06/02/2018 London News

days.

Thank you.

Coming up on the programme:

A drugs scare at a

Wandsworth secondary -

six schoolgirls are hospitalised

after taking what's thought

to be prescription drugs.

The Metropolitan Police told us they

were called to the school and

believe at this stage the girls may

have consume prescription drugs.

We'll have more details.

Also tonight:

The man who had to wait more than 13

hours for an ambulance

after suffering a stroke.

Plus this is the most congested

road in the country -

we'll tell you the growing cost

of delays to drivers in the capital.

And: She is supposed to have flung a

shoe at a policeman at the May Day

fair, trying to arrest Sylvia.

We hear how east Londoners fought

for a woman's right to vote -

as London marks one

hundred years of suffrage.

Welcome to BBC London News

with me, Riz Lateef.

We start tonight with a drugs scare

at a secondary school.

Six girls were taken to hospital

after they took what's believed

to be prescription drugs.

None of the pupils is said to be

in a serious condition

but counselling is being offered

to the schoolgirls -

as well as their parents.

Our education reporter,

Marc Ashdown, has the story.

Is a popular school rated as good by

inspectors, but it is at the centre

of a possible drugs scare. 1700

pupils study here, and the alarm was

raised yesterday lunchtime of the

six girls were taken ill, seemingly

unable to even stand up. The head

teacher did not want to do an

interview with us today but has said

in a statement that as soon as she

became aware the girls were unwell,

she called paramedics and a lot of

their parents. The six girls were

taken to a local hospital to be

treated, accompanied by family

members. The head said they have now

been discharged and as far as she is

aware, thankfully, they've suffered

no long-term ill effects. The

Metropolitan Police told us they

were called to the school by the

Ambulance Service. They explained:

Some parents and pupils told us

today that Xanax had been taken by

some students. It is used to cope

with anxiety, not available on the

NHS, but it can be got with a

private prescription and can be

addictive. The school is cooperating

fully with the police investigation.

There is relief here that the girls

seem to be OK. So, some pretty

worrying times here, then. I have

spoken to parents this afternoon as

the kids were coming out of school,

and I have to say, there is

widespread concern that these

prescription drugs, not available on

the NHS, remember, seem to be wildly

over -- widely available to pupils

at school is not just here but

across London through the internet.

We don't know how old these girls

were at the school. I'm led to

believe by a few people that they

could be year nines and yet 11s. If

that is true, they could be as young

as 13 years old. This is an academy,

so the local authority does not have

much to do with it. But it does

retain oversight when it comes to

safeguarding. I'm told they have

stepped in to offer support to the

school, to parents, and also to

pupils in the form of counselling,

we believe, and they, too, have

launched an investigation to try to

get to the bottom of exactly what

has gone on here. Mark, thanks for

bringing us up-to-date with the

latest from Wandsworth.

Coming up later in the programme:

Should e-cigarettes be

available on the NHS to help

people quit smoking?

The new research that

says they should.

More than 13 hours.

That's how long a man from Essex had

to wait for an ambulance

after suffering a stroke.

He's raised concerns that his case

wasn't going to be investigated

until he complained.

Nikki Fox has the story.

Home from hospital,

building site manager

David Axford is on the mend,

but feels let down by

what he went through.

He just said he had

an excruciating headache,

and he was literally just, you know,

with his head, he just

kept laying down all the time,

he couldn't really stand up.

I was telling them, you know,

that I couldn't feel my legs.

You know, she'd phoned and said

I'd had a nose bleed.

His eyes were a bit blurry,

he was slurring, he started to lose

the feeling in his legs,

they went a bit tingly.

He had pains on his spine,

at the base of his back.

They were told a paramedic

would be sent.

They thought they'd get

a response within 15 minutes.

They kept trying to reassure me,

the ambulance is coming,

the ambulance is coming.

And then he's obviously

starting to get stressed.

So it's making it much worse,

the pain in his head and everything.

And he actually said at one stage

he felt like his head

was going to explode.

It was lunchtime on December 30th.

The trust has told us

it was under severe pressure,

with more than 4,000 calls.

They decided it needed

a two-hour response.

But by the evening,

the Axfords were still waiting.

Four times they dialled 999.

David's wife was even asked

to take him to hospital,

but couldn't lift him.

He thought he was going to die.

I did, yeah.

Yes, I thought he was going to die.

That was the hardest part.

Face, has it fallen on one side?

Just last week, an NHS campaign

highlighted the urgency of calling

999 after signs of a stroke.

David's ambulance finally

turned up 13 hours later,

at 3.30 in the morning.

Just around the corner

from the Axfords is

Canvey Ambulance Station,

where the paramedic response car is

based.

We've discovered on the night

they called 999, it wasn't staffed.

And the Ambulance Service

plans to take it away.

That's concerning some.

A.

B.

B...

When Mila had a fit,

the proximity of paramedics was key.

It is absolutely vital

to us on the island.

When my daughter, Mila, had

a seizure, the paramedic response

vehicle was here in six minutes.

And that was crucial

in order to calm us

down.

If that is a patient

suffering a stroke or a heart

attack, those seconds are vital.

But the Ambulance Service says no

decision has been made and most

patients need an

ambulance, not a car.

The trust wouldn't talk to us

about this case specifically

but it's confirmed 12 people may

have died

because of delays over Christmas.

David's prognosis is good,

but his eyesight's worsened and his

driving licence withdrawn.

Something somewhere is going

wrong with the system.

And obviously it does need

seriously looking at,

because I could have

been sitting on my own.

Until he complained,

David's case wasn't even one

of the 40 under investigation.

Proof the Christmas delays may

well be more widespread

than first thought.

Nikki Fox, BBC London News.

The Mayor has joined the row over

who should foot the £2 million

pound bill to remove Grenfell-style

cladding from a housing

complex in Croydon.

Leaseholders in the two tower blocks

currently face paying around £30,000

for removing the flammable material.

A tribunal is looking

into whether that's fair.

But Sadiq Khan has written

to the Government urging

them to cover the costs.

Here's our political

editor Tim Donovan.

Three of the 95 leaseholders arrived

for today's Tribunal hoping for a

judgment that will spare them each a

bill of thousands of pounds. The few

days after Grenfell, the cladding on

their flat in Croydon was deemed

unsafe. Since then, fire wardens

have patrolled inside, at a cost of

£4000 a week. At first, leaseholders

got an estimate for removing and

replacing the cladding of £500,000.

Later, it became £2 million. The

management agent said it was they

who would be liable to pay through

their service charge. The tribunal

was told the builders of the block

and the current freeholders had been

asked if they would contribute to

the refurbishment of the flats. They

said no, leaving it to the managing

agents. The agents had tried without

success to get borrowing and had

also been lobbying the Government.

On that point, they were in

agreement with the leaseholders, and

there was a major intervention on

this from the Mayor of London today.

I say to the Government, stepped in

in the meantime, get the cladding

removed and replaced, and then

resolve who should pay the cost.

Many of them cannot afford to pay

£30,000 to have this cladding

removed and replaced.

The presiding

judge said he sympathised with

leaseholders over their predicament,

but this will come down to an

interpretation of the lease. The

lawyers for the leaseholders argued

that replacing this key cladding

could not be regarded as repairs or

maintenance as defined in the lease.

Lawyers for the managing agent said

that these leases did cover all such

conceivable expenditure.

I don't

have a particular view is one way or

the other. I am just exhausted and

stressed out at the moment to even

stand and speak here about what the

outcome could be.

The judge said he

would produce is ruling as soon as

possible. Every week that passes,

the cost of doing nothing about this

cladding is mounting. Tim Donovan,

BBC London News.

Should e-cigarettes be offered free

on the NHS to people

trying to give up smoking?

Public health England say it

would be a safe and effective way

to help save thousands of lives lost

every year to smoke

related illnesses.

Quitting smoking can be challenging.

I did patches, tried everything.

This man had at habit for 24 years

before trying e-cigarettes. He says

they changed his life.

It has been

seven months, and I haven't had a

cigarette. I can smell a little bit

more. I don't have bad breath, my

hair doesn't smell, and my clothes

are fresh.

E-cigarettes have helped

thousands of people to stop the

habit. Unlike nicotine patches and

gum, they are not free on the NHS.

The body promoting health in the UK

wants that the change.

It would be

helpful that doctors could prescribe

e-cigarettes, which would be free

for smokers. It would also send a

strong message that these are

effective quitting agents, promoted

by the health service, and likely to

help them.

Although vaping is not

entirely risk-free, the latest

research shows that e-cigarettes 95%

safer than regular cigarettes

because they don't include most of

the toxic chemicals found in smoke.

Researchers estimate they contribute

arouse and -- to around 20,000

people quitting every year. Around

40% of smokers haven't tried them.

Some have voiced concerns over the

associated cost of e-cigarettes at a

time when the NHS is already pushed.

Doctors have a huge role to play in

giving good information to patients

and saying this is a good thing to

do and it is recommended. Whether or

not taxpayers pay for people to

vape, that is another question.

There is a talk about getting NHS

spending down, and spending on

essential services, not

prescriptions.

If you have an

addiction, why provide another one?

And why should the NHS do it?

Eventually, a lot of people would

want to quit if that is available to

them.

I think there are more

important things to spend our money

on than vaping.

No e-cigarettes are

currently licensed in the UK is a

smoking quitting aid.

Still to come this Tuesday evening:

There have been events across London

today to mark 100 years since the

first women got the vote. I am in

Trafalgar Square, often the focal

point for the protests that ran up

to that monumental moment in

history.

And there may just be some

snow tonight. I will have the full

forecast later in the programme.

We know that the capital has some

of the most congested roads

in the UK.

Today we found out just how much

it's costing London motorists.

New research says the average cost

of delays is almost two and half

thousand pounds per driver a week.

That amounts to an estimated nine

and a half billion pounds

to London's economy.

It also found that the most

congested road in the country is...

..a stretch of the A406

near Hangar Lane.

From there, Alice Hutton

sent this report.

This is the busiest road in Britain.

Drivers on the North

Circular between Hanger

Lane and Chiswick spend

more time sitting in

traffic than anywhere

in

the country.

Going at speeds of just 13 mph.

And it's not just

wasting their time.

It costs drivers in the capital

thousands on wasted fuel and

work, including those

at this motoring cafe.

You realise how much of your time

you waste sitting in a

car with the radio on.

You know what I mean?

You can do ten miles

here and it can take an hour.

If you go ten miles where

I live, in Welwyn Garden,

it will take you ten

minutes, 15 minutes.

So it's like four times just

to sit and listen to

the radio.

Nick Barton has been on the road

is a heavy goods driver for

over 25 ears.

--over 25 years.

It's extremely tiring, as I say.

The profits could be X amount

in the end of nothing due to

the extra fuel.

The health.

You know, you don't

sleep as much and

you're extremely tired

when you're driving.

And it's just not good

at all for somebody's health.

The top five most congested

roads in the UK are

all in London.

It is a global city. The population

is rising. The economy grew by 2.3%,

higher than the rest of the UK. More

people want to get out in their car,

doing business and travelling for

leisure. We run old city with an

ageing infrastructure.

Despite

millions being spent on

improvements, London remains the UK

but like most congested city for the

ten -- for ten years running, and

the delays continue to grow. Today,

the Department for Transport has

said it is investing £23 billion on

schemes to reduce congestion in the

UK. They call it the biggest

investment in a generation. They are

also giving record amounts of

funding to local councils, around £9

billion, to help them upgrade

infrastructure. The Department for

Transport also said that the

ultimate responsibility for clearing

London's traffic filled streets lies

with the Mayor and Transport For

London.

Next, you've not been

performing since

the start of the year and,

as a result, your boss makes

you take three days off.

That's what's happened

to Chelsea players after

a shock defeat last night.

It's a surprising move by any

manager, let alone one whose future

at the club is in doubt.

Our sports reporter Chris Slegg

is here to shed light on it all.

Yes, pretty unusual. We're used to

seeing players cold and director

training when they've had a horrific

result like Chelsea did last night

against Watford last night. Antonio

Conte has given us play three days

off because he says they need rest.

They have had a hectic extra

schedule but not now get a play

until next Monday night. It has been

an alarming fall for grace for

Antonio Conte. He led Chelsea to the

title in his first season in charge

last season. Last night's 4-1 defeat

to Watford came off the back of a

defeat to Bournemouth. The first

time Chelsea have had two league

defeats in six session by that

bigger margin since 1995. This is

what Antonio Conte said last night

when asked if the pressure was

building on him.

Which pressure?

What is the pressure?

Well, the pressure on your position.

This?

On my position?

I repeat, I work.

If this is enough, it is OK.

Otherwise, they will

take another decision.

Antonio Conte saying, look, if the

club don't feel I am doing a good

job, they will take another

decision. He almost seems resigned

to his eventual fate.

As the club said anything publicly

about his future?

They haven't, despite Antonio Conte

asking them at the weekend to which

statement saying they still backing.

The BBC understands he is not in

imminent danger and he will not be

sacked now. But it is hard to

envisage that he has much more time

of results don't improve. We will

have to see this culture to gamble

of the players the days of dollars

payoff when they play against West

Brom on Monday night. Because if it

doesn't, especially with the

Champions League set to resume later

this month, it is hard to see him

staying there and offer what longer.

Let's see what happens. Chris,

thanks very much.

Turning now to how

the capital has been marking

a hundred years since the first

women got the vote.

Trafalgar Square is among the places

marking the centenary because it

played a key role,

As Wendy Hurrell, who's

there, can tell us.

Trafalgar Square is a place for

Londoners to celebrate but also

protest. No different to 100 ewes

ago. In the weeks and months that

ran on to this day in 1918, women

marched together brandishing their

placards and banners, wanting to get

the vote. They made speeches from up

here on the plinth next to the

lions. Today, this temporary

exhibition was unveiled and it puts

faces 259 names who were involved in

the suffrage movement. -- faces to

59 names. The statue of Millicent

Fawcett will go into Parliament

Square in the spring. There are some

famous names here. That of course of

Evelyn Pankhurst and her daughter,

Sylvia. It is our campaign that my

colleague has been hearing about

today.

And the story that takes us to East

London. The popular image of the

suffragettes. Educated, middle-class

women campaigning for the vote. For

working-class women in the East End

slums, the idea was unimaginable.

Except to Sylvia Pankhurst, the

leading suffrage campaign, who

thought that they needed it the

most.

She was a lifelong software --

socialist. When the day came that

they would be awarded the vote, she

felt they would not be served by the

law when that came in. She very

deliberately looked for the largest

working-class community near London,

Westminster.

She set up headquarters

next local pub that became a focal

point to mobilise local women. Many

of whom campaigned against the harsh

conditions. That's when he met two

of the descendants of Jane Savoy,

one of the activists at the time.

Our grandmother said that she was a

suffragette and used to chain

herself to the railings.

She went to

see the Prime Minister to make her

case for the vote.

She talked about

how hard she had to work.

She worked

as a brush maker. It was from that

that Herbert Asquith had some

sympathy with them.

He was not a

supporter of women's rights. When

they went to meet with him, he

closed the meeting by saying, well,

if the change must come, we must be

bold and face it. That was

interpreted at the time in the press

as a sign that votes for women was

on the way.

They kept the pressure

on with militant tactics.

She is

supposed to have the issue at the

policeman trying to arrest Sylvia.

So she was a militant as well. All

our family, the women in the family

have always been very strong,

forthright women. And I can only

assume that she stood up for what

she believed in. And she actually,

you know, took part in history to

bring this all about.

Jane savaloy

died in 1928, the same year that all

women were given the vote. Her

leader and friend, Helen Pankhurst,

wrote this tribute.

The grey streets

are grey and cold for her loss. A

lovely tribute to what they thought

of fire in the area. -- what they

thought of her.

That is one of the unsung heroes.

Another one here, this lady,

campaigned for birth control.

Another Londoner. And there are men

in this crowd as well, supporters of

the suffrage movement. There have

been, well standing here, quite a

few women joining the ranks and

having their picture taken.

Appreciation for everything these

women sacrificed. The hardships they

suffered to give us the vote today.

Of course, there is still work to be

done which I am sure has been at

knowledge. Millicent Fawcett is at

the back, but come spring, no more.

Her statue will stand in Parliament

Square, the first woman's statue

ever to stand in Parliament Square.

Back to you from a very chilly

Trafalgar Square.

I'm sure it is. It goes without

saying that it is thanks to them

that we are where we are now.

Thanks, Wendy.

To a teenager now forging her own

path to become a champion debater.

She is the first state schools

didn't win the individual prize

attempt eating -- Eton debating

competition.

You need to be committed. If you

have a voice, don't be afraid to

stand out. Challenge other people's

notions.

I grew up in East London, Manor

Park, with my parents, brother and

grammar. -- grandma.

As you grow older and wiser, you

start to think about where best your

talents and skills can be utilised.

Nice words from a remarkable young

woman.

Elizabeth's here with the forecast -

same cold weather but something

new for us as well?

Yes, same old me as well. I haven't

changed but the graphics have.

Really exciting day for us and BBC

weather. We have these new graphics

to show you. We are very fond of

them already. You can see a nice

window on the world. These other

Weather Watchers pictures. This was

taken today. We had lots of sunshine

around and someone drew showers as

well as some lakes of snow outside

broadcast house. -- flakes of

well as some lakes of snow outside

broadcast house. -- flakes of snow.

We could wake up to a light dusting

of snow, particularly in eastern

areas. Coming milder later through

the week and then we expect some

rain, actually. It will be quite a

wet weekend for many others and

quite windy. Overnight tonight, a

Met Office weather warning some

snow. This is for eastern areas,

really. And we could see these snow

showers come down from the North

West. This is Cloutier. The white

blobs arsenal pushing in from the

north-west cleaving into tomorrow

morning. Even central London could

see a light dusting heading into

tomorrow morning but it is likely to

be worse out towards eastern areas.

Other places staying dry, a cold

night, temperatures down to -3 or

minus four Celsius. Widespread frost

heading into tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is going to be quite a nice

day. There's no cloud on the map.

Lots of sunshine through the day

tomorrow. Some cloud developing in

south-eastern areas of the capital

heading into afternoon perhaps. Top

temperatures are little higher than

they were at 56 Celsius. Thursday

looks dry but we have a weather

front coming from the north-west. --

at five or six Celsius. Temperatures

will climb as we head through the

end of the week. Displaying nicely

on our new temperature graphics.

There will also be some rain around

as well but until then, quite cold.

Thanks very much.

Recapping the main headlines:

Executives at Carillion have

apologised for the company's

collapse, but deny claims by MPs

that they were "asleep

at the wheel."

They've explained for

the first time in public

what went wrong at the firm.

Share prices around

Europe dropped sharply

following yesterday's big falls

in the US.

Stock markets in London,

Paris and Frankfurt all fell

in early trading before

recovering some ground.

More than 35 years after

the IRA's Hyde Park bomb,

the families of the men who died win

legal aid for civil

action against a suspect.

That's it for now. We welcome your

views on the day's stories on

Facebook page. I will see you at the

Facebook page. I will see you at the

time tomorrow. Stay warm and have a

lovely evening. Goodbye.