06/12/2017 London News

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.

Good afternoon and welcome

to BBC London News.

I'm Sonja Jessup.

Almost 90,000 children are homeless

and living in temporary

accommodation in the capital,

according to a new report

by the housing charity Shelter.

It says it's the highest

number in a decade,

with many forced to live in what's

largely regarded as the worst form

of temporary accommodation,

bed and breakfasts.

Chris Rogers has this report.

This is a bed and breakfast hotel.

It's fully booked.

It has been and will be for years.

This is now shelter for around

30 homeless families.

Suliman, his wife and two children

have lived in this hotel

room for four years.

This is the living room

and, well, living room,

dining room, bedroom,

pretty much every room.

Wardrobe.

Oh, you've got no

wardrobes, have you?

Like I said, when we came

here we were given two sets

of drawers and the one bed.

This is the kitchen.

Yes.

At least it's separate

from the rest of the area.

But it is tiny, isn't it?

Yeah.

You can see like even with two

people, you have to do

kind of a kitchen dance.

Suliman is working.

He is an IT engineer but the cost

of living has put him and thousands

of families in danger

of life on the streets.

This is the alternative for many.

According to the charity Shelter,

rooms like this are home to one

in 24 children across the capital.

It's been a struggle all the time,

pretty much since we moved here.

It was OK to start with for a few

months because obviously we had one

child, less than one-year-old.

But then, obviously she got older.

There were meant to be reassessments

at different points,

they didn't do them.

We've basically been forgot

about since, really.

We were placed in

a property and left.

How are you holding it together,

how are you keeping it

together in your head,

practically, keeping your marriage

going, keeping your family strong?

I mean, honestly, how have

you managed to survive four years?

Um, just think to myself,

you know there are people

in worse situations.

There are people who are living

on the streets and, to be honest,

regardless of what happens,

I can't have that with my family.

I can't take that risk.

So anything is better than nothing.

The legal limit for temporary

accommodation is six weeks.

But the housing shortage leaves

councils with few options.

Generations of children only know

life in a bed and breakfast.

The Mayor of London has made

a very personal journey

from India to Pakistan,

on the fourth day

of his trade visit.

Sadiq Khan walked across the border,

after starting the day with a visit

to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Here's our Political

Correspondent Karl Mercer.

Of course I'm the Mayor of London

but I'm somebody whose family come

from this part of the world,

from India and Pakistan.

When we were organising this trip,

we were told that it's not the done

thing to go to India and Pakistan

on the same trip.

Well, when I said I wanted to cross

from India to Pakistan directly,

by foot, it was frowned upon,

not the sort of thing that is done.

I think it is important, though.

The symbolism, but also,

there are many people like me whose

family come from India and Pakistan.

The hospitality with which I have

been received in India is phenomenal

and something that will stay

with me forever.

I'm now going to Pakistan

and hopefully that's going to carry

on in Pakistan as well.

Obviously it's very

exciting to be here.

Obviously quite emotional to go

from India to Pakistan

as my grandparents, my parents

and many millions did 70 years

ago and looking forward

to the next part of our trade

delegation now in Pakistan.

How important was it

for you to do it, Sadiq?

I think it's important.

It's important we are a city

where we have Londoners

from all different backgrounds,

who came from Pakistan and India.

Many people in London came

from India or Pakistan subcontinent

and I think it is important

for to us show we are a city open

to people from Pakistan and India.

Does it feel like coming home?

Home is south London, mate

but it is good to be in Pakistan,

it is good to come from India,

the home of my parents

and grandparents and obviously

there is an emotional connection

for me, bearing in mind

my connections to this

great part of the world.

The Mayor,

ending that report by Karl Mercer.

The police watchdog -

the IPCC - is investigating

after an officer and an elderly

woman died in a crash involving

a motorbike and a car in Berkshire.

It happened yesterday

on the A4 Bath Road,

at Hare Hatch, east of Reading.

The on-duty officer,

PC James Dixon, was riding

the bike and was killed along

with a 91-year-old woman

who was a passenger in the car.

Shopkeepers in east London

are being urged not to sell

powerful drain cleaner to teenagers,

or to anyone they suspect might

use it in an acid attack.

The Mayor of Tower Hamlets

is asking businesses to join

a voluntary scheme -

which would see them carrying out ID

checks on customers.

Tarah Welsh has this report.

Here in Tower Hamlets there has been

over 1p 00 acid attacks since 2012

and there was a spate over the

Sumner east London. The mayor here

wants to do something about that.

He's introduced an opt-in scheme for

shop keepers where they need

challenge anyone who looks underage

or for people buying drain cleaner

and don't look like they are going

to clean drains, for example. Paul

you have signed up. What do you

think of it?

It is a good start.

There have been calls for people to

make it a licensed product. This is

a good stepping stone n between,

where maybe everybody can show

responsibility and use a bit of

common sense for the sale of this

product.

How do you feel about

challenging people that, you know,

who would ultimately be throwing

acid in someone's face. How do you

feel?

Well, you don't know that's

what it is going to be used for. But

we do like to check people under 18,

maybe under the influence of drugs

or drink but it can be, we had it

when the knife policy came n you get

knife confrontation. We have used we

are out of stock. It is not a

product available off the shelf, so

it is handed to them and that can

diffuse the situation.

This all

comes into play today. Alongside

this the Government is trying to

introduce policies to toughen up the

law on acid attacks. Tara Welsh

reporting from Tower Hamlets there.

The company that owns Brent Cross

and Croydon Centrale

shopping centres is to take over

one of its main rivals,

creating the UK's

largest property company

worth £21 billion.

Hammerson will pay

almost £3.5 billion

for Intu, which owns Lakeside

in Essex as well as shopping malls

in Uxbridge and Watford.

It's time for the weather

now with Sara Thornton.

It's time for the weather

now with Sara Thornton.

Good afternoon. If you like

something a little lively in your

weather I stay tuned, I have

something for you. At the moment, of

course, a non-descript day out there

across London. Mostly dry but

cloudy. And it is mild. Certainly

but the breeze is going to continue

to pick up as we go through the next

24 or so hours. We might see some

breaks in the cloud, equally you

might see a touch of drizzle and

afternoon temperatures about where

we are at the moment. 12. Tonight

the winds pick up. From the

south-west, mild squeezing together

as this frontal system makes its way

towards us in the early hours of

tomorrow. Watch what happens to the

temperatures, they don't fall away

overnight A dry evening and the rain

spills in by first thing tomorrow.

The wind could gust 40 miles per

hour in one or two places. It is

rain for the morning, temperatures

lifting for a little bit and then

the rain clears away. The sun comes

in but the winds change direction

and it feels raw and chilly by the

end of the afternoon. For the end of

the week into the weekend,

continuing with that northerly wind,

cold air dragging across us, when

any rain stoorts push in, that will

cause us some question marks in

terms of the risk of sleet or snow.

We could have snow showers for

instance on the Chilterns on Friday.

#340st of us, though, dry and

settled until at least Sunday

afternoon. Watch this space.

So that's it from us

on the lunchtime team.

Riz Lateef will be here

at 6.30, though, with our

evening programme.

There is plenty more on the website.

Have a great afternoon.

Bye bye.