0:00:00 > 0:00:00and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Good afternoon and welcome to BBC London News.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18I'm Sonja Jessup.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Almost 90,000 children are homeless
0:00:20 > 0:00:23and living in temporary accommodation in the capital,
0:00:23 > 0:00:30according to a new report by the housing charity Shelter.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32It says it's the highest number in a decade,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35with many forced to live in what's largely regarded as the worst form
0:00:35 > 0:00:37of temporary accommodation, bed and breakfasts.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38Chris Rogers has this report.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40This is a bed and breakfast hotel.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41It's fully booked.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It has been and will be for years.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48This is now shelter for around 30 homeless families.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Suliman, his wife and two children have lived in this hotel
0:00:50 > 0:00:53room for four years.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55This is the living room and, well, living room,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58dining room, bedroom, pretty much every room.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Wardrobe.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Oh, you've got no wardrobes, have you?
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Like I said, when we came here we were given two sets
0:01:07 > 0:01:08of drawers and the one bed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09This is the kitchen.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14Yes.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17At least it's separate from the rest of the area.
0:01:17 > 0:01:18But it is tiny, isn't it?
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Yeah.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24You can see like even with two people, you have to do
0:01:24 > 0:01:25kind of a kitchen dance.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Suliman is working.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29He is an IT engineer but the cost of living has put him and thousands
0:01:29 > 0:01:33of families in danger of life on the streets.
0:01:33 > 0:01:42This is the alternative for many.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47According to the charity Shelter, rooms like this are home to one
0:01:47 > 0:01:48in 24 children across the capital.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It's been a struggle all the time, pretty much since we moved here.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55It was OK to start with for a few months because obviously we had one
0:01:55 > 0:01:56child, less than one-year-old.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59But then, obviously she got older.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01There were meant to be reassessments at different points,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06they didn't do them.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08We've basically been forgot about since, really.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11We were placed in a property and left.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14How are you holding it together, how are you keeping it
0:02:14 > 0:02:16together in your head, practically, keeping your marriage
0:02:16 > 0:02:19going, keeping your family strong?
0:02:19 > 0:02:27I mean, honestly, how have you managed to survive four years?
0:02:27 > 0:02:29Um, just think to myself, you know there are people
0:02:29 > 0:02:31in worse situations.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34There are people who are living on the streets and, to be honest,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36regardless of what happens, I can't have that with my family.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38I can't take that risk.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42So anything is better than nothing.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48The legal limit for temporary accommodation is six weeks.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51But the housing shortage leaves councils with few options.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Generations of children only know life in a bed and breakfast.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05The Mayor of London has made a very personal journey
0:03:05 > 0:03:07from India to Pakistan, on the fourth day
0:03:07 > 0:03:09of his trade visit.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Sadiq Khan walked across the border,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14after starting the day with a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20Here's our Political Correspondent Karl Mercer.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Of course I'm the Mayor of London but I'm somebody whose family come
0:03:24 > 0:03:28from this part of the world, from India and Pakistan.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32When we were organising this trip, we were told that it's not the done
0:03:32 > 0:03:35thing to go to India and Pakistan on the same trip.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Well, when I said I wanted to cross from India to Pakistan directly,
0:03:38 > 0:03:42by foot, it was frowned upon, not the sort of thing that is done.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45I think it is important, though.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49The symbolism, but also, there are many people like me whose
0:03:49 > 0:03:52family come from India and Pakistan.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55The hospitality with which I have been received in India is phenomenal
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and something that will stay with me forever.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I'm now going to Pakistan and hopefully that's going to carry
0:04:00 > 0:04:03on in Pakistan as well.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Obviously it's very exciting to be here.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Obviously quite emotional to go from India to Pakistan
0:04:16 > 0:04:19as my grandparents, my parents and many millions did 70 years
0:04:19 > 0:04:28ago and looking forward to the next part of our trade
0:04:29 > 0:04:37delegation now in Pakistan.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39How important was it for you to do it, Sadiq?
0:04:39 > 0:04:40I think it's important.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43It's important we are a city where we have Londoners
0:04:43 > 0:04:45from all different backgrounds, who came from Pakistan and India.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Many people in London came from India or Pakistan subcontinent
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and I think it is important for to us show we are a city open
0:04:51 > 0:04:53to people from Pakistan and India.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Does it feel like coming home?
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Home is south London, mate but it is good to be in Pakistan,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00it is good to come from India, the home of my parents
0:05:00 > 0:05:02and grandparents and obviously there is an emotional connection
0:05:02 > 0:05:04for me, bearing in mind my connections to this
0:05:04 > 0:05:06great part of the world.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08The Mayor, ending that report by Karl Mercer.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14The police watchdog - the IPCC - is investigating
0:05:14 > 0:05:17after an officer and an elderly woman died in a crash involving
0:05:17 > 0:05:20a motorbike and a car in Berkshire.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22It happened yesterday on the A4 Bath Road,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24at Hare Hatch, east of Reading.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26The on-duty officer, PC James Dixon, was riding
0:05:26 > 0:05:29the bike and was killed along with a 91-year-old woman
0:05:29 > 0:05:30who was a passenger in the car.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37Shopkeepers in east London are being urged not to sell
0:05:37 > 0:05:40powerful drain cleaner to teenagers, or to anyone they suspect might
0:05:40 > 0:05:47use it in an acid attack.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49The Mayor of Tower Hamlets is asking businesses to join
0:05:49 > 0:05:50a voluntary scheme -
0:05:50 > 0:05:52which would see them carrying out ID checks on customers.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Tarah Welsh has this report.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Here in Tower Hamlets there has been over 1p 00 acid attacks since 2012
0:05:57 > 0:06:00and there was a spate over the Sumner east London. The mayor here
0:06:00 > 0:06:05wants to do something about that. He's introduced an opt-in scheme for
0:06:05 > 0:06:14shop keepers where they need challenge anyone who looks underage
0:06:14 > 0:06:17or for people buying drain cleaner and don't look like they are going
0:06:17 > 0:06:20to clean drains, for example. Paul you have signed up. What do you
0:06:20 > 0:06:24think of it?It is a good start. There have been calls for people to
0:06:24 > 0:06:29make it a licensed product. This is a good stepping stone n between,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31where maybe everybody can show responsibility and use a bit of
0:06:31 > 0:06:36common sense for the sale of this product.How do you feel about
0:06:36 > 0:06:39challenging people that, you know, who would ultimately be throwing
0:06:39 > 0:06:43acid in someone's face. How do you feel?Well, you don't know that's
0:06:43 > 0:06:51what it is going to be used for. But we do like to check people under 18,
0:06:51 > 0:06:56maybe under the influence of drugs or drink but it can be, we had it
0:06:56 > 0:07:01when the knife policy came n you get knife confrontation. We have used we
0:07:01 > 0:07:06are out of stock. It is not a product available off the shelf, so
0:07:06 > 0:07:10it is handed to them and that can diffuse the situation.This all
0:07:10 > 0:07:15comes into play today. Alongside this the Government is trying to
0:07:15 > 0:07:21introduce policies to toughen up the law on acid attacks. Tara Welsh
0:07:21 > 0:07:23reporting from Tower Hamlets there.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25The company that owns Brent Cross and Croydon Centrale
0:07:25 > 0:07:28shopping centres is to take over one of its main rivals,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29creating the UK's largest property company
0:07:29 > 0:07:31worth £21 billion.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35Hammerson will pay almost £3.5 billion
0:07:35 > 0:07:38for Intu, which owns Lakeside in Essex as well as shopping malls
0:07:38 > 0:07:41in Uxbridge and Watford.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46It's time for the weather now with Sara Thornton.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47It's time for the weather now with Sara Thornton.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Good afternoon. If you like something a little lively in your
0:07:51 > 0:07:56weather I stay tuned, I have something for you. At the moment, of
0:07:56 > 0:07:59course, a non-descript day out there across London. Mostly dry but
0:07:59 > 0:08:03cloudy. And it is mild. Certainly but the breeze is going to continue
0:08:03 > 0:08:10to pick up as we go through the next 24 or so hours. We might see some
0:08:10 > 0:08:14breaks in the cloud, equally you might see a touch of drizzle and
0:08:14 > 0:08:17afternoon temperatures about where we are at the moment. 12. Tonight
0:08:17 > 0:08:23the winds pick up. From the south-west, mild squeezing together
0:08:23 > 0:08:27as this frontal system makes its way towards us in the early hours of
0:08:27 > 0:08:31tomorrow. Watch what happens to the temperatures, they don't fall away
0:08:31 > 0:08:35overnight A dry evening and the rain spills in by first thing tomorrow.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39The wind could gust 40 miles per hour in one or two places. It is
0:08:39 > 0:08:42rain for the morning, temperatures lifting for a little bit and then
0:08:42 > 0:08:47the rain clears away. The sun comes in but the winds change direction
0:08:47 > 0:08:51and it feels raw and chilly by the end of the afternoon. For the end of
0:08:51 > 0:08:56the week into the weekend, continuing with that northerly wind,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00cold air dragging across us, when any rain stoorts push in, that will
0:09:00 > 0:09:03cause us some question marks in terms of the risk of sleet or snow.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07We could have snow showers for instance on the Chilterns on Friday.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10#340st of us, though, dry and settled until at least Sunday
0:09:10 > 0:09:16afternoon. Watch this space.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18So that's it from us on the lunchtime team.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Riz Lateef will be here at 6.30, though, with our
0:09:21 > 0:09:22evening programme.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25There is plenty more on the website.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26Have a great afternoon.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Bye bye.