15/03/2018 London News

for the Salisbury nerve attack as

the Prime Minister visits the crime

scene.

On BBC London this Thursday night:

scene.

For the first time,

London's Air Ambulance attends

to more violent attacks than road

traffic accidents -

And the victims are younger.

We're also seeing schoolchildren,

where we have to cut off their

school uniform to get to them to try

and help and do some operations,

which is just tragic.

We hear from a teenager who lost

a friend to knife crime.

Also tonight:

Why these children are upset

their school could close just five

years after it opened.

Plus:

How a company in Hertfordshire

could have found a way

to clean-up litter in space.

And...

# We are the kids in America...

And don't pretend you're

not singing along.

Stay with us as we catch

up with Kim Wilde.

Good evening, I'm Asad Ahmad.

For the first time in nearly 30

years, London's Air Ambulance

says its being called out to more

stabbings and shootings

than it is to road

traffic accidents.

Their lead clinician says it's now

not unusual for them to perform open

heart surgery for stab wounds twice

in a single day.

The news comes as another teenager

died from a knife attack,

while a man was shot dead in east

London.

Karl Mercer has spent the day

with the Air Ambulance.

As we were filming, another

call-out... They do this 1800 times

a year, nearly a third of all the

missions are to victims of stabbings

and shootings.

We are seeing

patients who are stabbed multiple

times, perhaps with much more brutal

weapons than we saw before. We are

still seeing people who are stabbed

once and passing away at the

roadside. We're also seeing

schoolchildren where we have to cut

off their school uniform to get to

them to try and help and do some

operations, which is just tragic.

For the first time, stabbings and

shootings account for the big

slumber of missions, bigger than

road accidents. 560 victims of knife

and gun crime in the last year. Many

in teens.

The horror is not in the

injuries. It is in the age of the

victims and the constant drip, drip,

drip of life, afterlife, after life,

being ruined by injuries. That has

got to stop.

At the end of last

year, BBC London filmed a week in

the Royal London hospital. This is

where the victims of the growing

violence are brought. On busy

nights, the air ambulance can bring

in several victims. The air

ambulance is paid for by charity

donations with the NHS paying for

the stuff.

Every member of the team

has a case, most shifts where they

come back absolutely downtrodden

because of what they have seen and

because they have had to break news

to relatives of those patients at

the scene. Which is harrowing.

Obviously more harrowing for the

people involved, but it does affect

all of the medical teams through the

system, who are trying to help.

One

of those trying to do that is

surging, Martin Griffiths.

It is

very concerning because we are

living in a society where use is

starting to degrade and people are

having near fatal events in their

childhoods. -- youth. We talk about

knife intervention at that age but

at 13, 14, where do you start the

intervention work?

That is a

question for wider society, but

while it looks for an answer, the

victims will continue to come.

Well, many people affected

by knife crime are teenagers

and the authorities are constantly

looking at ways of deterring young

people from carrying knives.

So as part of the BBC's

Annual School Report Day,

we asked 18-year-old Abbianca

from east London to take a look

at the issue for us.

This is her report.

Hello, I'm Abbianca.

Sixth form student at

Draper's Academy, in Harrod Hill.

I want to explore the ways

in which the education system can

help reduce knife crime.

This issue is very close

to my heart because in 2016,

I lost a dear friend of mine

who was a victim of knife crime.

I went to Scotland Yard to speak

to a senior police detective,

who deals with knife crime

on a daily basis.

I asked him if he thought schools

should have compulsory

lessons on this issue.

What to think about this,

do you think this can

make a difference?

I think it would make

a difference, I think we need

to change the messaging.

We have been saying for some time

that police on their own are not

going to arrest or enforce their way

out of this.

We need some answers and we need

to ask the right questions,

so let's get into our

communities, younger people.

Here I am back at my school,

Draper's Academy where I'll be

interviewing head of sixth form

and some students on the issue

of tackling knife crime.

Some people may carry

knives for protection,

especially because there's other

teenagers carrying knives anyway.

When community centres

are shut down and therefore,

the youth clubs that were held

in them get people getting bored

and therefore joining gangs

because they don't have the group

where they could have gone to.

If I'm being honest,

schools don't really teach

about knife crime that much.

My first talk was in year 12,

I was 16 when I had my first

talk about knife crime.

Do you think that these lessons will

make a difference and have an impact

on the younger generation?

I'm not convinced.

I think people who are attracted

to gangs and attracted to carrying

knives, they've kind of fallen out

of the education system.

There isn't one solution

to tackling knife crime,

but from my interviews,

it seems that changes

in the education system

could possibly contribute

to reduce knife crime.

Abbianca, BBC School Report.

Our thanks to Abbianca

for that report.

Well, it's Thursday the 15th March.

This is what's still

to come on the programme:

A small part of the Paddington basin

is being transformed. I will explain

how later in the programme.

London's Museums are some

of the best in the world,

but they say they're

being overlooked when

it comes to Brexit.

They argue its essential

for them to know how

they'll have access to art,

staff and funding after

the break from the EU.

To put it all into perspective,

London's Creative industries

generate almost £50 billion a year,

which is around half the UK's total.

It also accounts for one

in six jobs in London.

The issue has been

discussed at a conference

at The National Gallery today,

from where we can hear

from Katharine Carpenter.

There are figures out today showing

this place was the second most

visited attraction last year in the

UK, second only to the British

Museum. Those stats are important to

London at the moment and this sector

is trying to get its voice heard in

the breadth in negotiations. Members

gathered here today to try to

discuss how to do that, had to try

and get the issues they are

concerned about heard by the

government, amongst other things.

There are many other common things

but individual concerns for

different parts of the sector, as I

found out to some of those who run

our galleries and museums.

We'll place these as we planned...

Putting the final touches to this

exhibition of work by Austrian

artist is a precise business.

But after being shown at this

north London gallery,

some of these pieces might be loaned

elsewhere in the EU,

a fairly simple process

while we are still members.

It's really relatively smooth,

it's a number of pieces of paper.

It means we can import and export

duty free, if you like.

But if administration,

bureaucracy then comes into it,

we'll have to employ somebody

at some stage to deal

with all that paperwork.

He says he's prepared

to make the necessary

changes, but needs to know

what they'll be, soon.

Getting clarity on these issues

is just as important

for large institutions.

Here at the natural history museum

it can take up to three or four

years to plan an exhibition.

So even if you factor

in a transition period,

time is beginning to run out.

The Museums Association warns that

London's cultural offering could be

affected with access to funding

and staff major concerns.

30% of museums in the UK

employ staff from other

countries in the EU.

There is concern that some

of will leave and the museums

won't be able to attract

high-quality, specialist staff

in very niche subject areas,

which typically they rely on to put

on the kind of amazing

exhibitions that you see today.

But some see Brexit as a chance

to widen the opportunity.

The fledgling group,

Artists for Brexit, hopes it

will create a more level playing

field globally and remind

creatives they need to engage

with wide audiences.

You finish up with artists and art

work is not actually speaking

with the people of the British

Isles.

People with whom they are supposed

to be engaging, but just

talking amongst themselves.

This is bad for the arts, long term.

But if some audiences

are being overlooked,

so too is the cultural sector

as a whole, according

to Alistair Brown.

The decisions that are being made

about things like the customs union

are being made at such a high level

in government and they are facing

so many different competing

demands from areas like

the city, from industry.

That it's difficult for museums'

concerns to be heard at that level.

And with so much at stake,

it's a point London's arts

will keep on making.

The government has got back to us on

the point of overlooking this

sector. It told us it wants the best

deal from the negotiations so it can

begin to grow and thrive. When it

set its own immigration policy after

Brexit it will welcome those with

the skills and expertise to allow

museums and galleries to continue to

do what's best. Let's speak to John,

are you reassured by those words?

A

small amount, they talk the right

talk and they are trying to be

reassuring. The issue for us, is

London, this incredible, welcoming

and cultural and artistic city,

going to be as open for business, as

open for people from across the

European Union to ply their trade.

That is what makes this industry so

intriguing, Brits and people from

far afield can work together. £92

billion annually, there is nothing

soft, nothing about entertainment in

this. This sector produces four

times as many jobs as others over

the last year. This is the real

powerhouse for Britain.

It is clear

what you want but how will you get

it, you have only got a year to go?

We are engaging with them all the

time but are they listening? I can

get out of bed either side and give

you a different answer. We have got

our work cut out. We have to

demonstrate that economically,

socially, culturally and in terms of

Britain's image abroad, the creative

industries and tech or the key

drivers for the economy. If they

don't put this sector front and

centre of the negotiations, all of

us in London will suffer

economically as a result.

You heard

a very strong case being made by the

sector, it just hopes now the

government will listen.

We will watch very carefully. Two of

the news now...

A ceremony has been held

to celebrate the life of Makram Ali,

the man killed in the Finsbury Park

terror attack in June.

A plaque

and a tree were unveiled

by his daughter and grandchildren.

Mr Ali was killed by a van

driven by Darren Osbourne,

who's been jailed for life.

Also in attendance, was the Police

Commissioner, Cressida Dick

and Mayor of London,

Sadeeq Khan.

A woman who posed as a survivor

of the Grenfell Tower Fire

has been convicted of fraud.

Southwark Crown Court heard that

47-year-old Joyce M-Sokeri,

pretended to have lost her home

and her husband so she could obtain

cash, donations and accommodation.

At the time, she was

living in Sutton.

M-Sokeri will be

sentenced next month.

Parents at a primary

school in west London,

which opened in 2012, have said

they're devastated after being told

it plans to close at

the end of next term.

Minerva Academy in Paddington

is only half full,

still on a temporary site,

and has no school playground.

Our Education Reporter, Marc Ashdown

has been finding out why.

Schools open, another

day of learning ahead,

something most parents

simply take for granted.

But school

days at Minerva Academy

in Paddington could be numbered.

Only half full, and based on this

woefully inadequate temporary site,

the head has told parents she plans

to shut in the summer.

It's so stressful,

especially for the children.

My son has been

two days he's not eating properly,

he is not sleeping good,

he's telling me that

"I hate learning."

How are you feeling?

Mad, sad.

I will never forget this school,

it's because I've got friends that

I've known for seven

years, six years.

Minerva only opened in 2012.

In a letter to parents,

the head says falling pupil numbers

across Westminster has hit funding.

She says the current

site has not helped,

there is no playground and promises

of a brand-new building

seem to have evaporated.

It was supposed to be

here in Paddington basin,

apparently, but apparently

now there is nothing.

We were supposed to move

how many years ago?

Two, three years ago.

And everything was behind, behind,

behind, and promises.

And now, no school.

I wonder where is the new building,

what have they done with it.

Critics will argue this is another

example of what they have long

argued is a fundamental flaw

in the Government's

academies programme.

New schools are only

supposed to open

where there is a clear basic

need for more places

and in suitable buildings.

Here, it appears, there is neither.

It follows news that

Floreat Brentford is set to close,

another free school which could not

find a permanent home,

or make the money add up.

I do think this is chickens

coming home to roost

for the free school movement.

There's been a whole series

of stumbles and free schools,

with free schools failing.

I'm sure some have been

successful but the

general rule about free schools

that this is a privatised model of

running an education system, it's

too risky to run an education system

based on ideology.

Children have one chance

in a primary school or a

secondary school and we can't

play games with that.

Minerva is run by a multi-Academy

trust, the Board of Trustees says

staff are still providing a good

level of education but for a range

of factors, the school is no

longer financially viable.

If it does close, the local

authority, Westminster, says it's

ready to step in to make sure all 89

pupils can go to a good

school elsewhere.

Marc, what doesn't quite add up

is that we've often reported

on the shortage of school

places in London.

Now a school is closing

because there aren't enough pupils?

It does seem a bit odd. It is worth

explaining what academies are

because it can be confusing.

Originally they were Tony Blair

policy to turn around struggling

schools, then when the coalition

came in in 2010, Michael Gove

flipped it and gave outstanding

schools more power, and struggling

schools were forced to convert. Free

schools give parents the power to

start schools if they are not happy

with the local ones. Both academies

and free schools answer directly to

government, taking the council out

of the loop. I think we all agreed

the big problems these schools face

is trying to find buildings to open

in as was the case here.

We heard it

said the chickens are coming home to

roost, is this a sign of things to

come?

Demand is always the key. A

few years ago there was a population

boom, too many kids and not enough

places. Is this the first sign that

is starting to change around? I'm

not sure. Some parents still

struggle to find places. Councils

might be out of the loop but they

still have the duty, the legal duty

to educate every child in the

country so if things start to go

wrong, as seems to be the case here,

the council like Westminster has got

to step in and provide a place for

every pupil.

Thanks for that.

A driver in Essex has

filmed a trail of

fly-tipping covering

a quarter of a mile.

It's the second time in a year that

Watery Lane in Hullbridge

has had to close because of rubbish.

It's cost the local

council £1,500 to clear

and caused long tailbacks

through nearby villages.

Local people say flytipping

in the area is a weekly problem.

Here's a sight you wouldn't

expect to see, especially

if you were on holiday in Mexico.

London buses.

The low emission ones have arrived

in Mexico City as part

of a one billion PESO deal,

that's over £40 million.

It's aimed at helping

traffic and pollution

in the Mexican capital.

It's easy to get caught up

in the pace of London life,

never taking time out

to enjoy the city.

But a new art installation

on the Regent's Canal

aims to get us to relax.

Victoria Hollins is at the

Paddington Basin to show us how.

If you have just walked in from work

and had a stressful day at the

office, you may wish you had someone

like this to spend some time. This

is in a redeveloped Paddington Basin

and it is an art installation which

has just been switched on. A

flotilla of 180 origami boats. Part

of the first Mindful series taking

place here, there will be yoga and

meditation taking place. It is

polymer paper so no fear about the

weather in the next few days. They

go through the process of changing

colour every 20 seconds or so and I

have to say it really is quite

peaceful. A short time ago I spoke

to the artists behind this.

The

thinking behind this is to have

something which is calming and

floating, and encourages you to take

the second and stop, and after a

busy day or during a busy day even,

it is something that makes you stop

and take a couple of minutes to

yourself. That is what the brief was

and what it is here to do.

These are

more to so there's no chance they

will float away. There is food here

as well. The only then I would like

to change as the temperature!

I feel relaxed already, and this is

making me feel even more relaxed

because this is what it is like to

be in space, minus the suit, the

desk and chair of course!

But what we forget is all

the rubbish that's out there.

It's been left after so many

launches into space,

and as there are no bins

it just floats about.

So Airbus in Hertfordshire

have designed a type

of rubbish picker to clear it up.

Kate Bradbrook has been

seeing if it could work.

Litter and waste is a growing

problem here on planet Earth,

but it's also becoming a serious

issue in space.

Old satellites and space

craft from years gone

by discarded in low Earth orbit.

As the spacecraft are orbiting

around up there, then there's

the risk of them colliding with each

other, and when they do,

they explode to create a huge amount

more debris that then can

collide with other spacecraft

and you just get this

snowballing effect.

But there's a possible solution,

a giant litter picker or space

harpoon is being tested

here at Airbus in Stevenage -

designed to capture debris

and safely dispose of it.

Each harpoon like this

one will be travelling

at 25 metres per second,

that's 56 mph, slower than a bullet

but fast enough to spear its target.

With 18,000 pieces of smaller

junk in orbit, there

is a tool for that too.

It's designed to harpoon small

spacecraft up to around the size

of a washing machine,

and reel them in so can

be safely deorbited.

This one is called Envisat,

it's a non-functioning satellite

that's around the size

of a double-decker bus.

It's about eight tonnes

so it's much too large

for our small harpoon to handle,

so we've developed this,

which is a clean space harpoon.

In many ways it's very similar,

it has a lot of the same

technology behind it.

We pierce the satellite,

deploy the barbs, we are now locked

in so we can have a mechanical

interface with our satellite

and we can use our tether

here to turn it back

into the atmosphere

where it can be safely destroyed.

Testing in space will

begin later this year.

By the mid 2020s, this could provide

the answer to our cosmic clean up.

Kate Bradbrook, BBC London News.

And that's why they say the best

ideas are the simple ones.

OK, pop pickers.

Here's one to take

you back to the '80s.

Because one of the best known

singers of the decade

is about to go on the road

again after successfully

dabbling as a gardener,

becoming a YouTube hit

and a radio DJ.

Wendy Hurrell has

been talking to her.

Who is it? This lady...

# Looking out a dirty old window

# Down below the cars in the city go

rushing by...#

The song that

propelled Kim Wilde to stardom

was a family effort,

written by her brother Ricky

and father Marty.

# We're the kids in America (whoa)

# We're the kids in America (whoa)

She's gone on to sell

30 million albums worldwide.

I love the original song

and I love to sing it still.

I love to see how the audience react

to it when I sing that song.

# We're the kids in America (whoa)

# We're the kids in America (whoa)

Then this viral video.

Two slightly tiddly Wildes

after a Christmas party in 2012,

serenading passengers on a train.

My brother was falling over

backwards and my antlers fell off.

It's just the most ridiculous thing!

It's all a bit of a blur as you can

imagine, but it was really good fun.

The public were really sweet

about how they responded to another

over-refreshed icon on a train.

That unlikely catalyst

revived her musical career and now

they are back, less

wobbly, with a new album.

And from March the 31st,

Kim is off on her first UK tour

in more than 30 years.

# Pop pop music, give me

pop pop music

# Don't stop, give me pop,

give me pop pop...#

So she's kicking her other career

as an award-winning landscape

gardener into the long grass

for a bit.

It's a tour in April,

I think you're just trying to get

out of the weeding and the pruning

and everything else that needs

to be done in the garden.

It's too true!

I'm looking at the garden and I'm

thinking I'm going to have

to get my old man sorting out

the garden because I

ain't can be here!

There's a lot of work can be done

in a garden in April so I'm just

going to have to leave all that,

rush in in May and ruin my nails!

Oh, God!

The horticulture at home

in Hertfordshire for

now will have to wait.

Wendy Hurrell, BBC London News.

It's great she has come out with

some new songs but the old ones are

classics. I will tell you about it

later!

It was one of those days to start

with, it needed to cheer up a little

bit. This was the scene in the City

of London, looking rather grey, then

it had a happy ending for most of

us. It's going to go downhill though

through the rest of this evening and

overnight. We have got some heavy

rain, a bit like last night, it kept

me awake for a while and it might

have done new too. Not a

particularly cold night, seven or 8

degrees but yet again it will make

for something of a wet commute

first. A breeze coming in, and

noticed there is some darkness

around the rain as we show it coming

up and across just about all parts.

Then things do improve, the clearer

skies coming in behind so some

sunshine, yes, temperatures

responding.

It got today, I had to take my coat

off, spring almost. Then showers,

and I have moved you through to

Saturday and you are thinking where

has the sunshine gone. There is a

snow shower working its way through

southern and eastern parts of London

and down through Kent and there will

be plenty of them late in the day.

Up to four degrees only, and that

really sets us up for the weekend

because on Sunday we have a flow of

cold, bitter air coming in from

Scandinavia and Siberia and that

will last us into the start of next

week when we begin to see a recovery

on the temperatures. Sunday could be

tricky, Saturday night and Sunday,

not just because of the two degrees

is a maximum but there may well be

some significant snow. More on that

tomorrow.

some significant snow. More on that

tomorrow.

Just before we go and leave

you in the safe hands

of The One Show, let me remind

you of the day's

main news headlines.

The Prime Minister has said

Britain's allies are taking a united

stance against Russia,

after the chemical

attack in Salisbury.

Today Theresa May visited the town

where the ex-Russian spy

and his daughter were poisoned.

In Syria, thousands of people have

fled part of Eastern Ghouta,

after it came under ferocious

attack.

A humanitarian corridor

was opened up by advancing

Syrian government forces,

allowing civilians to escape.

The police investigation

into the Grenfell Tower Fire

has found that a fire door installed

in the block could only hold back

flames for around 15 minutes.

That's half the time

it was supposed to.

That's it.

If you missed any part

of the programme or want

to see some of it again -

you can on the BBC iPlayer.

I'll be back at 10.30 on BBC One.

Join me then if you can.

Bye for now.