25/01/2017 London News

The future of Millwall Football Club looks safe tonight after plans

to buy up the land immediately around the stadium were shelved.

BBC London learned that the council will hold an independent review

into the controversial plans to redevelop the area

and rename it New Bermondsey as Sarah Harris reports.

Hundreds of children from local South London schools are coached

in the community sports hall run by Millwall Football Club's trust.

An official document to force out the project made it look

We've only reached this victory through public pressure,

through the sheer force of online pressure against the council.

This is Millwall fans, but also fans of other football

I've always said this is not just football's fight,

It wasn't just the trust that was under threat.

A compulsory purchase order also meant local

businesses would have to move, all in the name of a regeneration

that would bring thousands of new homes to the area.

Many couldn't understand why the two couldn't live together.

We are a little bit sceptical about news that comes

from Lewisham Council, but it's been a complete nightmare

for three or four years, total uncertainty for us in terms

It's not just the cafe, we have the fish unit next door,

one of London's leading wholesale fish businesses.

The lack of ability to plan to upgrade our unit has made

The euphoria of a recent 3-0 FA Cup win is matched by some Millwall

In a statement, Lewisham Council's Cabinet said it is now not

proceeding with any compulsory purchase order on the new

Any decision in the future will be wholly new.

It's something many local politicians welcomed,

after questions over details of the proposals went unanswered.

They believe this means an improved regeneration can now begin.

To give certainty to the Football Club that they can stay in Lewisham,

It means the Millwall Community Scheme can continue to operate

in the local area and it will mean that the youth academy is saved.

It also means we can re-evaluate this development,

we can get more social housing, more affordable housing,

This is great news for Millwall, great news for the fans and great

news for all those people that have been in touch with me on this issue.

I'm grateful for their support for such a fantastic community asset.

There are plenty of hoops to jump through before any

But the club and its community organisation believe now they can

The laws which ban sexist dress rules at work aren't

being enforced properly, according to a group of MPs.

It follows the case of a woman from London who was sent home

from her job at an accountancy firm for not wearing high heeled shoes,

while the same company had no dress code for men.

When MPs began to investigate the story, they were inundated

with complaints from women with similar experiences.

The receptionist who wouldn't give in.

Nicola Thorpe refused to wear heels between two and four inches high.

She kept her flat shoes on, was sent home without pay and now

The report is great, because it doesn't just

This was never just about a pair of shoes.

It's about how women were viewed in the workplace

that there is so much pressure on women to not just

look professional, but to look attractive.

MPs heard from hundreds of women who said they'd hurt their backs,

were in crippling pain and thought being forced to wear

So now there's a call for awareness campaigns and bigger

I'm really pleased, there are a lot of people wearing flat shoes now,

which is the fashion, that it should be.

You shouldn't have too tough around in high heels if you don't want to.

Dress code at work have to comply with health and safety regulation

to reduce the risk of injury and with the equality act,

While there are likely to be differences between the way men

and women present themselves, what is required should be

reasonable, and that applies to hair and make-up, too.

The Government says what happened to Nicola Thorpe over

But MPs have found the pressure on women is widespread and most

would like to see something done about it.

I think looking smart is very subjective.

Wearing flat shoes doesn't necessarily make you look not smart.

If I feel comfortable wearing heels, I will.

I think there is a feeling that wearing high heels is more

I would be very put off working for that company.

I like to wear heels, it makes me feel perhaps

Jane advises companies on how to treat their employees and says

What they do is they think heels are very smart.

What they need to do, what is reasonable,

Here are some examples of smart shoes, of all varieties

The campaign over high heels has highlighted the tyranny some

women feel subjected to over their appearance.

MPs are saying more still needs to be done to make sure

they can step in to work in the shoes they choose.

Three people, including a child, have died in a fire at a remote

who were called yesterday morning to the property near Reigate.

It's not yet known what caused the fire -

but it's believed to have started on Monday night.

Ask any working parent in the capital about the cost

of childcare and they'll probably tell you how expensive it is.

City Hall has come up with a scheme to help parents borrow a lump sum

It works like a season ticket loan coming out

of monthly salaries - but tax free.

Here's our political correspondent Karl Mercer.

When you're this old, bunny ears and bubbles

are a bit more important than to bank balances.

But it's what happens when their parent go back to work

that the mayor has tried to address today.

He says parents need help finding a deposit for a nursery place.

So he's offering loans to all workers under his control

to do just that and encouraging other firms to follow suit.

We know many parents face a barrier, starting a new job

90% of childcare providers in London charge fees and deposits in advance

Any financial help, especially with twins, is amazing.

It would mean that a lot of people who'd would be struggling

because you've spent all your maternity leave

and pay and you might be able to go back to work.

One of the reasons it's difficult to go back to work is you don't

have the cash to pay for the deposit upfront.

There is a nursery that is offering a half-price discount

But that's just to reserve the place.

A lot of my friends are freelance as well and can't get the work.

They need the outlay for the childcare first,

but then they can't get the childcare if they haven't got

the word guaranteed, so it's a bit of a Catch-22 for freelancers.

On average, London parents have to pay about ?1500 deposit

to get their child into a nursery and the overall cost is around

?2200 higher each year than elsewhere in the country.

The deposits can be up to ?1,000 - ?1,500, but the big issue

to challenge and tackle is the high cost of childcare in London

for parents, to allow them to be in work and stay in work.

Many businesses do offer workers loans to help

The money is paid back over the course of a year.

But those representing smaller firms warn against putting too much burden

Of course, small businesses care about the cost of living

They care also about the cost of doing business.

Even though they would get the money back eventually,

the problem is finding that money up front, because, for many smaller

businesses, on tight margins, they just don't have a spare however

many thousands of pounds that it would be to take part in this.

Which will be a problem for plenty of smaller firms,

the Mayor hoping the bigger ones follow his lead.

In many places it was foggy all day. It was cloudy, great, cold, damp,

pretty miserable. Tomorrow, we can add some wind to that, which will

make it feel even colder. But, with a subtle change in the wind

direction, a south-easterly, it should hopefully prevent the fog

from forming. It's not going to be too widespread. It is going to be a

cloudy night, a cold night with lows below freezing in places and a

frost. It is going to be a great, icy start tomorrow morning and still

a little bit damp. That south-easterly breeze, noticeable,

that will add to the chill factor tomorrow. One good thing to point

out is that as we go through the day it is going to help push the cloud

further north. Really to the south of the Thames we should start to get

some sunshine into the afternoon. To the north and west it will stay

rather cloudy, grim and grey, and cold. Temperature perhaps on your

thermometer will say one or four degrees, add on the strength of the

wind and it will feel more like -1 or -4 in some places. A bitterly

cold afternoon. It will be a short, sharp shock, the change of wind

direction. As we move out of Thursday and into Friday, the wind

changes to more of a southerly. Perhaps the risk of a fume or

showers. A little less cold. Let's take a look at the Outlook towards

the weekend. Good evening. If you think it was

cold today, for many it will be colder still tomorrow. Cold even

when we have the sunshine today. This was one of the wonderful

weather watcher pictures we had sent in from Cornwall. It contrasts with

a cloudy and foggy eastern half of the country, and a bank of cloud.

Still foggy, but it is starting to lift. It is being pushed north and

west, this bank of cloud. That will continue through the night. We will

still have some fog sitting on the