:00:14. > :00:20.This was Shepherd's Court, a tower block in West London,
:00:21. > :00:27.where a huge fire broke out in in August last year.
:00:28. > :00:30.where a huge fire broke out in August last year.
:00:31. > :00:32.In response to that blaze, London Fire Brigade wrote
:00:33. > :00:34.to all local authorities in the capital.
:00:35. > :00:37.BBC London has seen a copy of the letter, in which the LFB says
:00:38. > :00:39.it believes that exterior panels on the building
:00:40. > :00:46.Our political editor, Tim Donovan, has this special report.
:00:47. > :00:51.Last August, mid-afternoon, filmed from a neighbouring block.
:00:52. > :01:01.And one by one, just like a serpent, it was slithering upwards.
:01:02. > :01:03.An 18-storey tower block in Shepherd's Bush, in West London.
:01:04. > :01:10.From one floor, it goes to another floor.
:01:11. > :01:13.You know, it was really horrific, the speed of it.
:01:14. > :01:16.No-one died or was seriously injured.
:01:17. > :01:18.Dozens of tenants were evacuated safely.
:01:19. > :01:20.The fire was claimed to have started from a faulty
:01:21. > :01:27.Today, the damage and the spread of that fire is still visible.
:01:28. > :01:30.The repairs not yet done, the tenants who occupy these
:01:31. > :01:40.Now, the fire started in this flat, on the seventh floor,
:01:41. > :01:45.Now, firefighters would have expected to contain it.
:01:46. > :01:48.They came up here, through the central stairwell.
:01:49. > :01:55.The fire spread, the flames went up outside the building,
:01:56. > :02:02.and came into this flat, one floor above.
:02:03. > :02:05.Smoke also affected properties on one, two floors above here.
:02:06. > :02:12.Well, a fire investigation suggested the panels around the windows
:02:13. > :02:14.on the outside of the building warped, exposing combustible
:02:15. > :02:31.In its letter to London boroughs in April, the Fire Brigade warned...
:02:32. > :02:35.Today, I showed the letter and the findings to one
:02:36. > :02:48.I've always thought that, but this is the first time...
:02:49. > :02:51.You've just shown me the letter now, that is the first
:02:52. > :02:56.I asked the council and they said no.
:02:57. > :03:08.They said at a council meeting in February this year,
:03:09. > :03:11.they told us that they would be changing the windows.
:03:12. > :03:14.And I said to them, come on, let's face it, the reason the fire
:03:15. > :03:18.And they said, no, it's absolute rubbish, we're just changing them
:03:19. > :03:22.because they would have been due a change after ten years.
:03:23. > :03:25.This wasn't the same issue, the same cladding as Grenfell Tower,
:03:26. > :03:28.but it shows that just weeks before, councils had been alerted
:03:29. > :03:30.to a serious concern about fire safety and the outside
:03:31. > :03:35.With this cladding and now these windows, it's basically
:03:36. > :03:37.every block in London, by the sounds of it.
:03:38. > :03:39.If you haven't got cladding, you've got these windows.
:03:40. > :03:41.So either way, it's a potential fire hazard everywhere.
:03:42. > :03:44.You know, after what we went through last August,
:03:45. > :03:47.it's scary to think that I'm still living in a
:03:48. > :03:50.Tonight, it's too early to say what action, if any,
:03:51. > :03:52.London councils took following the letter,
:03:53. > :03:54.but the local authority here - Hammersmith and Fulham -
:03:55. > :03:56.said it followed all Fire Brigade advice.
:03:57. > :04:01.And as a precaution, it says, all exterior panels will be removed
:04:02. > :04:05.The Mayor has launched a major crackdown on knife crime,
:04:06. > :04:07.after an escalation in violence in the capital.
:04:08. > :04:10.Nine teenagers have been killed this year and there were three fatal
:04:11. > :04:12.stabbings in the past 24 hours alone.
:04:13. > :04:14.The strategy could see more metal detectors in schools,
:04:15. > :04:17.along with an increase in the use of Stop and Search by police.
:04:18. > :04:23.Here's our home affairs correspondent, Nick Beake.
:04:24. > :04:26.The Mayor chose this boxing club in Brixton
:04:27. > :04:29.to launch his new assault on knife crime.
:04:30. > :04:32.Pastor Lorraine Jones set it up three years ago,
:04:33. > :04:38.after her 20-year-old son, Dwayne, was stabbed to death.
:04:39. > :04:42.It's the kind of place Sadiq Khan says he will now give more money to.
:04:43. > :04:44.It's vitally important to have spaces like this,
:04:45. > :04:48.because in spaces like this, the young people feel comfortable.
:04:49. > :04:52.Unless they feel comfortable and safe, they can't
:04:53. > :04:54.address their internal issues and social issues that they're
:04:55. > :05:05.Today, the Mayor blamed his predecessor and the Conservative-led
:05:06. > :05:07.coalition for a recent rise in knife crime.
:05:08. > :05:12.What can you say is genuinely new and pioneering and will
:05:13. > :05:16.Well, knife crime has been going up in London since 2014.
:05:17. > :05:19.It's clear that all of us have to work together.
:05:20. > :05:22.That means rather than closing down youth centres because of Government
:05:23. > :05:30.Well, a specialist team of 80 Met officers to be sent
:05:31. > :05:33.There will be more Stop and Search, and increased funding
:05:34. > :05:43.Also, more help for people to leave gangs,
:05:44. > :05:49.a crackdown on knife sales, and more weapon searches in schools.
:05:50. > :05:51.This strategy to fight knife crime is something the Mayor
:05:52. > :05:55.and his team have been working on for the past year.
:05:56. > :05:57.Lots of different organisations are involved, but the Metropolitan
:05:58. > :06:09.This strategy gives all of us across London the opportunity to get
:06:10. > :06:16.And I think the most important thing about it is that it is
:06:17. > :06:21.all-encompassing and there has been an enormous amount of consultation,
:06:22. > :06:23.engagement with particularly young people, so it's highly
:06:24. > :06:28.But not everyone thinks this strategy is destined to work.
:06:29. > :06:31.Sefton Henry started selling drugs when he was just eight.
:06:32. > :06:35.He thinks the Mayor should make more use of reformed criminals.
:06:36. > :06:38.I know what it's like to be in a prison cell.
:06:39. > :06:40.I know what it's like to carry a knife.
:06:41. > :07:01.I know what it's like to rob people and sell drugs and the rest of it.
:07:02. > :07:03.I know the root causes of what made me do that.
:07:04. > :07:06.The Conservatives say the Mayor's new strategy lacks clear targets,
:07:07. > :07:09.so it will be hard to work out whether or not any of these measures
:07:10. > :07:13.After 16 attempts at IVF and seven years of heartache,
:07:14. > :07:14.Sandeep and Reena Mander, from Berkshire, decided
:07:15. > :07:18.But the couple, who are Sikh, claim they were told they couldn't
:07:19. > :07:24.take the process forward locally because of their cultural heritage.
:07:25. > :07:28.There were both born in Britain and said they were happy to take a child
:07:29. > :07:29.from any ethnic background. They say the agency advised them
:07:30. > :07:32.to adopt a child from India instead, After seven years of trying and 16
:07:33. > :07:36.failed IVF attempts, Sandeep and Reena Mander
:07:37. > :07:43.accepted they were not Convinced they could offer
:07:44. > :07:45.a child a loving home, they went to an introductory
:07:46. > :07:48.session on adoption. When they told the agency,
:07:49. > :07:56.Adopt Berkshire, they would like to move forward,
:07:57. > :07:58.they were informed that with only white
:07:59. > :07:59.babies needing families, We'd already gone through
:08:00. > :08:08.a long journey, and... Initially, I was hurt,
:08:09. > :08:10.then I was angry. They should be looking at us
:08:11. > :08:14.as people and understanding more about our lives,
:08:15. > :08:16.who we are, and not just one particular area,
:08:17. > :08:22.such as cultural heritage. The couple, both born
:08:23. > :08:25.and raised in Britain, tried to get the decision reversed
:08:26. > :08:27.through the agency's They have had support from their MP,
:08:28. > :08:32.Theresa May, but they have not even been allowed to start the long
:08:33. > :08:34.application process, which is why I feel that the council has got it
:08:35. > :08:41.wrong, in the sense that they have prioritised cultural heritage
:08:42. > :08:43.as the one and primary factor that they will consider before even
:08:44. > :08:46.allowing couples to register. The effect of doing that is creating
:08:47. > :08:53.a form of segregation. Adopt Berkshire is the
:08:54. > :08:58.council's adoption agency. When we asked about this case,
:08:59. > :09:01.a spokesperson said they would not But on its website, it says -
:09:02. > :09:08.when placing children for adoption, it will first try to identify
:09:09. > :09:10.prospective adopters who will reflect the child's culture
:09:11. > :09:14.and religion of heritage. For us, colour doesn't mean a single
:09:15. > :09:20.thing to us, you know. So why differentiate that,
:09:21. > :09:31.and the well-being of the child growing up, just down
:09:32. > :09:34.to the fact that, I suppose, The legal battle, they say,
:09:35. > :09:37.is for future couples They've now been approved
:09:38. > :09:45.for adoption from the US. A man hit by a bus says
:09:46. > :09:48.he's lucky to be alive. Some viewers may find
:09:49. > :09:53.the CCTV images alarming. Simon Smith was walking
:09:54. > :09:57.on Gun Street, in Reading, when a double-decker bus mounted
:09:58. > :10:00.the pavement and sent him flying. Incredibly, he was able to get up
:10:01. > :10:09.and walk away and head for the pub. That's it for now from me,
:10:10. > :10:21.but let's find out what It is raining and it will continue
:10:22. > :10:28.through the night. Great watering for the garden. This is what we have
:10:29. > :10:32.had, a lot of rain and flashes around in Orpington, 20 millimetres
:10:33. > :10:37.in one hour. It is continuing through the night. Piling up on the
:10:38. > :10:42.radar picture. The Met Office has a weather warning as a result. There
:10:43. > :10:46.could be disruption to transport and difficult driving conditions and
:10:47. > :10:51.possibly flooding. Plenty of rain, some of it heavy. A weirdly cool and
:10:52. > :10:55.muggy feel, and that continues tomorrow morning and it will be
:10:56. > :11:00.raining for some in the rush-hour, clearing away into the afternoon
:11:01. > :11:02.with brighter spells. You can see on Thursday, a quite cloudy day, and
:11:03. > :11:05.you might get further showers. Thursday, a quite cloudy day, and
:11:06. > :11:15.you might get further showers. Good evening. The weather seems to
:11:16. > :11:20.have done a complete U-turn. For some today, wet and miserable for
:11:21. > :11:24.much of the day. In the Isle of Man, we have seen 56 millimetres of rain
:11:25. > :11:29.in 24 hours. Yes, the gardens are happy, but not sure if you have been
:11:30. > :11:34.if you live there. Some of that heavy this morning. Pushing North
:11:35. > :11:38.and East and light and drizzly into the afternoon, with showers
:11:39. > :11:42.developing into the South East. Becoming quite extensive through the
:11:43. > :11:47.afternoon across Kent and into London and into East Anglia. We have
:11:48. > :11:51.seen 50 millimetres in the Suffolk area in just 12 hours. The rain
:11:52. > :11:57.continues to be heavy and it will do so through the night. Gradually
:11:58. > :11:58.drifting North and West. The exception of Scotland,