05/07/2017 London News

A task force is sent in to Kensington and Chelsea Council

to help deal with the Grenfell Tower fire.

Well, I welcome it, but I have not seen anyone.

No one in a high visibility jacket that you can see.

I have not seen any officials, anyone from the castle.

We also discover that London is to get new fire platforms to help

deal with any future fires in tower blocks.

The unprovoked acid attack which is raising fears

over hate crime in Asian and Muslim communities.

The battle against cancer takes to the road in London's first

mobile unit, delivering chemotherapy to patients.

Fear and stigma surrounding the Aids pandemic in London

The largest collection of video interviews

And celebrating the talents and power of people

with learning disabilities - we find out more about the arts

charity celebrating its 30th birthday.

independent experts to help run parts of Kensington

It comes after fierce criticism of the council's handling

of the Grenfell Fire tragedy, which has continued even after some

Our Political Editor, Tim Donovan, has more details

about today's decision and he can also tell us how

There are so many things to do, so much help is needed and not just for

those in Grenfell Tower itself, the wider community has been affected.

This man wants a flat in the block overlooking the tower, he has not

stayed there since the fire, where he says if the information and

advice? We need more people, you feel safe when you see people in

high visibility jackets, officials, informing you, updating as that what

will happen and then everyone will feel safe. Who is telling you things

at the moment? You, the media, no one else. No details about the task

force, how many people and where they come from. But we know this.

The special focus of this recovery parks -- task force will be on

housing regeneration and community engagement. To one Conservative

councillor in Kensington, this seems to be the targeted help needed. The

focus is on helping people in North Kensington, not on issuing parking

permits to people in Chelsea or whatever. It is about helping the

people of North Kensington, that is where the resources should be

concentrated, so I think this is absolutely the right thing to do.

But the Labour Party including the Mayor of London have argued it is

not enough and want a full-blown team of commissioners to take over

the council while survivors have said that better communication will

only trust. If that is improved in the proper way, we should not have

many problems. We should not, because we are going to be one unit,

the communication will be clearer. The council has faced protests and

criticism and got its own staff stretched to the limit this looks

like vital relief. You cannot exist in an emergency situation for a very

long time. Kensington and Chelsea Council needs assistance to run

business as usual and to handle this disaster that has landed slap bang

in the area and that is the right thing to do and we need that

support. There is no indication yet how long that support will be needed

for but nothing after this looks like BSA. -- looks like being easy.

So, Tim, what details do we have so far?

It depends on who you talk to. John Healey, the Shadow Housing Minister

of the Labour Party believes it does not go far enough because it leads

to much controlling power with that administration at Kensington and

Chelsea Council, that will enough hard decisions be made if necessary?

The London Mayor Sadiq Khan runs with a similar idea, suggesting that

commissioners should hang around, be sent in but remain there until the

local elections next April, displaying his platoon and thinks

they are, if it is right to talk about these things, that there is no

hope that Labour can take control of the Council given how many problems

they have had there. Clearly, for the administration, this is a better

solution being targeted and focused on certain services and it is being

stressed that there is a chief executive, a new chief executive on

an acting basis within the Council at the moment. He is the chief

executive of Lewisham and it has been stressed that this independent

task force will report regularly back to the Secretary of State

himself. But self evidently, it is good news for this conservative or

that it has not got a hit squad or is not in special measures and it is

good for the government to be able to avoid that situation for one of

its very important local authorities. In the end, however, of

course, this will be judged on how it goes down with the people it is

aimed at, the survivors, the people affected in that wider community and

right now I am not sure we are particularly bothered whether that

is being delivered by officials, officers employed by the council

directly or wherever they come from, as long as they start to see

progress on some of these key issues for them as soon as possible. I

believe that is the key point for local people as well. Tim Donovan,

thank you for that. Well, let me tell you that

within the past few hours, part of a building neighbouring

Grenfell Tower has been evacuated Our reporter Tolu Adeoye is at

the North Kensington Law Centre. Well, the Grenfell Tower is just

behind this building and the issue with the building is at the basement

level where there are a number of retail units and business units and

the back onto the investigation site of the Grenfell-type which means

that one of the exits is blocked off. The London Fire Brigade has

said that this poses a fire safety risk, which is why the basement

level has been evacuated. The North Kensington Law Centre is one

organisation that is inside that unit, I spoke to one of the

solicitors earlier. We were going about our normal daily business,

there were officers doing fire safety checks in the building, B but

then immediately advised to evacuate urgently. Whilst outside we spoke to

a police officer and he explained that the fire brigade had

recommended three weeks ago, the day after the fire, to the council that

the building was not safe for commercial use as there was only one

escape. There were fire escape is the crime scene, my concern is that

not only have we been in love for three weeks, we have had clients,

some are from the Grenfell-type are coming into our building. Had

another crisis occurred, I do not know how the council can defend

that. So, serious questions over why it took three weeks for the

authorities to decide that this basement level potentially was not

safe, for now the North Kensington law centre is taken up the nearby

community Centre, within the church, across the street. We should point

out that the Grenfell response team has said that at no point was the

tower unsafe, it was purely an issue with the fire exit in the basement

level. Thank you very much for that. Well, another major development

regarding Grenfell, which BBC More equipment could be on the way

to help tackle future fires. Karl, this could be a major addition

for the Fire Brigade. Yes, it could be, you will remember

during the night of the fire, shots of that firemen on an aerial

platform, not able to go quite high enough and that was borrowed from

Surrey because their ladders go up to 42 metres, the ones in London do

not go that high and questions were then asked as to why London does not

have ladders like they do in New York which go even higher. Models in

Finland were looked at which go up to 100 metres, manufacturers have

said that they could have helped in the incident at Grenfell Tower. We

know it is something that the London Fire Brigade biking and because they

are about to renew their feet and they have been looking at what is

around there and do something that Dany Cotton, the Fire Commissioner

spoke to us about. We're just about to replace our

aerial fleet, so as part of that we will look

at the new technology that will allow us to have

taller aerial platforms. The problem until now has been

in London that the streets are quite narrow and there is weight loading

and the previous Technology has changed,

there is lighter equipment, so absolutely, that will be one

of our priorities. There seems to be some movement on

that as well. Yes, after that meeting with the London Mayor and

the Fire Commissioner, we met last Wednesday and essentially the London

Mayor said to the Fire Commissioner, what do you need to avoid a future

Grenfell Tower incident, Dromey up a list. I understand he has that list

and that will go to government within the next few days if it has

not already gone and on that list, I am told is a demand for three new

aerial platforms which will possibly go higher, be lighter and more

mobile than the current one is used. And will also come with a hefty

price tag, somewhere between ?2.5 million and ?3 million, and that is

money that the London Mayor will demand from the government.

I have asked the London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton to do

an urgent review of what else she thinks we need as a Fire Service

in London to make sure that we can deal with fires in tower blocks

and that will mean additional resources from central government

to pay for the additional machinery that the London Fire Brigade needs.

And what are the chances of getting that money? You would have to think

there will never be a better time from London to make that argument

and many would be astonished if they did not get that upgrade in wake of

this recent Grenfell Tower disaster. Thank you very much for that.

So those are our main stories these evening,

There's much more to come, including...

She helped with the medal haul in Rio, now Georgie Hermitage has

set her sights on gold at London 2017.

This programme has seen figures which show reported acid

attacks in London have more than doubled since 2014.

One of the latest was in Beckton as two cousins sat in a car at

Police are treating it as a hate crime and it's heightened fears

in the Asian and Muslim communities about their safety.

A warning that some viewers may find images in this report upsetting.

Two cousins out celebrating a birthday. One had just turned 21,

she was sitting in a car with her cousin Jamil when acid was sprayed

into their faces. This shocking attacks a few weeks ago are being

treated as a hate crime. I cannot see, I keep thinking this guy will

come for me. I am having nightmares, there is no reason why this would

not be racially motivated. Ever since, many in the Asian and Muslim

communities are concerned. Police are investigating a suspected acid

attack here in a mile end, where two people were taken to hospital. The

motivation of that attack is not knowing but it appears to be feeding

into a sense of worry. It does make me worry because I saw on Facebook,

Muslim people are getting attacked, acid attacks by someone. I feel

scared sometimes to go outside because anything can happen. People

can be around me and throw acid at me, I am scared. I do not true that

it is safe to go out in London any more, there is knife crime, hate

crime. Overall, acid attacks have risen, year-on-year. In 2014 to

2015, 188 people were injured as a result of an acid attack. The

following financial year it increased to 317. And up until the

month of April this year, it jumped again to 398. There seems to be a

rise and that is prevalent to East London and we do not know why. The

perception that it is being used more and more in hate crime, what is

your response to that? I have no evidence to suggest that it is used

as a weapon for hate crime, I have not seen that as an increase and I

would say that if anybody believes that the case, they need to tell us.

This man set up a petition, calling for more restrictions on household

products, which can be used in such attacks. I saw family members being

attacked, so hopefully get some letters sent to some MPs, get it in

Parliament, get a law put in place for some kind of deterrent and then

we will hopefully see a crackdown on the purchase of acid attack related

resources. There does not seem to be a rise of acid attacks connected to

hate crimes in the past, but this is now creating a real fear. Alpa

Patel, BBC News. London's first mobile chemotherapy

unit has been visiting It's provided for by a charity,

working with the Royal Marsden It's aim is to reduce the stress

for patients undergoing treatment and Tarah Welsh has been to see how

well it works. From afar it looks like any other

lorry, but get closer and you will see it is so much more

to those who use it. This mobile chemotherapy unit

is supposed to relieve the stress It will make a great difference,

where it would be just a two-hour Ordinarily, it could be

up to four, five hours The unit cost ?260,000

to build and maintain, and the charity that has paid for it

says it is worth it. In 2002, I lost my husband to cancer

and one of the many stresses we faced was travelling

from our home to So when I started the charity,

I knew I wanted to help with the travelling and I met

Dr Sean who is a consultant oncologist and he had a vision

to take chemotherapy closer to patients as well,

so it was a light bulb moment. The unit will be based at different

locations across Croydon initially. It can treat up to four

people at a time and up The locations will be determined

by where eligible patients live and it will be operated by staff

from the Royal Marsden. We've got strict rules

as to which patients can come on here so that there

are not any issues. So if there was a patient

that was likely to react to their medication,

then they would not be on here for treatment because,

like you say, we will be out in the community without the back-up

of the doctors right there, but the doctors will always be

at the end of a phone. I am officially opening

this unit today. Ross Brawn is usually associated

with a different type of vehicle A similar unit was named after his

mother whom he lost to cancer. Christine kindly agreed

to name that unit Teddy and that is principally based

in Berkshire, where we live, but it also moves around

and supports local needs And it's hoped people

in South London and Surrey will be I probably had one year to 18 months

to live, probably the biggest bombshell I have experienced in my

life. The fear and stigma around the Aids

pandemic, documented in film and photography with some of those

diagnosed with HIV in the '80s. Georgie Hermitage gave up her love

for athletics as a teenager after being left furious

when it was suggested that she tries "disability sport" instead

as a result of her cerebral palsy. Until she saw brilliant

Paralympians during London 2012, which made her want to get involved

at the highest level. She even makes the hard work look

easy, the hours in the gym that she hopes will pay off

with gold at London 2017, but Georgie Hermitage's talent

was almost lost to athletics At the time my coach turned

around and said, "Georgie, you might be able to qualify

for Para sport in the Paralympics" and at the age of 14 that is not

what you want to hear and I walked away because I was basically

unwilling to accept my disability. It was watching the London

2012 Olympics that drew you back to athletics,

what was the moment in particular Yes, it was the night

that Mo won the 5000, I think we had tickets,

we were about row five from the front, really close,

and just the atmosphere and Mo won and that was just the

turning point for me. It just made me reconsider all of my

decisions from ten years previously. She won two golds in Rio last year

in the T37 400m and the 100m, which was Britain's first athletics

gold of the Games. When the gun goes,

it is like someone else You can see the relief of, "Oh,

my God," this was the one for me that I knew would be

the pressure event. Georgie, you promised your daughter

Tilly that you would bring gold back from Rio, you brought two

and a silver, is she expecting more Unfortunately, kids don't

mince their words, do they? So she is pretty cut-throat

about what she expects. So she does not understand

the medals but she understands flags, so whenever we see

a Union Jack, I will be driving along and she will go, "Mummy,

mummy, it's your flags, There is every chance

Georgie Hermitage will be flying the flag for Great Britain again

when the World Para-Athletics Championships begin

in London on July the 14th. And good luck to Georgie Hermitage

later this month. Marking the 50th anniversary

of the decriminalisation of homosexuality, BBC London has

been looking at the changing gay In the first of three films,

Sarah Harris visits the London Metropolitan Archives

to view the largest collection of video interviews ever compiled

about the HIV pandemic Imagine getting into your 40s

and building your career and your circle of friends that

you have dinner parties And then in the space of three

years, 40 of them are just wiped off The experience of one Londoner,

having being diagnosed Danny was another who added his

voice to this unique archive. He was one of the first

in the capital to be "I would advise you to put

your affairs in order, you only have a year to 18

months to live". Which was probably the biggest

bombshell I've ever VOICEOVER: It is a deadly disease

and there is no known cure. It was a time when no one knew

what would happen next. For the producers who gathered these

interviews, the question What we've discovered is just how

much of a struggle life is, long-term medication,

chronic illness, the declining Diagnosed HIV-positive then,

here they are with no job, no pension, they might have been

in social housing, living in isolation,

they have lost their lovers, they have lost their friends,

their family are gone. A pretty sorry situation

for these people. NEWS VOICEOVER: The visit

was designed to allay Princess Diana was one of the first

public figures to support HIV charities and to see what so many

in the gay community I made lots of friends in those days

and then saw them die. And die very painful

and traumatic deaths. I think I became overloaded

with grief, if you like. Danny's testimony is part

of the largest collection of video interviews ever compiled

about the HIV pandemic. And will be kept for future

generations in the London An award-winning arts company

which works with people with learning disabilities

to develop their skills and discover new talent

is celebrating its 30th birthday. Heart'n Soul has a reputation

for building confidence and getting This is the sound of

the Fish Police, Dean on vocals is autistic and met the rest

of the band through Heart n Soul, an organisation which helps people

with learning difficulties express Because I've been talking

about a lot of things, like music and sometimes I talk

about movies and video games. Everyone likes the things I talk

about and they are very into it, And involvement is what Heart n Soul

has been doing now for 30 years, giving people with learning

difficulties a platform We were hearing from some

of our artists and participants that they did not feel represented

in the galleries or the institutions or the museums of this country

and when we did some research, we found that the only way that

people with learning disabilities were being seen

was through a medical filter. People who are seeing

the world from a slightly different perspective,

I think, are doing some of the most interesting

and ground-breaking work It is all about elevating

and raising that talent for us and getting it seen in as many

different places by as many Through Heart n Soul,

Tilly, who has Asperger's, joined a band and is now

a singer-songwriter and comedian. I was scared to start,

but being in that band environment and being supported by people,

who have been doing this for years, People of all abilities

are invited to get involved, whether it's music, photography

or any other creative art. As I walked through central

London this afternoon, I thought, "What a great day

to be at Wimbledon." So I'm very envious

of Kate, who's there! Yes, it has been an absolutely

beautiful day here at Wimbledon. A full day of play today of course,

barely a cloud in the sky. You might notice a breeze here now, very

welcomed. The temperature over at Heathrow, 29.3 degrees earlier

today, similar at Wimbledon, so it has been very hot indeed. As we head

into the evening, it will be really nice, the sun is still up, it is a

pleasantly warm evening and overnight and at the temperature is

gradually dropping. It will be quite a humid one, quite uncomfortable

tonight, clear spells, yes, but the minimum temperature only dropping

between 17, 18 Celsius within the M25, so quiet and comfortable for

sleeping tonight. You will notice we will have one or two showers working

up from the south as you can see and the Met office has issued a yellow

weather warning for the showers. If you do get them, they will be heavy

and thundery, you will notice them but many places will actually avoid

them. If you get them in the south especially, they should clear as you

head towards lunchtime. By the time play begins tomorrow we should see

it drying out, good news for here but for the north, the heat could

spark off a thunderstorm or two. But it will be another hot one, plenty

of sunshine later in the afternoon and temperatures reaching around 30

Celsius, so another very warm day. Overnight tomorrow, it will be

another warm and muggy night, ones that cloud clears in the day that

humidity will start to build. So for Thursday night, into Friday, we are

looking at another warm day, I'm afraid, not that we're complaining!

Plenty of dry weather for Friday and lots of sunshine are around. As we

head towards the next two days into the weekend as well, there is plenty

of dry weather around, we could start to see one or two showers for

Saturday but we hang onto that aid, temperatures into the high 20s in

London, not until Sunday when we will start to notice things getting

fresher. Thank you and have a lovely evening,

Kate. Before we go tonight, a look

at the days main BBC News headlines. The government says it'll send

in independant experts to help run parts of Kensington

and Chelsea Council But the Shadow Housing Minister

doubts the experts will have In other developments,

this programme has discovered that London Fire Brigade is to get

new vehicles with higher platforms, which'll help it deal

with fires in tower blocks. Theresa May has played down

expectations that the government will lift the cap on

public sector pay. Jeremy Corbyn has accused her

of "exploiting the goodwill" And official figures show the number

of reported acid attacks in London If you want to see it again,

go to the BBC iPlayer. If you think we've missed

anything do get in touch Experience the power

of the BBC Proms. Go to bbc.co.uk/proms

to find out more.