27/03/2017 London News

The man tasked by the mayor last year to review London's security

measures has warned the Westminster attack is a wake-up call

Lord Harris also renewed his call for greater street

It comes as it emerged that Khalid Masood was driving more

than 70 miles per hour on Westminster Bridge.

Our Home Affairs Correspondent, Nick Beake reports.

The carnage began when Khalid Masood drove onto Westminster bridge.

BBC London has now learned the police believe he was driving

at up to 76 mph as he crossed the River Thames, killing three

people and injuring 50, including a Romanian tourist

Last autumn, Toby Harris carried out a review of how prepared London

He said last Wednesday was a wake-up call.

The reality is that it's all too easy, in any major city,

for a deranged individual to arm themselves with a knife easily

purchased, to hire a vehicle, as this individual appears

The Harris report made more than 100 recommendations

to better prevent an attack, but even more armed police

was not one of them and he still stands by that.

He did, though, call for urgent action in other areas.

One key recommendation made by Lord Harris

was for more of these, bollards, to be installed,

to protect pedestrians, a bit like they've got

He also said the authorities should consider using more temporary

They're not ugly, they fit in with the architecture,

yet they do provide very substantial, additional protection

for those public buildings and for those people walking up

That's a demonstration of what can be done,

it's something that I think we need to look at more widely.

Behind us we can see the route taken by the attacker...

As a superintendent in the Met, Bernie Gravett was responsible

for security in central Westminster, including outside Parliament,

and is disappointed more bollards and barriers haven't been

It's been remarkably silent, I suppose, because in

the recommendations Lord Harris says "urgently review".

It also says that the Home Office looked at this many years ago,

Now's the time, perhaps, to rethink that.

Post-Paris, post-Nice, and the attacks in other parts

of Europe, I haven't seen much visible change.

City Hall insists it's delivered a quarter of Lord Harris'

recommendations, and has been looking at locations where more

It's widely accepted that you can't put physical barriers

everywhere across the capital, but the Westminster attack has

Well, new barriers are being put in place around Windsor Castle

for enhanced security during Changing the Guard.

Police say there is no specific threat to the Royal Residence,

but the measures are proportionate and necessary in crowded areas

The Mayor arrived in Brussels this afternoon, ahead of a key

The planned trip was amended to enable him to hold talks

Our Political Editor Tim Donovan joins us from Brussels

This is going to be a week-long tour, anticipating and then marking

the triggering of Article 50 on Wednesday. It was going to take into

account, to include Warsaw, Madrid, Berlin and there was going to be a

decidedly promotional tone. London didn't want Brexit, their ever would

say, but we will be resilient and come through it but there has been,

since the events in Westminster last week on a change of direction. City

Hall have had to readjust and the focus today has been very much on

security. The trip has now been shortened to Brussels today and

tomorrow and Paris on Wednesday, with the emphasis on

counterterrorism. The mayor today met the EU commissioner with

responsibility for security agreements, that this was one of the

key areas that needed to be resolved during the Brexit negotiation

process. The key thing for me,

that I know more now than I did even before the meeting,

was the fact that we have to make sure those relationships strengthen

and carry on post us leaving the EU. It's in nobody's interest for us

to have less good links with our European partners after

Brexit, in relation to security It is a fact that the better our

contacts are with our European partners, the closer we work

together with our European partners, the less chance the terrorists have

of being successful. At the speech he plans tomorrow

morning to a think tank has now been slightly adjusted and will have a

more sombre tone, but there will also be a central message about

London's economic position and how the deal needs to be good for

London, because it won't be Frankfurt on Luxembourg or Brussels,

even, that games if London's financial centre suffers, it will be

the competition from New York and Singapore. STUDIO: Thank you.

Well, while the Mayor holds talks in Brussels -

here, tributes to those who lost their lives

in Westminster continue to grow, as Victoria Hollins reports.

In the shadow of Big Ben, on a warm spring day,

a reminder of the tragedy that took place here just five days ago.

Amongst those who have come to see the tributes

were Joshua and Camilla, Americans both studying in London.

You know, it kind of shows a strength in community,

that British culture is strong and that no matter what happens,

people will still come together and show their support.

I think it's very, very humbling to see all these people coming out

and supporting one another and the comradery that it ignites.

But at the same time it's just so overwhelmingly unfortunate

The messages left on the railings around Parliament reflect

the range of victims, young and old.

Thoughts too from fellow police officers and the

And as the tourists take pictures and the buskers play,

on Westminster Bridge Londoners too reflect on the aftermath.

It's scary because it's brought it to home, but it still makes you feel

safe that actually there's people around that will help you.

Many visitors today watched what happened

Life goes on and there's a real resilient attitude here,

that these things happen, but it's going to be OK.

London seems a city shaken but largely defined.

-- defiant. Victoria Hollins, BBC London News.

The franchise for one of the busiest rail services is to be taken over

by a joint-venture which includes a Hong-Kong based company.

It'll oversee a one billion pound investment in South West Trains.

Our Transport Correspondent, Tom Edwards, assesses

They are some of their busiest commuter lines in the country,

serving the Bilic busiest station Waterloo, and other south-west

franchise will be taken over in a joint venture between first group

and the Hong Kong Metro operator. Commuters know what they want. If

there is a delay they are at least tell the passengers. Deliver

services with more carriages. It's not a bad service, South West Trains

have done quite well, I think, compared to some other services.

London's commuter railway has made its way into the private sector. The

change comes at a crucial time, with Waterloo Station in the middle of a

redevelopment. The government says the new operator will oversee ?1

billion investment. There will be 19 new trains and refunds will also be

given for delays over 15 minutes. More capacity, more reliable

services, more frequent services and indeed faster services, so an

upgrade all-round. Is it risky doing it with Waterloo? We've thought

carefully about how to do that smoothly, we will be talking to both

sides. The union say the takeover is a scandal. Passenger groups, though,

are hopeful. It won't be an overnight revolution, it will be

steady change. I think what want to seize the day-to-day red bit

reliability getting better. -- day-to-day reliability getting

better. It also mean the Mayor's ambitions to take over rail services

are at the moment dead. Passengers will see a new operator in August.

And I'll leave you with Georgina Burnett for a look at this

Yes and it will continue in that way. Some lovely sunsets. Thank you

to all of you for posting your pictures. So, the weather for the

week ahead. It's certainly looking warm and we may see the warmest day

of the year so far on Thursday. A lot of dry weather around until we

get to Friday and Saturday, when we see a bit more wet weather. Through

tonight, lots of blue sky today, a bit more in the way of cloud tonight

but still some clear spells. In more rural spots temperatures down to 4-5

but in central London looking at lows 7-8. Perhaps a little mist and

fog towards North London. That should clear fairly early on

tomorrow morning. A lot of sunshine first thing. By the afternoon a bit

more in the way of cloud and maybe a few showers sneaking through. I

think for most of us it should be a dry day. Temperatures getting up to

16 or possibly 17 Celsius. On Wednesday a bit more in the way of

cloud but bright and even sunny spells poking through. It should

stay dry. Thursday largely dry dates but the sunshine likely to be a bit

more hazy on Thursday. That is the day we are expecting those

temperatures to really sore. We might see 21 Celsius on Thursday.

For the weekend, looking a bit showery on Saturday, dry and

brighter on Sunday and if we showery on Saturday, dry and

brighter on Sunday and if we go back to the temperatures in the next

couple days, you see those highs on Thursday. He is John Hammond with

the national this cyclone Debbie crashes onto the

Queensland coast with violent winds and flooding rains, that will head

southwards in the next few days in the direction of Brisbane. We will

keep an eye on Debbie. Meanwhile back home, much more tranquil. This

beautiful sunset taken from Stevenage and Hertfordshire earlier

this evening. Clear skies for some though not for all of us. Quite a

lot of low cloud across eastern areas drifting a little farther west

as we go through the night. Areas of fog around, so watch out for those.

Where the skies remain clear, it will be cold. It already is, and in

some areas temperatures could dip as