0:00:00 > 0:00:12Have a good afternoon.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Welcome to BBC London News.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19I'm Alpa Patel.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22The mother of a five-year-old girl who was killed by play equipment
0:00:22 > 0:00:25in Tower Hamlets has accused the CPS of racism after it decided not
0:00:25 > 0:00:32to bring corporate manslaughter charges against the council.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Alexia Walenkaki was crushed to death after a rotten piece
0:00:36 > 0:00:40of timber supporting a zip wire she was swinging from fell on her.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Her mother says the decision not to prosecute means no-one
0:00:42 > 0:00:47will learn from her loss.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50She's been speaking exclusively to Alex Bushill.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51Baby.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Flowers of light.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Sleep and see brighter dreams than we.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01This is a poem chosen by Vida that always reminds her of her little
0:01:01 > 0:01:02five-year-old girl.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08She was crushed to death here before her mum's eyes.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10The playground has since been closed, remodelled
0:01:10 > 0:01:12and re-opened, but everywhere, there are reminders of Alexia.
0:01:13 > 0:01:19Alexia was a charmer.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Whoever she came into contact with instantly fell in love with her.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24This photo even shows the equipment that was to crush her,
0:01:24 > 0:01:26the wooden timbers in the background clear to see.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30It was a moment Vida watched unfold.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32I noticed the log on which they were playing, as a swing
0:01:32 > 0:01:34started to collapse.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38I ran as fast as I could to where the children were playing.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41But when I got there, Alexia was already on the floor
0:01:41 > 0:01:43and there was not much I could do.
0:01:43 > 0:01:50Well, today, we learned that the CPS are not going to bring corporal
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Well, today, we learned that the CPS are not going to bring corporate
0:01:53 > 0:01:54manslaughter charges against Tower Hamlets Council,
0:01:54 > 0:01:55which runs this playground.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And that, despite the fact that we now know that in 2014
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and 2015, in the years leading up to Alexia's death, there were not
0:02:01 > 0:02:11annual safety inspections.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Alexia's family say had there been, she would be alive today.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16In a letter seen by the BBC, the CPS explained its decision,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18pointing to how regular, operational and daily
0:02:18 > 0:02:20checks were being carried out by the council.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Even if there hadn't been an annual inspection since 2013.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24It's a decision that's prompted this reaction from Vida.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27There are different laws for people of this country
0:02:27 > 0:02:37and there are different laws for people of colour.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46You think you are a victim of racism?
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Yes.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Because I am a nobody and I am poor.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52That is the way I see it.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Because, like, I'm alone, there is nobody to back this,
0:02:55 > 0:02:56so they do what they want.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58The CPS has declined to comment on Vida's
0:02:58 > 0:02:59concerns of discrimination.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01It is, though, going to review its decision.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03As for Tower Hamlets, they won't comment either,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06with an inquest into Alexia's death now set for early spring.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07Alex Bushill, BBC London News.
0:03:07 > 0:03:08Labour's governing body has told the leader
0:03:08 > 0:03:10of Haringey Council to halt plans for a controversial
0:03:10 > 0:03:12housing development.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14The row has caused divisions within the local Labour Party,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and many councillors supportive of the plans have been deselected.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Well, our political editor, Tim Donovan, is with us now.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22And, Tim, how significant is this row?
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Certainly really unusual for the National Executive Committee of the
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Labour Party to focus all this energy, a 90 minute meeting, on an
0:03:29 > 0:03:35issue involving one council. And the Pasoa resolution saying, we think, a
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Labour council should stop this development on this you can get more
0:03:39 > 0:03:42agreement and end the divisions and it is proving divisive because it is
0:03:42 > 0:03:45a major development. The public-private partnership, the
0:03:45 > 0:03:48council going in with a private developer, hundreds of millions of
0:03:48 > 0:03:55pounds over 20 years. And the idea it will lead to 6,500 new homes.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Locally, some people are concerned because they worry what will happen
0:03:58 > 0:04:03to the replacement homes. Will they lose their social housing? Some MPs
0:04:03 > 0:04:07have expressed concern, members of Momentum, the activist group which
0:04:07 > 0:04:11backs Jeremy Corbyn they hate these plans. But the Labour council is
0:04:11 > 0:04:16saying, how else are we are going to provide housing for local people
0:04:16 > 0:04:19long-term in the end? And they are giving guarantees they will protect
0:04:19 > 0:04:23the element of social housing, but there is no sign at the moment of
0:04:23 > 0:04:28the divisions ending. So what happens next? It looks as though the
0:04:28 > 0:04:32leader of the Council, Claire Kober, will at some stage have to talk to
0:04:32 > 0:04:35the Labour Party officials, the NEC. We are told a senior Labour MP may
0:04:35 > 0:04:41act as a mediator to bring the councils for and against together.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47And then there is a judicial review we are waiting to hear, been brought
0:04:47 > 0:04:51by a local resident, against these proposals. Which, at the moment, is
0:04:51 > 0:04:54preventing the council from going ahead.Thank you very much.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57More than half of all children living in certain parts of London
0:04:57 > 0:04:59are living in poverty - that's according to
0:04:59 > 0:05:01the Child Poverty Map, published by a group of charities,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05faith groups and unions.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Bethnal Green and Bow has the highest rate of child
0:05:08 > 0:05:09poverty in the country, with 54% of children
0:05:09 > 0:05:11living in poverty.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Poplar and Limehouse are third in the country.
0:05:14 > 0:05:21A woman from Essex says she will not rest until she finds
0:05:21 > 0:05:24the fly-tippers, who have repeatedly dumped rubbish on her dead
0:05:24 > 0:05:28brother's memorial.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31The rubbish was left on top of Adam Hiskey's plaque
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and wooden cross on the A414, near Ongar, on Friday night.
0:05:33 > 0:05:42Adam died in a road crash 16 years ago.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Now, it's been a pioneering space for contemporary art
0:05:44 > 0:05:45for almost 50 years.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47But in 2015, the Hayward Gallery was forced to close -
0:05:47 > 0:05:51in part, due to a leaking roof.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Now, after a £35 million makeover, it's due
0:05:53 > 0:05:56to re-open tomorrow.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Wendy Hurrell has been having an exclusive look
0:05:58 > 0:06:01around behind the scenes.
0:06:01 > 0:06:09A rare view of a gallery, installation in progress.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11This is the work of German photographer Andreas Gursky,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and the first exhibition to be put on these walls for over two years.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18In the meantime, a multi-million-pound
0:06:18 > 0:06:28restoration has been happening to update the electrics,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30to replace the painted-over decaying pyramid roof lights
0:06:30 > 0:06:31that let in the water.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33The false ceilings below them have been removed.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Now the ceiling has windows onto the sky, we'll see the works
0:06:36 > 0:06:37beneath quite differently.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The light makes a huge difference in a gallery,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43because it's the best spectrum of light to look at colour,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and also, because it changes.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Of course, normally we get daylight coming in, but right now you see
0:06:51 > 0:06:53the wonderful purple changing lights of David Batchelor's sculpture
0:06:54 > 0:06:55that's on the rooftop right now.
0:06:55 > 0:07:03And this is what it looks like from the roof.
0:07:03 > 0:07:0566 brand-new pyramids, specially lit up until the end of March,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07to mark the reopening of the Hayward Gallery
0:07:07 > 0:07:08and celebrate its 50th year.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10It was an era of brutalist architecture, contrasting
0:07:10 > 0:07:13with the baroque over the Thames.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Inside, using a process normally used on classic statues,
0:07:16 > 0:07:22the ubiquitous concrete has had some beauty treatment.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24So, once again, the best in contemporary art adorns
0:07:24 > 0:07:27the newly painted walls.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30We are continuing to try to find artists from across the world
0:07:30 > 0:07:33who we think are really articulating something new, and saying something
0:07:33 > 0:07:36about the world we live in, and showing it to us in a way that
0:07:37 > 0:07:40makes you think.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42For the Hayward Gallery, at the heart of London's Southbank,
0:07:42 > 0:07:43a new dawn is breaking.
0:07:43 > 0:07:52Wendy Hurrell, BBC London News.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Some beautiful weather.
0:07:54 > 0:07:55Now the weather, with Kate Kinsella.
0:07:59 > 0:08:06Good afternoon.
0:08:06 > 0:08:0950 mph gusts in some locations and heavy rain as well. The whingers
0:08:09 > 0:08:14point was before the rain hit, but when it did, the temperature
0:08:14 > 0:08:17dropped. Through the afternoon, still very windy, but perhaps
0:08:17 > 0:08:21lighter through. So all the winds and wet for a
0:08:24 > 0:08:29It was a very mild morning with temperatures around 14 Celsius, but
0:08:29 > 0:08:33once the rain hit, dramatic fall. So quite chilly this afternoon and head
0:08:33 > 0:08:38this morning, seven and nine Celsius. Showers through the
0:08:38 > 0:08:42evening, the wind still breezy, but not as strong as it has been today.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45And the temperature back to where it should be at this time of year, or
0:08:45 > 0:08:53nearer to it. Down to six Celsius in Central London. Tomorrow, a quieter
0:08:53 > 0:08:57day, more sunshine at first. Still breezy, but not as windy as today as
0:08:57 > 0:09:01the potential for one or two Micro showers. The temperature tomorrow
0:09:01 > 0:09:05against eels a bit fresher, a maximum of 10 Celsius. Further
0:09:05 > 0:09:11through the week, Friday is not a bad day. Some bright spells and
0:09:11 > 0:09:15sunny spells and temperatures around eight Celsius. Into the weekend,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Saturday is not bad and things turn unsettled and milder by Sunday.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20That's about it from me.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Asad will be here with our 6:30 evening programme.
0:09:23 > 0:09:24But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.