01/12/2017 London News

That's all from the BBC News at Six

- so it's goodbye from me -

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.

Tonight on BBC London News:

news teams where you are.

A "catalogue of disasters".

news teams where you are.

The damning report

into the refurbishment

of the Olympic Stadium -

it'll cost taxpayers up

to £20 million a year.

Why should the London tax payer be

subsidising a Premier League club?

And we'll look at what it

could mean for West Ham,

athletics and the future of sport

at the stadium.

Also on the programme:

An 80-year-old window cleaner

is jailed for failing to pay back

money he inherited from an elderly

woman he befriended

in her final years.

Plus, from the forgotten shelves

of lost property to a place

under the Christmas tree.

How thousands of toys left

on public transport will be

donated to children.

The Spectator, most impressive.

And Great Expectations

for the festive film

all about Charles Dickens.

Good evening.

A catalogue of disaster, the damning

verdict of a report into the

refurbishment of the Olympic

Stadium, now the home of West Ham.

The initial build for the games cost

around £400 million. Then there was

the additional 323 million to

convert it into a stadium for

football. Now it has been revealed

that the taxpayer could continue to

lose up to £20 million per year. Tim

Donovan reports. It was the

centrepiece of a successful sporting

event, with high drama on the track

and at the time, few problems off

it. Today, five years on, it is

being used by a Premier League

football club, a sporting legacy

ensured. But West Ham do not own the

stadium. It was kept in public

hands, with costs and liabilities

borne by the taxpayer. The headache

was making athletics and football

fit in one place, having seating you

could put in and take out. It was

Boris Johnson who sealed the deal,

but what was first estimated to cost

£190 million has actually cost 320

million, and the current Mayor

blames his predecessor.

It beggars

belief, it is staggering, the number

of bungled decisions by the previous

mayor, a failure to understand the

cost of transforming the stadium to

a football stadium. Why should the

London taxpayer subsidise a Premier

League club? Why should taxpayers

around the country be subsidising up

to £20 million annually a

multipurpose venue?

That is the loss

that the stadium is heading for this

year, rather than the small annual

profit promised. Accountants also

say West Ham should have been asked

to pay more than £2.5 million per

year in rent. Their report says the

former mayor made things worse by

insisting on Rugby World Cup games

being staged here in 2015, delaying

preparations for football. Boris

Johnson said nothing today but a

close ally said, no other city has

an Olympic legacy like London's a

secure future with athletics and

football. The mistakes belong to

Sadiq Khan's Labour predecessor Ken

Livingstone and the Blair

government, signing off on a stadium

fit only for athletics, a massive

error. Sentiment is echoed by one of

those who ran Boris Johnson's

Olympic legacy organisation for a

while.

The costs have been higher

but nobody has behaved badly. What

they and Boris tried to do was to

rescue a bad situation. The outturn

of it is a successful stadium that

attracts lots of people and is very

well used, by contrast to the

Olympic Stadium is in most other

Olympic cities.

The history of the

Olympic movement has been littered

with sorry stories of failed

legacies and unused facilities. That

hasn't happened here, although it

has come at a cost. With the mayor

taking full control now, new council

will not get back £40 million they

invested.

Of course it is

regrettable that we have lost some

of that money, but actually we

always planned this would be a

regeneration project, and we have a

fantastic stadium and a fantastic

park, and it is benefiting the rest

of new.

There is a visible legacy

taking shape but some decisions look

dubious with hindsight, a situation

some argue where no deal for a bit

longer might have been better than a

bad deal.

Let's hear more now

about the response from West Ham.

Our Sports Reporter Chris Slegg

is outside London Stadium now.

West Ham have pointed out that this

contract is watertight and legally

binding, a contract which will see

them play -- continue to pay £2.5

million per year in rent for the

next 97 years. In 2115, they will

have paid just under £250 million in

rent. If the losses accrue at this

rate, the taxpayer will have lost £2

billion by that point. To put this

into context, West Ham made £116

million last year in TV money alone.

So, when Sadiq Khan asked the

question today whether it is right

that the taxpayer should subsidise a

wealthy Premier League club, he is

perhaps trying to put a bit of a

moral obligation on West Ham to look

again at this deal. They are in no

deed -- no mood to renegotiate. They

are going to stick by the deal they

did for their club. We spoke to one

of the leading West Ham supporters

groups today. Many of the fans are

not happy with the move here anyway,

having preferred Upton Park. Their

fear is that even if you persuade

the club to pay more money, some of

the costs would simply be passed

onto supporters.

The club got a good

deal but the supporters didn't. They

were promised the world to move

there and the report shows that the

expectations put forward by the club

were never going to be matched. The

report makes clear there were going

to be vast distances from the pitch.

Supporters would not want to pay a

penny more for the stadium because

it is not a football stadium.

The

key question now is where can

savings be made to reduce the £20

million loss each year? West Ham are

not going to renegotiate. One of the

suggestions in the report is that

you could not move the East stand

every year. Moving the seats in and

out for athletics costs £10 million

per year. Leave it in place, that

would save money but it would look

lopsided which might not please

broadcasters and sponsors. Another

suggestion, do not hold athletics

here at all, but that would break

the key Olympic legacy promise,

albeit the promise that got us into

this mess in the first place. Where

could money be made? There is no

naming rights sponsor here, which is

not down to West Ham. They have

failed to tie up deals with Vodafone

in the past. They would be entitled

to keep the first £4 million of any

deal, and West Ham would take 40% of

anything above that. It has taken a

surprisingly long time to attract a

sponsor. That is surely a priority.

Thank you.

Coming up later on BBC London:

I am in South London tonight for the

first show of its kind. It cost £3

to get in this evening. More

councils are doing it and they are

making lots of money.

A window cleaner who failed to repay

nearly £300,000 he inherited

from an elderly customer has been

sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Albert Pearce, 83, befriended

the woman in her final years.

A court ordered him

to repay all he'd received

but he failed to do so.

Sarah Harris has the story.

Former North London window cleaner

Albert Pierce, arriving at the High

Court, unrepentant but fully

expecting to be jailed.

I won't be

coming out, so...

Over money his

former customer left him.

She was

98. A lovely lady. I looked after

her, changed her, took her to

hospital, visited her everyday.

Nobody came to see her, only me.

How

did you get on so well with her?

Some would say you were befriending

her because you knew she would leave

you money.

I didn't know she had any

money. In the end, she said she

would change her will. If they are

going to send me to prison, send me

to prison. I am 83, they must do

what they want to do.

Julie Spalding

died, leaving Albert Pierce around

£300,000. In 2014, the will was

challenged by a family member and he

was ordered to hand back the money.

In 2017, he claimed the money was

spent and was judged that the High

Court to have committed serious

contempt. In sentencing him to one

year in jail, the judge said he was

not being punished, as he had

asserted, for taking the trouble to

look after an elderly lady. He was

being sent to jail for repeatedly

lying to the court about what

happened to inheritance money that

was not legally his. It was on this

road in Hendon that he met Julie

Spalding after cleaning windows. The

friendship led to a sudden change in

her will. Such amendments by elderly

people are increasingly being

overturned by the courts.

We would

have advised her to have a capacity

assessment at the time she was

signing these new wills, so it could

be recognised right at that point

that there was an issue with her not

recognising, for example, that she

had any family members.

Albert

Pierce will spend at least six

months at Pentonville prison. A

60-year-old man has died after being

stabbed in South London in the early

hours. Police in East Dulwich found

the man seriously injured. He died a

short time later. A 61-year-old man

was arrested at the scene on

suspicion of murder. A 17-year-old

has been arrested on suspicion of

murder following the death of

teenager Jason Isaacs in North Pole

earlier this month. The boy was

arrested yesterday and taken to a

west London police station where he

remains in custody. The 18-year-old

was fatally stabbed nearly two weeks

ago. Police are appealing for

witnesses.

From music and food festivals

to farmers and craft markets,

London's parks are increasingly

hiring themselves out

for private events.

And whilst that brings

in much needed revenue

for individual councils,

it can be frustrating for people

who then can't access as much

of their local park as they'd like.

We asked each borough how

often they're doing this

and were told that the number

of days has risen by nearly 80%.

Here's Tolu Adayoye.

What happens is the massive

stages constructed.

You can still see the damage caused.

Some of the damage the Friends

of Finsbury Park have blamed

on the staging of the Wireless music

festival in the grounds.

This is supposed to be a park path,

but actually what it's

for is for the big trucks to bring

the stage here.

They've lost their second legal

fight seeking to ban it, in what's

been seen as a test case.

These were the scenes two years

ago, which sparked some

of the objections to the festival.

The group say they will keep

fighting to save from damage

and preserve it for local people.

There's a massive

commercialisation of public parks.

That means park users, residents,

people who normally use

the park are pushed out.

It's the destruction, the noise,

the actual damage to the park,

a whole range of issues that really

people say enough is enough.

And the number of private events

in London parks is on the rise.

It was recently announced that

a brand-new festival will take place

here in Victoria Park over two

weekends next year.

And in the year 16-17,

London parks were hired out

for nearly 6000 days for private

events, generating more

than £1.6 million for our councils.

That's a rise of 200%

over five years.

The council that made

the most was Haringey,

the home of Wireless Festival.

Is this about making

money for the Council?

Absolutely not.

The festivals generate revenue

which is great for us,

we get to plough money back

into the park.

It's also one of the biggest urban

festivals in London and it's great

that we have a festival like this

in the heart of our borough.

It's fine, as long as the profits

can be invested into

the children's playground.

If away from residential

areas, fine.

I can understand they bring

in a lot of money but it's

a lot of disruption,

noise and mess and it

gets overrun sometimes.

If the money is invested

in the park, a couple

of weekends is not too bad.

Wireless has applied

to stage the festival again

in Finsbury Park next year.

As the number of events in parks

rises, the debate over how many

is too many looks set to continue.

Survivors and those who lost loved

ones in the Grenfell Tower fire save

a public enquiry will be a whitewash

unless a diverse panel is appointed

to oversee proceedings. They urged

the Prime Minister to intervene to

appoint a more diverse range of

people to oversee proceedings.

All of the victims of the Grenfell

Tower fire have been identified. The

work to cover up the remains of the

building is just beginning.

Welcome

to the opening session.

There has

been a formal opening of the

official enquiry. It is due to

resume again with procedural

hearings later this month. But those

who lost loved ones say the Prime

Minister needs to appoint a diverse

panel around Sir Martin that would

more truly represent them.

Lets have

openness and transparency. We are

not asking for anything difficult,

but for a level playing field and I

don't think we've got that.

Dismantles my uncle died in the fire

and he says families may not

cooperate unless they are listened

to.

We lost families and we want a

fair crack at justice. We want to be

listened to, not ignored. We want

the panel to be able to understand

us and our concerns, and to assist

the judge in making the decisions

and reporting back to the Prime

Minister.

The families have launched

an online petition calling for the

appointment of panel members and

better legal representation at the

enquiry. The government says Sir

Martin is still deciding what expert

help he needs, and after that a

decision will be made about any

possible panel. The government also

says the lawyers representing the

families will be allowed to play an

active role in the proceedings.

Today is World Aids Day,

and for the first time in London

the number of men being diagnosed

with HIV is coming down.

While that's good news,

some tell us the gay community

is still trying to tackle the stigma

surrounding the virus.

And there fears that young Londoners

aren't taking HIV seriously.

As Paul Murphy-Kasp

has been finding out.

Krishan is HIV-positive.

He came to London last year

from Johannesburg looking

for somewhere to study.

Being one of the safest cities

in the world to be gay,

for him the choice was obvious.

There are many countries

in the world that HIV positive

people can't move to.

What's really amazing about London

is this network of support.

And it's really easy

for an HIV-positive individual

to tap into that network of support.

Despite working to reduce

stigma against those

with HIV while in London,

he still has been the victim

of prejudice himself.

Many people I meet are totally

accepting and they understand it.

I find lots of discrimination

within the LGBT community,

so there are still pockets

of discrimination,

pockets of stigma.

People who don't really understand

what being HIV-positive means.

Living with HIV in London

is getting better.

There are drugs like prep,

which stops transmission

if taken before having sex.

HIV is now less likely

to affect life expectancy.

And for the first time

since the epidemic began,

fewer people are being diagnosed.

In 2015, the number of gay

and bisexual men being

diagnosed with HIV in London

was at around 1500.

Last year, that number fell

to just under 1100 -

a drop of 29%.

But while the numbers

are encouraging, there

are fears that gay men

could become complacent.

I think it's important

that we don't just think,

HIV is sorted now and we don't need

to worry about it.

This is just the beginning.

It's a sign we need to do more.

It's clear that London

has turned a corner

in stopping the spread of HIV.

But there is still more to be done

to erase prejudice for those

who carry the virus.

Paul Murphy-Kasp, BBC London News.

Still to come this Friday evening:

Ahead of tomorrow's rugby league

World Cup final between England and

Australia, I have come down to the

London Broncos in Ealing to find out

how they think England will get on.

We are in the study of the man who

invented Christmas. This is Charles

Dickens' actual desk and chair. Find

out about his life here at Holborn

head of a movie about how his

classic novel a Christmas Carol came

about.

It's a treasure trove of once loved,

but now lost, items.

Amongst the many shelves of

belongings in the London Underground

lost property office

are countless toys.

Now, some of those left unclaimed

are being given to children

who might not otherwise receive

presents this Christmas.

As our Transport Correspondent

Tom Edwards reports.

These other capital's lost toys.

Miss laid on the transport system.

And thousands of them have ended up

here in London underground's lost

property office. Dolls, games, and

even ate Monopoly sets, the Greek

version.

We have gone through phases

of electronic toys and new gadgets,

but it's always interesting to see

the old favourites are still there.

This year, its a lot of the old

school, toys, jigsaws and games. I

find it kind of refreshing that in

the modern era there is still this

need for good, old-fashioned fun

that is being passed on from

generation to generation.

At the

last property office they say

anything you can carry on public

transport, you could lose as well.

Last year, 325,000 items ended up

here. Of those, 77,000 were

reclaimed. That means many keys,

mobile phones, and items of clothing

are not. During the year, any toys

lost are sent on to charities after

three months. But new toys are now

kept back to give to the Salvation

Army.

Year-on-year, you get families

turn up who are desperate for their

children to have a good Christmas, a

happy Christmas. If you are not able

to provide your children with the

toys, or a present that they can

open on Christmas Day, you feel

really bad and the child has a bad

Christmas. These just bring joy and

happiness to the children. They

bring joy and happiness to the

parents and carers and they make for

a better Christmas for all.

It's

hoped that by passing on these lost

toys it will make a difference to

some children this Christmas.

Tomorrow morning England play in the

Rugby league World Cup final against

tournament hosts Australia. The

capital's professional side, the

London Broncos, have been well

represented across the tournament.

They will be a bright and early

tomorrow morning to catch the final.

We went to meet them at training

today.

It was just three degrees in

Ealing as the London Broncos

continued their pre-season training.

On the other side of the world,

England were completing their last

session ahead of the biggest match

of their lives, although you

wouldn't necessarily know about it

according to the former culture

secretary.

England are in a World

Cup final on Saturday. I live in

hope that at some point this week

our media will inform the nation

about this.

Over here, the limelight

on union, it doesn't get the

limelight it deserves warrants.

Everybody should take into account

its a World Cup final, the same as a

football World Cup final. People

need to embrace that and get behind

them.

12 London Broncos players went

out to the World Cup, representing

six different countries. That's more

players than any other team in the

whole of the UK.

The programme we

have in place at Broncos, we are not

just the club that filters in

players any more that nobody else

wants. We have players who have

moved on from the club and are

making super league grand final

centre Challenge Cup Final is.

One

of those players was England's Luke

Gale, who spent two years at the

club building his reputation. He was

named man of steel for Castleford

this year. He helped his side to the

grand final 16 days after surgery to

remove his appendix.

From hospital

to hero.

Luke Gale went down a

different path. He didn't go through

a top club. Went to Doncaster, came

to London at a young age to learn

his trade is down here. Then on to

Bradford and went to the top. He's a

great bloke and I wish all best on

Saturday.

The kangaroos are favoured

to win and the current world

champions. England are in their

first world final in 22 years. Can

they beat them?

Australia are a

really strong team. Can England

handle the temporal Australia play

at the 80 minutes? Anyone could win.

The final is on BBC One, kicking off

at nine o'clock tomorrow morning.

Now, it's already

the 1st of December!

So is it time to eat mince

pies, put the tree up

and watch festive films?

One of this year's offerings

is all about Charles Dickens,

the Londoner behind the all time

classic A Christmas Carol.

Thomas Magill reports.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas

without some Dickens.

And what could be more festive

than his classic, A Christmas Carol?

Scrooge.

The Man Who Invented Christmas

is less of an adaptation and more

of a biopic about the man behind

the novels and his family.

I play John Dickens,

Charles's father.

He was constantly

running out of money.

They were all in a debtors'

jail at one point.

Charles is a young child.

It's his inspiration

for writing about the poor.

So not an easy start

for a young Dickens,

but surprisingly it was the gutters

and alleyways of Victorian London

that helped him make his fortune.

The people he meets,

he gets inspiration for characters,

Scrooge, Bob Cratchit,

and his father was the basis

of the character Micawber.

We meet at last.

By the time A Christmas Carol

came about, Dickens

was a bit of a celebrity.

It was from this rather grand house

in central London where Dickens

penned some of his finest works

with love and devotion.

But A Christmas Carol was different,

and anything but a labour of love.

By the time he started writing

what has become one of the greatest

classics of all time,

he was a man under pressure

with mounting debts,

a pregnant wife to support,

and a handful of recent

flops under his belt.

Humbug.

The movie explores all of that,

but it wasn't always

a bleak house for Dickens.

There's no doubt, there's great

expectations for this movie,

which is out this weekend.

Thomas Magill, BBC London News.

Let's see what the weather's

up to this weekend -

Philip Avery is the man to tell us.

Not much happening. Let's look at

how things have been. I'm afraid

this will be rather a distant memory

because we had those cold, crisp

starts and weather watchers have

been out there watching the autumn

glory. Ruth forsaking the joys of

the river, her usual haunt. We have

had showers there or thereabouts,

not 1 million miles from us, but

generally speaking, the further west

you were today, the more sunshine

you had. One or two showers

overnight with some cloud around,

but that won't stop the temperatures

falling away again. Most of us

staying frost free. The skies might

break for a length of time. Could be

close to freezing. If you had a

shower, think of the possibility of

a little bit of ice. It won't be a

widespread problem by any means.

Into the afternoon, if you are out

and about, it's a pretty decent day.

Temperatures close to where we were

today. Central London again today

made 7 degrees. If you are stepping

out tomorrow evening, there is just

the chance of one or two showers.

And then later on, more clouds to be

had. Another cold night. The signs

of a weather front coming from the

north. You have to be up quite early

to see the showers on Sunday

morning. And then some glorious

sunshine. The thing to note is by

that stage of the weekend, we'll

have got into properly milder

conditions. It's not a key heatwave

of course. But the cold weather will

be over the continent. There is a

big area of high pressure trying to

keep things quiet. You got the sense

it was a quiet weekend, and that

prospect extends into the first part

of the forthcoming week.

You said not much, but that is quite

a lot!

The day's headlines...

The Cabinet's First Secretary,

Damian Green, is under renewed

pressure over claims he accessed

pornography on his Commons computer.

A retired detective says he found

"thousands" of images

on the PC nine years ago.

A report into the refurbishment of

the Olympic Stadium, now the home of

West Ham, says there have been a

catalogue of errors in converting

it. The taxpayer could continue to

lose up to £20 million per year.

That's it for now.

More news at ten o'clock of course

and you can keep across stories

on our website and Facebook Page.

From all of us here,

thanks for watching

and have a wonderful weekend.