12/07/2017 London News

could become warm and humid in the south-west if we have sunshine

coming through the crowd. The Mayor's warns the government -

our city isn t properly prepared for a terror attack bigger

than London Bridge or Westminster. His comments come four weeks

on from the Grenfell tragedy. He wants more resources

for the Fire Brigade. Also tonight: I don't

want to burst out crying We reveal the concerns of residents

as they ask a fire expert to check just how safe their tower block

in south London is. You'll have zero minutes

between the fire starting in one Safety under the spotlight -

we talk to the fire brigade about the changes needed to prevent

another Grenfell. I am at a boxing club which was in

the Grenfell Tower and destroyed there, but like the people of West

London, it is finding its feet and fighting on.

First tonight, the Mayor says London is not properly prepared

In a letter to the Home Secretary, seen by BBC London, Sadiq Khan gives

a stark warning to the government that it's taking them "too long

to recognise the scale of the threat we face".

He also raises concerns about whether London Fire Brigade

has enough resources after the Grenfell disaster.

Our Political Correspondent, Karl Mercer joins me now.

You have been following developments on this. Yes, you will remember at

the end of last week, we were talking because we had learned that

the Met was going to write this letter to the Home Secretary. At the

time, we thought it would just be about resources for the Fire

Brigades. -- the Mayor was going to write. So we ran a story last week.

Today, I have seen the letter which was sent by the Mayor to the Home

Secretary, Amber Rudd, yesterday, and it goes a lot further. It

actually talks not just about resources for the Firebird resources

for the police, as you were saying, and business concerns about what

London would do if there were to be a bigger terrorist attack. -- raises

concerns. And if it was to be a multiple attack across many areas

and raises concerns about whether London could cope with another three

months like the last we have had. In March, the terror attack on

Westminster Bridge that left five dead. Then at the start of June,

eight more innocent victims murdered by terrorists in an attack on

Borough market. Within days, the fire at Grenfell Tower, which

claimed at least 80 lives, and shortly afterwards, another man

killed in a terror attack in Finsbury Park. The emergency

response to all four has been widely praised, but today comes a warning

from the Mayor. He has written to the Home Secretary, raising concerns

about how the capital would cope if there were to be larger scare

terrorist attacks. This is how the Mets prepares for so-called

marauding terrorist firearms attacks. But the Mayor is worried it

may not be enough and the Government is not doing enough to keep London

safe. His letter says: We shall be letter to Kenny March

from the Met Police Federation, which represents officers. It always

concerns me when you have different parties, political parties, pointing

to each other, but I think this is relevant because he is in charge of

us and he is asking a question because ultimately he wants to be

able to say, "My police can go out there keep the streets safe." I'm

not sure at the moment, should we have another major incident, we

could do that. The letter goes even further. It also asked the

Government for ?6 million for new equipment for the Fire Brigade to

help tackle high-rise fires. Of course, there are issues about

needing equipment, aerial lifting equipment and drones and other

specialist equipment that we need. Technology has moved on in relation

to the ability of the Fire Service to do their job. We have to make

sure they have the tools they need to keep people safe. No ministers

well available for interview tonight. We were told instead: We

will respond to the letter in due course.

The shock and sorrow felt by the community immediately

after the tragedy has taken a long time to make sense of.

People living and working in North Kensington tell us they're

now trying to rebuild, and find their own ways to cope.

Tarah Welsh has been back to the area to find out how people

she met four weeks ago are getting on.

As the ink fades, so does the hope that was here. How does a community

begin to recover from such loss? I have got friends that are missing

still, friends that have been confirmed to have passed away. This

was once wasteland. Now a community hope it will be a lasting tribute.

There is a personal level for me so I am coming here to express my

emotion and my anger and my sadness and whatever emotions that are still

trapped within me. It is good to express them creatively and that is

the idea of this whole area here. In the shadow of Grenfell Tower, this

has become a place of reflection, a space for people to express

themselves and ask questions. Livingstone lost two friends in the

tower. Really tough. They need to just listen to what the people are

trying to say. Everybody would still be going about their daily business.

It is hard. I can feel what they are going through. All faiths have been

helping here till. There is a constant flow of food. But the needs

are changing. The number of people coming to collect items like clothes

and toiletries and things has come down a great deal, but the help has

changed now from material help or even financial help to more

counselling and emotional support. From day one, donations came

flooding in. Hundreds of volunteers offered to help. There was a real

sense of community here. And it is just as strong today. If you become

emotionally attached, it becomes urgent almost and instinctive. You

are present, you are here with those. And it has been a real joy to

mucking with the community and do what you can do in the absence of

the Council, in the absence of those who should be in our place doing so

as well. We are hearing consistently that there are people and families

who have not accessed NHS services for fear of possibly being reported

to the Home Office for being asked about their immigration status. So

they are not actually getting the help that they need. People are

likely to need help here for generations to come. For some living

here, trying to make life a little brighter for those in such darkness.

Well, a boxing gym that was on one of the lower floors of the Tower

A club that helped produced a string of champions.

It's now reopened a short distance away in Ladbrook Grove.

So many who use it have been touched by what's happened?

Yes, Olympic gold medallist and also the world champion trained here and

hundreds of people have at this boxing club which was on the first

floor of Grenfell Tower. It was completely destroyed. The legend who

is behind the boxing club is Mick Delaney. If I can just interrupt you

here. When you heard about the fire, this club is being used are as

before the fire started. How did you feel? Well, I just could not believe

it, to be honest. I was there at 9:35pm the night before, training

with the boys. I got a phone call at 5am, saying that the whole building

and everything is gutted and flames everywhere. It is terrible. Even

now, for weeks on, it is still not sunk in. And you have been to the

funeral of someone who was caught up in it. I was at a funeral last week,

one of the lads who we knew well. They used to coming to the gym and

help out. Tidy the gem up, whether he was training. And just drastic,

like. And you're certainly kept on going, which is great news. Let me

speak to someone else. Marianne, a Ph.D. Student from Imperial College,

boxing here regularly. You have been coming here for about two years.

You're not letting the fire and the devastation get in the way of your

training. Why not? Well, we are a very strong community here and it is

a big part of our lives, so we are not going to let ourselves suffer

just because of the fire. That is very typical of the community here.

Yes, everyone sticks together here. Everyone wants to do the best for

the victims. Everyone just wants to get on. I will let you carry on with

your training. Let me now, if I dare, get into the ring and avoid

these guys because there is someone I want to speak to. If I could just

stop you here. If I could just bring you over here now. You are 15 years

old and training here. Again, you're kept on coming despite the fire a

month ago. Dell is why it is so important for you to be here. There

are champions of through this gym. There is a big expectation for us as

boxers to step through the doors and bring the best we can. So they are

an inspiration for you and you don't think something like a fire which

has devastated the area is going to stop you from coming. No, not really

because I love boxing. I just do this day in and day out because it

is my job. People ask why I come and I say I am a boxer. Great respect

you're getting from the people here. They keep coming. All the time. They

are good kids. We do a lot of work with them. Carry on. You can see

from here the spirit that is that the boxing club, the fighting spirit

that is so prevalent in North Kensington continues and I am sure

that is what will get this place back honestly very quickly. Back to

you. Absolutely. And great to see. Well, after the tragedy many

councils began doing safety Tonight, a fire safety expert has

told us he believes four other His view - a fire could spread

throughout the building The council says it already knows

about the problems - Residents at a meeting last night.

Many of them angry and scared. If there is a fire, they are trained to

evacuate us. People are scared. I am not going to burst out crying but I

just don't feel safe. The reason people live in these four blocks are

so concerned can be seen on every other landing. A total of 28 fire

wardens brought in by Southwark council just over a week ago on the

advice of the Fire Brigade. Such is the apparent risk of any fire

spreading. They are now on duty 20 47 to ensure these blocks can be

evacuated immediately, should any fire started. We filmed inside, as a

fire safety expert invited in by some residents inspected some flats.

And his conclusion is that the cracking visible on some walls and

ceilings constitutes a major fire risk. This will mean that fire can

spread rapidly from flat to flat within a matter of seconds. He also

found a gap in a ceiling and holes in a floor by a gas pipe and

believes fire could spread rapidly by this route. You have zero minutes

between a fire starting in one flat and getting into the next. This man

removed some samples of the filler used in some of these gaps and then

took him outside to see if they burned. They did. Southwark Council

says there are no surprises in any of the points made by this fire

safety expert. They are matters the council has been dealing with for

years and the Fire Brigade is happy with its measures to protect

tenants. But following the events at Grenfell Tower, many here are no

longer feel safe. If there is a fire, it will basically spread like

wildfire. This tenant doesn't have much faith in the fire wardens. We

caught one napping and she claims it has happened before. I have been out

there at 8am in the morning to take our son to school and they are out

there asleep. Southwark Council says any issue raised about fire marshals

will be addressed and a spokesperson added, "I want to reassure all

residents that their safety is our highest priority and that they are

safe in their homes." The check-in we have been doing on this building

is in conjunction with London Fire Brigade and the leading authorities

on fire safety and construction." But at the end of the meeting last

night with councillors and their experts, some residents were not

convinced. I feel more confused now than I did when I went in there. How

are we safe if they haven't even finished their investigation? The

council says all safety issues are being addressed properly.

Whilst there has been widespread praise for the immense bravery

of our firefighters - Londoners tell us they feel

conflicted about what to do in the event of another

On the one hand they're told to stay put -

but after Grenfell their instinct is to leave.

A question Marc Ashdown put to the Director of Operations

at London Fire Brigade, Tom George.

Well, firstly, it is worth saying the Grenfell Tower was an

unprecedented incident and are advice to residents living in tower

blocks hasn't changed. It is still state would advise. It was confusing

because the Government is doing a lot of testing and saying that tower

blocks are not safe and yet the advice is still to stay put. I

understand why that conclusion is there but it is more about the

protection that is in place within the building and as long as the

building is properly maintained by that is in place within the building

and as long as the building is properly maintained and about

attaining in their flat or their apartment, allowing firefighters to

get in to deal with the incident. So this really is just a small

selection of the number of banks we have had, letters, cards, we have

had well over 200 firefighters at that incident. It would not be

physically possible to put any more firefighters into that building, so

I am more than happy that we had enough resources coming firefighters

that the bread there on that night. If you have enough equivalent to

doubt that you doubled it OK, why is the man writing to Amber Rudd with a

shopping list of stuff that she feels you need? It is like all

things. Technology moves on all the time and in the time since we last

purchased aerial appliances, technology has moved on and there

are on the same side chassis as the fleet that we have at the moment

there are some longer aerials and ladders that we could possibly look

to have in London. The union has very publicly said that there has

been use of cuts which have impacted the service. Do you think that is

there? There was reason for that matter is because of the last decade

or so we have cut the number of our cold by half, the number of fire

deaths and injuries has gone down. And there was a political decision

to close ten stations and reduce the number of appliances. I can't

comment on whether that at an impact on the night because that is part of

the investigation. As I have already said, I feel there were enough

resources to deal with the incident on the night. You mention as well

safety checks. These used to be done by the Fire Service and it has been

deregulated to an extent. There are private regulators now and it feels

a bit like the wild West and anyone can do it. Do you think firefighters

who do those checks again? They changed in 2005 and you know there

is a team looking at that which is being headed up by Sir Ken night and

I am sure that may be one of his considerations. That may be one of

the options. I think it is an option but that is the case we would need

the resources in place and the number of people with the right

qualifications to be able to return to how it was prior to 2005. Tom

George from London Fire Brigade. Well, ever since the fire,

there's been a lot of anger, distress and mistrust around

the numbers of dead or missing. Now, Scotland Yard have given more

insight into the recovery process You may find some details

in our home affairs correspondent I am Sergeant Alistair Hutchings. I

am part of the dedication team here at Grenfell Tower running deal --

operation here for the deceased to get them back to their loved ones.

The work they are carrying out here is painstaking. We are looking at a

fingertip search of all flats on all floors and that will involve

officers on their hands and knees, using small trowels and shovels.

They will be removing debris from those flats and using saves. The

Serbs are going down to a six millimetres size so that we can

guarantee we can pick up small fragments of bone, teeth and any

identical -- identifying part of a human body. -- the sieves. When you

think over the last four weeks, has been the toughest job personally and

professionally for you? Indeed. We have never had an incident to the

scale. The pressure it puts on you will surely is huge. The team are

all volunteers and to ask to enter a building like this and deal with the

stuff that they are finding is a big task for them. Some Grenfell Tower

families have said the search is too slow. Others have alleged the true

number of deaths has been suppressed. So is that frustrating

for the recovery teams? No, not at all. I deeply, deeply understand the

frustration families have and the answers they want. It is only

natural. All I can say is please be patient. We are doing our utmost

best for you. And we are working as hard as we can. My team can't work

any harder. The surgeon believes the searcher will last at least another

four months. Has he thought about how he may feel when their job is

done? I am trying not to. I think that will be strange. I don't know

what I will feel like. Happy, sad, I don't know. We have never worked for

this long as an incident. The emotional attachment you have do

something like this is huge. Sergeant Alistair Hutchings.

Turning to some of the day's other news - and tributes have been paid

to a Para-athlete who's died during a training

He was due to represent the United Arab Emirates

in the upcoming London World Para Athletics Championships which begin

Chris Slegg is there - and more details

The 36-year-old was due to compete in the F34 Javits -- javelin. It was

for users with ordination difficulties. When he was training

yesterday at the official training venue, the throwing cage, which is

netting, held up by Poles which surrounded him, collapsed around him

and one of those struck him on the head. He was pronounced dead at the

scene. 20 minutes after that incident at 5pm yesterday, he leaves

behind five children. His family have not travelled here. They have

been notified. Several of his team-mates what happened and they

have all been offered counselling. Last night, it was decided that the

championships will go ahead. The United Arab Emirates team gave their

backing to that decision although they are distraught to have lost a

much loved team-mate. He spread happiness everywhere he went because

he was smiling from morning to evening, even if it was hard

training or any bad situation in the weather. He would change the

negative into a positive. We lost him but he will remain in our heart.

Doing know anything about how the throwing cage came to collapse?

Details are really sketchy. The London 2017 officials would not be

drawn on that today. It was a United Arab Emirates official who gave us

the only real detail that it did collapse. It is for now for the

police to try to discover how did equipment at a top training

facility, where elite athletes are being sent head of one of the

biggest sporting events of the year, fall apart. Was it faulty equipment?

Was there something wrong with the way it was put together? Was there

another examination? We know that the weather was not very good

yesterday afternoon. We have been told by someone who was at the scene

that it did not appear to be particularly windy down there. It is

now for the police and for the Health and Safety Executive to try

to discover exactly what has happened. Chris, from Stratford,

thank you. Dozens of people were evacuated

from their homes in the middle of the night after a large fire

at a hospital in Surrey. It broke out shortly before midnight

at the Weybridge Community No-one's been hurt and

an investigation is now underway. The technology company Samsung has

chosen Berlin rather than London It has been reported by the German

city was chosen because London is not a fun place to live unless you

are really rich. They're managing director in Europe said that the

cost of living was a concern and there are no reasonably priced

neighbourhoods left in the capital. London assembly member Peter Whittle

launched his campaign today to become the next leader of Ukip. The

party are searching for a new leader after the resignation of poll battle

following the election. -- the resignation of Paul Nuttal.

A controversial artist has defended his work which profiles

Kristian Von Hornsleth has installed tracking devices on homeless men.

Their movements can then be watched live by people who purchase an app.

The rough sleepers get part of the profits.

been sceptical but the artist says his work is aimed

at challenging the concepts of exploitation.

The project grew and then we thought about what if we sold them, what

have we sold the whole muscle that the rich guys can follow them and

then we put tracking devices on the homeless and made gold portraits of

them and sell them off? And that is what we are doing.

Let's get a check on the weather now, shall we?

How was the atmosphere after today? Some people a little disappointed

after today but the atmosphere on the whole is very, very lovely.

People are really enjoying themselves down here and we have had

a full day of play here. We had a bit of rain, as you may have

noticed, overnight tonight. Quite a lot of rain, but that cleared away

first thing this morning, leading to a day of sunny spells. We have seen

quite a bit of cloud around through the gates, which has brought relief

to that sunshine, as it is particularly strong at this time of

year. Having said that, now we have some sunshine behind me. It is

really quite warm. In the shade, it is quite fresh and I am starting to

feel a little bit cold. Heading into the evening, it will stay dry. Still

a bit of patchy cloud, but the temperature is still feeling fresh,

but only dropping down to around 13 Celsius within central London. 11

Celsius in the Home Counties. Tomorrow morning, it will be a

bright start. Plenty of sunshine. Warming up nicely as well. As we

head into the afternoon, a little bit more cloud will start to arrive.

We will still see the sunshine and that sunshine is still going to feel

warm. In fact, a little warmer than it was today. 23-24dC. Overnight

tomorrow, a similar scenario, and then as we head into Friday, a

similar day but perhaps a bit more cloud. Increasingly mild air moving

up from the south and it will feel warm. Some sunny spells around but

it will stay dry. Especially here at Wimbledon for the next couple of

days. Into the weekend, it will turn more changeable. Plenty of dry

weather around, but we could see maybe some spots of rain arriving

through the course of Saturday and Sunday. Still feeling quite humid as

well. The temperature in low 20s, getting up to maybe 25 Celsius on

Saturday. Then more humid as we head into Sunday, despite all the cloud.

That is all from me. Back to you. Kate, many thanks.

Returning to our main story tonight - and four weeks on the burnt out

shell of Grenfell tower - casts a shadow over London.

For the community of North Kensington, a haunting silhouette.

And for others passing through - a stark reminder of

Sarah Harris has been hearing from some of them.

It is a cemetery. It was neglected, turned to a matchstick. This wrapper

grew up near to Grenfell Tower. A street artist, his ambition is to be

the next anonymous Banksy. He sums up how it feels to lose so many of

his friends. For him, it is a reminder of social injustice.

# Looking like a nightmare. We are never going to die.

Working at the foot of the tower is still dominate her. She knows only

too well family tragedy and believes those who have been briefed should

not have to look at such an eerie monument to last. For me,

personally, I think it should be sort of covered with some sort of...

You know, something around to enable people to hail, to start to move

forward, if they could. I think it is too painful just to see it there.

Yes, I think so. As somebody who has lost a child, I think yes. It is the

first time this 70-year-old has been able to look up at what is left of

HE RAPS tower. She believes the former home of her neighbours should

be brought down and replaced with a park sooner rather than later. Oh,

my God. It is a terrible sight to see, isn't it? Makes me feel awful.

You have got to put something there, no matter what. Anything. A month

on, the community here is still coming to terms with what has

happened. The blacked silhouette a constant scar on the west London

landscape. Our thoughts are with all

the families affected. That's all from the BBC

London team this evening. BBC TWO reveals the bittersweet

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