19/07/2017 London News

government says it will rise from 2037. That is it, so goodbye from

the BBC News Still be protests continue amid

renewed calls for the new leader to go.

And I'm outside the meeting where scores of

people have gathered to send their voice

of protest to the new council leadership.

We'll have the latest from North Kensington.

The row over whether police should pursue criminals on mopeds

Sensors pad and GPS at home - the latest technology

I feel a lot safer for John and for myself as well because

I know there is somebody there the whole time

And no ordinary day at the office - how the capital's red phone boxes

Good evening and a very warm welcome to the programme.

Five weeks after the Grenfell tragedy

the campaign group that represents many local residents

and survivors is already calling for the new leader of Kensington

and Chelsea to go, and for new elections to be held.

The first full meeting of the council is taking place

at the Town Hall as we speak and that's where can

join our political correspondent, Karl Mercer.

Already a huge presence there? Yeah, the meeting is about to start

in the next few moments but what you can see behind me, the noisy and

angry protest on the steps of the town hall. When they last tried to

hold a meeting here three weeks ago, it had to be abandoned because be

protest inside and outside. Let us win the camera around. You can see a

demonstration here, more quiet. Plenty of members of the media here

covering this. The committee have plenty of questions about why more

was not done to help those after the Grenfell Tower, white Moore wasn't

done to protect them before and what is going to be do in the future.

Those are some of the questions that inside they will be attempting to

answer to night that the public here are saying, what we do not want its

promises and words, what we now need is action.

Five weeks on, a symbol of a community supported remains on

But so does the ultimate symbol of a community neglected.

Slowly, victims of the fire are being

identified and slowly those who survived the fire are being

What is happening more quickly are demands a change, some

now calling for the whole council to step down and

What it has done to community trust is so, you know, off the scale

that we need an off the scale response and I believe that

actually at this point the only thing

that is likely to even begin to bring back confidence

So, this is the sort of place that you think

You can see the tower from here, but new homes are

being built and you think they should go the locals.

New homes are being built in the area.

The local Labour leader wants them sped up and set aside

We have named sites and units coming to a total of 162 in north

Kensington, so I want someone in charge of housing who

I can say, here's our list, you were given the list

And if we can't, tell us why we can't have them.

It's a demand heard last week too at one of the many

The new council leader promising change.

She'll do the same tonight, saying council savings

will be used for social housing and apologising again for

Locals like Nahid Ashby and others aren't convinced those promises

The majority of them will be built off plan by property

speculators and investors and it's either going to be rented out to

people at, you know, higher prices or they are going to be left empty.

What regeneration in London is, is knocking down houses

That's the reality of it. That's the reality of it.

When studio flats are being priced at 625

and being called affordable, how does that help?

What happens here in one of the country's richest areas

will be closely watched by those directly affected by the fire

We believe the meeting has just started inside. Questions raised in

the peace we put out will be answered. Hopefully by the new

council leader Elizabeth Campbell. You can see some of the pictures

there inside, it looks sombre at the moment, very different to the

meeting three weeks ago which ended with the then council leader thing

he did not hold the meeting because there were too many protests and

then he reside a couple of days later. As for what what happened

tonight, we believe the new council leader Elizabeth Campbell will once

again apologise to the community saying no ifs, no buts, we did not

do well enough, says she is deeply sorry. She's sale she will go to

become to ask for more money to pay for social housing saying the

council's reserves of ?230 million went actually paid to the whole

bill. We understand the new chief executive I the dazzle will be

elected, he came on as an interim Chief Executive that we think he

will be confirmed in nappies to night and will then start the

process of recruiting his new top team from around the country, I am

told, to help deliver services here in Kensington and Chelsea much

better in the future. I know you are going to follow

developments there. More from you in Kensington later.

You're watching BBC London News, coming up later in the programme:

The 12-year-old ballerina whose mother tells us why she's worried

other children with amputations may not benefit

The body that represents rank and file officers in London says

police are refusing to pursue suspected criminals on Mopeds -

That's despite the Met saying it 'can and will'

This programme was the first to reveal how criminals were trying

to escape arrest by riding without a helmet -

prompting fears any pursuit would endanger them or members

Moped gangs targeting mobile phones and other people's bikes, sometimes

using extreme violence. They are the high when men of our time, according

to the ex-policeman who runs well known motorcycle hang out the ace

cafe. It seems to different today to the 18th-century, roaming bands of

Stevie nasty people who absolutely have no concern about any

enforcement. They are roving the sheet is as high when men dead in

the 18th-century with absolutely impunity. Catching them is made

harder by the fact that they take off their helmets, believing

officers are less likely to pursue them. As we got no lead? The Met in

says officers can and will give chase.

But in practice, that is not what some officers are doing, arguing

they would be risking their careers ever suspect without a helmet were

to be injured in a chase. Should an incident happen, should certain

people for what is said moped, my colleagues would be hauled through

the courts by the IPCC, anyone else who wishes to do so, bear in mind

they have families, mortgages and lies to live and they do not want to

put themselves in that position. Today, it is emerged that a

16-year-old on a motorbike who collided with a police car has died.

In these cases, the IPCC is now investigating.

Well, let's get more from Asad who's at Scotland Yard now,

because we even hearing some people are taking the law

That is right. Just yesterday we saw moped riders gathered in Parliament

Square calling upon the government and also the Metropolitan Police

Service to take firm action to stop mopeds crime. It seems some

motorbike riders are not willing to wait for action to be taken, they

want action now say they are calling upon riders to form what you would

properly call vigilantes motorbike groups to take on the criminals

directly. Earlier today we saw a poster which encourage riders to

join forces and a asked them, had your bike stolen recently? Sort

them, come hunting. We do not know how many people have called the

number at the bottom at that pace but we do know that that poster taps

into a growing feeling among bikers. News today of an impending

recruitment crisis at the Met? We know the match by the police has

been under enormous amount of pressure over the past three months,

not only policing London but with the terror attacks we have had a

London and also the Grenfell Tower fire. The Deputy Commissioner has

written to recently retired police officers over the past two years and

people who are currently on career breaks and he said to them, is there

a way which you could come back and help us through this difficult

situation using your experience and know-how to get us through this

tough time? He has had a good response to those letters. The Met

Police Federation is also supporting the Deputy Commissioner with that

call. Ken Marsh, the chairman, he spoke to the London assembly just

today and he told them that officers are currently feeling as if they are

under braking point because of the enormous amount of work they are

having to deal with. The Home Office ain't getting retired officers back

as much a matter for Scotland Yard so we could be months, even weeks

away from seeing ex-police officers becoming police officers once again.

Thank you. If you're a student in London,

you're more likely to drop out of university in their first year -

than anywhere else in the country. In fact, in the capital, one in ten

fail to complete their course. New figures also suggest that black

students are a third more likely to drop out -

as are those from Toby Walker dropped out of

an English degree when he decided it wouldn't lead to

the career he wanted. It took me until my second year

to work out that I really wanted to leave it because it

was so much money. He says there wasn't much guidance

on choosing a course, high housing and tuition costs mean

he lives with his mum in Greenwich. He says students are

under huge pressure. Universities, I feel,

are treating us as the product which our parents are buying

and if we don't succeed bought for us, then we are failing

and because we are the thing that they are paying for,

we feel like failures. In fact, new research shows one

in ten London students We know that costs of

living in London are quite high and we also know that

quite a high proportion of students in London commute from home, so that

may mean they have less time to do their studies, it might mean also

that they are less engaged Researchers say some

universities, such as here at UCL, are doing much

better than others. But they found overall London's

students tended to be less satisfied with their courses and

that black students are a third more The reality is we may be

getting through the door, but we are definitely

not staying there. We are having to take on more more

like part-time paid work, students aren't able

to enjoy university, they do not have a sense

of affiliations to university Plenty of work, of course,

has gone into encouraging more You may remember Tony Blair

had a target of 50%. But researchers say there's little

point in continuing to push students to sign up

if they then drop out. The focus, they say,

now needs to change. Their report recommends

new government targets. This time to reduce the dropout rate

among black students. It says the mayor could

use his new skills task force to look at how to help and it calls

on universities and schools to do more to prepare students

for what lies ahead. London boasts some of the top

universities in the world, the challenge now to encourage students

not just to sign up, For anyone living with a loved one

with dementia, could a trial help transform their home life?

GPS tracking devices, body monitors and sensor pads are all used to keep

someone with their condition say. But also give a better insight into

how it's progressing. Inside John aand Marion Edwards'

home, more than a dozen devices designed to monitor John's health

and activity around the clock. He was diagnosed with dementia

just over two years ago. If I do fall over, this will send a

signal to the monitoring centre to note that I have fallen over and

they will send somebody to pick me up, hopefully.

It's all part of the clinical trial designed to

improve the lives of people living with dementia and their carers.

All the information gathered can be remotely monitored and if the

technology identifies a health or safety concern,

The couple say it has transformed their lives.

I feel a lot safer for John and myself as well because I know there

is somebody that the whole time who are looking out for us. She goes to

choir practice twice a week. It is only once. It seems like twice. She

can go out and know somebody is looking after me if something does

go wrong. And this is where all

the information is monitored. The Surrey And Borders

Partnership NHS Foundation Based on the data we get here, we

decide if the person is stable or not, do they need to see their

doctors, is there an emergency going on.

The trial is proving promising so far

and the hope is that it will eventually be rolled out nationally.

I dig the fact we are able to connect through these devices and

look at the information together, it is ground-breaking. Shall we do the

temperature? Today is the Edwards' 48

wedding anniversary. Marion says the trial has

helped John to become more Your glass half empty person, I tend

to be a glass half full person. But this is how to go the other way.

Still to come this Wednesday evening:

If you want to see how the poor die, come see Grenfell Tower.

A world famous author, a British artist and their touching

tribute to the victims of Grenfell Tower.

The weather puts an urgent matter display across the capital last

night. Things are changeable over the next few days. Probably not as

much drama as theirs. I will have the details later in the programme.

It was only this week that Camden's Sophie Kamlish won

gold and broke records at the World Para Athletics in

But tonight one charity is warning that government funding to pay

for blades for children with amputations

Pollyanna Hope is 12 years old and loves dancing.

She lost her leg after being hit by a bus in south London

Her grandmother, Elizabeth, died in the same incident.

Pollyanna now uses what are known as activity blades.

Pollyanna can actually do cartwheels without

Pollyanna's mum set up a charity and campaigned

for government money for children's blades.

But in March, the fund of ?750,000 runs out.

They will be able to walk but running will be difficult,

sports at school will be difficult, dancing will be

difficult, even just going for little walks,

taking part in things with your friends,

it will be much, much, much more difficult.

Because the running blades have been made, they're

a little blade like that and they've got a little sole on the end

so they're actually very good for everyday use.

Ben Moore was one of the first to get a new blade paid for

by the government back in January.

The spring of it is the bit that makes me go faster.

I used to not be able to, like, be able to run as fast or able

to kick a ball as well, but now I've got a good

At the World Para Athletics Championship this week in London,

athletes have been using running blades.

The Department of Health says there are about 2500 children with

amputations or limb deficiencies in the UK.

So far, it says, about 120 have used the fund to get activity blades.

But children do grow out of the blades quickly and charities say

It would be terrible to have given them, started off with this blade

and then say, "I'm really sorry, but you can't have it again.

You are back to now not being able to jump

or dance or do whatever you're enjoying doing."

The psychological problems that would be associated

The government says it is now at evaluating whether to extend

For those of us, old enough to remember,

Now it seems, besides being tourist attractions,

the iconic red phone boxes are also being used, believe

or not as office space, albeit rather snug.

In fact, there are some 20 of them in the capital.

It's a shop in a prime London location but there's no place

to make a cup of tea or go to the loo, and the customers

That's because the shop is in a disused red telephone box.

It's where Farwad spends 7.5 hours a day repairing mobile handsets.

The advantage is you are never bored.

Because you are sitting in the street.

The disadvantage is sometimes the noise and cars,

This phone box lies on the old Brompton Road in between

So, how does it feel to work in one of London's most

You start to be iconic as well if you work in an iconic

For the founder of the mobile repair company Love Fone it makes sense

for them to work out of disused phone boxes.

I guess it's funny that, you know, obviously the mobile phone has made

So we are now bringing them back into service.

It is the next revolution, the next form of life

And with rent at ?300 a month, it is cheap compared to the average

But one question remains - what do they do when they need the loo?

We have a good agreement with some local pubs.

Returning now to our top story because the full council meeting

since the Grenfell tragedy has been taking place at

Let us take a look. Live pictures from inside the chamber, looking

very quiet, not a lot happening. It looks like they are waiting for the

meeting to begin. Let us cross slide back to our political correspondent.

He has been following this story. He is outside the town hall.

As you can see, the protest still going on behind. A little quieter

than it was just about half an hour ago but still continuing and I guess

they are waiting for the meeting to get underway inside. Once it gets

underway, we know the group also we have identified 160 homes in the

borough where we think Grenfell Tower victims could be house. We

know that the new leader, Elizabeth Campbell, will once again apologise,

say we did not do and say we are going to government to ask for more

money. A task force, some experts will be sent in by the government

within days and not weeks to help the council in its recovery efforts.

But as we all know, this is a tragedy that the shutouts beyond the

street think editing, touched many parts of London and today the latest

example of that with a new moral inspired by the works of the

novelist and poet and Cree. This is the poem I wrote called

Grenfell Tower June 20 17. It was like a burnt matchbox in the

sky. It was black and long and burnt in the sky. You saw it through the

flowering stump of trees, you saw it through the spire of the church. You

saw it through the tears of those who survived.

I am a street artist. The poem is really moving and really sad

uninspiring and found online that kind of really touched me. -- really

sad and inspiring. It was a positive line, to inspire remembering what

happened will stop. The voices here will speak for the dead. Speak for

the dead. Speak for the dead. See their pictures lined the walls,

poverty is its own colour, its own race. They were Muslim and

Christian, black and white and colours in between. In this age of

austerity, the poor die for others's prosperity. Nurseries and libraries

fade from the land. A strange time each shebeen of the Strand. Fate

hangs over the deftness of power. CB tower and let a world changing Fort

flower. That was the poet Ben now. Seems to be a calmer

day after an eventful night weather wise -

let's get the latest from Ben Rich. Things have calmed down nicely now

but last night, things were far from calm. Nature put on quite a display

across the capital, numerous pictures of lightning. A lot of like

being in the sky as the thunderstorms move through. Weather

Watchers getting into the act. That was the scene across Chelsea, plenty

of lightning running from cloud to cloud there. Lovely view over the

city. This impressive shot comes from close to Heathrow and look at

this from Reigate, this fork of lightning touching down onto the

ground. Some relief this thunderstorms and a lot of rain as

well. This first on that move to the north-west of London. That one

really meant business and then a lot of storms that pushed him from the

south coast. Probably these that woke you up, if you did have a rude

awakening during the early hours. As we said at the start, things have

calmed down considerably. Tonight is much quieter. One or two showers but

these are unlikely to give as much in the. Still quite warm, quite

muggy, 16, 17 Celsius. Quite humid stop to tomorrow morning, with some

showers around but as we go on to the day, the showers will march away

eastwards. The cloud moving back from the map, some styles of

sunshine by the afternoon. As that sunshine works its way in, we will

see some cooler, fresher air working its way in as well. 21, 20 three

Celsius. Friday, brings the beginning of a change. An area of

low pressure pushing into sway in from the Atlantic. At this stage,

most of the wet weather will be in the west of the country. Not a bad

day files on Friday, some spells of sunshine, a bit of patchy cloud and

cloud increasing from the west later in the day. A breezy, blustery day

but without fresher feel. 20 to 22 Celsius. It stays cool and fresh

into the weekend. Some sunshine, some rain at times. Much,. -- much

calmer. Is that what is known as a mixed

bag? The government has announced that

people in their early 40s now will have to work a year longer

as a result of a change Kensington and Chelsea is holding

its first full council meeting since the Grenfell fire last month.

Councillors will debate a petition with more than 1500 signatures

calling for the resignation of the 30's entire elected leadership.

More from us during the ten o'clock news.

You're always welcome to join the conversation

From me and the team, thanks for watching