10/01/2018 London News

That's all from the BBC News at six.

It's goodbye from me and,

on BBC One, we now join the BBC's

Good evening.

Coming up on BBC London News...

More stop and search

on the capital's streets

to tackle knife crime.

We will have the situation we had in

the 80s where we'll have a whole

generation of youth growing up and

hating the police.

But the mayor says

"targetted" stop and search

is a "vital tool" in keeping

the capital safe.

Also tonight...

A damning report on the service

provided to Southern

and Thameslink passengers.

People should leave each other in

peace.

Why a Holocaust survivor,

sent to a concentration camp

aged 14, is sharing her

stories with commuters.

Thank you, after that, for your

frankness. -- Arthur.

And we talk to Oscar

winner Meryl Streep

on her latest film and the Hollywood

headlines.

A very warm welcome

to the programme.

It's one of the biggest challenges

facing the Met Police -

how to reduce knife

crime on our streets.

Now the Mayor's promised

to "significantly increase"

stop and search,

as part of a crackdown

on violent crime in 2018.

However, one of Sadiq Khan's

mayoral election pledges

was to cut it back.

Our Political Correspondent,

Karl Mercer, reports.

Patrick is only too aware of the

damage knives can do in the hands of

the wrong person. So is Angeline

Hill. Both Londoners whose families

have been badly damaged by a crime

that is on the increase again.

Today, Patrick is in the cafe he

runs in Brixton.

Are you OK?

This is

where he spends much of his time.

We've filled him last year with his

son who was stabbed in the heart. --

we filmed him. This woman is

planning a website for families

affected by knife crime. What do

they make of this from the are

today? -- the London mayor.

The measures you are making are

counteracted to what you are trying

to do. Stop and search will take it

away from the police. They will not

go to the police when they have

problems. It will take us back to

youth against police.

I can

understand the initiative. It is

good to make the public feel safe

but the reality is it will not

change the problem. The reality is,

why are these kids walking about

with knives? Luther was 32. There

are a lot of victims who are not

young people.

City Hall refused

requests for interviews today, we

could not ask what the mayor meant

by a significant increase in stop

and search for top tackling knife

crime is seen as a priority. This

video and a call for schools to

produce knife ones last week. There

are some who welcomed the news.

Five

years ago, one in ten stop and

searches resulted in finding

something. Now the figure is about

one in three, which is loads better.

It is a tool we can use, and an

important tool. The police will be

wearing cameras, so we can see what

happens.

Cressida Dick has

previously said you were back an

increase in stop and search if it

led to lower knife crime. The

opponents of the mayor said it will

need to be done sensitively.

Young

people feel victimised. This will

crush community policing, which

affects all crime in London.

Scotland Yard and the men know this

will have to be matched by a drop in

knife crime. -- the London mayor.

Plenty more ahead

tonight, including...

Recreating part of London's history

as St Pancras Station begins

its 150th anniversary celebrations.

It is the UK's biggest rail

franchise. Southern and Thames Link

services have been. Olic is

for delays and cancellations.

He was responding to

a National Audit Office report

which says they have suffered

the worst disruption of any

franchise, one which has NOT

provided value for money.

Here's our Transport

Correspondent Tom Edwards.

Unreliable, not value for money,

the worst service in the country.

It won't surprise many passengers

that today there's more damning

evidence on Govia Thameslink.

Blighted by industrial action

and a lack of understanding

from Government, at its worst,

only two thirds of

trains arrived on time.

A shabby train service?

The franchise covers Thameslink,

Southern and Great Northern services

and today's report outlines how 60%

of delays have been due

to the operator, mainly

because of industrial action

and a lack of crew.

Nearly 40% of delays

are down to Network Rail's

poor infrastructure.

I think from a passenger's point

of view, what they don't

want to hear is people passing

the buck and saying

it is someone else's fault.

What they want to know is that

action is being taken to sort this

out, and to make sure that they see

improvements in service.

The report also criticises

the Government for trying

to increase services

as well as introducing new trains

and getting rid of the guards,

leading to strikes.

The report says the Government

didn't know about a lack of drivers,

or the state of the infrastructure.

I think this report shows

the incompetence and the dogma

of the DfT and the Government

and seeking to put the blame

on the trade unions when they knew

they were going to cause this issue

is a false premise, and seeking

to blame the companies

who are forced to bid

for what they put out

there is a false premise.

If this is dogma,

the dogma has to change.

The Government says unions

are the main cause of the problems.

I make no apology for that huge

investment in the network.

The

introduction of brand-new 12 coach

trains all across the network. What

I do apologise or is we were not

able to avoid the extraordinarily

ill judged actions by the trade

unions, who caused massive trouble

for passengers.

The report does say

reliability on the services is

improving and it wants the

Government to learn lessons when it

sets up other franchises.

Police have released CCTV images

of two men they're hunting

in connection with an attack

on a shop worker in Mill Hill.

A 16-year-old boy appeared in court

today charged with murder.

Marc Ashdown reports.

He came to London from India ten

years ago and made it his home. BJ

Patel, here relaxing with his wife,

was a hard-working shopkeeper, but

pillar of his community. On

Saturday, he was brutally attacked

and died in hospital a few days

later. Detectives relieved these

images of people they want to

question in relation to the

incident. Mr Patel was the main

breadwinner for his family, both

here and back in India. They have

been left devastated by his loss.

It

is injustice. Check great man to

leave this world in such a way. It

is not right. He is an inspiration

for all of us. He guides us every

time. He is like the best person in

the world.

Floral tributes pile-up

outside the shop in Mill Hill

Broadway. The community here has

been left stunned. Members of the

local Jewish community have set up a

fundraising page to try to help the

family of Vijay Patel. There are

hoping to raise £1000. Now 600

people have donated, raising

£16,000. Security is crucial.

All

businesses and their employees are

very vulnerable, particularly late

at night. If we can share

information and support businesses

by providing more CCTV in local

areas we can make them more fun for

businesses have that sense of

safety. When that a 16-year-old boy

from Brent has been charged with

murder. He appeared at Willesden

Magistrates' Court this morning.

Before he died, this picture was

released of him in hospital. He was

much loved and will be sorely

missed.

Turning now to the musicians,

who took their campaign to protect

London's music venues,

to Parliament toady.

Billy Bragg and Sandie

Shaw were among them.

Many of the capital's famous

clubs and pubs have been

threatened with closure,

sometimes because of

complaints from residents

in new housing developments.

With the story, here's our political

editor, Tim Donovan.

Billy Bragg says it was where

he tried things out,

made mistakes, learned lessons.

We need a bit more vocals, mate.

It was in a pub close

to the Blackwall Tunnel,

like so many other venues long gone.

Live venues are absolutely crucial

for young people to find out

whether they can make a living

through their own creativity.

It is why he and other veterans of

the business were at a photocall in

Parliament today, calling on

developers to build new homes which

did not threaten live music.

People

want homes. The developer moves in

next to a live music venue and build

some flats. People complain about

the noise and the live music venue

had to shut down.

I understand they

want to build more houses for people

make lots of money for themselves.

They should be paying for anything

that actually upsets the community.

In one of the most high-profile

recent cases, the Ministry of Sound

nightclub bought off closure when

you flats started to go up in

elephant and Castle. The deal was

struck in showing the homes had

extra soundproofing and acoustic

protection. That should be

obligatory for the developers, says

this MP.

The developers, who are, as

I describe it, the agent of change.

When they put in a planning

application may have to take the

necessary measures to make sure the

venue will not conflict with the new

residence.

The years passed but some

are still challenging the system.

There was a message for politicians

in there.

Just bear in mind how

important it is. As I understand it,

British music is one of our leading

exports and they must get behind and

support us.

It is not clear whether

that support will be forthcoming

from the Government. Plans to merge

three NHS trusts have been approved,

creating one of the largest NHS

trusts in the country. The move was

agreed earlier this afternoon. It

means the new trust will serve a

population of over a million people.

It could lead to the loss of some

services.

A new study looking at a certain

type of air pollution has found that

three-quarters of the country's most

polluted post codes are in London.

Diesel engines are a key source

of nitrogen dioxide gas,

which has been linked

to respiratory disease.

Campaigners say safe

limits are regularly

breached in the capital.

The new data has named

Hyde Park Corner and Marylebone Road

as Britain's worst locations.

If you want to check how

polluted your street is,

you can go to the science page

of the BBC News website.

There's an article which lets you

use your post code to get a rating -

and some tips on how

to avoid pollution.

Still to come this

Wednesday evening...

Newspapers on a red carpet. That is

because there is a premiere tonight

because of the number of Oscar

winners who will be walking down

this carpet. Join me later to find

out more.

A Holocaust survivor who was sent to

Auschwitz when she was 14 years old

has been sharing her story with the

young generation. She spent time at

passers-by at Liverpool Street

station. An 87-year-old woman is

hoping to have a chat with

passers-by. She's set up so far in

Liverpool Street and has encouraged

people to stop and listen to her

story.

They put us in ghettos and

from there they took us to the camp,

to Auschwitz.

Lily Ebert is a

Holocaust survivor.

How much do you

know about the Holocaust?

We were

not taught at school but I educated

myself.

In times where there is

rising racism and anti-Semitism, her

message is that we must live

together. That is a powerful

message.

It was heart-warming that

she was saying we are the same. It

does not seem we are together,

united, and are the same.

The final

photo of Lily and her siblings in

Hungary. The family were sent to

Auschwitz. She and her two sisters

were forced into Labour but the rest

of her family were sent to the gas

chambers. Does it upset you when

people say they face stigma and

racism, that it still goes on today?

Yes. They should know. The truth is

because -- it does not mean someone

is better or worse than you are.

They are only different.

This statue

is a reminder of the and accompanied

children who arrived at this train

station when they fled persecution

in their home towns in Germany,

Czechoslovakia and Austria. After

World War II very few were able to

be reunited by their families --

with their families. Lilly shares

her story with today's is in and

hopes the murder of 6 million dues

is never forgotten or misunderstood.

He was never shy of causing

controversy during his days

at Stamford Bridge.

Now the former Chelsea

boss Jose Mourinho

has been trading insults with this

successor, Antonio Conte.

Well, tonight, Chelsea meet

Arsenal in the first leg

of their League Cup semifinal.

We can join our sports

reporter, Chris Slegg.

Sounds quite personal?

It has got really quite personal.

Jose Mourinho isn't even involved

with this match. He is now the

Manchester United manager. But he

has rather dominated the build-up.

Let's remind ourselves of how these

words have escalated. It was a week

ago that Mourinho was asked why he

doesn't seem to be as passionate at

Manchester United as he was in his

Chelsea days. He questioned back

saying that, because I don't behave

as a clown on the touchline, it

means I have lost my passion? Many

journalists took that word clown to

be a reference to Antonio Conte.

Asked about that, he replied saying

maybe he was talking about himself

in the past. Sometimes I think there

is a demenza senile, he said in his

native Italian. Asked about that

Ahmed, Mourinho said, what never

happened to me and will never happen

to me is to be suspended for match

fixing. Conte didn't get suspended

but he did get a four-month

suspension for failing to report

match fixing when he was manager in

Italy. Conte's response, in the past

Mourinho was a little man, he is a

little man in the present and for

sure he will be a little man in the

future. So it has really escalated

throughout the last week, and

yesterday in his press conference,

Conte was asked whether the League

Managers Association should come in

to mediate between the two men, and

this was his response.

I think we both said

things and we'll see

what happens in the future.

I think that he said serious words,

using serious words, and...

I won't forget this.

But this is not

a problem from the club.

It's a problem between me and him.

As we said, quite personal. Conte

has also criticised Arsenal manager

Arsene Wenger.

Yeah, he's got his

adversary tonight an old coach. That

was in response to being asked about

Arsene Wenger's criticism of a

refereeing decision last week when

these teams met in the league.

Arsene Wenger laughed that off in

his press conference yesterday,

saying, I am an old but so is

Antonio Conte. If we get as much

drama on the pitch tonight as we

have had off it, it should be pretty

exciting. This is just the first leg

and they will meet again in the

second leg at the Emirates in a

fortnight. The winner will play

Manchester City or Bristol city in

the final at Wembley on February 25.

It's a special year

for St Pancras International,

as it marks 150 years.

During that time, the station

has gone through near

demolition and restoration.

Today, as part of its anniversary

celebrations, commuters were treated

to a trip down memory lane.

Jim Wheble has more.

Marching to work -

on the phone, making a call,

often we just pass through stations

totally oblivious to their past.

That was more difficult

today at St Pancras,

with a Victorian horse and cart

parked outside, which would have

transported the product that

basically inspired the building

of the station.

At that time, goods and trade

were much more important

than passenger traffic,

and a key part of that goods

business was beer from Burton,

from the Midlands, so the ground

level of the station,

so now you can go down

and walk through it,

that was solely for the storage

of beer from Burton.

It revolutionised beer

drinking in the capital,

bringing bitter for the first time

to London pubs more familiar

with a good glass of stout.

But it wasn't the only thing

that was revolutionary

about this station.

This roof was really a wonder

of the time, wasn't it?

Absolutely.

When the station opened,

this was the largest single-span

roof in the world.

It's 700 foot long, 250 foot

wide and 100 foot high.

Perhaps if you see an old film

from the '30s or '40s

with Grand Central Station

in New York, you might

have seen this.

You could quite likely do,

because the original Grand Central

used the design of St Pancras.

Look around here, it's

completely splendid,

St Pancras Station -

but, back in the '60s, it was seen

by some as redundant,

and there were growing calls

at the time for this place

to be demolished.

It wasn't for this man,

Sir John Betjeman, one-time poet

laureate, who mounted a successful

campaign to stop it, perhaps this

place wouldn't be here right now.

Now, of course, it's not

just an international

terminal but a place to shop

and be spontaneously entertained.

The piano has been so incredibly

successful, hasn't it?

They have.

It's captured people's imagination.

It really has, and we

introduced them in 2012,

and they have been so popular.

People absolutely love to see people

play, to hear people play.

Even the likes of Elton John

have been seen tinkling

on the St Pancras ivories.

And, to celebrate all of this,

a special anniversary beer.

Maybe not in wooden

barrels, but you can't

always have everything.

Some of Hollywood's biggest names

are in London tonight

for the UK premiere of The Post,

starring Meryl Streep and Tom

Hanks and directed

by Steven Spielberg.

It's based on the true story

of a battle between journalists

and the US government

in the early '70s over papers

regarding the Vietman War.

Asad Ahmad is in

Leicester Square now.

I've never been on a red carpet like

this before. We've got quadruple

Oscar-winning Steven Spielberg on

the carpet, double Oscar winner Tom

Hanks is there, and I'm joined by

triple Oscar winner Meryl Streep.

Thank you for joining us for your

first UK interview about the film.

Tell us about the timing of this

film. We get a lot coming out of

Washington about fake news. It's

like this film is pushing back a bit

and saying, the importance of good,

honest journalism is important to

holding the law and government to

account.

Absolutely, the first

Amendment was enshrined as the first

Amendment in our Constitution

protecting free speech and the

freedom of the press. We rely on the

press to give us the truth and, by

undermining the institutions that

deliver the truth, themselves,

hard-working, underpaid

journalists...

I know all about

that! You play a really strong woman

in this film, a strong woman back in

the early 70s who is the first

female publisher, who really stands

her ground, very much in a man's

world. When you were playing that

role, did it surprise you how much

things haven't changed in nearly 40

years, or how much things have

changed?

I've lived through that

time. I was graduating from college

when the Pentagon papers emerged.

And I remember when there were no

women in business, in corporate

suites. There were very few women

lawyers, very few women doctors. It

was highly unusual. This woman

sought was the fulcrum of a pivotal

moment in history, when women emerge

and all of these opportunities, from

which I've benefited, changed. So,

yes, she broke ground for many, many

women, first head of a Fortune 500

country, and she proved, even in the

face of her own insecurities, that

women can do it.

Meryl Streep

talking to asset Ahmed.

Let's get a check

on the weather now.

And Philip Avery has joined us.

And Philip Avery has joined us.

Not the most enthralling picture,

but the weather hasn't been that

enthralling of late. Yesterday was

dreadful, not a speck of sunshine,

but we did today in some spots. Once

a weather front made its way all too

slowly for some towards the east,

that allowed much of central and

western parts of our area to buck

up. I have heard good things about

the weather in Kent, no great

surprise, when you see that front

appears to be more of an issue for

the north and east of the region.

That has a bearing on what we are

expecting tonight and injured in a

row, towards the north and east we

have the remnants from that front,

which will produce some rain.

Further west and south-west, this is

where the skies could stay clear and

we could end up with a foggy start

the day on Thursday. Bear that in

mind, if you are running up the M40,

over the Chilterns, you could be in

for a fair amount of fog. Towards

the east, that is where we have the

greatest chance of the odd spot of

rain for what essentially will be a

rather dank day. Quite cloudy, and

that prospect continues on into

Thursday evening and overnight

through into the first part of

Friday as well. A lot of clout

around, still the odd spot of rain,

and that cloud sitting quite low in

the atmosphere, so there will be

some hill fog around than the

radiation fog for two nights out

west. Friday, yes, the odd passing

glimpse of the sun but, if you work

on the basis the next few days will

be cloudy with a prospect of fog and

the odd spot of rain coming through

where the cloud is the curb, will

not go far wrong. Just in time for

the weekend, that looks like doom

and gloom, but that weather front is

slowly working its way to the

western side of the British Isles,

so the weekend starts on a cloudy

note, but not too cold. There you

go.

And if you're a fan of Tube facts

head to our Facebook Page,

where we mark 155 years

since the first

Underground line opened.

But that's it for now.

More from us at 10:30pm.

Do have a lovely evening.