28/06/2017 London News

That's all from the BBC News at One - so it's goodbye from me -

The Prime Minister has urged councils not to delay carrying

out fire safety checks following the Grenfell Tower Fire.

Today Lewisham Council said cladding is now being removed from two

of its high-rise buildings after failing tests.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions this lunchtime,

Theresa May said urgent action was needed.

What we're saying to people is this is not a question

Don't wait until you've got a sample then you know

So far, 100% of the samples that have come in have

proved to be combustible, so work on the assumption

that you should be doing the fire safety checks now.

It's now two weeks since the tragedy at Grenfell unfolded and survivors

are still trying to cope with what they experienced.

As the fire took hold Olu Talabi was in his flat on the 14th floor

floor with others who'd taken refuge there.

At first I was out of the window, I was dangling from the window. My

daughter would not come, she was so scared, she was thinking what are

you doing, she was pushing herself away from the window. When we open

the door and we saw the smoke was so thick we shut the door back and we

grabbed some towels, putting them by the door, putting some on the floor

because smoke was coming through the door now. I was thinking what am I

about to run through? There is no way I'm going to make it downstairs

to this smoke. I hit my head, for some reason I don't know how I made

it through the stairway but I'm not going to lie, I had given up

already. Inside of me, I don't know what floor it was because I could

not see but I would say about the tenth floor, I gave up already, I

have got my daughter, choking, I can feel myself taking my last breath, I

am trying to pick my Mrs up off the floor. I pick her up. Trust me, I

can't, I don't know, I'm not the holiest of person, I am religious

but I am not every Sunday kind of person but I think God took us down

stairs. Like I said I give up already. I did not think I was going

to make it. Well in the days after the Grenfell

tragedy people from across London donated clothes to those who'd

lost their homes. Charities and community groups

were overwhelmed with donations and now 40,000 boxes

of items which couldn't be used at the time,

have been moved to this The charity will sell them

in its stores in aid "A huge vote of confidence" -

that's how a new ?1.5 billion Chinese investment in East London

is being described. Construction began today

on the new business district at the Royal Albert Dock

and Alex Bushill was there. Counting cranes is an odd hobby but

if you do you have a sense of how well our economy is doing. It's not

100% accurate but then nor are the economists. This so-called crane

count suggests investment is still coming into London and new buildings

are going up. Nowhere more so than here beside City Airport and the

Royal Albert dock with a good and the great mark the first day of

construction. A ?1.7 billion Chinese investment in London providing

30,000 jobs, something which could easily become the third commercial

hub of London. The plans are bold, the model is shining and the signs

are encouraging, it will be well connected, but I was here four years

ago when this was first announced at City Hall. Then it was all about an

Asian gateway into the EU is here in London which is a bit awkward now we

are leaving. I put that point to its Chinese backers today when the

cameras stopped flashing. TRANSLATION: Compared to the

situation four years ago I think we are adding more advantageous stage.

Although there is Brexit Britain is more independent and mature and it

also shows more confidence in the British economy so there will be

more cooperation between China and the UK because of Brexit. What of

recent years by the Bank of England no less that our commercial property

is too pricey? Are we also in danger of building too many offices and not

enough affordable homes? They are trying to attract companies from

Asia, so what they are trying to do is create something additional. But

given where we are, the price and anything else, this is a fantastic

place to come, I am not worried here. I think other people should be

worried about the competition coming from East London. He also assured me

no golden handshakes were offered. A gilt-edged investment or a risky

bet? Either way building is underway.

The Victoria and Albert museum has unveiled its new ?55

As well as new public spaces and galleries,

the facades of the Grade I listed building have been revealed

Exhibition road, home to some of the most important tourist attractions

in the country and now for the first time visitors can enter the Victoria

and Albert Museum from the road through a brand-new entrance. I

think women they walk and we will see a lot of jaws dropping because

it's an unusual space. It's taken six years to transform the yard and

reveal some of the hidden gems. It's the largest building product

undertaken at the museum in over a hundred years. A more informal

entrance, on Cromwell road you have a traditional almost cathedral like

entrants which can be quite forbidding and daunting. We can

contrast that with less which will be more welcoming, gentler. The

changes don't end above ground, a brand-new gallery has been

constructed underneath the courtyard which will host some of the museum

's biggest exhibitions. What I love most about what we have done here is

that this is not an extension or a new wing, it's an integral part of

the museum, it's a new gallery, new courtyard, but it nets seamlessly

into the existing fabric. The work we have done here is so diverse, the

heritage work, the work detailing scheduling every single stone so it

can be dismantled and carefully rebuilt is fascinating. And this

incredible engineering to build the gallery below ground within a metre

of existing grade one listed buildings is something quite

amazing. The new entrance and gallery will be open to the public

on Friday. After a wet night last night and

with some outbreaks of rain this morning you can practically see the

gardens growing before our eyes. But the rain has now gone, it looks like

most of it has disappeared and we are left with a rather cloudy

picture as you can see. Quite a grey afternoon but on the whole it will

stay dry. You might get one to brighter spells around and that in

turn could mean we get a shower or two but most places dry, further

north and south you might run into a shower. Maximum temperature 19 maybe

20 Celsius depending on the brightness. As we head through this

evening it's a great end to the day then overnight again a predominantly

dry picture, still a lot of cloud around, the Fat backlight and we

could see one or two showers but the minimum temperature down, tomorrow

morning drier picture, cloud around, like winds, a chance may be other

shower towards the south to the course of the day that moved north

through the afternoon, maximum temperature very similar, similar

feel at around 20 Celsius. As we head through Friday the rain which

has disappeared north today moves back south and that's likely to

reach is as we head to Friday afternoon and continuing overnight

into Saturday but that is when we start to see an improvement, the

rain clearing out for Saturday morning, drier with bright spells

for the afternoon and feeling warmer.

Riz Lateef will be here with our 6:30pm evening programme.

But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.

Brexit means Brexit. We did it!

To pretend that it's going to be plain sailing is such

knuckle-headed lunacy. Happy days are here.

They have said one thing one day, another thing the next day.

think during the year that changed British politics?

but how has it changed the way we see

I don't think we know the scale of the television revolution,

What makes you two different from each other?