Browse content similar to 13/02/2018. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good evening - I'm Riz Lateef. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:16 | |
An investigation by BBC London
reveals how much the government has | 0:00:16 | 0:00:19 | |
made by raising the cost
of becoming a British citizen. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
It's collected more than £800
million over the past six years. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:28 | |
It can cost eligible applicants -
including children born in the UK - | 0:00:28 | 0:00:31 | |
about £1000 to register. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
But we've learned it only costs
the Home Office around | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
£300 to process it. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
They've told us the money
is reinvested to fund | 0:00:38 | 0:00:42 | |
the wider immigration system. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:43 | |
As our Home Affairs Correspondent
Nick Beake reports - | 0:00:43 | 0:00:45 | |
it's left some young Londoners
struggling with debt. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:49 | |
Samson Adiola was born
in Nigeria and came to London | 0:00:49 | 0:00:51 | |
with his family when he was five. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:58 | |
He was entitled to British
citizenship, but never took it. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
But when he turned 18
he decided to apply because | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
if he went to university
as an international student, | 0:01:03 | 0:01:05 | |
he'd have to pay much more. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:09 | |
He then found out that
officially becoming British | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
would cost nearly £1,000. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
It was very difficult,
definitely for my mum, | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
having to go around looking at where
she could get the money from. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:25 | |
One of the main places we got help
from was the church and they put | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
a substantial amount together just
to help us out. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:32 | |
BBC London has learned the cost
of processing applications such | 0:01:32 | 0:01:37 | |
as Samson's was only £260,
a quarter of what he was charged. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
It's really kind of upsetting,
actually, that they are | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
actually doing this. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:48 | |
And for other people who may not
even be able to scrape | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
that money together,
who are entitled, or have the right | 0:01:52 | 0:01:57 | |
to British citizenship and who can't
put forward the application | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
because of the cost. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:00 | |
It's really frustrating. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:02 | |
We came for a workshop. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
Some charities which help families
gain British citizenship condemned | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
the rising Home Office fees. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
To know that you have a right
to register as a British citizen, | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
Parliament has given you that right
and the Secretary of State is trying | 0:02:11 | 0:02:16 | |
to profiteer and sell the benefit
that was given by Parliament as far | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
back as 1983. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:20 | |
It is a complete scandal. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:25 | |
The Home Office told us it has not
been making any profit | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
from these rising fees. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:29 | |
It said any income generated
above the actual cost of processing | 0:02:29 | 0:02:34 | |
an application goes into the budget
which helps protect the UK border. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
And so it actually reduces
the burden on the taxpayer. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
One thinktank labelled this yet
another stealth tax, although it did | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
argue that applicants would benefit
from British citizenship | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
in the long run. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
These people are coming in to become
British citizens and I suppose | 0:02:51 | 0:02:54 | |
they should get used
to all these stealth taxes. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:56 | |
One more big one like this maybe
won't hurt if they get the benefit | 0:02:56 | 0:03:00 | |
of the National Health Service
and everything else. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
Ministers stress that
for the likes of Samson, | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
taking British citizenship
is not compulsory. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
But he wanted a guarantee he'd
be able to stay here, | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
although he now fears
others may also struggle | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
to pay for that assurance. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:14 | |
Nick Beake, BBC London News. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:20 | |
17 - that's the number of people
in the capital who've | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
lost their lives to knife crime
since the start of the year. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
Today in a bid to help
tackle the problem - | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
the Mayor's promised millions
to fund youth services | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
in an effort to steer young
Londoners away from violence. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
Charlotte Franks reports. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
Some of the Londoners
who lost their lives last year | 0:03:37 | 0:03:39 | |
after being stabbed to death. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:40 | |
There were 80 victims in total. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:42 | |
Many were just teenagers. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:52 | |
For 19-year-old
Gabriel knife crime is | 0:03:53 | 0:03:59 | |
For 19-year-old
Gabrielle knife crime is | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
an issue very close to home. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:02 | |
Not long ago one
of my close friends on | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
his way home outside
the hospital got stabbed | 0:04:05 | 0:04:06 | |
in his face and in
the | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
back of his leg. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:09 | |
When I was on my way
to the hospital to see him I was | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
so scared. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:13 | |
I didn't know what to expect. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
There has been a 23% increase
in knife crime across the capital. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
Today, the Mayor met young
people at a centre in | 0:04:18 | 0:04:20 | |
Bermondsey where he announced he'll
be investing £45 million over the | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
next three years into youth
services, in the hope it | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
will help tackle the issue. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:27 | |
Having a youth centre gives young
people a place to go. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:31 | |
So, they're not on the streets like
getting influences from maybe | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
bad places. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:35 | |
People have the option to come
here and people have the option | 0:04:35 | 0:04:37 | |
to have a safe zone
to go if they need it. | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
The money will come from
a combination of council tax and | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
business rates. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:44 | |
But the news comes just a day
after a warning that Met | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
Police officer numbers could drop
to as low as 27,000. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:49 | |
Does it make sense to be
spending £45 million on | 0:04:49 | 0:04:51 | |
projects like this when we've just
heard police numbers are going to be | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
reduced in London? | 0:04:55 | 0:04:56 | |
I'm not going to apologise
for investing in young people. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:58 | |
I think this is an investment
for the future. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:01 | |
What I'm doing is investing
in policing as well. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
We've had the biggest roll-out
of body-worn videos in the | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
world last year. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:13 | |
Across London. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:14 | |
I announced additional sums
to the police last week. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
We've also ring fenced
some of that was | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
dealing with knife crime. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:20 | |
In their fight
against knife crime the | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
Metropolitan Police carried out dawn
raids this morning across | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
Westminster to confiscate
knives and target repeat | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
knife crime offenders. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:27 | |
This is about keeping our young
people safe during half term and | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
that's the focus of this
week's activity for us. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
A lot of young people
and children are off school | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
and it's about keeping them safe. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
But workers here in Bermondsey say
the answer to solving knife crime | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
begins at grass roots level
with outreach programme | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
begins at grass roots level
with outreach programmes | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
key to their success. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:48 | |
Charlotte Franks, BBC London News. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:49 | |
Ayshea Buksh has got more on this -
so how will this work in practice? | 0:05:49 | 0:05:53 | |
Charities and youth groups will have
to bid for the money and they will | 0:05:53 | 0:05:57 | |
receive a grant. The £45 billion
fund will be available over three | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
years, so 15 million each year, but
this isn't just about knife crime, | 0:06:01 | 0:06:05 | |
the mayor already has a £7 million
knife crime strategy that he's | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
invested in. What City Hall says is
they want to look at communities | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
where the cuts to the youth
services, they say, were the most | 0:06:13 | 0:06:18 | |
severe and also what will be central
to any successful bid is a focus on | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
sport, culture, citizenship,
education and volunteering. You have | 0:06:22 | 0:06:27 | |
spoken to youth charities. What are
they saying to you about this? | 0:06:27 | 0:06:31 | |
That's right, this will be welcomed
undoubtedly by grassroots | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
organisations and I spoke to an
incredible youth project in Hackney | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
earlier this evening and they say
that while three years is great, | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
five years would be better because
they want to have a really good | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
chunk of a young person's
adolescence to be able to work with | 0:06:44 | 0:06:48 | |
them. Let's not forget, out of
London youth services are also under | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
extreme pressure as well. Sian Berry
from the London Assembly says this | 0:06:51 | 0:06:56 | |
is great and she hopes this will
start to repair some of the damage | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
that youth services across London
have suffered. OK, Ayshea Buksh, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
thank you. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
Parents of up to 70 pupils have been
told they'll have to find new places | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
for their children this September. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
It's after a free school
in West London - which has only been | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
open for three years -
is to close. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
Emma North has the story. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
A half-term get-together,
a chance to have fun | 0:07:21 | 0:07:22 | |
and see your friends. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:24 | |
But at the end of this year,
this group will split up. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:29 | |
Their primary school,
Floreat Brentford, is closing. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
When I found out that my school
was closing, I was speechless. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:35 | |
The only word I said was, why? | 0:07:35 | 0:07:39 | |
I miss my friends and I
miss my teachers also. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:45 | |
Theirs is a so-called free school,
it's paid for by the government | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
but run by a group called
the Floreat trust. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
Floreat say they They have to close
the school because they can't find | 0:07:51 | 0:07:56 | |
it a permanent home. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:57 | |
And as a result, they
can't make the finances work. | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
Some parents aren't convinced. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
This was where it
was all meant to be. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:04 | |
We have been fighting with planning
permission, with the borough, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
the Department for Education
and Floreat Trust for | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
the last three years. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
This car park was earmarked
for the new school but a planning | 0:08:10 | 0:08:15 | |
application never went in and now
there are claims that the children | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
are caught up in an
entirely political row. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:23 | |
I think they have been a financial
guinea pig in all of this. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
It was a business opportunity
they tried to make work. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:29 | |
They have decided that it hasn't,
so they shut it down. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
The trust are blaming the Council,
the Council are blaming | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
the Department for Education. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:35 | |
We have no idea where blame
lies, but at the end | 0:08:35 | 0:08:43 | |
of the day it is our
children that are suffering. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
No one from Floreat would
be interviewed today, | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
but they said a statement. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:52 | |
We showed this to Hounslow Council. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
This is outrageous,
factually incorrect. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:59 | |
Had this planning application been
submitted, do you think it | 0:08:59 | 0:09:01 | |
would have been approved? | 0:09:01 | 0:09:03 | |
Subject to the planning committee
approval, yes, because it had | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
the support of the council. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
So, were you surprised
when the application | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
form didn't come in? | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
Yes, we were expecting it
January or February. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
So why are the arguments flying? | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
Free schools have often been
the source of bitter | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
political battles. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:21 | |
It's been very interesting watching
the free schools programme, | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
to see such a mundane aspect,
you might say, trying to find | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
premises that are suitable
to have a school being | 0:09:27 | 0:09:31 | |
such an obstacle. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:32 | |
This is a story that
simply hasn't gone away. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
Government, which has a big interest
in making this look successful | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
and be successful as a programme,
hasn't been able | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
to help solve the problem better. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
The parents have been
promised meetings with both | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
the governors and the council,
but whatever the reason | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
for the school's closure,
these pupils seem more keen | 0:09:49 | 0:09:51 | |
on playing proper games and less
on playing politics. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:55 | |
Time for the weather now -
so I'll say goodnight | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
and it's over to Phil Avery. | 0:09:58 | 0:09:59 | |
How is it looking? | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
Not great today, I will have two
Buck up otherwise you will have my | 0:10:09 | 0:10:13 | |
job, lots of leaden skies, a loss to
the tourism board of Bromley, it | 0:10:13 | 0:10:18 | |
looks like that through my window
and I suspect 3 euros, that is going | 0:10:18 | 0:10:23 | |
away to the east, beginning today,
and as a consequence, after all it | 0:10:23 | 0:10:28 | |
is mid-February, the temperatures
will dip away and we will scrape the | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
car is first up but there will be
some sunshine away from the remnants | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
of the cloud in the east to start
the day.. Before that by that | 0:10:35 | 0:10:39 | |
because we are going to end up
losing the sunshine from the west by | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
the latter part of the morning and
in the early part of the afternoon | 0:10:42 | 0:10:47 | |
at some point I think we will see a
bit of rain. It will stay dry in the | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
east, temperatures five, six, seven,
8 degrees, something of that order, | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
I would have thought, and I leave
you with a look at the weekend, | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
which looks to be just a bit warmer,
double-figure | 0:10:59 | 0:11:02 |