:00:00. > :00:16.Good evening and welcome to BBC London News with me Louisa Preston.
:00:17. > :00:19.if Scotland Yard doesn't receive additional funding
:00:20. > :00:23.That's the warning tonight from the Mayor, who claims Londoners
:00:24. > :00:26.will not be as safe if the money's not made available.
:00:27. > :00:32.The Home Office is currently working out what to award police forces
:00:33. > :00:42.But Sadiq Khan fears that if City Hall doesn't receive
:00:43. > :00:44.a sufficient settlement, he won't be able to deliver
:00:45. > :00:46.the number of officers he says London needs.
:00:47. > :00:47.Our Political Correspondent Karl Mercer reports.
:00:48. > :00:49.Police cars used to come up this ramp once.
:00:50. > :00:51.Police officers used to patrol outside.
:00:52. > :00:54.And the building used to be the most famous in world policing.
:00:55. > :00:58.Now just the local barber shop remains.
:00:59. > :01:01.If you wanted a picture of how London's police has had
:01:02. > :01:11.you need look no further than what was New Scotland Yard.
:01:12. > :01:13.Sold for ?370 million and soon to be luxury flats.
:01:14. > :01:16.The Met has had to save money in recent years.
:01:17. > :01:18.?600 million already with a further ?400 million to come.
:01:19. > :01:21.And today the Mayor called on central government
:01:22. > :01:24.My message to Londoners is very simple.
:01:25. > :01:27.If it's the case that the Government makes any further cuts to
:01:28. > :01:30.our budget than we've already been told about we cannot keep a target
:01:31. > :01:33.If it's the case that the Government changes the
:01:34. > :01:36.police funding formula so that the police service gets less
:01:37. > :01:39.money than we deserve and should get my job of
:01:40. > :01:42.having the maximum number of officers becomes increasingly
:01:43. > :01:48.difficult, which has an impact on safety.
:01:49. > :01:52.At the moment London has around 31,200 police officers but
:01:53. > :01:58.the Mayor, like his predecessor, has set a target of having 32,000.
:01:59. > :02:03.But to get there he says he needs more money
:02:04. > :02:14.Particularly from a special fund that recognises
:02:15. > :02:22.The Mayor says London needs ?340 million.
:02:23. > :02:24.At the moment it gets just half of that,
:02:25. > :02:29.Two years ago when Boris Johnson was mayor the Government planned
:02:30. > :02:31.changes to the money given to police forces.
:02:32. > :02:33.The response back then sounds similar to what's
:02:34. > :02:37.My concerns are that over the next three to four years we'll lose
:02:38. > :02:39.between 5000 and 8000 police officers, and that's going to be a
:02:40. > :02:42.It is an unfair approach to police funding.
:02:43. > :02:44.It does not recognise the rising population,
:02:45. > :02:46.the difficulties of policing our capital city.
:02:47. > :02:48.But today, Conservatives on the London Assembly said
:02:49. > :02:50.the Mayor could do more himself to keep officer numbers up.
:02:51. > :02:53.He has already raised council tax to pay for officers.
:02:54. > :02:54.They say he should have gone further.
:02:55. > :02:57.The mayor is in charge of a budget of nearly ?15 billion.
:02:58. > :02:59.?3.2 billion of that is for the Metropolitan Police.
:03:00. > :03:02.Within that Sadiq Khan has cut 38 million, which
:03:03. > :03:05.would pay for him to get from the 31,200 up to the 32,000.
:03:06. > :03:09.You can move money around in order to make it possible.
:03:10. > :03:14.The Government saying today the Met police was the best funded
:03:15. > :03:21.This is not the first we've heard of this is it Jim?
:03:22. > :03:27.That's right. As Karl mentioned, the idea of changing police funding
:03:28. > :03:31.formulas last discussed at this level two years ago, back then it
:03:32. > :03:34.was kicked into the long grass because of a statistical error in
:03:35. > :03:39.the formula, all very embarrassing for the government at the time. That
:03:40. > :03:44.long grass is now March this year and in some ways the pressure has
:03:45. > :03:48.mounted. The mayor has said he wants to increase the numbers of police
:03:49. > :03:52.officers. He claims that will be next to impossible if there are more
:03:53. > :03:56.budget cuts. Also recent world events mean that the government
:03:57. > :04:03.could be walking a fine line as well if they cut too much. I'm sure the
:04:04. > :04:07.primer Minister and Home Secretary understand the importance of keeping
:04:08. > :04:11.our capital city say. They will have seen and he horrified, as we all
:04:12. > :04:16.were, by incidents in Berlin and Istanbul recently. There is no more
:04:17. > :04:22.important job politician has plan keep his citizens safe. In other
:04:23. > :04:27.words London is a potential terrorist target and if something
:04:28. > :04:31.were to happen there would be a huge focus on what went wrong. And if
:04:32. > :04:35.there was any hint that it was related to a reduction in police
:04:36. > :04:39.budgets that would be hugely damaging. Certainly would.
:04:40. > :04:43.A jury has been hearing evidence from a blind woman who alleges
:04:44. > :04:45.that she was indecently assaulted at a hospital in London
:04:46. > :04:54.denies seven charges of indecent assault, and one of sexual assault.
:04:55. > :04:57.A number of pharmacists who sit in the heart of communities
:04:58. > :05:00.across London are warning they could be put-out-of business
:05:01. > :05:07.They say the changes are coming in at a time when they could do
:05:08. > :05:10.more to help patients - rather than less.
:05:11. > :05:16.Chemists are often at the heart of a community, dispensing pills,
:05:17. > :05:23.But the way they are funded is changing, that means that this
:05:24. > :05:26.pharmacy near Harpenden in Hertfordshire is under threat.
:05:27. > :05:29.We are just short of a mile away from the nearest other pharmacy.
:05:30. > :05:32.We are subject to the full force of the cuts.
:05:33. > :05:35.Now, that will leave the business non-viable.
:05:36. > :05:38.Obviously, I won't sign a lease on the premises where I won't know
:05:39. > :05:41.the business is not going to be able to pay its way.
:05:42. > :05:43.We will close in the next few months.
:05:44. > :05:45.It's a so-called modernisation that customers can't
:05:46. > :05:54.Because, not only is it the pharmacy, they are friends.
:05:55. > :05:56.You know, you build up a rapport with people.
:05:57. > :06:06.If I were to have to go to Harpenden because this pharmacist had closed,
:06:07. > :06:15.I would have to climb into my car and, like many people,
:06:16. > :06:17.and bearing in mind that pharmacists serve something between 8,000
:06:18. > :06:20.and 10,000 people in the locality, you'd then have lots of car journeys
:06:21. > :06:24.The government says everyone should have access to a pharmacy
:06:25. > :06:35.But that makes chemists in densely populated London even more at risk.
:06:36. > :06:43.We're talking of a cut of 12% in pharmacy budgets,
:06:44. > :06:46.just in the months December up to March 2017 and more cuts
:06:47. > :06:50.Now, for a lot of pharmacies, that is a big hit.
:06:51. > :06:53.What you are going to see ultimately, if the government
:06:54. > :06:54.doesn't change course, could be large-scale
:06:55. > :07:18.The full impact of the changes will be know until later
:07:19. > :07:21.in the year but, by then, many chemists say they will already
:07:22. > :07:29.These world-famous advertising screens which light up
:07:30. > :07:30.Piccadilly Circus have been switched-off today.
:07:31. > :07:34.It's for renovation work which will take months,
:07:35. > :07:39.but will produce some impressive results.
:07:40. > :07:41.Emilia Papadopoulos has been finding out more.
:07:42. > :07:44.It's been lighting up London for more than 100 years but this
:07:45. > :07:47.The billboard lights have been switched off
:07:48. > :07:56.Now, they have been turned off briefly in the past,
:07:57. > :07:58.during Winston Churchill and Princess Diana's funerals
:07:59. > :08:01.but this will be the longest period of time since World War II.
:08:02. > :08:05.The first electrical advertisements appeared in 1908.
:08:06. > :08:11.Midnight on Tuesday, August 14, 1945, before the Prime Minister had
:08:12. > :08:14.finished his radio announcement that Japan had surrendered,
:08:15. > :08:18.After the war, Piccadilly Circus was a popular place for Londoners
:08:19. > :08:25.Soon after, it also became a tourist attraction and the lights have
:08:26. > :08:27.moved with the times, starting with incandescent light
:08:28. > :08:30.bulbs, moving on to neon, digital projectors,
:08:31. > :08:35.This might not look like much but we're actually in the control
:08:36. > :08:38.room behind the lights and the screens are made up
:08:39. > :08:41.of thousands of these panels and when the work begins,
:08:42. > :08:44.all of this will be replaced by one big-screen which will have more
:08:45. > :08:53.It will be different because it will be one screen that
:08:54. > :08:55.will be used flexibly, it will be interactive,
:08:56. > :08:57.it will display a very high quality image.
:08:58. > :08:59.The way that the advertisers are using the screen
:09:00. > :09:04.The advertisers will have the ability to be very creative
:09:05. > :09:09.When the work's completed, Piccadilly Circus will be
:09:10. > :09:13.home to Europe's largest single digital screen.
:09:14. > :09:16.For now, a temporary advertising banner will replace the lights and,
:09:17. > :09:21.until October, the most luminous corner of the capital,
:09:22. > :09:27.That's it for now from me, so I'll say goodnight and hand
:09:28. > :09:32.you over to Wendy Hurrell for a look at the weather.
:09:33. > :09:42.This week is quite different, S is the sunshine, and not the snow. We
:09:43. > :09:45.will start with sunny clouds but if it turns cloudy towards the latter
:09:46. > :09:50.part of the week, it is going to be feeling quite cold. Weather is
:09:51. > :09:53.coming in from the east where temperatures at their maximum
:09:54. > :09:58.tomorrow in Amsterdam will be minus one. That's going to mean chilly
:09:59. > :10:04.conditions. We'll have minus figures of our own overnight tonight. After
:10:05. > :10:07.midnight there will be plenty of stars to see above us, but there
:10:08. > :10:13.will also be a frost forming and many places will get below freezing,
:10:14. > :10:19.perhaps -2 or three. A crispy underfoot sort of start to the day.
:10:20. > :10:22.It will continue to feel like that through the day despite beautiful
:10:23. > :10:26.amounts of sunshine and light winds. We'll be doing well to get between
:10:27. > :10:31.three and 5 degrees. And then there will be a sharp frost overnight into
:10:32. > :10:35.Wednesday as well. Wednesday morning starts beautiful and bright. Some
:10:36. > :10:39.more clout creeping from the north through the afternoon. Feeling quite
:10:40. > :10:44.chilly in the middle part of the week, three to 5 degrees. Towards
:10:45. > :10:48.the end of the week, the certainty around how much sunshine starts to
:10:49. > :10:53.wane. There will be more clout through Thursday and Friday perhaps
:10:54. > :10:57.with some smatterings of rain -- more cloud. On the weekend the
:10:58. > :11:05.outlook is often cloudy. Mainly dry, perhaps a little milder. If you like
:11:06. > :11:10.the mild weather, you'll have to head elsewhere in the country. Find
:11:11. > :11:13.out more in the national weather forecast. Our weather is going
:11:14. > :11:18.against normal expectations this week. In Highland Scotland some snow
:11:19. > :11:23.to be seen on the hills. Temperatures as high as 12 Celsius
:11:24. > :11:26.today. Over the next few days the coldest air is in the far south-east
:11:27. > :11:31.of England where there is sunshine to be had. Four or five Celsius in
:11:32. > :11:37.Kent. Differences remain over the next few days and here is why. I
:11:38. > :11:40.pressure in control of the weather. Some clear a continental air, but
:11:41. > :11:48.coming into Scotland from the Atlantic plenty of clouds around.
:11:49. > :11:49.Outbreaks of rain through Scotland and Northern Ireland overnight,
:11:50. > :11:56.patchy drizzle into parts of England and Wales, but where you've got
:11:57. > :11:59.cloud the temperatures are holding up. Clearer skies in parts of
:12:00. > :12:06.south-east England and East Anglia, could get below freezing as the day
:12:07. > :12:07.begins. One or two fog patches around. Here is