13/02/2018 London News

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Coming up on the programme...

teams where you are.

Why the Mayor is giving cash

to youth services to try and tackle

growing knife crime in the capital.

One of my friends, on his way home,

got stabbed in his face and the back

of his leg. So that was really

scary, because it's so close to

home.

Also ahead tonight...

We reveal the rising cost

of becoming a British citizen -

and how it's leaving some young

Londoners struggling with debt.

Towed overnight to the Essex coast -

the World War II bomb

which closed City Airport

yesterday will be detonated

when the weather improves.

Plus...

When dancing meets dining

in a theatrical way:

The new production where

the audience is actually

encouraged to eat.

A very warm welcome

to BBC London News.

Fatal knife attacks are all too

common across the capital,

with 17 happening since the start

of the year.

In a bid to tackle the problem,

the Mayor has announced millions

of pounds for youth services.

The Young Londoners Fund will give

the cash to charities and groups

who work to try to stop violence -

but will it be enough?

Charlotte Franks reports.

Some of the Londoners

who lost their lives last year

after being stabbed to death.

There were 80 victims in total.

Many were just teenagers.

For 19-year-old Gabrielle,

knife crime is an issue

very close to home.

Not long ago, one of my close

friends, on his way home

outside the hospital,

got stabbed in his face

in the back of his leg.

When I was on my way to the hospital

to see him, I was so scared.

Like, I didn't know what to expect.

It's scary, because it's like,

why do people feel like it's OK

to just go out there and do

things like that?

There's been a 23% increase in knife

crime across the capital.

Today, the Mayor met young people

at a centre in Bermondsey,

where he announced he will be

investing £45 million over the next

three years into youth services,

in the hope that it will help

tackle the issue.

It gives young people a place to go,

so they're not on the streets,

getting influences from bad places.

People have the option to come

here and have a safe zone

to go if they need it.

The money will come

from a combination of council

tax and business rates,

but the news comes just a day

after a warning that Met Police

could drop as low as 27,000.

Does it make sense to be spending

£45 million on projects like these

when we have just heard that police

numbers are going to be reduced

significantly in London?

I'm not going to apologise

for investing in young people.

This is an investment

for the future.

I'm investing in police as well.

We have had the biggest roll-out

of body-worn videos in the world

across London last year.

I announced additional sums

to the police last week.

We have also ringfenced some of that

towards dealing with knife crime.

In their fight against knife crime,

the Metropolitan Police carried out

dawn raids this morning

across Westminster to confiscate

knives and target repeat

knife crime offenders.

It's about keeping young people

safe during half term.

That's the focus of this

week's activity for us.

A lot of young people

and children are off school

and it's about keeping safe.

But workers in Bermondsey say

the answer to solving knife crime

begins at grassroots level,

with outreach programmes

key to their success.

What we are doing here

is preventative work.

We are not waiting

for problems to come.

We are preventing young people

from getting to where

they don't need to get to.

Once they get in there, the

unforeseen consequences are huge.

Most of the Mayor's funding

will be available for local

organisations to bid for.

It is hoped it will prevent more

young people in London

from becoming a victim in future.

Ayshea Buksh is at a youth project

in Hackney this evening.

Are you getting a sense

of whether this money will make

a difference to the work there?

I think any extra funding for any

youth project in the capital is

welcome. I'm inside The Crib youth

project, which is in the heart of an

estate in Hackney. They have been

working with young people here

locally for nearly 20 years. I'm

joined by Kelly Reed, one of the

coordinators here. Tell us what you

do here?

The Crib delivers lots of

workshops in and around London. We

have a workshop in schools where we

interact with young people about

knife crime. We also deliver the

parents' voice initiative, which is

important. We help parents identify

risky behaviour. It's important to

include the whole family and not

just the young people.

And how

important an announcement is this of

£45 million of extra funding for

youth services?

It is excellent

news. Literally, having this

funding, we know that The Crib as an

organisation will benefit from this,

but not just The Crib. It's

organisations at a grassroots level

who have been struggling since the

cuts to the council. So we are

really pleased.

And how difficult is

long term funding?

When I read the

paper on the new funding that is

coming out by the mayor, he

mentioned a three-year pot, which is

excellent because we often go on

about the sustainability of

projects. Five years would be

fantastic, but if three years is all

we have got, that is what we will do

with. We will definitely be

applying.

Thank you, Kelly. As you

heard, positive reaction to that

announcement, but a long term

investment is also really needed for

youth services.

Ayshea with reaction

to the news about the mayor's

funding Hackney. Thanks very much.

Coming up later in the programme...

How hailing a bus on your phone

could be the next stop

for commuters in the capital.

BBC London can reveal how much

the Government has made by raising

the cost of becoming

a British citizen.

It's collected more than £800

million over the past six years.

It can cost eligible applicants -

including children born in the UK -

around £1,000 to register.

But we've discovered it actually

only costs the Home Office

about £300 to process it.

They've told us the money

is reinvested to fund

the wider immigration system.

But as our Home Affairs

Correspondent Nick Beake reports,

it's left some young Londoners

struggling with debts.

Samson Adiola was born

in Nigeria and came to London

with his family when he was five.

He was entitled to British

citizenship, but never took it.

But when he turned 18

he decided to apply because

if he went to university

as an international student,

he'd have to pay much more.

He then found out that

officially becoming British

would cost nearly £1,000.

It was very difficult,

definitely for my mum,

having to go around looking at where

she could get the money from.

One of the main places we got help

from was the churcch and they put

a substantial amount together just

to help us out.

BBC London has learned the cost

of processing applications such

as his was only £260,

a quarter of what he was charged.

It's really kind of upsetting,

actually, that they are

actually doing this.

And for other people who may not

even be able to scrape

that money together,

who are entitled, or have the right

to British citizenship and can't put

forward the application

because of the cost.

It's really frustrating.

We came for a workshop.

Some charities which help families

gain British citizenship condemned

the rising Home Office fees.

To know that you have a right

to register as a British citizen,

parliament has given you that right

and the Secretary of State is trying

to profiteer and sell the benefit

that was given by Parliament as far

back as 1983.

It is a complete scandal.

The Home Office told us it has not

been making any profit

from these rising fees.

It said any income generated

above the actual cost of processing

an application goes into the budget

which helps protect the UK border.

And so it actually reduces

the burden on the taxpayer.

One thinktank labelled this yet

another stealth tax, although it did

argue that applicants would benefit

from British citizenship

in the long run.

These people are coming in to become

British citizens and I suppose

they should get used

to all these stealth taxes.

One more big one like this maybe

won't hurt if they get the benefit

of the National Health Service

and everything else.

Ministers stress that

for the likes of Samson,

taking British citizenship

is not compulsory.

But he wanted a guarantee he'd

be able to stay here,

although he now fears

others may also struggle

to pay for that assurance.

Nick Beake, BBC London News.

Counter-terrorism detectives

were called to the Houses

of Parliament today to investigate

a white powder sent in a letter.

The package was sent to one

of the offices in the building.

The substance was later found to be

harmless, but the office

remains closed as officers

carry out investigations.

Fire crews continue to damp down

once is left of the fire from the

Latin Greenford.

Three warehouses

were damaged. It took more than 120

firefighters to bring it under

control. Smoke could be seen for

miles around. The cause is not yet

known.

Transport for London has

announced it'll be expanding

Night Overground services in North

London.

They'll be extended to cover

Canonbury and Highbury and Islington

stations from 23rd February.

It means the Night Overground

will link with the Victoria Line

night-tube for the first time.

A free school in west

London which has only been

open for three years

is to permanently close at the end

of the academic year.

Parents say they were only told

of the decision on the last day

of term and are now faced

with the task of finding places

for their children for September.

Emma North has the story.

A half term get-together, a chance

to have fun and see your friends.

But at the end of this year, this

group will split up. Their primary

school is closing.

When I found out

that my school was closing, I was

speechless. The only word I said

was, why?

I miss my friends and I

miss my teachers also.

Theirs is a

so-called free School, paid for by

the government but ran by a group

called the Floriat trust. Floriat

say they can't make the finances

work. Some parents are not

convinced.

We have been fighting

with planning permission, with the

borough, the Department for

Education and Floriat trust for the

last three years.

This car park was

in much of the new school but a

planning application never went in

and now there are claims that the

children are caught up in a

political row.

They have been a

financial guinea pig. It was a

business opportunity they tried to

make work. They have decided that it

hasn't, so they shut it down. The

trust blend the Council, the council

blamed the Department for Education.

We have no idea where blame lies,

but it is our children that are

suffering.

No one from Floreat would

be interviewed today, but they said

a statement. We showed this to

Hounslow Council.

This is outrageous

and factually incorrect.

Had this

planning application been submitted,

do you think it would have been

approved?

Subject to planning

committee approval, yes, because it

had the support of the council.

So

were you surprised when the

application form didn't come in?

Yes, we were expecting it.

So why

are the arguments flying? Free

schools have often been the source

of bitter political battles.

It's

been interesting watching the free

schools such a mundane aspect, you

might say, trying to find premises

for a school being such an obstacle.

This is a story that hasn't gone

away. The government, which has a

big interest in making this look

successful, hasn't been able to

solve the problem.

The parents have

been promised meetings with both the

governors and the council, but

whatever the reason for the school's

closure, these pupils seem more keen

on playing proper games and less

keen on playing politics.

Now, could hailing a bus

on the street soon give way

to using your phone instead

and booking your seat in advance?

That's what a private company,

backed by motoring giant Ford,

has started doing on four

routes in south London,

a move criticised

by transport unions.

Gareth Furby can tell us more.

Deli Brian lives in Shooters Hill,

and says public transport

there isn't the best.

I get a bus service.

It runs regularly, but it is very

slow, and not too reliable.

But now she's found an alternative,

a new service that she books

onto using an app.

And it's telling me there's

a Chariot 6-8 minutes away.

That's my ticket.

The pick-up point is also marked

on the app, and a few minutes later,

her journey to work begins.

Morning!

Morning.

It's an idea that started

in California and has now come

to London, with four routes starting

to operate within

the past fortnight.

We were delighted that

Transport for London approved

the routes that we are taking,

because they recognise there

are areas where they are underserved

by public transport.

So we think that what we are

putting in naturally

complements public transport.

But a bus workers' union is worried

it could lead to this,

the fierce competition

for passengers that was seen

in London before 1933,

when public control was introduced.

This is effectively going back 100

years, when you could come out

with a bus and pick people up

if that's what you wanted.

We are going to have a series

of routes now where bus drivers

will be paid the London living wage,

which is considerably less

than the average bus driver now,

who would earn about £28,000.

I just stop at the bus stop here.

But Daniel has chosen to work

for the new company, and for 12

years, he was a London bus driver.

He says it does mean a pay

cut for him of around

£6,000, but it's worth it,

because the working

conditions are better.

Here you work Monday

to Friday, and you have

Saturday and Sunday off.

The London bus network carries over

6 million trips a day.

This is very much at

the margins of that.

And we are seeing whether this can

be a complement to potentially

strengthen that network.

And back with Deli, the new service

may be costing her a bit more,

but she is happy to pay.

It is £2.40 per journey,

which is about 90p more

than I currently pay on the bus,

which I find is excellent

value for money.

The buses get overcrowded under

constant stopping and starting is

frustrating.

Probably saves me about 20 minutes

on my journey time in the morning.

She says she will never take

a bus from home again,

and in a few months we will know how

many other Londoners

are joining her.

Gareth Furby, BBC London News.

Still to come this

Tuesday evening...

I'm at an event that combines

singing, socialising and sticky

ginger pudding.

And today it was

pretty cold out there, but there was

something drier and milder on the

way through the coming days. I will

have all the details later on.

The World War II bomb

which forced the closure

of London City Airport yesterday has

been towed to the sea off Essex.

The weather hampered efforts for it

to be detonated today.

A second empty shell

was discovered further along

Tolu Adeyoye has more.

Through the night, the Royal Navy

moved to work to move the unexploded

500 kilogram German World War II

bomb that grounded flights for an

entire day in London City Airport.

As City reopened this morning,

preparations were being made to

detonate the bomb, which had been

towed to Shoeburyness on the Essex

coast.

About ten hours, driving very slowly

and carefully down the

Thames.

They've just put it on to the sea

bed, very gently and they

are now guarding it,

keeping a watch on it

while we prepare

the

explosives to strap onto the bomb

and then we'll hopefully detonate

the bomb.

It's estimated there are still

thousands of unexploded bombs

in and around London.

Just this morning

a suspected device that

turned out to be a shell was found

near the Dartford Crossing.

This is a map of London

showing where the

bombs fell during the Blitz.

These are only the ones

that were known

about at the time or have

been discovered since.

Historians say industrial

areas and ports were

first targeted but the bombing soon

spread to civilian areas.

Really anywhere around

London and along the

Thames, heavily populated

areas, were targets.

And the problem with that is

they are the areas that are

now being redeveloped and rebuilt

and that's where we're discovering

so many more bombs now.

What happens if the bomb goes off.

There will be a big

noise and quite a lot of

damage.

Accepted wisdom on how to dispose

of the bombs has changed

over the decades.

This footage shows how

some experts were quite

literally working in

the dark when a mine

was discovered

in the Thames in 1957.

What's it been like down there?

You're shivering with cold.

It is jolly cold.

Have you been able to see

what you've been doing?

No, you can't see a thing.

Well, how have you

been working, then?

Just by touch.

Modern disposal methods are more

sophisticated and controlled

explosions have become more common.

The weather has meant

delays to today's planned

detonation so we'll

have to wait a little

longer for the Big Bang.

When was the last time

you stayed in a youth hostel?

I'm guessing - it probably

didn't look like this.

A capsule-style dormitory with just

enough room for a bed

and everything you need

inside a self-contained pod.

They've been popular

in Japan for years -

and Thomas Magill has been

to Borough to see if they'll

take off in the capital.

NEWSREEL: After a good night's rest,

another day lies ahead.

Getting a good night's

rest is not as easy as

you might think the many travellers

at some of the capital's youth

hostels.

Squeaky beds, people rustling

plastic bags at five in the

morning when they have

to catch an early flight.

Smelly feet!

Now one company that

runs seven budget-style

hostels across London has come up

with a solution which they hope will

solve the problem of

sharing with strangers.

Here we have introduced the first

capsule hostel in the UK.

We need to up our game

in terms of hostelling.

It is such a cool concept,

and as more and more people

understand that hostels are great

play to travel to, we need to up our

game and elevate our product.

So we thought we would

be the first to

give it a go.

Capsule style accommodation,

coming to Shanghai.

It might be new in London, but

sleeping capsules have been around

for a while in Japan.

For travellers who don't

mind a bit of a squeeze.

But can they work here?

Aiden is on holiday.

He's Australian and has already

spent one night cooped up

inside a capsule.

I have stayed in other hostels

and I have stayed in

cheap ones and expensive ones.

But with the bunk beds,

some of them can

get pretty loud at night,

whereas this one is the same price

as your normal hostel places,

but you can

come here and it's dead quiet

at night, so you get a good sleep.

This is just one of 26

pods in the dormitory.

If they prove popular amongst

travellers like Hayden,

bosses say more could be

created not just here,

but at the company's other

hostels across the city.

And just because they

are small, doesn't

mean to say they are basic.

For around £30 a night,

you get all mod

cons sought by today's savvy

travellers, like air conditioning,

USB points and mood lighting

at the touch of a button.

But some have suggested it

could be like sleeping

in a coffin.

Hayden, over to you.

For people who would be

concerned about being

claustrophobic, it wouldn't be

problem.

I'm not a small guy and I have

plenty of room, so it's good.

There might be no room

service for Hayden and

the others, but there

is

a free breakfast in the morning.

You can make up your own mind about

that.

It's dinner and dancing

with a twist - a new production

has opened in Deptford,

to bring people together to think

and talk about food.

It's aimed at all generations

and will even be performing in care

homes across the capital.

Helen Drew has been

to the opening performance.

A dance show like no other. May

contain food is an interactive

performance exploring people's

relationship with food. Everyone

sits at dinner tables, some with

locally sourced or home grown food.

It is accessible and a good

experience. You think about food,

you laugh about food, you have a

sense of nostalgia about food and

that's what we like to do. Full

immersion into the subject.

Our

produce is all locally sourced.

People are encouraged to bring their

own food from home and during the

show the performers get them to help

make a sticky ginger pudding that

they put in the oven.

I brought

grapefruit with cheese and

pineapple.

Lips because they are

early nice -- lives.

I brought wine

gums because they my favourite

sweets, I love them.

You can't go

wrong with them.

No!

It's not just

for children, the idea is to go in

to the community and interact with

all ages. This is the opening show,

at the Orkney in Deptford. A lot of

people in the audience are from an

arts club for people over 60 who

want to meet new people and try new

things.

It is different, convicted

of that, it makes a change. It

relaxes you and takes your troubles

away, for the time being.

Beautiful,

I think it should happen often. You

know, that people can have this, I

love it.

Have you ever seen anything

like this before?

Never seen

anything like it. White may contain

food, may contain you will tour

various locations across London and

we aren't until the end of March.

And the sticky ginger pudding? Ready

at the end of the show.

I hope she brings some back. Cheese

cocktail sticks, very retro.

Cheese

and pineapple would do me very

nicely.

Let's get the latest

on the weather, shall we?

What food for thought have I got?

Something drier, quieter and milder

as we go into the weekend.

Not only

was it great and wet today, it was

also pretty cold out there. A gloomy

scene here in central London earlier

today. A lot of loud, outbreaks of

rain. The big picture from satellite

and radar, you can see this stripe

of cloud producing rain. Some

northern parts have seen significant

snowfall. Then there is a gap in the

cloud, some clearer spells allowing

it to get cold and then another

weather system in the West bringing

more rain tomorrow. For the time

being, we are trying to clear this

area of cloud and rain away to the

east but it will take a while to

clear away. After midnight the skies

will clear from the West and as we

peel the cloud away from the map,

temperatures will get away. Outside

town, -3, -4, and where the roads

are wet from the rain there may be

some icy stretches tomorrow.

Tomorrow should start bright, good

sunshine. Increasingly windy, you'll

notice the strength of the southerly

wind and then like today it will

cloud over from the West and in the

afternoon you can see rain coming

through, the odd heavy burst. A

windy day but a slightly milder one

with top temperatures of seven or 8

degrees. As Wheeler further ahead

into Thursday you can see that the

map is mostly clear, meaning mostly

sunshine, just one or two showers

from time to time but on balance we

should stay dry on Thursday. The

wind not very strong and

temperatures doing pretty well, up

to 11 degrees. That is a sign of

things to come because although low

pressure will dominate the scene

across northern areas as we head

towards the end of the week this

area of high pressure is going to

build its weigh-in across the South,

introducing a south-westerly wind,

which tends to mean milder air.

Let's have a look at the next seven

days. After the rain, more wet

weather and when the temperatures

get into double digits they should

stay that way over the coming days

and the wind mostly light. If you

don't like the cold and rain, you

might like what's on the way.

Double-figure temperatures, yes!

Recapping the main headlines:

The former football coach

Barry Bennell has been found guilty

of multiple sex offences

against boys in the 1980s.

He was convicted of 36 charges -

the jury asked for more time

to consider further counts.

The Government's unveiled an online

tool that it says can

detect and block jihadist content.

The Home Secretary says

she won't rule out forcing

technology companies to use it.

England cricketer Ben Stokes

has appeared in court.

He's charged in connection

with a fight outside a Bristol

nightclub last year.

He denies affray.

The Mayor has set up a fund

to tackle rising knife crime

and violence in the capital.

It will spend £45 million over

three years on education,

sport and cultural activities.

And at the Winter Olympics,

Britain's Elise Christie crashed out

in the penultimate lap of the 500

metre speed skating final.

She was one of Team GB's

biggest medal hopes.

I'll be back with the latest

for you during the ten o'clock news.

Plenty more on our website,

Facebook and Twitter.

From all the team, thanks

for watching and do

have a lovely evening.