05/01/2017 London News

London has appointed it's new fire commissioner -

the 19th in the Brigade's history - and for the first

Dany Cotton started her career as a teenage firefighter in Wimbledon -

and she's been speaking about her new role -

and her concerns about the threat of a terrorist chemical

She spoke to our Home Affairs Correspondent, Nick Beake.

Training in Greenwich today for the firefighters from blue watch.

Dany Cotton is the first woman to lead

the London Fire Brigade in its 150 year history.

And she told us preparing for a new threat, chemical

attack by terrorists, is a top priority.

I think a chemical attack is a really big

threat because it's kind of unseen and something you can do with a

relatively small amount of chemical if you can find the means to

disperse it, so it's ensuring we are ready

nationally to respond to that

and respond quickly and be able to go there, and if people have been

contaminated, to be able to deal with that and process it quickly.

This week, the security minister said IS militants aspire to use

chemicals in an attack and London's new fire chief says the public

The natural reaction would be to run away and go

somewhere else but that just spreads it, which is what the terrorists

It is very important the people stay where they are, stay

contained and allow the emergency services to deal with the situation.

Today's exercise is very much a standard role but in the coming

months, more training will be specialised and geared towards

dealing with a terrorist attack on her watch.

But it is worth remembering the terror threat level

in the UK has stayed the same for the past two and half years.

When Dany Cotton first walked through these doors at Wimbledon

fire station as a teenager back in 1988.

Well, let's speak a bit about the issue raised in that interview.

We heard them reacting to what Ben Miller said about an attack in

London. We have to point out that there is no specific possible nature

of attack here. Ben Wallace is concerned about the use of chemical

weapons here. There are concerns about that. In Morocco, they found

chemical weapons there. We've been speaking to a chemical weapons

expert today, he said that the Government is right to be concerned.

We know that Daesh is, the Islamic State, are training people to use

chemical weapons, recruiting scientists to create biological

weapons in Syria and Iraq and the UK is a key target for them. We have to

take our head out of the sands and discuss this, so people aware it is

a possible threat. Like any threat with the right mitigation, you can

reduce that. Experts say that the public must be

better informed, obviously the instinct is to runaway from danger

but in the sense of a chemical aTalibaning, you must stay where you

are not to spread the chemicals it is safe to say we will be hearing

more about this in the months to come.

Strikes by train drivers on Southern Railways are set

to go ahead next week - after a union said the two sides

involved in the dispute - "aren't in the same universe".

That's despite the issue at the heart of the ongoing dispute -

plans for 'driver-only trains' - being declared SAFE

This is what Victoria Station looks like on a normal day.

But next week, it looks like the stations that lead to it

will look more like this, with a three-day strike

in the ongoing row over plans to make drivers responsible

It seems any hope of a deal is gone, despite these words

We've sent a formal offer to Aslef that we believe can bring

an end to this dispute, and we're urging our members to talk

to their leaders to get them to accept this offer so we can bring

this dispute to an end for the sake of our passengers.

They may be optimistic, but listen to how far apart

We're not in the same universe currently.

The reality is that there's been no real move to address the fundamental

issues that are at the heart of the deal.

It's about the imposition of a system and breaking

of agreement that we feel is unsafe, and if everything is going to be

done by imposition in the future, then the reaction's always

The deadlock means there'll be strikes next week on Tuesday,

Wednesday and again on Friday, with Southern warning

More strikes will then follow in the last week of January -

again three days being targetted, again disrupting travel

Today, another twist in the dispute, too, with the organisation that

oversees safety on the railways saying Southern's plans

for driver-only operation would be safe if certain conditions were met.

It is safe as long as you have the right equipment,

competent staff and the correct processes and procedures and you've

done all the risk assessments of the platforms to ensure that,

if necessary, assistance is provided.

Also today, London's Mayor restated his desire to take over Southern.

He wouldn't, though, be drawn on the key issue in the dispute.

Would you say to the unions, if you were to take over Southern,

Well, we'll have to wait and see till we take over the lines.

I mean, once we take over the lines, should the Government see sense,

we'll look at the trains, talk to the trade unions.

Some of the suburban lines we run on London Overground,

It's a conversation you've got to have.

The most important thing is safety but you've got

For now, Southern passengers will have to plan once again

Brexit - and its impact on one of the biggest employers of low

skilled workers in London - could be huge.

I'm referring to the hospitality sector which relies heavily

on workers from across the EU, to fill its posts.

Without them, hotels and other services would struggle to cope -

and so Emma North went to hotel in Pimlico - to find

out what THEY think the consequences could be.

Once a year, London grabbed the chance to tell the world

This year, it drove the point home harder than ever.

Dipping cutlery in vinegar is a far cry

from the fireworks but it's the

details that keep this city's reputation so polished.

Assad is a rarity in London's hospitality

When it comes to his EU colleague, he has to work

They are really fast at what they do and at the

start I was left behind with the rhythm of the team.

Hotels and restaurants here in London rely heavily on EU labour.

For example, six of the seven people who work at this hotel come from

But come Brexit, the rules which currently allow

people to move around the EU freely in order to find a job could well

change, and this change could deeply affect the hospitality sector.

11% of the London population are EU migrants.

Of them, 14 are classified as low skilled workers, such as

Of them, one in four are classified as low

skilled workers, such as

They currently don't have these restrictions but if we applied

the same rules to EU migrants as we currently

do to people coming from

outside the European Union, then four out of five low skilled EU

Esther, who is from Hungary, may have a

Masters in psychotherapy but she is still classified as a low skilled

I would say that I need skills to work

I think even as a maid, how I started, as

a waitress, but even as

a manager now, you need the moral of working, your attitude.

This hotel is still owned by the same family

If the rules governing who is allowed to

work here change, why not just hire from a home-grown workforce?

We can't get British people at the moment.

We've visited catering colleges, trying to make inroads

with schools, we have work placements, but despite that, after

Attracting people in the first place, tell me what we can do!

But could Brexit be just the thing to

nurture a home-grown hospitality industry?

Now, is the time for Government to make

Invest in skills and this industry to be the Open University,

if you like, in terms of vocational training.

The city that welcomed thousands of foreign workers, but

That's it for now from me, but le'ts find out what the weather's

It is cold, frosty already. There is mist and fog overnight. So grey by

the end of the night. Cold and probably freezing.

Temperatures down to minus three or four. So a slow start to the day.

The mist and the fog lifting later on in the afternoon.

The temperatures up a notch or two at six or seven Celsius.

Notice the clouds, to drift to Friday evening. Bringing patchy rain

but clearing by dawn on Saturday. Then we should be frost-free but it

will be fairly cloudy. If we look at the outlook we see it will be a

cloudy weekend. Temperatures are creeping up by a notch or two, 10,

maybe nine creeping up by a notch or two, 10,

maybe nine Celsius. Here is Louise with the national picture.

Won't it cold and frosty this morning? The coldest night of the

winter so far in England. Down to minus 8 Celsius. But widely, the

temperatures below freezing. Through the night, cloud and rain, so

temperatures for many holding up above freezing. The slightly less

cold theme to continue into the weekend. But cloudy and at times

with