08/02/2017 London News


08/02/2017

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Welcome to BBC London News with me Alice Bhandhukravi.

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With the go-ahead given tonight for Theresa May to start

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negotiations on Britain's departure from the EU, there's some

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uncertainty over how Brexit could affect the capital's workforce

:00:23.:00:25.

With many workers coming from abroad, there are fears major

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infrastructure projects could be affected.

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Does Brexit mean boom or bust for our builders?

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Well, the forecast was gloomy but today, new figures from one

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Well, the forecast was gloomy but today new figures from one

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respected source say things are looking up.

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The construction sector in the capital is holding up really well.

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It's underpinned by big infrastructure projects,

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things like High Speed 2, the Thames Tideway tunnels and also

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housing projects, like this, which are going forward.

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Even though there are some areas which are a bit more

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vulnerable to Brexit, like the commercial sector,

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office building, overall, we're looking at strong growth over

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In fact, the sector is expected to grow at an annual average rate

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of 2.4% over the next five years, well above the UK average of 1.7%.

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What that means in terms of jobs is over the same period 19,000

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The outlook may be rather optimistic now in terms

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of London's construction sector but there are still risks to do with

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If you speak to the foreman here, he will tell you it's all about how

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he keeps and retains his workforce, like Marko here from Albania.

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On this site, two thirds of the workers come from Europe.

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Across the sector in London, around 40% of builders come from abroad.

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That's why, with Brexit and the threat of strict migration

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controls, this developer is investing much more in training,

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training local London graduates like Conor.

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There's a lot of uncertainties and it's all about being pro-active.

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I mean, you can wait and see what tomorrow brings or you can act

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If others follow and invest more and more in training,

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it'll represent a significant change to an industry that has enjoyed

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a constant stream of cheap, skilled labour from abroad.

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It will also represent a significant cost.

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For us, it is about investing in the future

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We've talked a lot and heard a lot about the skilled labour shortage

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and how the uncertainty of Brexit is going to affect us.

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For us, this is the right thing to do.

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We need to invest in the future of the construction industry.

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So for now, there is plenty of work about and as they get their heads

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down with the job at hand, it'll be for others to answer

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Which big projects will replace the current ones once

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How much of a skills shortfall will Brexit cause?

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And will more training plug the gap and by when?

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An investigation is under way after several people were injured

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as they fled a rush hour train in Dalston.

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Passengers were forced to jump on the tracks

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after smoke filled a carriage - it was caused by an overheating

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Here's our transport correspondent Tom Edwards.

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You can still hear the anxiety and panic from commuters,

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who just moments earlier, after seeing smoke, used

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an emergency lever to open the doors, fled the carriages

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and ran down the platform, with some going on to the nearby tracks.

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Right, we just need to get people moving.

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It all happened at just after 7am at Dalston Kingsland Overground

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Robert was on the train and took the footage.

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He witnessed the sheer confusion and the stampede.

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The only way to run to were the train tracks.

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I'm thinking, what if another train is coming?

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You know, we had no choice, we just had to run onto the tracks.

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I thought that someone is attacking us.

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I thought that there someone, possibly with a gun or something

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like that because, I mean, the whole train was running.

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In the rush to get from the train, a number of passengers were injured.

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A battery from a drill overheated and started smoking.

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Three off-duty police officers helped to find it.

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Transport for London says all the trains in the area had been

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People wanted to get away from the event

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They did so safely and we were happy that the outcome worked well for us.

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Four of those injured were taken to hospital.

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The police say this incident was not suspicious.

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But transport bosses will review what happened and how

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so many passengers ended up on potentially dangerous tracks.

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A housing estate in Rainham, which cost ?31 million of public

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money, has been beset by problems with the build and maintenance.

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Now residents at Orchard Village - which was only finished three years

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Ever since Colin Nicholas moved into his new home

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a year and a half ago, he's had no end of problems.

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It has been particularly stressful because he has two young children.

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In the end, she contracted a bacterial infection,

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which made her very ill and she was admitted to hospital.

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It is one of a long list of problems in his shared ownership home,

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This is his neighbour's property, where there is widespread mould.

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Across the site, there are poorly fitted pipes,

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unsecured doors and gates, faulty smoke alarms.

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All this at a site which is less than five years old.

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It cost ?80 million to build and out of that, more than ?30 million

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Colin and other residents blame Clarion Housing Group who are now

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responsible for the site, but only since last

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November when they merged with Circle Housing,

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But Clarion Housing blame the builders.

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We want to find out exactly what's wrong with the whole estate

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so we can go in and do the job properly and put it right.

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And we'll also be looking at putting the bill at Willmott Dixon as well

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because to be honest we think that they are

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These are substantial problems and it is so unfair for people

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to be living like this, including the elderly and children.

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What will you be doing to rectify those problems?

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I think they have had a truly awful time.

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So we've already done some of the repairs that

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are needed but actually, we want to capture them

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all and go back and do all the repairs that are needed.

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The builder, Willmott Dixon, told us tonight that they take

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their responsibilities very seriously and gave an absolute

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commitment to put things right and said they never walked away

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But they went on to say, before they could complete the repairs,

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the housing association took over responsibility for the work.

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Havering Council, who signed off the build, said

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during their numerous inspections, they did not find any issues that

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breached building regulations during construction.

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Colin says unlike other residents, he does not want to see

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the development torn down and rebuilt.

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But he does want a decent home to raise his family

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It's all change for Great Britain's Fed Cup tennis team

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as Anne Keothavong takes over from Judy Murray.

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On day one of the tournament, Heather Watson won in straight sets

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against Portuguese opponent Ines Murta in Estonia.

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Our sports reporter Emma Jones met the new captain before

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Game, set and match, Miss Keothavong.

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Anne Keothavong was once in the world's top 50.

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Now she's back as captain of Great Britain's Fed Cup team.

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She's taking over from Judy Murray, someone

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Because, let's face it, I think she's been the most

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successful tennis coach in this country.

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She's produced two world number ones in Jamie and Andy, so she knows

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She is so passionate about the game and that rubs off

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Anne is part of her own tennis dynasty.

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Her brother, James, recently umpired the men's final

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And, having recently added to the family, she says,

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like so many working mums, it can be tough to find a balance.

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When I was in Australia earlier this year, I must admit for the first

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week I cried every day, because I missed her so much.

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But I take comfort in the fact that I'm not the only woman

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who is working and not the only woman out there who has

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to occasionally spend time away from their kids.

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British women's tennis seems to be on the up,

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with Johanna Konta currently ranked tenth in the world.

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You always want to leave the sport in a better place

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I think that's the aim of every athlete, whatever

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The short-term goal, with Konta playing and Keothavong as captain,

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is to get further in the Fed Cup than the team has in decades.

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That's it from me. Time for me to wish you good night and I will leave

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you with Louise who has the weather. Good evening. Expect a winter

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flavour on the menu as we go through the remainder of the week. Tomorrow

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will be a cloudy and cold day. To the north of London we will see

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temperatures around minus two first thing. A scattering of showers

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running in off the Thames Estuary and down to the south of the Thames

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as we go through the day. These containing a few flakes of snow from

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time to time. It will be a cold afternoon too. Those showers are

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likely to continue overnight, again we could see a light dusting of snow

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perhaps across the higher ground, nothing particularly special. But

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with temperatures falling there could be icy stretches first thing

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in the morning. Again a cold start on Friday and perhaps a frost,

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particularly to the north of London. Friday is likely to see fewer

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showers but still a cold day with that brisk breeze. Let's look ahead

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to the weekend. It stays cold and cloudy and Ben Rich will take you

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through the bigger cloudy and Ben Rich will take you

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through the bigger picture. Good evening. Over the next few days

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I suspect it's going to feel like we have been plunged into the deep

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freeze. Cold weather on the way and not necessarily crisp cold weather,

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with blue skies. A lot of cloud, there was some sunshine today across

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parts of west Wales, for instance. That lifted temperatures up to 11.

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But further east as you can see from the picture, there was a lot of

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cloud feeding in and that pegged temperatures down into single

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figures, because there is increasingly cold air heading in

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this direction on a cold and fairly strong wind. Tonight that wind will

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continue to deliver wintry showers, particularly close to the east

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coast, a mixture of rain and sleet along the

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