:00:12. > :00:13.Good evening. I'm Asad Ahmad.
:00:14. > :00:17.A new crossing for the Thames has got the go-ahead.
:00:18. > :00:21.It'll be a tunnel helping to link the M25 north
:00:22. > :00:24.of the River, with the A2 - south of it.
:00:25. > :00:26.Hauliers say they're delighted with the government's decision,
:00:27. > :00:28.but opponents are calling it a disaster for homeowners
:00:29. > :00:33.Our political editor Tim Donovan has been speaking to both sides.
:00:34. > :00:39.One of the busiest stretches of road in the country and often no one's
:00:40. > :00:42.going anywhere fast which is why the Government felt the decision it
:00:43. > :00:54.Many people who use this crossing who live in Kent,
:00:55. > :00:57.work in Essex or live in Essex, work in Kent, this will provide
:00:58. > :01:01.It will ease the pressure on Dartford in a way that only
:01:02. > :01:05.Now they've just got to build it and a new approach road
:01:06. > :01:09.This is a landscape east of London which will soon be
:01:10. > :01:14.Over there is East Tilbury village and in between, well,
:01:15. > :01:18.this is Tilbury marshes and it's over the other side of that
:01:19. > :01:24.ridge where those hedges are where the mouth,
:01:25. > :01:26.the opening of this tunnel on the north side
:01:27. > :01:41.The whole route, well, this is due to start at north Oxendon,
:01:42. > :01:44.The whole route, well, this is due to start at north Ockendon,
:01:45. > :01:47.where a road comes off the M25, down through Orsett at the junction
:01:48. > :01:50.with the A13, then down to here on the north side
:01:51. > :01:52.of the Thames, underneath the Thames coming out east of Gravesend
:01:53. > :01:56.and then there'll be a link road to join the A2 and the idea will be
:01:57. > :01:59.to siphon off a lot of that cross Channel traffic,
:02:00. > :02:02.particularly haulage which needs to get to the rest of the country,
:02:03. > :02:04.which is why local hauliers here really welcome it because it's
:02:05. > :02:06.going to relieve pressure on the existing Dartford crossing.
:02:07. > :02:10.It's the only option that will seriously avoid the congestion
:02:11. > :02:12.and disruption that we have on a daily basis trying
:02:13. > :02:17.But in the village of Orsett, not least in one quiet cul de sac,
:02:18. > :02:26.The estate is less than two years old, there is 24 homes here.
:02:27. > :02:31.Actually it's here, it's exactly here, so you will find that the road
:02:32. > :02:34.is intending to go all the way across here, arc all the way
:02:35. > :02:40.He is leading a campaign and he doesn't believe the option
:02:41. > :02:42.chosen will relieve the Dartford crossing like officials claim.
:02:43. > :02:51.495,000 square metres of green belt land which you can't get back again,
:02:52. > :02:53.over 200 residential properties, multiple commercial properties
:02:54. > :02:56.and it won't fix the problem that Highways England were tasked to fix
:02:57. > :03:01.which is the congestion of the Dartford crossing.
:03:02. > :03:03.No final decision's yet been taken on what will be
:03:04. > :03:06.demolished and where, claims the Government.
:03:07. > :03:07.There'll be more consultation, although here
:03:08. > :03:12.While many others behind the wheel this evening may feel another
:03:13. > :03:18.The M1 motorway was closed in both directions this
:03:19. > :03:21.afternoon and evening, after a fire at a builders
:03:22. > :03:27.Trains were also seriously disrupted causing major problems
:03:28. > :03:35.The motorway has tonight reopened, but there are still delays.
:03:36. > :03:37.There's been a massive rise in gun and knife crime
:03:38. > :03:40.in London over the past year, with the Metropolitan Police
:03:41. > :03:47.admitting it can't solve the problem by itself.
:03:48. > :03:52.So it's asking for the help of Londoners.
:03:53. > :03:55.But the force says it's not a reason to panic because overall crime
:03:56. > :03:57.is significantly down, to what it was a decade ago.
:03:58. > :04:01.You don't need annual crime figures to know that knife crime's
:04:02. > :04:15.In Northolt this morning following the fatal stabbing of a teenager in
:04:16. > :04:18.west London. And in Mile End too following another deadly knife
:04:19. > :04:23.attack in London. Two more signs of a growing problem for the Met.
:04:24. > :04:30.That's up 24% with over 12,000 offences last year, or 33 every day.
:04:31. > :04:35.Worryingly, knife crime with injury is up 21%, with 44 offences, that's
:04:36. > :04:39.12 people injured by a knife every day in London.
:04:40. > :04:43.Any of us can pick a knife up and there are too many young people who
:04:44. > :04:50.are being injured, seriously injured and in a number of cases killed
:04:51. > :04:54.because of what is a fight where people are using knives.
:04:55. > :04:57.It concerns me that what we're seeing undoubtedly in those numbers
:04:58. > :04:59.is an increased number of young people who are routinely carrying
:05:00. > :05:01.a knife around of whatever sort with them.
:05:02. > :05:05.The Met has gone on the front foot over a set of figures
:05:06. > :05:12.Gun crime has gone up 42% in the last year with some 2,500
:05:13. > :05:17.offences across the year, that's seven every day.
:05:18. > :05:20.I think that with gun crime discharges rising as they have done
:05:21. > :05:23.and that we have taken more guns off the streets, I think
:05:24. > :05:27.you can say that one of the reasons is there are more
:05:28. > :05:32.We have taken more guns off the street in the last two
:05:33. > :05:35.1,400 guns have been taken off the streets of London.
:05:36. > :05:37.While crime is rising, detection rates are falling.
:05:38. > :05:42.The Met recently criticised for being 700 detectives short.
:05:43. > :05:45.Some crimes like burglary have a clear uprate of less than 5%.
:05:46. > :05:48.City Hall today called the figures deeply disturbing and called
:05:49. > :05:53.for the Met's funding to be protected from further cuts.
:05:54. > :05:56.There's no question over the last four years we have taken over
:05:57. > :05:58.?600 million out of our budget and we have other savings
:05:59. > :06:02.So that is going to have an impact on an organisation's
:06:03. > :06:06.The Met, like other forces around the country, is facing
:06:07. > :06:08.a squeeze on its budgets, at a time when crime
:06:09. > :06:14.In recent years, a number of consultants say there's been
:06:15. > :06:22.a sharp increase in the number of women in London choosing
:06:23. > :06:24.to have a double mastectomy, as a precaution
:06:25. > :06:29.It's attributed - largely, some say -
:06:30. > :06:31.to actress Angelina Jolie, who had a much publicised
:06:32. > :06:35.double mastectomy herself, to reduce the risk of cancer.
:06:36. > :06:50.In this situation these are women who are choosing to have mastectomy
:06:51. > :06:57.before they've been diagnosed. Their rigsing may be high, an 80% risk in
:06:58. > :06:58.their lifetime, that they seek out and have a mastectomy without having
:06:59. > :07:06.had a cancer diagnosis. It's a fact that many of us use
:07:07. > :07:09.statistics in order to prove a point one way or the other,
:07:10. > :07:11.but here's a genuinely One in five - that's 20%
:07:12. > :07:15.of all children in London - And that figure increases
:07:16. > :07:19.during the school holidays. So a local project in Brixton
:07:20. > :07:21.is leading the way in tackling the problem,
:07:22. > :07:25.as Tara Welsh has been finding out. Many mums will know
:07:26. > :07:28.that after a game of football their boys
:07:29. > :07:31.just want to be fed. They've each got sons playing
:07:32. > :07:35.here but they're helping The aim is to make sure children
:07:36. > :07:44.from lower income families are kept Here, they get a proper meal,
:07:45. > :07:49.it's freshly cooked on the day So, they get that along
:07:50. > :07:53.with free football. I think it's really important
:07:54. > :07:59.for them to come out of the house It's worked so well
:08:00. > :08:04.here that the idea's # Fried chicken, make
:08:05. > :08:11.burgers finger licking... And bringing a bit of song
:08:12. > :08:14.and sauce to the launch But there's a serious
:08:15. > :08:19.reason behind the scheme. It's estimated half a million
:08:20. > :08:23.children in London are facing hunger Back in my day we never had that
:08:24. > :08:29.kind of problem because it was more of a community spirit and we looked
:08:30. > :08:31.after each other. But now I think it's
:08:32. > :08:35.about individual lives and that becomes harder,
:08:36. > :08:38.especially for parents because it's so individualistic
:08:39. > :08:40.the way that we live now. So it's brilliant when we get
:08:41. > :08:43.out and come together The programme aims
:08:44. > :08:47.to help 7,500 children When you think about it,
:08:48. > :08:54.it makes sense that if kids are getting free school meals
:08:55. > :08:57.they're not getting free school meals during the holidays,
:08:58. > :09:00.that makes sense, so The question is how are families
:09:01. > :09:06.able to deal with that gap? Most of the funding is public,
:09:07. > :09:08.much of the food donated. But of course it's the football that
:09:09. > :09:12.keeps the kids coming back. Didn't really go so well for me
:09:13. > :09:15.and my team, but we played And I enjoyed eating food because it
:09:16. > :09:28.helps me to get strong. But it makes you wonder why
:09:29. > :09:30.in the capital in 2017 It does make you wonder, I wish the
:09:31. > :09:47.project the very best. Finally, just to prove you can
:09:48. > :09:49.never predict what's going to happen in London,
:09:50. > :09:51.there's this video which was It's of two Metropolitan Police
:09:52. > :09:55.officers chasing a pig down a road A passing jogger also tries to catch
:09:56. > :10:08.the animal which was finally I want to know where is home and
:10:09. > :10:14.what was the pig doing in Redbridge? There are some obvious gags. Over to
:10:15. > :10:18.you No, I want to be back tomorrow! Moving on quickly. Some sunshine at
:10:19. > :10:22.times tomorrow. It should be dry as we head into the Easter weekend.
:10:23. > :10:26.There will be a lot of cloud around, it will produce some rain. It's not
:10:27. > :10:29.a washout and probably not very much rain at all.
:10:30. > :10:34.Generally it's going to be dry overnight. The cloud tends to thin
:10:35. > :10:37.and break. We will have clearer skies developing, it will be
:10:38. > :10:42.chillier than it was last night. Temperatures about six or seven.
:10:43. > :10:45.Tomorrow starts fine, some early sunshine. As we head through the
:10:46. > :10:49.morning it will cloud over more from the west. The cloud should break up
:10:50. > :10:52.during the afternoon. Essentially some sunshine at timings.
:10:53. > :10:58.Temperatures probably peaking around 14.
:10:59. > :11:01.The outlook sees cloudy skies on Good Friday and rather damp as well.
:11:02. > :11:02.Brighter on Saturday but cloud again on Sunday.
:11:03. > :11:10.Brighter on Saturday but cloud again on Sunday. Here is Tomasz.
:11:11. > :11:14.Good evening. The weather in the run-up to
:11:15. > :11:23.Christmas... Easter! I got ahead of myself there! It isn't looking
:11:24. > :11:27.especially great, nor is it looking all that sunny. It will be
:11:28. > :11:31.changeable, it's been changeable today. You can see cloud streaming
:11:32. > :11:37.out of the north-west of the country. You can see some showers
:11:38. > :11:44.getting into north western parts of the UK, but eastern areas will
:11:45. > :11:45.remain pretty clear tonight, so here we have some frost on the way first