:00:00. > :00:08.Thousands of companies in the capital say they fear they'll
:00:09. > :00:11.be forced to close - as a result of planned increases
:00:12. > :00:14.in business rates to be introduced in April.
:00:15. > :00:17.London will be hardest hit - with some areas facing a rise
:00:18. > :00:22.Today, a coalition of businesses and local councils joined the Mayor
:00:23. > :00:24.in calling on the Government to rethink its plans.
:00:25. > :00:26.The Chancellor says he's 'listening' to concerns from businesses.
:00:27. > :00:40.Here's our Political editor, Tim Donovan.
:00:41. > :00:47.Leonard has fixed cars for 12 years here in Pakistan. Rapidly rising
:00:48. > :00:54.rents in the area have led the rateable value of his premises to go
:00:55. > :01:00.up from 16,000 to ?25,000. And that means that instead of ?7,000 per
:01:01. > :01:03.year he will now have to pay 11,000. All I do is repair cars and keep
:01:04. > :01:07.them on the road and there is no reason why I should be hit in such a
:01:08. > :01:29.way. We need help. What will happen if you do not get help? I
:01:30. > :01:33.will have to go and claim benefits and I am hoping the government has
:01:34. > :01:36.money to pay me and my workers. Will you be able to carry on? Know. If I
:01:37. > :01:39.was to leave the area and head towards Dagenham, I would lose my
:01:40. > :01:42.customers. They would lose me. That is what they are saying. They do not
:01:43. > :01:44.want me to go. There will be some transitional relief, temporary help
:01:45. > :01:46.in the first few years but the warnings of closure extend to
:01:47. > :01:49.players big and small. Everywhere from brick laying to Bond Street are
:01:50. > :01:51.facing tax hikes and it is pubs, restaurants, retailers, large
:01:52. > :01:55.storage down to corner business and it is a huge tax rise facing a lot
:01:56. > :01:59.of businesses and almost ?900 million extra that is going to be
:02:00. > :02:04.phased for London businesses coming up. Our members have told us that
:02:05. > :02:31.over the next five years the cost of doing business will
:02:32. > :02:35.mean they might have to shut up shop or move out of Central London but
:02:36. > :02:37.for many businesses the likelihood is they will refrain from investing
:02:38. > :02:39.or taking on more staff. Word learners businesses, Hackney, there
:02:40. > :02:42.has been the greatest increase in the rateable value of property, up
:02:43. > :02:45.46%, but Islington is not far behind and in Hammersmith and Fulham it has
:02:46. > :02:48.gone up by a third. Other areas are not so badly hit. In Hillingdon, it
:02:49. > :02:51.is up by 1% and in Merton it is 7%. Pressure is now growing on the
:02:52. > :02:53.government from MPs to provide more help in London and the government
:02:54. > :02:55.says its revaluation is making rates more fairly reflect the property
:02:56. > :02:57.market. 140,000 firms will benefit from a pot of money to ease the
:02:58. > :02:57.transition. And Marc Ashdown is central London
:02:58. > :03:12.this evening because it's not just That's right. It is all businesses.
:03:13. > :03:18.One of the Mayers first bits of business was to create a czar to
:03:19. > :03:25.boost the economy jobs and growth and we are told that the sector
:03:26. > :03:29.could be hit hard. 7000 businesses, ones which operate at night,
:03:30. > :03:34.businesses, mainly retailers and restaurants could see their rents go
:03:35. > :03:42.up by 50% in April. In this area, the West End, rates could go up to
:03:43. > :03:47.?240 million overnight. The Mayor has joined the voices urging the
:03:48. > :03:51.Chancellor for a rethink. We are saying to the government, think
:03:52. > :03:54.again. In the past when there have been increases in business rates
:03:55. > :03:59.made by the government, they have had a longer transitional period
:04:00. > :04:04.which gives time for a business to plan, put money aside, unless the
:04:05. > :04:11.government reconsiders, businesses are going to struggle. Don't forget,
:04:12. > :04:16.businesses in London are feeling pretty hard done by. They have lots
:04:17. > :04:20.of grapes, among them the rising costs of apprentices and pressures
:04:21. > :04:26.on rent, but we are told Phillip Hammond has been meeting with London
:04:27. > :04:29.MPs yesterday and we are told he is in a listening mood and it will be
:04:30. > :04:32.interesting to see how all of this feeds in and what he has to say in
:04:33. > :04:37.his forthcoming budget in two weeks' time. I do.
:04:38. > :04:39.Five people have been arrested after causing major disruption
:04:40. > :04:40.to rush hour traffic around Heathrow.
:04:41. > :04:43.Anti-expansion campaigners blocked a major approach road to the airport
:04:44. > :04:58.830 this morning, the main approach toddle to Heathrow Airport. A BBC
:04:59. > :05:02.reporter captures the moment campaigners unblock access to
:05:03. > :05:06.terminals two and three chaining themselves to their vehicle. What
:05:07. > :05:10.are you doing? Outside the tunnel, traffic was building. Delays,
:05:11. > :05:16.disruption for commuters and airport passengers. That tunnel was shut for
:05:17. > :05:23.more than two hours. I am on my way to catch my playing. It is
:05:24. > :05:27.desperate. What are you going to do? I don't know. Walk to the airport.
:05:28. > :05:32.It is not good but they have a right to protest. But not on my day. It is
:05:33. > :05:35.not the first protest against Heathrow expansion and it is
:05:36. > :05:40.unlikely to be the last. Rarely has there been a more divisive subject.
:05:41. > :05:44.One group says it wanted to highlight the impact of the proposed
:05:45. > :05:47.third runway and the impact it will have on climate change. Do you think
:05:48. > :05:56.this was the best way to go about it? Disrupting passengers? I
:05:57. > :06:00.sympathise with that. At the same time, we felt we did not have a
:06:01. > :06:04.choice. We are acting in solidarity with local people who stand to lose
:06:05. > :06:09.their homes, who face noise from the flight path in their houses and
:06:10. > :06:14.we're here to highlight the fact that globally we need to be really
:06:15. > :06:18.significantly reducing our carbon emissions. Although the government
:06:19. > :06:22.gave approval for a third runway at Heathrow as its preferred option to
:06:23. > :06:25.increase capacity back in October, that doesn't guarantee it is going
:06:26. > :06:30.to arrive any time soon. Public consultation into the decision is
:06:31. > :06:34.currently underway and the group responsible for the disruption today
:06:35. > :06:38.says they consider the process is there a submission to the
:06:39. > :06:42.consultation. One campaign group in support of the expansion have dubbed
:06:43. > :06:47.the actions of the protesters as counter-productive. They say the
:06:48. > :06:50.pros outweigh the cons. Most local residents support expansion and they
:06:51. > :06:53.do so because of the enormous benefits that will come to London
:06:54. > :06:59.including 5000 new apprenticeships which will practically eradicate
:07:00. > :07:03.youth unemployment. We are also talking about 77,000 new local jobs
:07:04. > :07:08.and ?61 billion which will be invested in the local area which
:07:09. > :07:12.will make a real difference to ordinary Londoners. Five protesters
:07:13. > :07:17.were arrested. The third runway may be a long way off but those against
:07:18. > :07:20.and say they will fight it all the way.
:07:21. > :07:22.Commuters face disruption tomorrow due to a 24-hour tube
:07:23. > :07:24.strike starting tonight. It means there will be
:07:25. > :07:26.limited services all day on two major tube lines -
:07:27. > :07:28.the Central and Waterloo City lines.
:07:29. > :07:31.The walkout by the members of the RMT union is over moving
:07:32. > :07:43.You can get regular travel updates tomorrow on our website and on BBC
:07:44. > :07:46.Radio London or on Twitter by following us.
:07:47. > :07:49.Sutton United's reserve goalkeeper has resigned from the club over
:07:50. > :07:53.An online bookmaker had offered odds of eight-to-one that he'd be shown
:07:54. > :07:56.eating a pie in the dugout during last night's FA
:07:57. > :08:05.Wayne Shaw eating a pasty, he says, seem like fun?
:08:06. > :08:08.Sutton United's reserve goalkeeper, improbably,
:08:09. > :08:09.but this bite settled a
:08:10. > :08:13.The company which sponsored Sutton's shirts had offered odds
:08:14. > :08:18.Speaking on the BBC at lunchtime, Wayne Shaw
:08:19. > :08:30.We're told that we're not allowed to gamble as in in, like,
:08:31. > :08:33.because it's full-time football, so, you know, I've no way put anyone
:08:34. > :08:39.This is definitely not the case here.
:08:40. > :08:42.This is just, you know, a bit of fun and obviously me being hungry.
:08:43. > :08:44.Part reserve keeper, Wayne Shaw was part groundsman, part
:08:45. > :08:50.He became a focal point of their joyous FA Cup
:08:51. > :08:57.The UK's Gambling Commission, concerned about novelty bets said...
:08:58. > :09:00."Integrity in sport is not a joke and we've opened an investigation
:09:01. > :09:06.The Football Association equally unamused.
:09:07. > :09:08."We're investigating to establish whether there's been any breach
:09:09. > :09:13.of the FA rules relating to betting", it said.
:09:14. > :09:18.In the light of all this, Sutton asked Shaw to resign, he did.
:09:19. > :09:21.The implications of it are wide reaching, we didn't realise it'd
:09:22. > :09:27.I think Wayne's made a bad error of judgment.
:09:28. > :09:31.The manager reckons 2,000 people bet and won on the pie being eaten.
:09:32. > :09:34.If any of them were on Sutton's staff, well they're in trouble.
:09:35. > :09:47.That's it from me, so I'll say goodnight.
:09:48. > :09:52.And I'll leave you with Wendy Hurrell for a check on the weather.
:09:53. > :09:59.The man's mother at the start of the week got out the blooms but we will
:10:00. > :10:03.slightly backtrack as they head to the end of this week. It is turning
:10:04. > :10:07.quite stormy towards the end of this week. Nothing too much to worry
:10:08. > :10:11.about at the moment out there. Plenty of cloud and that will keep
:10:12. > :10:15.things mild as we go through the night. We will have bits and pieces
:10:16. > :10:20.of rain in the cloud and a noticeable breeze but your ice do
:10:21. > :10:24.not deceive you. These are the overnight lows. We will do well to
:10:25. > :10:41.get those out of daytime temperatures. A mild start tomorrow.
:10:42. > :10:45.Plenty of cloud. You might need your brolly. Unnoticeable breeze but
:10:46. > :10:47.noticeably mild, temperatures have a chance to get to 13 or 14 degrees.
:10:48. > :10:50.This is the picture on Thursday. Breezy from the outset and then rain
:10:51. > :10:53.and the numbers will head up. It really is going to be a gusty enter
:10:54. > :10:54.the day, particularly up towards the evening rush hour. It calms
:10:55. > :10:57.the day, particularly up towards the evening rush hour. It calms down on
:10:58. > :11:00.the Outlook toward the end of the week and then milder again from the
:11:01. > :11:03.wheel them. More on storm Doris now with Matt Taylor.