27/01/2017 London News

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC London News.

The immigration system isn't fit for purpose -

and staff don't even know their own rules.

That's the damning verdict by the former Deputy Prime Minister,

after an eminent professor who'd been living here for 40 years

was wrongly denied British citizenship on a technicality.

There are now calls to overhaul the system.

Professor Emmy Van Deurzen is many things to many people,

leading academic, renowned psychoanalyst, local

businesswoman and employer to nearly 70 members of staff

I have worked for 40 years, paid taxes for 40 years,

I have been part of British society fully and completely.

When she applied for British citizenship she was rejected.

She didn't have a residency permit even though she had already granted

She spent months challenging that decision.

She has now finally been granted citizenship.

For her it shows how unfair and complicated the system is.

It is as if that trust you have built up between yourself

and the country that you have adopted and that you think has

adopted you suddenly rejects you and doesn't want to acknowledge

that contribution any more, that's incredibly painful.

Latest figures show record numbers of Europeans have been applying,

the single biggest increase in a decade.

Before last June's referendum, that's the third quarter of 2015

In the first quarter afterwards, that had doubled

There is no suggestion that the rules have been made

But for many, including immigration lawyers,

the system unknowingly discriminates against EU nationals who have never

needed to apply before, particularly the requirement

to document visits abroad during your stay in the UK.

As an EU national you have freedom of movement so your passport

So a lot of people might face problems listing every single

absence from the UK for the last five years if they

Now they're coming up against the Home Office that states

unless you can prove it we certainly don't give you the

We want hard and fast evidence in terms of pay slips, etc,

If you don't have that, well, then we will wave you goodbye.

That is the exact opposite of what the Government wants,

for Emmy and other Europeans living here the Prime Minister has

repeatedly said she expects to guarantee their right to live

It's of little comfort for many who don't want to rely

The Mayor has given his backing to a new report that says he should

have more control over taxes - which could include a levy

Sadiq Khan wants more powers devolved to London

There are also calls for the capital to have a share of taxes

on cars, sugary drinks and air passenger duty.

The Mayor's been speaking to our political correspondent Karl Mercer.

If London does well the country benefits.

If you want, by the way you need London to do well,

you need to seriously consider giving us more control over our

Business leaders who are experts say we need it.

Is there a danger that it could put tourists off,

the British hospitality association are already saying this

This is a report prepared by experts which is a consultation document,

let's talk about it, the evidence is this.

London is the number one city of choice for tourists

Record numbers came to London last year.

It wasn't just because of the weak pound, it's because of our culture,

what we have to offer, our museums, our galleries,

live gigs, restaurants, we want that to carry on.

But the fact is that other cities around the world,

great cities, all have a levy, whenever you go to a city

We are in a discussion with the hotels about whether it's

a good idea, bearing in mind this will ensure we are not complacent

and ensure we stay number one in that league table.

Nobody wants to stop tourists coming here.

Nobody wants to have gratuitous tax-raising powers.

I have read the report in detail and it talks, for example,

about a Berlin tax of 5% per room, even on the average budget

hotel room costing ?68, that adds an extra ?3.40 and that's

the sort of price where I think you might get

some tourists saying, oh, no, they're having a laugh.

We don't want to pay another heavy as well. That was Simon Calder

commenting on those proposals for a London tourist tax.

The police watchdog is investigating claims that a police officer told a

DJ driving in central London that black people dressed in

gangster-style clothing are more likely to be stopped. A video of the

incident was posted on online three weeks ago leading to an apology from

The Met. There's no Woolwich Ferry today -

as staff have gone on strike. Employees are planning to walk out

every Friday - till mid-April - over what the Unite union calls

"a culture of bullying Briggs Marine Contractors Limited -

who run the service - says it takes health,

safety and welfare Sport now - and one of the stand-out

ties in this weekend's FA Cup fourth round sees Premier League leaders

Chelsea take on near neighbours The Championship side

sold out their tickets With excitement building among Bees

fans, Emma Jones has been I'm here at Griffin Park which,

four years ago was almost the scene of a famous FA Cup victory for then

League 1 Brentford against their On the day, Mark Devlin,

the chief executive, it was a ?50 million striker that

made the difference. Are you worried that this weekend,

it could be a similar story? Who knows which team

they will put out tomorrow? They are obviously a very talented

team, Chelsea, and we were unlucky We were sadly beaten in the replay,

but I think we will be A lot has changed for this club

since then, including the promotion, but that

financial gap between you and your new neighbours

remains the same, doesn't it? There is a chasm between us

financially but that is just finance, and there's 11

against 11 tomorrow. I think we've got a very

talented playing squad, tomorrow, and I am sure they will be

inspired by their surroundings, then I expect a really, really good

game at Chelsea tomorrow. The previous game was part

of a springboard for where we are now and what we're looking

forward to is playing Chelsea on a regular basis

in the Premier League As you say, you would want

to travel to Stamford Bridge Yeah, we want to enjoy it

tomorrow, we are building, the club is growing rapidly

on and off the field. We have ambitions to play

in the Premier League and to grow our fan base

and to move into a new stadium. So lots of exciting things

going on tomorrow, it's going to be a great occasion but it is only part

of what we plan for the future. As Mark was saying,

there are lots of similarities between the two clubs, including

hopes to build new grounds, but tomorrow is about the FA Cup

and it's about revenge. Time for the weather now

with Elizabeth Rizzini. Good afternoon. Yesterday many

places remained subzero all day. Today happily it's not as cold. Some

milder air, even brightness, but again we did start off on a frosty

note with even icy surfaces to the east, in particular. The rest of

this afternoon most of us will stay dry, variable amounts of cloud,

brightness edging into south-earn areas again. A few outbreaks of rain

to the west. Top temperatures up to six or seven.

Through this evening's rush hour again most of us will stay dry. But

then overnight tonight we have further outbreaks of mostly light

and patchy rain spreading in from the south-west and heading our way

into tomorrow morning. Overnight lows of a much milder six or seven,

so frost-free through the weekend. It is going to feel milder and

temperatures back into double figures. There will be some rain

around at times but also a bit of brightness, most notably on Saturday

afternoon. Through Saturday morning we have further outbreaks of rain on

and off, most tending to be light and patchy. Turning dryer into the

afternoon with a bit of late sunshine for western home Counties,

watch out for a few showers into the evening.

Temperatures will probably hit double figures on Sunday but if you

are heading out for Chinese new year celebrations in central London do

prepare for rainfall through the afternoon.

That's all from us on the lunchtime team,

do tune in later though for our 6.30pm programme.

Riz Lateef will be here and there's plenty more news, travel

and weather on our website at the usual address.

The FA Cup fourth round, next weekend, across the BBC.

It's incredible, the changes that have occurred in just 50 years.

Oh, my goodness me, I don't like the look of that.

The Robshaws are going back in time again...

Feel a little bit overwhelmed at the moment.

How people did this every day, I don't know.

Calf's head. Leave the teeth out of it, won't you?

It's incredible, the changes that have occurred in just 50 years.

What have you been up to? Something grubby?