:00:11. > :00:12.Good evening and welcome to BBC London News,
:00:13. > :00:17.They were once thought to be the greener choice for drivers,
:00:18. > :00:21.but the pollution diesel cars emit means they could soon be paying
:00:22. > :00:23.an extra 'toxin tax' to drive in the capital.
:00:24. > :00:25.Now the Mayor has written to the Prime Minister,
:00:26. > :00:28.asking her to help diesel drivers who were encouraged to buy
:00:29. > :00:32.their vehicles with tax incentives and lower costs.
:00:33. > :00:43.But the mayor wants to make it more difficult to drive
:00:44. > :00:49.He says our toxic air leaves him no choice.
:00:50. > :00:52.But it's not welcome news to drivers like Saffy,
:00:53. > :00:56.I went diesel because of economic reasons,
:00:57. > :01:02.They tend to do more miles than a petrol car,
:01:03. > :01:06.I thought they were better for the environment.
:01:07. > :01:10.We were led to believe that diesel was the way forward and many
:01:11. > :01:16.The mayor's plans include the T charge - drivers of the worst
:01:17. > :01:21.polluting cars would pay an extra ?10 in the Congestion Zone.
:01:22. > :01:24.Today, he wrote to the Prime Minister calling for the government
:01:25. > :01:48.The total cost, thought to be more than ?500 million.
:01:49. > :01:50.The mayor recognises he's in a difficult position.
:01:51. > :01:54.On the one hand, he says it's vital to clean up the capital's air.
:01:55. > :01:56.On the other, he is under pressure not unfairly penalise London's
:01:57. > :02:03.drivers who were once encouraged buy diesel cars.
:02:04. > :02:12.And encouraged by the mayor's own party.
:02:13. > :02:15.It was a Labour government who lowered the tax on diesel
:02:16. > :02:18.at a time many believed it was greener.
:02:19. > :02:21.I think it's a good thing for politicians
:02:22. > :02:27.Now the experts say that diesel is responsible for a lot of the air
:02:28. > :02:33.I don't want to leave families worse off, I don't want to leave
:02:34. > :02:36.I'm saying, the government has got to step up and help.
:02:37. > :02:39.But some are worried whether they will get
:02:40. > :02:43.Most cars at this dealership in Willesden are diesel,
:02:44. > :02:46.because they say that's what most customers still want.
:02:47. > :02:49.At the moment a lot of our vehicles are diesel.
:02:50. > :02:52.Obviously if Sadiq Khan is looking at a scrappage scheme it'll
:02:53. > :02:54.affect us in the long run, because we could have diesel
:02:55. > :02:59.vehicles we can't sell and customers who are very concerned.
:03:00. > :03:01.The mayor agrees the message to consumers must be clearer,
:03:02. > :03:04.but says it is now over to the government to play its part.
:03:05. > :03:08.He wants drivers discouraged from using diesel, but not punished
:03:09. > :03:22.We heard the Mayor asking for the government's help.
:03:23. > :03:31.It's a possibility. The reason Sadiq Khan is pushing hard on this is
:03:32. > :03:37.because London is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. More than
:03:38. > :03:40.9000 people die early as a result of pollution, caused by diesel
:03:41. > :03:45.vehicles. If Sadiq Khan wants them scraps, but it's tough for him, but
:03:46. > :03:49.it's Labour that encouraged us to buy diesel in the first place. So he
:03:50. > :03:53.needs the help of a Tory government. Theresa May has signalled in the
:03:54. > :03:57.last few days she doesn't want to see the owners of diesel cars
:03:58. > :04:01.punished. So the signs are looking good. But she's got big things
:04:02. > :04:07.coming up this year, Brexit and soap it's not known how much of a
:04:08. > :04:10.priority this is for her. The indications are that diesel cars are
:04:11. > :04:14.going to be on our roads for some time yet.
:04:15. > :04:17.A woman from St Albans accused of knocking down and killing
:04:18. > :04:19.a 70-year-old cyclist has been cleared of careless driving.
:04:20. > :04:22.Michael Mason was knocked off his bike on Regent Street
:04:23. > :04:24.and died three weeks later from a brain injury.
:04:25. > :04:26.The case, brought by a cycling charity, is believed to be
:04:27. > :04:31.the first to be paid for through crowd funding.
:04:32. > :04:33.The Prime Minister has used the launch of her party's local
:04:34. > :04:36.election campaign to attack Labour for its handling of the Ken
:04:37. > :04:41.Theresa May said the Jewish community had been betrayed
:04:42. > :04:49.A Labour Party, which just this week revealed the depths
:04:50. > :04:51.to which it has now sunk, betraying the Jewish community
:04:52. > :04:55.in our country by letting Ken Livingstone off the hook.
:04:56. > :04:59.It could not be clearer that the Labour Party is now a long
:05:00. > :05:05.way away from the common centre ground of British politics today.
:05:06. > :05:07.An Essex council is heading to the High Court to stop
:05:08. > :05:09.the construction of two illegal travellers' sites.
:05:10. > :05:13.The Hovefield camps are less than two miles from Dale Farm -
:05:14. > :05:17.which cost Basildon Council millions of pounds to clear six years ago.
:05:18. > :05:20.The travellers at the new site say they have nowhere else to go,
:05:21. > :05:27.Green belt land in Basildon, which the council says should
:05:28. > :05:31.Last month, people living nearby on Hovefields Avenue
:05:32. > :05:36.Tarmac was laid, and mobile homes appeared.
:05:37. > :05:38.That's despite an injunction by the High Court back in October,
:05:39. > :05:42.banning any further development on two specific sites.
:05:43. > :05:45.If you develop an area, you have to have infrastructure,
:05:46. > :05:51.The council has to agree, you cannot just set up,
:05:52. > :05:55.be it a caravan, a house, a bungalow, just where you think
:05:56. > :06:00.you will, because you have decided to develop.
:06:01. > :06:03.It matters not that they are Travellers, it's just an individual
:06:04. > :06:08.or a group of people cannot develop illegally.
:06:09. > :06:11.Basildon Council is now taking legal action.
:06:12. > :06:14.On this one, we've had injunctions down for a number of months now
:06:15. > :06:18.which have been breached, and that is a criminal offence.
:06:19. > :06:24.The unauthorised development is just three miles away
:06:25. > :06:25.from the Dale Farm Travellers Site in Wickford.
:06:26. > :06:28.There are two separately-owned pieces of land in question,
:06:29. > :06:30.one is west of Hovefields Avenue, the other is known as
:06:31. > :06:39.And, if nothing's done, some people fear a repeat of this,
:06:40. > :06:42.the chaotic clearance in 2011 of the part of Dale Farm that had
:06:43. > :06:45.been illegally occupied and developed by Travellers
:06:46. > :06:50.80 families were evicted from unlawful plots,
:06:51. > :06:54.the process costing Basildon Council more than ?4 million.
:06:55. > :06:57.Six years on, and Dale Farm, to the right of the existing legal
:06:58. > :07:00.site, is slowly returning to green belt.
:07:01. > :07:03.But those who work with Travellers say there aren't
:07:04. > :07:08.People have to exist, and they have to have a place to live.
:07:09. > :07:11.They can buy their own property, they can put in for planning
:07:12. > :07:15.permission, but sometimes that takes years to go through.
:07:16. > :07:17.And in the meantime, 99.9% of Gypsy and Traveller
:07:18. > :07:23.Lawyers for Basildon Council will come here to the High Court
:07:24. > :07:27.tomorrow to ask for an order giving them permission to go onto the land
:07:28. > :07:29.west of Hovefields Avenue, to undo some of the recent
:07:30. > :07:32.developments, and restore the site to how it was in October
:07:33. > :07:39.when the injunction banning further development was issued.
:07:40. > :07:42.Although, it could be just the start of a long
:07:43. > :07:51.Refugees should be treated with respect and sympathy -
:07:52. > :07:55.that's the message from Kurdish leaders in Croydon, after a teenage
:07:56. > :07:57.asylum seeker was severely beaten there last week.
:07:58. > :07:59.Members of his community have been visiting him in hospital and told
:08:00. > :08:04.us how he's grateful for people's support.
:08:05. > :08:08.With a broken spine, fractured eye socket
:08:09. > :08:10.and a bleed on his brain, Reker Ahmed had trouble recognising
:08:11. > :08:15.But when he did, he told them what was going through his mind
:08:16. > :08:19.He thought he was really going to die.
:08:20. > :08:21.That's what he said, he thought he is gone.
:08:22. > :08:24.You could see from his face when he was trying to move,
:08:25. > :08:29.that he was in quite a bit of pain and agony.
:08:30. > :08:34.His left eye, he couldn't quite open it, it was black and blue.
:08:35. > :08:37.The 17-year-old had been settling well into his local community.
:08:38. > :08:40.He had fled the regime in Iran last year.
:08:41. > :08:45.What is it that drove Reker to the UK?
:08:46. > :08:48.There's a huge repression and oppression against
:08:49. > :08:53.So he fled from the persecutions and oppression over there,
:08:54. > :08:59.He's been living there, and for something like this
:09:00. > :09:02.to happen to a refugee who has gone through so much suffering
:09:03. > :09:07.13 people have been charged in connection
:09:08. > :09:12.The teenager was beaten and kicked by a gang as he waited
:09:13. > :09:18.Since then, more than ?50,000 has been raised to help him.
:09:19. > :09:21.When I actually conveyed the message to say that the British people
:09:22. > :09:23.were well behind him, that they were totally
:09:24. > :09:27.against this attack, it put a big smile on his face,
:09:28. > :09:30.and he actually lifted his hand and put it on his
:09:31. > :09:36.So he did really appreciate that, and that was something I think that
:09:37. > :09:40.I hope that he's going to make a steady recovery, and this will not
:09:41. > :09:44.cause him any further complications as a result of this attack.
:09:45. > :09:46.But nevertheless, I think this will stay with him
:09:47. > :09:53.You could see from the extent of the injuries to his face
:09:54. > :09:56.and body, he will never forget about this attack.
:09:57. > :10:04.That's it for now from me, but let's find out what
:10:05. > :10:16.Three more days and days to come and temperatures will be on the rise.
:10:17. > :10:22.After a quiet day today we have sunshine, sky clear tonight.
:10:23. > :10:26.Temperatures dip away. It will be a chilly start, a chilly start to what
:10:27. > :10:29.should be a lovely day with long spells of sunshine. The sun will be
:10:30. > :10:33.up quite quickly in the morning. It will be a lovely morning. A bit
:10:34. > :10:40.chilly, like winds, some sunshine could compensate. Patchy cloud in
:10:41. > :10:44.the afternoon. 16-17, very nice. The wind direction will change as we go
:10:45. > :10:48.into the weekend. The south-easterly breeze develops. With that comes
:10:49. > :10:51.some slightly warmer air. Temperatures on Saturday rising a
:10:52. > :10:55.touch or two. Another decent day with patchy cloud and sunny spells.
:10:56. > :11:00.The outlook, temperatures continuing to rise into the weekend. We'll see
:11:01. > :11:12.Hello. There was some warm sunshine around today, but it's set to get
:11:13. > :11:16.even warmer this weekend. 18 Celsius in London this afternoon. This was
:11:17. > :11:20.the scene in Chiswick, much quieter than it was on Sunday for the boat
:11:21. > :11:21.race. Under the cloud for