24/01/2018 London News

at least it will be relatively mild.

That is all from the BBC News at

Coming up on the programme tonight:

In an exclusive interview we speak

to the mother of a five-year-old,

killed in a playground.

She's angry that corporate

manslaughter charges won't be

brought against the council.

That is unbelievable.

It's disgusting, really.

Really, really upset that they feel

that nobody is responsible.

Also tonight:

A controversial housing

development causes divisions

at Haringey Council,

but what does it say

about the Labour Party?

The unique college that caters

for autistic children but needs more

money to keep it going.

And it could only happen in London.

Scottish Burns night,

celebrated at a Hindu temple -

by Indian Pipers.

Good evening.

I'm Asad Ahmad.

This is Alexia, described

by her family as a "beautiful,

cheeky five-year old".

While she played in this playground

in Tower Hamlets back in 2015,

part of it collapsed.

It killed her.

And now Alexia's mother has

been told the Council

responsible for its upkeep

won't face any criminal charges.

She says the decision shows there's

one law for some people

and another for those

of colour and the poor.

Alex Bushill has this

exclusive report.

Baby, flowers of light.

Sleep and see brighter dreams...

This is a poem chosen by Vida that

always reminds her of her little

five-year-old girl.

She was crushed to death

here before her mum's eyes.

The playground has since

been closed, remodelled

and reopened, but everywhere,

there are reminders of Alexia.

Alexia was a charmer.

Whoever she came into contact with

instantly fell in love with her.

This photo even shows the equipment

that was to crush her,

the wooden timbers in

the background clear to see.

It was a moment Vida watched unfold.

I noticed the log on which they

were playing as a swing

started to collapse.

I ran as fast as I could to where

the children were playing.

But when I got there,

Alexia was already on the floor.

There was not much I could do.

Today, we learned that the CPS

are not going to bring

charges against the council

which runs this playground.

That's despite the fact that we now

know that in 2014 and 2015

in the years leading up to Alexia's

death, there were not annual

safety inspections.

Alexia's family say

that if there had been,

she would be alive today.

In a letter seen by the BBC,

the CPS explain this decision.

Whilst accepting that annual checks

had not been carried out since 2013,

the CPS did point to how there had

been an operational inspection

on 1st June and a daily inspection

on the day Alexia died,

17th July 2015.

No issue with the log

was identified in either.

For Vida's lawyers, though,

it simply isn't good enough.

I don't think the system

they had in place for

inspections was good enough.

Yes, there were daily and quarterly

inspections being carried out.

However, the last annual inspection

wasn't carried out for a year

and ten months prior

to Alexia's death.

This inspection is important

because it's a lot more

thorough and more in-depth

than in the quarterly

and daily inspections.

Tools are used which detect

defective equipment which may not be

apparent during a quarterly

and daily inspection.

Vida puts it far stronger.

There are different laws

for people of this country

and there are different laws

for people of colour.

You think you're a victim of racism?

Yes.

Because I'm a nobody and I am poor.

That's the way I see it.

Because I'm alone, there

was nobody to fight back,

so they do what they want.

The CPS has declined

to comment on Vida's

concerns of discrimination,

but it is going to

review its decision.

As for Tower Hamlets,

they won't comment either,

with an inquest into Alexia's death

now set for early spring.

I just felt that if I needed Alexia,

this is where I should come get her.

In the early days,

I would stand outside

and actually yelled her name,

calling, expecting a response.

But, you know, that wouldn't happen.

That silence is obviously forever,

but Alexia's image, her memory,

will be here too, for ever.

That's our top story this evening,

but there's plenty more to come

before 7, including:

Will it be Arsenal or Chelsea who

make it to the League Cup final? All

will be revealed tonight here at the

Emirates.

In a highly unusual move,

Labour run Haringey Council has been

told by the party's ruling Executive

- to put a halt to a multi-million

pound regeneration

project in north London.

The plan to renew thousands

of council homes, has proved

hugely controversial -

splitting opinions within the party

and the local area itself.

Susana Mendonca has been finding out

why the housing project

is so controversial.

It's a housing estate at the heart

of a political battle. This resident

has lived on Northumberland Park and

what number 29 years. The local

council wants to knock this down and

rebuild it. And has promised all

social tenants like her will get to

return here if they want to.

I have

been here a long time. I love the

place. I wish to come back. But I

asked about the rent and they said

the rent is going to be the same but

all of this I am wondering how true

that's going to be.

This is one of

the areas in the north London

borough which would be included in

the development vehicle. It's a

50-50 partnership between the

council and a private developer.

Haringey Council says this plan is

all about regenerating inadequate

estates and building much-needed new

homes will stop more than 6000 of

them, 40% of which they say would be

affordable. But it's been met with

huge opposition, not least because

of the council 's choice of business

partner. It was the company behind

the Hague development once home to a

thousand social housing properties,

the comment which replace them now

has less than 100.

This is not a

rejection of the ambition. It's

about fact thoroughly thought out,

it's too risky and likely to fail in

some way the most likely of which is

the proportion of homes for genuine

affordable social rent will probably

be small and will no doubt dwindle

over time.

The plans also include

building on council owned sites in

Wood Green and have led to huge

divisions within the Labour Party.

Councillors who supported have been

deselected and some opposed to it

have now got the backing of the

Labour ruling body.

We have got the

Labour Party National Executive

Committee effectively telling a

Labour council what to do over a

specific policy. Which is in itself

quite extraordinary. I am thinking,

where does this end? What happens

the next time I campaign group who

is now part of the Labour Party is

not happy with something a Labour

council leader is doing?

With

protests and pressure continued to

mount the future of this development

remains unclear.

Well, our Political Editor Tim

Donovan is also following what's

happening in Haringey,

and this dispute goes far

beyond the area and the housing

estate itself, doesn't it?

Yes, because of what it symbolises.

The arguments over these localised

regeneration plans are being seen as

revealing, weighing their political

splits within the Labour Party. Not

just at a local level but perhaps

symbolising wider splits across the

country. A keyword we need here is

momentum. The grassroots community

activist organisation which has

grown up in parallel with Labour,

supports Jeremy Corbyn and most of

what he believes. They are active in

Haringey and they do not like these

regeneration plans at all. It's not

a direct crossover, there are a lot

of people who are not Momentum who

do not like the plans either. But

the significant political thing is

they have caused up to 20 existing

Labour councils either to be

deselected or stand down

voluntarily, they do not want to

stand again in the election.

With so

much eyes with what is going on here

would we think it's going?

The

leader will have to have a meeting

with the NEC of the Labour Party.

They have sent in a senior MP to try

to mediate. They are waiting for the

outcome of a judicial review which

means the leader cannot quite press

the button on these plans. But it's

possible that after May's elections

there will be a Momentum heavy left

administration with the majority and

it's quite likely in the

circumstances they will probably go

on this.

One of those stories were

even if you're not into politics it

is interesting. Thank you.

A man from South Norwood has been

convicted of encouraging terrorism

after he posted homemade films

glorifying the group calling itself

Islamic State online.

The Old Bailey heard how 50-year-old

Gary Staples uploaded the clips

which included images of former

Prime Minister Tony Blair

with flames over him.

Staples will be sentenced

at the end of next month.

A coroner has ruled that a man found

dead in his home in Hampshire

was killed by his eight

foot long pet python.

31-year-old Dan Brandon -

who was found asphyxiated in August

- kept snakes and tarantulas

in his bedroom.

Coroner Andrew Bradley recorded

a verdict of misadventure -

saying he was sure the African Rock

Python - called Tiny -

was involved in the death.

This is BBC London News on BBC One.

Still to come tonight:

They have been part of the South

bank skyline for 50 years, now the

Hayward Gallery Pyramids are

lighting up like never before.

It's more than seven months

since the Grenfell Tower

fire claimed 71 lives.

And it's been seven months filled

with sadness, with anger.

And with claims that the community

living there were ignored

by those in authority.

Now the housing charity Shelter says

the same is true for thousands

of other people living

in social housing.

So it's set up a commission,

to give them a voice and a local

churchman is at the helm.

Karl Mercer reports.

More than seven months on,

it's hard to miss the fact that

Notting Hill's Methodist Church

was at the heart of much of

the response to the Grenfell Fire.

The yellow ribbons remain.

The messages of support.

And even on the hoardings,

signs that this place has helped

to give local people a voice.

The local reverend, Mike Long,

is to head a new commission

on social housing backed

by the housing charity Shelter

and supported by people

across the political spectrum.

What Grenfell Tower is done is in

the most difficult and tragic of

ways it has put a magnifying glass I

think on the experience of people

here and allowed other people to

hear and see that. Including myself

of course.

In the hours after the fire

families posted pictures

of missing loved ones here.

And in the days that

followed flowers and other

tributers were left.

When are you going to be sitting

with this community, forget about

third parties, the experts are in

this community.

And as the weeks passed this place

hosted meetings between worried

locals and those in authority.

I would like someone to do something

because we are talking about eight

weeks later and I have been here

five times.

That frustration is what the new

commission hopes to tackle.

The last six or seven months I have

heard a lot of anger and frustration

and sometimes my temptation as

someone who is not a resident of

Grenfell Tower and does not live on

the estate is sometimes to want to

interject and to interpret and I

recognise the need to listen to the

rawness of what is being said.

The commission won't have actual

power to change things.

He hopes it will though

change people's attitudes.

Many have been profoundly affected.

Both those perhaps in social housing

who feel now they might be taking a

little more seriously but also many

others who perhaps guilty is not the

right word but perhaps are disturbed

by what they have been hearing.

The commission hopes

to report back in the Autumn

Which of these managers is heading

for the EFL Cup Final?

Well, either Arsenal

or Chelsea will go to Wembley

to face Manchester City.

Who get's that honour

will be decided tonight

at the Emirates Stadium.

Emma Jones is there for us.

And things are finally

balanced, Emma?

It is, because this is the second

leg of this semifinal. These two

teams met at Stamford Bridge two

weeks ago and it finished in a

goalless draw so it's all to play

for, will it be Arsenal or Chelsea

in the League Cup final next month?

We can talk to Bradley a former

Charlton and QPR striker who will be

the summariser for BBC radio London,

the big story I guess here at

Arsenal has been about Alexis

Sanchez moving to Manchester United.

Tonight might be an opportunity to

CFR stalking complete without him.

He is a world-class player,

goal-scorer and I am sure Arsenal

will miss his services. It is going

to be interesting this evening to

see how the gunners cope without

him.

Arsenal are out of the FA Cup,

they are not going to win the

Premier League either, perhaps some

pressure on Arsene Wenger to get to

a final and left this trophy?

Certainly of the teams this evening

I think there is more pressure on

the home team and the trophy Arsene

Wenger has not won in his long and

illustrious spell at the club. He

will be looking to use home

advantage and progressed to a

Wembley final.

Antonio Conte the

Chelsea manager has said he wants

his team to get your final as well.

Still some speculation about his

future as Chelsea manager, it will

be important to see them perform

tonight.

Yes I expect an exciting

name tonight, both these sites

traditionally go for it when they

play one another. Arsenal last year

got bragging rights from winning the

FA Cup and I think they will use the

confidence from the big game in this

semifinal this evening. I expect

goals and I expect the good watch

for the fans.

It has to be exciting

after the goalless draw, thank you

very much Bradley Alan, as you said,

it is Manchester City awaiting

either Arsenal or Chelsea in the

final saw no guarantee of a trophy

for either side but one way or

another it has to be decided here at

the Emirates this evening.

It will

be exciting, thank you Emma.

In London's schools,

there are more than 5,000

children with autism.

But when they leave many

just go into care homes

or live with their parents.

But now, thanks to a specialist

college in Tottenham,

there's another option.

To carry on learning and gain skills

which can help them into work.

But the college is in need of more

money, as our Education Reporter,

Marc Ashdown has been finding out.

What colour is this T-shirt?

Saran is 19 and has autism.

She has very complex needs

and communicates using an iPad.

COMPUTER: Green.

Wow!

What colour?

Green!

Good job.

An ambitious college has

given her a new lease of life.

Split over two sites,

it's the only college for school

leavers with autism in London.

There are 60 young learners,

aged from 16 to 25.

Here, they get a specialist

education, but also learn vital life

skills like using public transport,

shopping, cooking, to give them more

independence when they leave.

Do you want to tell the group what

you like about being in college?

There are about 5,000

children with autism

going to school in London,

but fewer than one in four get any

kind of education post-16.

You're going to apply for a job?

A job in the library

to get paid money.

How important is it to have

something like this

for these learners?

Life-changing, I would say, for both

the learners and their families.

Without the college,

they might be in long term

residential care outside of London,

away from their families.

It's about making the ordinary

possible for young people.

So what we want for our young

people is the same for any

other young person -

that they have friends, they leave

home, they will live independently

and they will have a job.

COMPUTER: I want sandwich.

You want a sandwich?

You're hungry?

I think it's lunchtime.

As ever, funding is crucial.

Local councils fund places,

but the college had to raise

£4 million from donations

to build the college.

They still need half a million

pounds to complete the project.

Is that good?

Yeah!

Local authorities will say that

increasingly they see young people

coming to the system

with a diagnosis of autism.

So it's important that

we meet their needs.

to brav e the tube and the weather

to land some work experience helping

out at the RAF museum in Hendon.

If you're heading down

to the Thames tonight,

tomorrow or at any time

in the future really,

there's something new to look at.

Colourful pyramids.

It's part of a multi-million pound

renovation at the Southbank Centre,

which was needed, in part,

to fix a leaky roof.

Well, Wendy Hurrell went

to have an exclusive look behind

the scenes as the gallery prepares

to reopen tomorrow.

A rare view of a gallery

installation in progress. This is

the work of German photographer

Andreas Gursky, and the first

exhibition to be put on these walls

for over two years. In the meantime

and £90 million restoration has been

happening to update the electrics,

to replace the painted over,

decaying pyramid roof light that let

in water.

And now you get a sense of

the proper proportion of this room

and what it was always meant to be.

Suddenly you discover this is the

most beautiful room in London for

showing contemporary art, but it was

here all the time. It is a bit of an

ugly duckling story. The building

missed a beat at the end. It was

built to be this and finally after

50 years we are able to do it which

is fantastic.

Now the ceiling has

windows onto the sky you will see

the works beneath quite differently.

Light makes a huge difference in the

gallery because it is the best

spectrum of light to look at colour,

but also because it changes. We get

daylight coming in, but right now

you see the wonderful parable,

changing lives of the sculpture on

the rooftop right now.

And this is

what it looks like from the roof, 66

brand-new pyramids especially lit up

until the end of March to mark the

reopening of the Hayward Gallery and

celebrate its 50th year. It was an

era of brutalist architecture,

contrasting with the baroque over

the Thames. Inside, using a process

normally used on classic statues,

the ubiquitous concrete has had some

beauty treatment.

You put a latex

skin over the concrete and pull it

off and it pulls off all the dirt

and grime. If you tried to sandblast

it with water, you would damage the

concrete. In a way it is like

getting your legs waxed. A face

mask. It all comes off and you get a

fresh look.

Once again the best and

contemporary art adorns the walls.

We continue to find you artists,

contemporary artists from across the

world really articulating something

new and saying something about the

world we live in that makes you

think.

For the Hayward Gallery and

the heart of London's Southbank and

you dawn is breaking.

you dawn is breaking.

This time tomorrow, Scots

all around the world will be

celebrating Burn's night.

It's to mark Robbie Burns'

contribution to Scottish culture,

but a place where it might surprise

you to hear the bagpipes playing

as part of the festivities

is at a Hindu Temple in north

London.

The pipers are all Indian, but yes,

they will all wear kilts,

sporrans and tartan.

Here's Sarah Harris.

It cost £20 million to build this

Hindu temple in Kingsbury North

London three years ago. The

architectural inspiration was

worshippers' spiritual home in

India, but when it comes to the

music the style definitely comes

from north of the border.

Back in

1970 hour Guru came to the UK from

India and he held a procession

through the streets of London and a

Scottish pipe band was hired at that

point. He was so inspired by the

discipline, the rigour, the noise of

the pipes, that the followers

started to form their own pipe band.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of

people turned out to see the band

when they played in north-west India

will stop in demand all over the

world, it is the biggest civilian

pipe band outside Scotland, with

youngsters joining up to loan the

instrument at 12 years old. All the

members are from the London Indian

community.

It has given me more

confidence. I was really shy as a

kid and did not talk to other

people. Being around other people

has helped a lot with confidence and

self belief.

Members stick to the

Scottish tradition of not discussing

what they were under their kilts,

but they will admit the skirt can be

a blessing in some of the hotter

countries they have visited,

especially given the weight of the

rest of the costume.

We have got our

feather bonnets on the head and we

have got the tightest doublets and

the kilts and everything going on.

It is hot. Nonetheless, a three hour

procession in that heat and we still

made it through.

So a skirt is a

good thing?

Maybe a bit of breeze

underneath.

The next big parade will

take place in Monaco next month.

The best sound in the world in my

opinion. You are nodding as well.

I agree.

The rain today. For acute if you

have got a complaint. If you made it

to work today, it looked like that

through your window. I have had so

many pictures I could have plotted

all over London. If you stayed at

home it was not that much better. I

could have commuted down the Thames

rather than the M 40 given the

amount of water I ploughed through.

It all came from this feature, and

Georgina is in the Shetland Isles at

the moment. Much of the persistent

rain is away now. There will be a

sprinkling of showers urged along by

a south-westerly breeze for the rest

of the night. Much fresher feel the

night and was the case over the past

couple of months. No more double

figures, it will be down to five or

6 degrees. This is a new area of low

pressure and it will generate a

south-westerly breeze on Thursday.

And it will be a sunny start to the

day. However, there will be a

sprinkling of showers around and

some of those maybe a little bit

sharp. The temperature back on where

we have been, but still making it

double figures. There will be some

showers tomorrow evening and a

cooler night. That is as we go from

Thursday into Friday because the

isobars have a bit of a northerly

drift. That ridge of high pressure

will kill off the last of the

showers, but in western areas the

last of them are just out towards

the east. It is a decent sort of

day, but the temperatures will be

between seven and nine and it is

mild but cloudy and windy at the

weekend.

Just before we go tonight,

let me recap on the day's

main news stories.

Charities, including

Great Ormond Street hospital have

refused donations from a men-only

fundraising event after claims that

women were reportedly groped

and sexually harassed.

An undercover newspaper reporter

made the claim about the annual

President's Club dinner in London.

A jury's been told that a man

accused of carrying out

the Finsbury Park terror attack last

June kept smiling and blew a kiss

at the crowd after ploughing a van

into Muslim worshippers.

Darren Osborne is accused of murder

and attempted murder.

The former Labour MP

for Dulwich and Sydenham,

Dame Tessa Jowell, has been talking

publicly for the first time

about being diagnosed with a severe

form of brain cancer.

She said she wants more patients

to have access to a new drug trial.

That is it for now. If you missed

any of the night's programme or a

one to watch it again, it is on the

BBC iPlayer. Join us at 10:30pm for

our next