25/01/2018 London News

That's

Good evening from BBC London News,

I'm Victoria Hollins.

Tower Hamlets has become

the latest London council

to pay the Met Police directly

for more police officers

in the borough.

It's paid the force £3 million

to have more officers on its estates

over the next 3 years.

And the authority says it's already

reaping the benefits -

one estate has seen a fall

in the number of crimes,

with a raid on alleged drug dealers

carried out this morning.

Here's our Political

Correspondent Karl Mercer.

It can be a tight squeeze

in the lift on the way

to a drugs bust.

Police, open the door!

And sometimes things don't quite

go according to plan.

Police, open the door!

But within minutes

early this morning,

this team in Tower Hamlets were in,

on the search for drugs.

He has indicated on this drawer,

which contains cannabis grinders.

There is foil.

Traces of Class A drugs, maybe Class

B and also a large weapon.

As police burst in, bags

of what they believe are heroin

and crack were thrown from the flat.

The two men inside were arrested

on suspicion of drugs offences.

This operation is part

of an intitiative being run

by the police with

the local council,

which has paid £3 million

for extra officers on its estates

over the next three years.

The problem is really bad.

We have schoolchildren coming home.

They are finding people

on the stairwells

injecting themselves.

We have

residents too scared because of drug

dealers occupying the area who

intimidate residents.

It has been very successful.

We using not just criminal justice

powers, but also working with our

partners, the local authority.

We are trying to look

at the bigger picture

and get to the heart of the problem.

And also, it may

jeopardise their tenancy.

The money for the 30 extra estate

police will come out

of Tower Hamlets Council's savings.

And the local mayor, who launched

the scheme back in October,

says it is money well spent.

We survey our local

residents every year.

They tell us that crime and

anti-social behaviour are a concern.

We have also seen big cuts in police

officer numbers because of central

government spending cuts,

which means people don't get

anything like the response

they used to get.

We have introduced

funding for police

officers funded by the borough.

We have greater

control over what they

do.

Across the capital, other councils

pay for around 350 police

in their own areas.

But today the mayor warned once

again that police numbers

in London could drop below 30,000

for the first time in a decade.

During the course of 18-19,

we will have an average

of 30,000 officers

across London.

Don't be surprised

if it goes below 30.

And above 30.

The average will be

30,000 across London.

And by the way, we have

not had so few officers

for a long period of time.

The government insists

London does get its fare

-- fair share of police funding.

But as the row over

funding continues.

So will the raids.

Louisa Preston has more on this.

We heard about Tower Hamlets but 20

other councils across the capital

are paying for extra officers,

literally giving the Met police

money, something like 350 officers

being paid by local authorities and

we know the Met police are under

financial pressure and they have

already saved £600 million and half

to save an extra 400 million and

they have been selling off police

stations, we know the old Scotland

Yard has disappeared. The number of

community support officers has been

slashed and the number of police

officers and the bearer of London

said there is a concern the critical

level of 30,000 could drop, we could

see the number of officers dropping

below 30,000 but on a positive note

we heard the extra money the Met

police asked for from the government

to fund the Grenfell Tower fire

investigation, the mayor told the

London Assembly he is hearing

encouraging signs that they may get

more money to follow that

investigation.

Thanks.

The Mayor Sadiq Khan has lodged

an application for a judicial

review into the decision to release

rapist John Worboys.

The former black-cab driver

is believed to have carried out more

than 100 rapes and sexual assaults

on women in London

between 2002 and 2008.

Two of his victims have also started

proceedings against the decision.

The chief executive

of the investment bank JP

Morgan has told the BBC it

could cut its workforce by more

than a quarter if financial services

aren't included in a future trade

deal with the EU.

He's warned of long-term damage

to London as a financial centre

if we don't get a Brexit deal based

on regulatory alignment,

but what does that mean and how

likely are we to get it?

Here's our Brexit correspondent

Katharine Carpenter.

They might have escaped to a pocket

of Europe outside the EU,

but the conversation about Brexit

never really goes away

for politicians and business

leaders in Davos.

Today, the Chief Executive of JP

Morgan renewed his warning about job

losses in the City if the UK's

financial services get left out

of a post-Brexit trade deal.

They determine that you can't have

reciprocal trade practices,

reciprocal regulations.

It will be bad for jobs.

How many?

I don't know, it

would be a lot, yeah.

4000?

It would be more than 4000.

The numbers are important

because that figure is much higher

than JP Morgan's previous estimate

that only 500-1000 of its staff

would have to move elsewhere.

And, if he sees reciprocal

regulation as the key to preventing

jobs leaving London,

what does that actually mean?

It's what many here in the City

see as the way forward

for financial services.

Also known as regulatory alignment,

it essentially means that the EU

and UK's laws and rules are a mirror

image of one another, with the same

standards and regulations.

If either side wants

to change something,

they have to agree on that and,

crucially, there's an independent

body to deal with any disputes.

That might sound simple but it's got

to get agreed by this man,

the EU's chief negotiator,

Michel Barnier, who has

previously ruled out a bespoke

trade deal with the UK

which includes financial services.

The politics of the situation

are going to be the really

tricky parts to get right.

You will have heard Emmanuel Macron

at the weekend actually talk

about a continuation

of an arrangement specifically

for financial services.

But he was very clear, of course,

that with any continued access,

we will need to consider issues

like contribution to the budget

and free movement of people.

So those are the tricky issues

I think that will need to be

resolved before this agreement can

be put in place.

But as one of the architects

of the City's plan, she's confident

a deal can be reached,

and today the Government said

it was still determined to build

a deep and special partnership

with the EU.

Of course, there are those who say

all this talk of possible job losses

is scaremongering and 4000 jobs

are only a small proportion of all

of those in the City of London.

And, of course, the timing of this

too is politically nuanced,

as we're about to head into the next

phase of negotiations,

the details of which David Davis

is expected to outline tomorrow.

Katharine Carpenter,

BBC London News.

He describes it "as one

of the best jobs in the city".

Aerial photographer Jason Hawkes has

been recording London's changing

skyline for the last twenty years.

Marc Ashdown took to

the skies to meet him.

It's the most beautiful city.

It's definitely one

of my favourite cities.

I have shot all around the world

but when the weather is nice

and particularly when the Thames

glows, the sun on the water,

it looks amazing.

For 20 years, Jason Hawkes has

been an eye in the sky,

documenting our changing capital.

Which means, like most

Londoners, he has a mini

obsession with the weather.

A lot of the time

the weather is rubbish.

We get that one day every two weeks

that is going to be perfect

for this kind of flying.

And how the skyline has

changed from before

and after the London Eye,

to the Square Mile.

Once fairly low-rise,

who'd have thought now

dominated by a Gherkin,

a Cheesegrater and a Walkie-talkie.

Then there is happening

on the extraordinary,

like Justin Bieber performing

in Hyde Park.

All these people, rather

than looking at Justin Bieber,

they have all got their phones out.

Would you say it is

the best job in London?

It is one of the best

jobs, it is good fun.

On a day like this,

obviously it is very cold,

it is a little bit choppy today,

so you can feel a little bit sick,

but yes, it is great fun.

but yes, it is great fun.

That's it for now from me,

but lets find out what the weather's

up to with Nick Miller.

Thankfully tomorrow's weather will

not be rubbish but after sunshine

today there will be cloudy skies,

and a small chance of a shower.

Otherwise it is dry. We have had the

odd shower this evening but for the

rest of the night, holes in the

cloud. The temperature could drop to

2-3d. There may be a touch of frost.

A lot of morning cloud and a chance

of a shower and by no means

everybody will get one and into the

afternoon it will brighten up with

sunny spells coming through. The

coldest day of the week. Light

winds. If you have sunshine it will

not be too bad but chilly on Friday

evening. Early sunshine on Saturday.

Cloud and outbreaks of rain on

Saturday afternoon. Not amounting to

too much. The wind is starting to

pick up and it will be a windy

weekend. But a mild weekend.

Temperature is higher by Sunday but

Sunday looking dry.