24/01/2018 London News

Have a good afternoon.

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Alpa Patel.

The mother of a five-year-old girl

who was killed by play equipment

in Tower Hamlets has accused the CPS

of racism after it decided not

to bring corporate manslaughter

charges against the council.

Alexia Walenkaki was crushed

to death after a rotten piece

of timber supporting a zip wire

she was swinging from fell on her.

Her mother says the decision not

to prosecute means no-one

will learn from her loss.

She's been speaking

exclusively to Alex Bushill.

Baby.

Flowers of light.

Sleep and see brighter

dreams than we.

This is a poem chosen by Vida that

always reminds her of her little

five-year-old girl.

She was crushed to death

here before her mum's eyes.

The playground has since

been closed, remodelled

and re-opened, but everywhere,

there are reminders of Alexia.

Alexia was a charmer.

Whoever she came into contact with

instantly fell in love with her.

This photo even shows the equipment

that was to crush her,

the wooden timbers in the background

clear to see.

It was a moment Vida watched unfold.

I noticed the log on which they

were playing, as a swing

started to collapse.

I ran as fast as I could to where

the children were playing.

But when I got there,

Alexia was already on the floor

and there was not much I could do.

Well, today, we learned that the CPS

are not going to bring corporal

Well, today, we learned that the CPS

are not going to bring corporate

manslaughter charges

against Tower Hamlets Council,

which runs this playground.

And that, despite the fact

that we now know that in 2014

and 2015, in the years leading up

to Alexia's death, there were not

annual safety inspections.

Alexia's family say had there been,

she would be alive today.

In a letter seen by the BBC,

the CPS explained its decision,

pointing to how regular,

operational and daily

checks were being carried

out by the council.

Even if there hadn't been an annual

inspection since 2013.

It's a decision that's prompted

this reaction from Vida.

There are different laws

for people of this country

and there are different laws

for people of colour.

You think you are a victim of

racism?

Yes.

Because I am a nobody and I am poor.

That is the way I see it.

Because, like, I'm alone,

there is nobody to back this,

so they do what they want.

The CPS has declined

to comment on Vida's

concerns of discrimination.

It is, though, going

to review its decision.

As for Tower Hamlets,

they won't comment either,

with an inquest into Alexia's death

now set for early spring.

Alex Bushill, BBC London News.

Labour's governing body

has told the leader

of Haringey Council to halt plans

for a controversial

housing development.

The row has caused divisions

within the local Labour Party,

and many councillors supportive

of the plans have been deselected.

Well, our political editor,

Tim Donovan, is with us now.

And, Tim, how

significant is this row?

Certainly really unusual for the

National Executive Committee of the

Labour Party to focus all this

energy, a 90 minute meeting, on an

issue involving one council. And the

Pasoa resolution saying, we think, a

Labour council should stop this

development on this you can get more

agreement and end the divisions and

it is proving divisive because it is

a major development. The

public-private partnership, the

council going in with a private

developer, hundreds of millions of

pounds over 20 years. And the idea

it will lead to 6,500 new homes.

Locally, some people are concerned

because they worry what will happen

to the replacement homes. Will they

lose their social housing? Some MPs

have expressed concern, members of

Momentum, the activist group which

backs Jeremy Corbyn they hate these

plans. But the Labour council is

saying, how else are we are going to

provide housing for local people

long-term in the end? And they are

giving guarantees they will protect

the element of social housing, but

there is no sign at the moment of

the divisions ending. So what

happens next? It looks as though the

leader of the Council, Claire Kober,

will at some stage have to talk to

the Labour Party officials, the NEC.

We are told a senior Labour MP may

act as a mediator to bring the

councils for and against together.

And then there is a judicial review

we are waiting to hear, been brought

by a local resident, against these

proposals. Which, at the moment, is

preventing the council from going

ahead.

Thank you very much.

More than half of all children

living in certain parts of London

are living in poverty -

that's according to

the Child Poverty Map,

published by a group of charities,

faith groups and unions.

Bethnal Green and Bow has

the highest rate of child

poverty in the country,

with 54% of children

living in poverty.

Poplar and Limehouse

are third in the country.

A woman from Essex says she will not

rest until she finds

the fly-tippers, who have repeatedly

dumped rubbish on her dead

brother's memorial.

The rubbish was left on top

of Adam Hiskey's plaque

and wooden cross on the A414,

near Ongar, on Friday night.

Adam died in a road

crash 16 years ago.

Now, it's been a pioneering space

for contemporary art

for almost 50 years.

But in 2015, the Hayward Gallery

was forced to close -

in part, due to a leaking roof.

Now, after a £35 million

makeover, it's due

to re-open tomorrow.

Wendy Hurrell has been

having an exclusive look

around behind the scenes.

A rare view of a gallery,

installation in progress.

This is the work of German

photographer Andreas Gursky,

and the first exhibition to be put

on these walls for over two years.

In the meantime,

a multi-million-pound

restoration has been happening

to update the electrics,

to replace the painted-over

decaying pyramid roof lights

that let in the water.

The false ceilings below

them have been removed.

Now the ceiling has windows

onto the sky, we'll see the works

beneath quite differently.

The light makes a huge

difference in a gallery,

because it's the best spectrum

of light to look at colour,

and also, because it changes.

Of course, normally we get daylight

coming in, but right now you see

the wonderful purple changing lights

of David Batchelor's sculpture

that's on the rooftop right now.

And this is what it looks

like from the roof.

66 brand-new pyramids, specially lit

up until the end of March,

to mark the reopening

of the Hayward Gallery

and celebrate its 50th year.

It was an era of brutalist

architecture, contrasting

with the baroque over the Thames.

Inside, using a process normally

used on classic statues,

the ubiquitous concrete has had

some beauty treatment.

So, once again, the best

in contemporary art adorns

the newly painted walls.

We are continuing to try to find

artists from across the world

who we think are really articulating

something new, and saying something

about the world we live in,

and showing it to us in a way that

makes you think.

For the Hayward Gallery,

at the heart of London's Southbank,

a new dawn is breaking.

Wendy Hurrell, BBC London News.

Some beautiful weather.

Now the weather, with Kate Kinsella.

Good afternoon.

50 mph gusts in some locations and

heavy rain as well. The whingers

point was before the rain hit, but

when it did, the temperature

dropped. Through the afternoon,

still very windy, but perhaps

lighter through. So all the winds

and wet for a

It was a very mild morning with

temperatures around 14 Celsius, but

once the rain hit, dramatic fall. So

quite chilly this afternoon and head

this morning, seven and nine

Celsius. Showers through the

evening, the wind still breezy, but

not as strong as it has been today.

And the temperature back to where it

should be at this time of year, or

nearer to it. Down to six Celsius in

Central London. Tomorrow, a quieter

day, more sunshine at first. Still

breezy, but not as windy as today as

the potential for one or two Micro

showers. The temperature tomorrow

against eels a bit fresher, a

maximum of 10 Celsius. Further

through the week, Friday is not a

bad day. Some bright spells and

sunny spells and temperatures around

eight Celsius. Into the weekend,

Saturday is not bad and things turn

unsettled and milder by Sunday.

That's about it from me.

Asad will be here with our

6:30 evening programme.

But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.