07/07/2017 London News

A memorial ceremony is taking place this lunchtime

to honour the victims of the 7/7 London bombings - which took place

52 people died and hundreds of others were injured

when four suicide bombers targeted the capital's transport network.

It remains the single worst terrorist atrocity on British soil.

Let's speak to our reporter Caroline Davies

The service has just finished, you can see behind me the flowers of the

families left for the victims and for the survivors. 52 people died on

the 7th of July in 2005. Of course, as well as the people who were

killed there were hundreds injured. We spoke to one man, Sudesh, who was

just six metres away from one of the bombers. He was able to walk away

that day with cuts to his face and burst eardrums but the effect of 7/7

still lives on with him, 12 years later.

Working in the City, There's no choice but to use

the Tube and every day when it's crowded, when I can't see

everybody, if I don't have a line of sight

of everybody on the Tube,

then I do get quite nervous, especially

with 12 years ago today,

it was very hot just like ... Many of the people that I have

spoken to today, spoke about the importance of attending a ceremony

like this, that the support that they are given, says, that it makes

them feel part of a family. There are not just people from 7/7 here

but also from Tunisia, and from Paris and from the 9/11 attacks

gathering here. The message from the people here is that you are not

The Minister for London has written to the Mayor -

calling for next month's Notting Hill Carnival to be moved

Grag Hands, who's the MP for Chelsea and Fulham,

has questioned whether it would be appropriate to hold Europe's largest

street party in the shadow of the burnt out building.

A man's been describing how he was left fighting for his life

after being bitten by a spider at his home in Hertfordshire.

Paul Jory had to be put in a coma for almost a week

and underwent eight operations to stop the poison spreading.

He thinks the spider was hiding in a bunch of bananas.

He's been speaking to our reporter Sarah Harris.

It was a big spider, probably about that sort of size.

After unpacking a bunch of bananas he bought from his local shop in St

Albans, Paul Jory noticed a large arachnid crawling up his arm

It was, very, very painful, fortunately, only for a few seconds.

It was like an electric shock going through my body.

It was a browny black, not long, long, legs but

The 59-year-old father says he didn't know what kind

of spider it was, but managed to get to casualty

within 20 minutes - he ended up in a forced coma

The medics worked extremely quickly, if it wasn't for them, the NHS and

the nursing staff and the doctors, I can't thank them enough, they saved

I can't thank them enough, they saved

If I handle a spider, the first question,

is normally, why isn't it biting you?

Susie has worked with spiders for more than 20 years and

She says this kind of reaction is extremely

The only time people have a severe reaction and potentially they

can die through anaphylactic shock, so it is the same with

coconuts on the head, and the latest is selfies,

more people die in that way but it doesn't make the headlines.

The minute it is a spider bite or anything like that, it is a

They want to put it on the front page and it's sad.

She is a beautiful spider, she doesn't want

It is really, really sad that these guys have a bad

Paul is recovering at home and still has some paralysis in

He continues to use his local shop for groceries, but bananas

Sarah Harris, BBC London News, St Albans.

Theresa May has said plans for a statue of Margaret Thatcher

outside the Houses of Parliament should not be blocked...

Simply because of fears it might be defaced.

A planning application for a ten-foot statue has been

But there've been a number of objections - fears of vandalism,

as well as concerns that the idea doesn't have the backing

Well, I understand there are a number of issues

raised around the statue but what I am very clear about, is

that there is no suggestion that the threat of

vandalism should stop a statue of Margaret Thatcher

London Pride will bring thousands of people

onto the capital's streets tomorrow- in celebration of

The event started out, back in the seventies,

And some believe it should return to its roots.

With the third and final of our reports this week

on the capital's changing gay scene, here's Paul-Murphy Kasp.

A few hundred people playing games at one of London's early gay

liberation events, not a parade or a rainbow flag in sight. We are here

at Hyde Park, where Britain's first LGBT Pride ended up.

Peter Tatchell said that the peaceful event received a rather

hostile reception in the first days of the events.

There were about 700 of us, people were hostile and the police were

aggressive. In the 1980s as the events were

beginning to gather pace and more people were attending, a crisis of

epic proportions hit London's community. AIDS devastated the

London gay scene and centred it into lockdown. But the policy then sent

the Pride numbers soaring into the '90s. Over the years it is more of a

celebration of equality. Despite financial struggles and a change in

management, the event is now more popular than ever but has the

message of equality become lost in sponsorship.

It is really important for the corporations, they are a part of

this. It costs about ?900,000 to put on Pride etch year, we need to put

on the event safely and also have the entertainment that should be

surrounding it. Scrap the sponsorship, have scrap

the floats, and have a march that is a celebration, a party, and also a

claim for human rights. This year 1 million people are

expected to attend, not bad for something that started out as a few

people having a sing song. Let's see how it's

looking over at Wimbledon, It is glorious here. The sun is out

again in full force. Lots of blue sky and a little whipsy cloud

overhead. Today is not just starring the great British summertime but we

have four British stars on court. And these guys are playing in hot

and sticky weather conditions. For the rest of the afternoon it will be

warm indeed. Lots of sunny spells around. A little more in the way of

cloud and it will be dry too. Cloud is building in the west. That is

spreading through. Also cloud bubbling up here and there, a light

and a welcome westerly breeze. Temperatures not as high as

yesterday when we were at 31 Celsius, today it will be 29

Celsius, still warm. This evening and overnight it will be warm and

humid. A weak weather front coming through, the cloud will thicken and

there may abfew light showers. The weather not amounting to much at

all. Uncomfortable for sleeping, 17 Celsius the low. Tomorrow morning,

it could be cloudy and dull. There could be one or two light showers

but clearing away with sunny spells on Saturday. Top temperatures up to

24 Celsius, watch out for the showers on Sunday. There could be

place disrunted with showers on Monday.

Well, that's it from us on the lunchtime team.

You can join Riz Lateef at 6:30pm though.