08/02/2018 London News

our main story, hospital A&Es record

their worst waiting times last month

since records

Fined thousands of pounds

for illegally selling

skin-whitening cream,

the shop owner brought

to justice following

an investigation by this programme.

With film due selling these

products,, are you going to stop

now?

Also tonight, how missed

opportunities led to

the derailment of this busy

commuter train outside Wimbledon.

A report reveals how a defective

track wasn't inspected

during routine maintenance checks.

Plus, and you may want to look

away if you re eating.

Of historical significance,

part of the giant fatberg found

in a west London sewer

goes on display.

It smells like rotting meat, fresh

fatberg, but when dry, it smells

more like a smelly toilet.

And the women who have lived through

a century of change, we meet the 100

author from Highgate with a story to

tell.

Welcome to the programme

with me Riz Lateef.

Trading standards officers in

Southwark seized thousands of

products after going undercover to

expose his under the counter

business. As Tara Welch reports, it

is not the first time he has been

prosecuted for selling these are

legal treatments. When undercover

researcher tried to buy band skin

whitening products from this store

in Peckham in 2015, this is what

happened.

They offered us the biggest pot they

have. But look, former director,

Benaris Hussein, gets it from under

the counter, when we asked for a

receipt, he ripped the name of the

company from the receipt, earlier

that year and the year before that

he had been convicted for a similar

offence but that would not stop him,

when the council raided the shop,

this is what they found.

A

semi-hidden storage area, no ceiling

to it, you have to get in there on

your hands and needs, and there was

lots of steroid -based products. One

of those was that which we bought

before.

-- A former shop owner who

illegally sold dangerous skin

lightening products - has been fined

thousands of pounds, following an

investigation by this programme.

Banaras Hussain was given a

suspended sentence today after

pleading guilty to ten offences.

Trading Standards Officers in

Southwark seized thousands of

products after going undercover to

expose his under-the-counter

business. From the shop alone, 2500

potentially dangerous products were

seized by Southwark's trading

standards department. The blue cell

band cosmetics face going to prison

for up to two years, today, Benaris

Hussein escaped that, but was handed

a 15 week suspended sentence, and

ordered to pay costs and fines of

almost £26,000. -- Banaris Hussain.

And the footage from our

investigation was used as part of

the prosecution case. We filmed you

selling these products in your shop

two years ago, Mr Hussain, we wonder

if you. Now, you have been convicted

for times.

I. Now, happy?

What would

you say to the people who may have

been harmed?

Who was harmed?

Your

products can cause liver damage,

skin problems, organ failure.

No

comment. -- I will stop now, happy?

This sends a message to people who

want to sell harmful illegal

products, trading said it will

prosecute and bring them to justice.

This is not just a problem here in

Southwark, according to London

trading standards, in 2016, 15

businesses across the capital were

fined more than £168,000, for

dealing in unsafe cosmetic products.

And while they are still in demand,

we are likely to see more

convictions from those profiteering

from selling them.

Plenty more ahead tonight,

including:

the bogus rubbish collectors

who are conning people

by dumping their waste illegally.

A controversial £2

billion housing scheme

planned for north London has been

given the green light

after campaigners failed

in their attempts to block it.

Some residents argued that

a decision by Haringey Council

to approve the plan was unlawful.

But today at the High Court

their challenge was thrown out.

Despite the legal ruling

a political row now threatens

the development's future.

As Susana Medonca reports.

timing has been everything in this

saga, Haringey council wanted to get

it steal for a multi-million pound

regeneration scheme signed off

months ago, protest is used a High

Court challenge to slow things down,

Labour infighting and the tick-tock

of local elections fast approaching

force council to pause the whole

thing. Protest is still see this as

a victory, even though it has not

been declared unlawful.

Politically,

the climate has completely changed

as a result of our efforts, but we

need to have a high-level decision

and we need to have a decision to

stop, not just to halt, to kill it

off, to go back and think again.

This is a ruling the council had

expected back in the autumn, though

the judge has given it the go-ahead

but the political situation has

changed completely. The council

leader announced her resignation

last week amid claims of bullying

and sexism in the Labour Party,

councillors who supported her plans

have been deselected in favour of

people aligned to the left wing

group, momentum, which supports

Jeremy Corbyn. Last night, the

Labour group here backed a motion to

stall any decision on regeneration

until after the local elections in

May.

I have no pleasure in proposing

this amendment, because I still

believe, I believe as firmly today

and it may not be popular, but I

believe it, that this is the best

solution available to us because

politics means engaging in the world

as it is rather than the world as we

may want it to be.

The reality is

that politically, time ran out for

the council leader to sign of the

housing plans, while she was waiting

to get today's OK from the High

Court. This estate in Tottenham is

one of those areas remark for --

earmarked for regeneration, which is

a partnership with a private

developer. Protesters were concerned

about the future of social housing

and last night one Labour opponent

of the HTV said that the party was

now speaking with one voice.

There

is unity in the Labour group around

the reality that the HTV will

certainly not proceed under this

administration and it will be left

to the next administration. I think

the HTV has ended.

It is a case of

waiting for time to pass, until meat

back may's local election brings in

a new set of council is expected to

decide what happens next. -- until

May's local elections.

Our political editor

Tim Donovan is in Westminster.

Given the feelings this has

evoked on all sides,

what's your sense of whether this

big regeneration plan go ahead?

So toxic, so much more than a local

housing row, the cost of this

factional political dimension within

Labour, which gives it, perhaps,

much wider resonance and then just

this north London borough worried

about future, 20 years of

rebuilding, knocking down what

happens at the end of this, fears

that are shared by people in estates

across London, with big regeneration

projects, but here we have Momentum,

grassroots group which backs Jeremy

Corbyn, demonised by some as hard

left and aggressive and intimidating

but they themselves say they are

only trying to revive local

democratic practice and local

politics, protecting local interests

and this into people. That is what

the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell

said today:

I am hoping now that

there is a real listening to the

local community and I think that is

what the Labour Party is doing,

because the feeling I was getting

from when I was up there is that

people were not confident that this

scheme would deliver them the secure

homes they need, that is why there

needs to be a real reconsideration.

What is likely to happen now?

Binary choice, say the current

administration, do nothing and

Brookside over gradual decline or

dilapidation. -- you do nothing and

decided. Or you can buy the bullet

and go in with a developer who can

do the job but there is concerned

about private sector involvement. --

preside. The people who have opposed

it, it is likely to will form a

majority in the next Labour

administration after May, half to

answer what they would do instead,

if they will reject altogether the

plans, if they say, we will not go

ahead with this, what alternative

are they going to be providing for

the local people up there instead?

Thank you.

Turning now, to how paying

to dispose of your rubbish

could land you with a fine.

Londoners are being warned that

bogus officials and unscrupulous

companies are charging residents

to remove waste,

only to dump it illegally.

The warning comes as councils across

the capital crackdown on flytipping.

Greg McKenzie reports from Harrow.

Seen here, the bogus

rubbish collector

who goes by the name of "Charlie."

He's accused of conning cash out

of residents and it appears

he's not the only one.

A truck turned up and the lady

next door paid £50.

I just had a feeling

it didn't look right,

so I questioned them

for their licence and the man

was sitting on the wall

with the elderly gentleman,

and he said, "I'm an old man,

I haven't got it with me."

It was a hot day.

Anyway they seemed to bundle it

off quickly

once I sort of challenged them.

On the road with the Harrow

fly-tip squad this morning,

they tell me they're dealing

with more than 100 call-outs

per week and the problems

across the borough are plain to see.

We are seeing it increasing.

There's a lot of what we call beds

in sheds happening around

the borough, where people are not

allowed to use the main wheelie bins

or anything like that so they just

dump in black bags willy-nilly

anywhere, and that's

without the mattresses,

the fridges, the white goods.

You can imagine.

And this is just some

of the stuff the fly-tip squad

are collecting on a daily basis.

In here, some building materials,

some tiles in there.

Then back here you

have got a toilet.

This is a toilet lid.

The rest of the toilet is back here,

and this stuff is literally dumped

on the street in Harrow

on a daily basis.

The council say they have a clear

and strict policy on fly-tipping

and will prosecute those

who are caught, even if they are

duped by the conman.

My warning to residents

is ultimately this is the resident's

responsibility to make

sure their waste is

disposed of properly.

The best thing to do is check people

have a waste transfer certificate

and they get a waste transfer note

to make sure the person that's

picking up the rubbish is legally

able to do that.

And Harrow isn't alone in trying

to tackle a surge in fly-tipping.

Only last year

Wandsworth Borough saw a

153% increase, with Ealing

seeing a 103% spike

in fly-tipping incidents.

I'm passionate to make sure we make

Harrow clean again, so a small

number of lazy, irresponsible

people, they are disgusting people,

I want to do everything I can

to stamp it out, to stop it, to make

sure it doesn't happen again.

And as for the alleged scammer

in Harrow, the council

say he could still be

operating his criminal

enterprise in the borough,

so be warned.

Greg McKenzie, BBC London news.

A section of railway track

where a commuter train derailed

might not have had a safety check

for more than 20 years.

Three hundred people

were trapped on the train

when it came of the tracks

near Wimbledon last autumn.

An investigation has shown that

neither Network Rail nor London

Underground had taken

responsibility for its safety.

Emma North

is at Wimbledon

station with the story.

People may find this hard to

believe.

Well, we have to go back to

about the 7th of November last year

to find out exactly what happened

and why this story is so

astonishing, the 4:54pm from

Basingstoke on the way into Waterloo

when it got to Wimbledon, slowing

down to 19 mph, passengers on board

experienced enormous bump and a

grinding along the gravel and people

said they saw sparks flying on

either side of the carriage. The

entire rear carriage of the train

had come off the tracks and was on

the stones. About 300 people were

trapped on the carriage until the

Fire Service could rescue them and

take them to safety, four were

slightly hurt. Why had this come

about? The train was travelling on a

little bit of linking track that

connected two lines, the first line

was operated by Network Rail, the

other one was operated by London

Underground. Who was operating this

little linking bit of track the

train was on? It appears, absolutely

nobody! This report found it could

be as far back as 1994 when someone

had checked to see that this line

was safe. Of course, over time, the

track had worn down, it had become

40, and last November, the entire

carriage comes off the railway line.

And we asked a transport expert how

many of these little connecting

lines are dotted around the London

transport infrastructure. -- it had

become faulty.

There has not been a

crash that led to fidelity is in

more than ten years, railways are

incredibly saved, in comparison to

road and also in relation to Europe

and America, where there are more

accidents per thousand passengers

kilometres or whatever. I don't

think passenger should be worried

about their journey tonight.

Three

things have been recommended, first,

staff and managers should know where

the boundaries are, between

operators, secondly, they should be

written down, thirdly, when people

are working on tracks, they should

know where they are and they should

be marked, Network Rail and Tfl has

spoken to me today and said that

they are now working together to try

to identify these spots and make

sure something like this does not

happen again.

"We have a big hill to climb" -

the words of the Liberal

Democrat leader Vince Cable

as his party prepares for May's

local elections in London.

He says they won't be easy,

but that he expects his

party to gain ground.

Here's our political

correspondent Karl Mercer.

This morning

he was looking at plans

for the future.

Not his own or those of his party,

but those for a London

cancer hub in Sutton.

In April work will start

here on a new drug development

centre at the Institute

for Cancer Research.

A month later, Vince Cable's party

will be fighting local elections

across the capital.

It will be tough.

You are in a room at the moment with

two thirds of your MPs in London

because there are only three of you,

and only one council leader. You

have a big hill to climb.

Yes, these

will not be easy local elections but

we are confident in Richmond and

Kingston we will make advances and

possibly take the councils, but

certainly make advances.

Something

we haven't talked about

post-Brexit...

The chief executive

raised the issue of Brexit, a

concern he says for some in the

scientific community, and one that

the Lib Dem leader may play as an

issue in London more than anywhere

else in the country.

I think London,

because London was so anti-Brexit,

that mood is still there. Of course

they are local elections but in

recent years local elections have

become more and more a test of the

national governments so that

will be a factor and in addition

European nationals will have a vote

in local elections and I wouldn't be

surprised if they expressed their

views strongly.

The Lib Dems will target

their traditionally strong areas

in the south west of the capital.

Their main priority though will be

holding on to the one council

they currently run -

Sutton.

Hopefully I will have people around

me supporting me, but I will say

that London leaders, whatever their

political colours, work closely. We

are doing a lot of joint work to

develop London is an exciting global

city but after the elections I

intend to be here and hopefully I

will be part of a wider group.

That of course will be a decision

she wont get to make.

That will be down

to the voters in May.

Next, continuing our

series this week marking

the centenary of the first women

getting the vote.

Tonight we meet

100-year-old Diana Athill,

who was editor some of the greatest

authors of the 20th century

and went on to become

a successful writer herself.

But she was never paid the same

as her male co workers,

and says she regrets just putting

up with it.

Sarah Harris has been to meet her.

Still making a living

by writing at her Highgate

flat aged 100 years old,

Diana Athill says this work ethic

was instilled in her by her family.

I think they were rather modern

in their attitudes to women

and never in my childhood did it

strike me that one was

limited by being a woman.

After leaving Oxford University,

Diana joined the BBC before setting

up a publishing company with

Andre Deutsch.

Despite being equal partners,

their profits weren't split evenly.

If a woman enjoys her job, she is

I mean everybody knew that I was one

of the leading editors in London.

Presumably everyone knew

I was earning a good

deal less than Andre.

You only had to see

our cars to see that!

The one regret Diana has is not

fighting harder for women's rights.

Even today she believes

the push should be stronger.

I've always felt, I suppose,

that getting the vote was important

but I've always felt we haven't used

it particularly well.

There's more we should

have done with that.

She's worked with some

of the greatest writers

of the 20th century,

but it's being an author herself

that has brought Diana the most joy.

The minute I retired

when I was in my late

70s and into my 80s,

I began to have time

to write, and then I wrote.

And then, that was

absolutely wonderful.

I loved that.

And so I got happier and happier.

Sarah Harris, BBC London News.

Next, it's definitely one

of the more unusual things to go

on display in London.

And I should warn you,

in case you're eating,

we are talking about the giant

fatberg that was found beneath

the streets in Whitechapel.

A small part of it is being

exhibited at the Museum of London.

Why, you may ask.

Wendy Hurrell

went to find out more

about the toxic lump.

September last year, one of the

biggest fatbergs in the world was

found in the Victorian sewers below

Whitechapel, 250 metres long. To

give you a visual reference of the

size of that monster, its length was

the entire span of Tower Bridge plus

an extra six metres. The Museum of

London wanted a piece of it, so here

it is the last remaining part of the

Whitechapel fatberg, safely encased

in two thick glass boxes. The oils

have been air dried so it's almost

like a rock now but in its greasy

grip things like sweet wrappers are

sticking out. It has also hatched

its own flies and nobody knows what

will happen to it next. Nobody has

ever tried to preserve a fatberg

before.

It is very experimental,

low-temperature storage, freezing,

storage and from all the hide, we

slowly ruled all of those out.

It

stops letting off toxic gases now.

The smell, in case you were

wondering...

Fresh fatberg smells

like rotting meat or rotting dirty

nappies, but dry fatberg has a bit

more of a smelly toilet sort of

smell. The Whitechapel fatberg,

London took that word and made it

global.

So the media came from all

over the world to see the novelty

exhibit but also because their

cities have a similar problem.

These

fatbergs have been found all over

London and the world and it's a good

way of putting it on display on

starting a difficult conversation

about what we are doing to our city,

and do we need to look at our own

actions and how we might need to do

things differently.

It will be on

display at least until July, a stark

reminder of our issues with waste in

the metropolis.

She gets the glamorous jobs!

There's always a buzz

around a new Marvel superhero movie.

But tonight's premiere

of Black Panther has even more

resonance with many Londoners.

Asad Ahmad reports from the red

carpet in Hammersmith.

I'm joined by two stars from the

film. Thank you for coming in.

Daniel, first of all in a few weeks

you are up for an Oscar for Best

actor, you are one of the stars of

Black Panther, not a bad year

really, is it?

Yeah, it's all right!

I am just thankful. It's been a

surreal year but it's amazing to be

in something like this which I

believe in. I have been a fan of

Martin since the beginning so it is

a surreal time for me.

How does it

make you feel that great black

actors are having to to America in

order to make their mark and become

known before they come back over

here?

Great white actors are doing

that too. It depends on your

ambition and your aspiration. I feel

like there's a lot of great black

stage actors in Britain and

sometimes if your aspiration is for

a certain kind of mainstream or

project, you have to go to America

and the reasons are different.

Martin Freeman, when you got the

script for this, a lot of talk about

the black hat and black heroes, did

that bother you, that this film was

about so many firsts or did you look

at it on the quality of the script?

Always you want to be in a good film

because the social political side of

it and the ramifications of it being

a significant movie is important but

if it's not a good film, who cares.

It was good to have those

conversations with the director, and

he felt the same thing.

Do you still

hang out with your old friends in

London?

I am about, at Tesco Metro,

you see me! Sometimes I'm in Beverly

Hills, sometimes I'm in Southgate.

Martin, Hollywood or here?

Camden

Morrisons, often. Other supermarkets

are also available!

Sainsbury's!

I'm

going to let you get back to the

media scrum. The film is on general

release from tomorrow.

Beverly Hills to Southgate, I love

it. What about the weather?

Matt Taylor is the man to tell us.

We had a lovely bright start today

with the frost on the ground but as

this shot from marble arch shows, it

finished fairly cloudy and there is

wet weather to come through tonight.

Courtesy of a zone of cloud pushing

eastwards across the country,

clearer skies to come. We will see

some of that tomorrow afternoon but

certainly tonight the cloud is

thickening up. The breeze is

strengthening as well. We may even

seek gale force gusts through the

night. While it is dry at the

moment, for the first part of the

night we will see heavy rain. With

some clearing skies out towards the

west, parts of Buckinghamshire the

temperatures may drop low enough for

a touch of frost. A bit of early

brightness around through the

morning but quickly cloud thickening

up and from the late rush hour

onwards through the morning we will

see thickening cloud bringing

outbreaks of rain, hail and sleet at

times. That clears to the south and

east, but Western areas of the

capital towards the Home Counties is

where we will see the best of the

sunshine tomorrow, but it will feel

colder. With those clear skies

around, temperatures will plummet,

the blue on the map right across the

board, a frost to start the weekend

with parts of Essex and Kent down to

minus four. A chilly start to

Saturday, a lovely start but we will

see cloud increase from the west

through the day. It should stay dry

until the end of the afternoon.

South and east will see sunshine

here and there, but Saturday night

in Sunday expect wet

here and there, but Saturday night

in Sunday expect wet and windy

weather. No wonder the premiere was

inside! Thank you. That is it for

now, we will be back at 10:30pm so

for now, thanks