

much shock. Police that two young men on pushbikes keen to hear before

firing six shots into a crowd of people gathered on that corner. 20

rolled Montana was one of them, she was struck once in the side and died

here within the hour. No one else was injured. She was very calm, she

was not panicking or anything. They asked her if she could see and she

said her vision was blurry. At some stage she said she could not

breathe. Because she was talking I did think that she would pull

through. She was still alive as the two attackers arrived, their faces

covered to hide their identities. They have worn face coverings and we

are determined to seek justice for Montano. Do you think she was an

incident bystander caught in the crossfire or the target? There was

no crossfire, let us be clear, there was only the suspect firing towards

Montana and her group. In terms of her background, nothing we have

found identified her as being a target for this attack. The family

of Montana has said... Police are still trying to establish

whether others in the group of Montana where the intended targets.

Dan Freeman, BBC London News. Scotland Yard has confirmed that

soldiers will be withdrawn from London's streets over

the next three days. Military support was brought in last

week following the Manchester bomb attack when the terror threat level

was raised from severe to critical. It's now been lowered again -

which means an attack is highly Londoners are still being

warned to be vigilant. British Airways says it's operating

a full schedule at Heathrow and Gatwick after an IT failure left

thousands of passengers stranded The airline says systems are back up

and running but travellers may have to wait up to a week to be reunited

with their luggage. BA is facing huge compensation

costs, with reports suggesting the bill

could top ?100 million. They may have won the FA Cup this

weekend but for months there's been speculation over

the Arsenal manager's future. Well, today it's emerged

Arsene Wenger has agreed So does that put an end to the

mounting criticism he was facing? Chris Slegg is at

the Emirates Stadium - how do you think fans will react

to this news? A mixture of feelings, we have

already heard from some fans today. 21 years Arsene Wenger has been

here, two more years he is staying, we would expect the club to confirm

that tomorrow. He still has many fans on his side, but we have seen a

level of protests gathering against him in strength and size the season.

As you mentioned, he won a record-breaking seventh FA Cup as a

manager on Saturday but it is the Premier League and the Champions

League that are the true barometer of a club's standing these days and

they appear to be a fading force in both competitions. We finished fifth

in the league this season to miss out on qualifying for the Champions

League next season. One spokesperson from the Arsenal supporters

Association has spoken of her concern about what is happening for

the club with the protests. I do not like to see that happening but I

think of the board and the manager did not take steps to read that

might realise how often it the supporters feel at the moment, that

will worsen and that will amp it as us as a football club and a around

the world. Arsenal finished 18 points behind the champions Chelsea

which shows the size of the task we have got this summer. If they start

Mexico's bully, we could expect to see those protests start up again.

It will be a really key summer in the transfer market and Arsene

Wenger has often been accused of being reluctant to make their big

name money signings. Another task for him, can he convince the star

players already here, the lights of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to

stay on? We only have one year remaining on their contracts, can

they be given is to remain without Champions League football? So, a

huge summer ahead for Arsene Wenger and we have had this debate about

whether Arsenal are better off with them or without him and for many

years now, and we have now got another two years of this debate.

Chris, from the Emirates Stadium, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Reading missed out on reaching the Premier League after

finishing runners-up in the championship play-off. They were

defeated by Huddersfield. This is the winning penalty.

Staying with sport, and Prince Harry said they were created

The Invictus Games sees servicemen and women,

who've suffered life-changing injuries compete

Today he was at the launch of the 2017 UK team who'll be

Emma Jones reports from the Tower of London.

Smiles and jokes with Prince Harry as the United Kingdom team for this

year's Invictus Games is unveiled at the Tower of London.

It's a cause close to Harry's heart - he created the Games for injured

and sick servicemen and women, saying he wanted to demonstrate

the power of sport to inspire recovery and show there

This is just part of what he had to say at last year's Games in Orlando.

You are now ambassadors for the spirit of these Games.

Spread the word, never stop fighting and do all you can to lift up

Since the first Invictus Games were put on in London in 2014,

The UK will be taking 90 competitors to Toronto in September

When I was first in the chair, I was in a very, very bad place.

I found basketball to start with and after that I found

wheelchair racing and it has helped me immensely, concentrating

on something and keeping me on the straight and narrow.

The athletes I've spoken to today talked about the self-confidence

and self-worth they have gained from being part of this

They also talked about the real pride of being part of a team

To see so many of the guys I went to rehabilitation

with here at the top of their game, loud and confident,

that is what the Games are about, bringing people out of their shells.

Some horrendous injuries but now they can compete.

For these competitors, it is as much about taking part

as much as it is bringing home a medal from Toronto.

This is a positive time in what has been a challenging journey.

Good luck to them. It is not every year at least 20,000 bicycles are

simply a bandit in the capital. One area is making use of them by

refurbishing the bikes and giving them to asylum seekers and refugees.

This man is from Eritrea. And like thousands of others, he has left the

dictatorship there to seek asylum in London. Today he is getting a free

bike. Like all asylum seekers with ?36 to the foreign and not being

allowed to work, free transport any form two wheels makes that money

last a lot longer. We provide free means of transport that allows them

to access health care and education. Good psychological support through

the form of a bike. London transport is very expensive, the bus pass is

?21 each week. Where do the bikes come from? They are all they needed

at points around London. Some people have cracks in the bikes and they

will abandon them. Someone comes along and cuts of the locks and

takes them away and we provide that service. Selling the better

reconditioned bikes helps to fund the bike project which give away

around 1000 bikes last year to refugees. This man was one of the

receivers of the bikes. The Nerang he did not know anyone when he

arrived in London, he now volunteers in the shop. People are very

friendly, very nice. Always welcome, very good people. And it is good to

come down here and volunteer and help? You have some friends now. The

format times I argue, very kind people. People have said to me they

did not believe it to make a contribution again but being there

they are an integral part of something. But a bit of bike

training, a new helmet and the high viz jacket, this man is ready for

the road. Making London seemed just a little bit more manageable.

A father from Bromley has found a unique way to help his son

Drawing on his experience as a music producer,

he took core subjects from the school syllabus

The tunes have now been turned into an app that has been downloaded

Our education reporter Marc Ashdown has the story.

Meet George and Paris, an orderly father and son and like many

teenagers Paris was struggling to revise for his GCSEs. Music producer

George had an idea. I found some instrumentals and I wrote this

track. I played it to Paris a few days later. He said, my God, this is

set! George Kruis teachers as to what the

students needed to learn and turn that into music. This track is

English language, GCSE age. It is all about how to write for an

audience. There are 600 songs on the app for various subjects. It changes

the way that children study and it captures the ones that do not learn

and revise in the traditional sense. Trying to set down for 45 minutes

and an hour to revise was a chore for me. I have used the music as a

way to help focus me and calm down and try to study. It is difficult as

a father and a parent to look at your child, knowing how great they

can be and then not believing in themselves. For me, I will do

anything I can to empower him to believe in himself. We're not trying

to do the job of teachers, we could never do that, but while you have an

exam system that is all about remembering information, two years

of information and learned into beads across several subjects, that

is a steep hill. Since it launched in September, the track has been

downloaded 150,000 times. It is just one week students can access a bit

of help to take up the stress of exams.

Let's get a check on the weather - and Wendy's here.

No pressure! What a great idea, that would have

held my division no end. We have got a bit of evening sunshine across

London and the Home Counties at the moment. But it was the early bird

that was the best of it this morning. This is the picture just

after sunrise. This is south-east this morning, a picture from one

Bawbrugh Weather Watchers. The cloud bubbled up as it will do tomorrow.

It will be broken clouds will be will still see some sunny spells but

it might build up together some scattered showers as a cold front.

This is what we had today, you can see little swirl that the top of the

satellite picture, that is the centre of the satellite picture. It

is and reduced moisture and instability, which means that we had

one of two showers today and we are likely to see one or two tomorrow.

This evening is drier with plenty of sunshine. As we go through the night

we will have bits and pieces of patchy cloud, some clear skies and a

breeze will fall it. Relatively speaking it is another fairly

1-Eyed, temperatures eventually settling at dawn at around 14

degrees. So, tomorrow, there will be sunny breaks and a fair amount of

cloud again. Some will build up just to give one or two showers, mostly

light, maybe the odd moderate one but in between some pleasant

sunshine and that will lift the temperature higher than today, 23

degrees in London, and that is a common trend as we get to Thursday,

warmer still, the pressure builds and we have sunshine through the day

on Thursday and then we start to draw and warm air from the south,

you can see the direction of the wind arrows. London could get up to

25 degrees, perhaps a degree or two higher. If you need it cooler, head

towards the coast for the developing sea breeze as they go through the

day. Nice and one Thursday and then as we get through towards the end of

the week, we get this cold front. That will go through on Friday. It

will probably introduce some heavy and thundery showers, watch out for

them, they could cause some localised flooding. It should shift

out of the way for the weekend, it might do something funny and linger

into the weekend, in which case we will be talking about completely

different story and we will notify you if that is the case. If it does

with through, what will happen for the weekend is that they will get

something slightly fresher, it will attempt on Friday which will be up

at 25, 20 6 degrees but those heavy and thundery showers. But to begin,

20, 20 1 degrees, perhaps one or two showers around but some fine weather

around. Thank you, windy. -- windy.

Jeremy Corbyn has issued an apology for not knowing the cost of Labour's

In a BBC interview, he was repeatedly asked how much it

would cost to extend free childcare in England.

In a speech today, Theresa May attacked Jeremy Corbyn

over his policies and said only she was ready and prepared

Labour says Mrs May's negotiating position so far had made Britain

Investigations are continuing into the death of a zookeeper

in Cambridge yesterday after she was attacked by a tiger.

Rosa King had worked at Hamerton zoo for 14 years.

You're welcome to join the conversation on our Facebook page -

especially if you've got a view on shops and differing dress sizes.

I'll be back later during the ten o'clock news.