07/07/2017 London News

Now on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

Good evening from BBC London News. I'm Victoria Hollins.

A row has broken out over the route of this year's

Notting Hill Carnival, following the Grenfell Tower fire.

The parade passes within metres of the disaster.

The Minister for London has questioned whether

But Mayor Sadiq Khan says the carnival belongs on the streets

of its Notting Hill birthplace, as Karl Mercer reports.

For the last seven years, this is how Linton Mitchell has

Getting warmed up for Carnival, 2017.

Like others around Notting Hill, though, he woke to

news this morning that the Minister for London has asked for Carnival to

be moved this year after the Grenfell Tower fire.

He says that news has already upset many.

Most people are actually saying, they are going to stop the Carnival.

That to me is triggering off, exciting, more

or less, discomfort between the community.

The row started after Minister for London

Greg Hands wrote to the mayor, saying:.

Sadly, neither man was available to be

interviewed today but the local MP was not pulling her punches.

Why on earth should yet another white man in a suit

have any idea about what is good for this community, who is grieving,

And actually, they decide what is right and what is

wrong at the moment, not us, not me, either.

At the scene today, there were mixed views over whether

Carnival is one of the greatest things,

I think it should go ahead and celebrate life.

I don't think the people that have lost their lives

would have liked for that to be cancelled.

A lot of people died and maybe we should respect the area.

Pepe Francis is chair of Carnival and not planning to follow

That is not... That has never been a consideration.

We support the whole, the people from Grenfell Tower.

Tonight, a statement from Kensington and

Chelsea Council said there were no plans to move carnival this year.

The Prime Minister Theresa May says plans for a statue

of Margaret Thatcher outside the Houses of Parliament should not

be blocked simply because of fears that it might be defaced.

A planning application for a ten-foot statue has been

Parliament Square is home to about 11 statues, all political figures,

although as yet there have been no women. There are plans for

suffragists Millicent Fawcett to be featured. Margaret Thatcher would be

a ten foot high bronze statue, worth about ?300,000. It is a popular idea

with prominent Conservative politicians but the Royal Parks, who

own the square, have objected because they have said they're not

yet assurances that her family approve of it. Also, a local

residents and business Association has edge was very significant, of

course, as the first female Prime Minister but was also controversial

enough to vandalism. This is the suggestion that the current PM

rejects. I understand there are a number

of issues that have been raised around the statue but what I'm very

clear about is that there is no, there should be no suggestion

that the threat of vandalism should stop a statue of Margaret Thatcher

from being put up. So how real is the risk of

vandalism? It is a very public space and lots of protests have gone

through there. A few years ago, the Winston Churchill statue was defaced

during anti-capitalist demonstrations but the final

decision rests with Westminster council. We will await the decision.

A ten-year regeneration project has seen the transformation

of the waterways around the Olympic stadium.

Welcome to the Bow Back Rivers, London's newest waterway.

1.5 miles of previously unnavigable canals.

Ten years ago, you would have had tyres in here, fridges,

washing machines, full of industrial pollutants and now, look

Part of the scheme is to reinstate these reedbeds

We have created all of this reedbed habitat in several areas

That has allowed species to flourish.

We will see here, coots, moorhens, kingfishers,

all the kind of animals that are a sign of a healthy waterway.

Before the Olympics, this is what the area looked like.

Long before that, the canals were used to deliver to local industry.

This project has taken ten years to get this far

What it means is you can now loop right around

Raymond Lyons has lived on his longboat for about a year.

We love living on the canal and we have docked up

So I can see there's an interest value to be going around

the Bow Back waters and stuff which have been

We want you to come here, we want you to cruise through,

we want you to admire the wildlife that has returned to the park.

We want you to enjoy the views of London Stadium.

As well as boat owners, tours will now use these waterways

to also witness London's rediscovered industrial heritage.

Apologies for the slightly premature start to that report.

That's it for now from me, but let's find out what the weather's up

Thank you and good evening. Today, another scorcher, we hit 30 Celsius

at London Heathrow which made it the seventh day so far this summer we

have got above 30 degrees. Some summers don't get anywhere near it.

At the moment out there, it remains humid and tonight, temperatures not

dropping much lower than around 18 Celsius, maybe 19 or 20 in parts of

Essex and Kent. A lot more clouds tomorrow with a bit of light rain or

drizzle around first thing but I think by and large, it will be a dry

day with only a small chance of a light, passing shower. Light winds

but cooler than we have seen in recent days, temperatures down on

what they were today, certainly, may be low to mid 20s at the very best.

We finished tomorrow evening with one or two showers still around but

the skies will start to show a few more breaks as we go into Sunday. If

we take a look at the outlook, Sunday, largely dry, probably a bit

more sunshine and warming up a touch again but by Monday and into

Tuesday, it will feel cooler and there will be a greater chance of a

few showers. If there will be a greater chance of a

few showers. If you've got any plans further afield, Philip has the full

details. Hello and good evening, contrasting

fortunes across the British Isles again today, a weather front across

the North, the odd bit and peace offering putting a dent in the

temperatures in the central belt, further south, not for the first

time recently, we hit 30 degrees again at Heathrow. Overnight, that

weather front will ease a bit further south with no great rush,

quite a bit of cloud across England and Wales and as warm as ever hear.

Further north, underneath clearing skies, temperatures could dip for

some into single figures but as I say, further south again, another

night of 15, 16, 17 or 18. The weekend starts fairly cloudy with

bits and pieces of rain on the breeze across South Wales and

south-west England, generally cloudy here. Writers got anywhere from

North Wales, North Midlands northwards although you will notice

another weather front close by in the North West of Scotland but it's