07/02/2018 London News


07/02/2018

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Transcript


LineFromTo

windy as we look towards the end of

the week.

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That's all from the BBC News at One

- so it's goodbye from me -

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Welcome to BBC London News.

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I'm Katharine Carpenter.

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where there isn't enough money

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to pay the mortgage.

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That's how the finances of Transport

for London have been described

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in a leaked internal email obtained

by BBC London.

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It lays bare the challenges caused

by budget cuts, with staff in one

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division being told they need

to look at ways to cut costs.

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Here's our transport

correspondent Tom Edwards.

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This is where Transport for London

is based in Southwark,

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and this organisation is wrestling

with cuts and trying

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to balance its budget.

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We've been given an internal staff

e-mail where managers say TfL

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will make a loss next year

of £968 million.

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This e-mail spells out in black

and white TfL's financial position,

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and it's not pretty.

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For example, it says

after day-to-day operating costs,

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there's not enough money

to pay for renewals.

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That's planned repairs on things

like roads to make them last longer.

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And there's not enough money to pay

interest on money borrowed.

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It goes on to say if this

was a household budget,

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there wouldn't be enough money left

over to pay the mortgage

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or get the car serviced.

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Already, bus services

will see a cut of 7%.

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Many senior managers have left.

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Extra Tube trains

have been cancelled.

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Insiders say staff are angry.

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The e-mail blames the cut

on the Government grant,

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which at one time was £700

million a year.

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It also blames a decrease

in passenger numbers

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and a drop in the income

from the congestion charge.

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It doesn't blame the Mayor's

partial fares freeze,

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which will also cost £640 million.

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It says that has actually cushioned

the fall in passenger numbers.

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In the surface transport division,

though, which covers buses,

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the Overground and the DLR,

the warnings are, "We are still

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forecasting to miss our budget.

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We need to reduce our

costs accordingly".

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The e-mail says that TfL can

sustain its position in the short

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term by using its savings.

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However, there is a warning.

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It says "This is clearly not

a sustainable position to be

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in as an organisation".

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They've been accustomed

to good times at TfL.

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Now the taps are being turned off

slightly and they will have

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to deal with that.

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They do have options, but many

of those choices are difficult.

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Today, TfL said its

budget is balanced,

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it's investing record sums and it

will be able to deliver the cuts.

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It says its efficiency programme has

already saved nearly

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£200 million this year.

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But commentators warn that TfL is

facing a perfect storm financially,

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with many challenges ahead.

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A man's been arrested on suspicion

of attempting to murder a police

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officer following a high speed chase

on the M25 in Surrey.

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Officers pursued the car

from Caterham at around

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three this morning.

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It left the motorway at junction 9,

where it was brought to a stop.

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During the chase, the car drove

towards a Metropolitan Police

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officer deploying a stinger device,

running over their foot.

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A number of police vehicles were

also damaged during the incident.

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Every police officer

in Tower Hamlets is to get training

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on election law to try and prevent

a repeat of the scandal

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that dogged polling

in the borough four years ago.

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That election had to be re-run

after the mayor Lutfur Rahman

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was ruled to have acted

illegally and corruptly.

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Our political correspondent

Karl Mercer is with me.

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It seems there's a determined

effort to avoid a repeat

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for the 2014 election.

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Yes, there is a sorry history of

electoral malpractice in Tower

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Hamlets, exemplified last time when

Lutfur Rahman won the election but

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then an election court ruled later

that he had won it illegally. So

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police officers have put in a lot of

effort this time. We heard from the

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London Assembly this morning, the

borough commander in Tower Hamlets,

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saying what police are doing. From

now until March, 620 police officers

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are going to be trained. They will

have two hour sessions on the

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history of elections in the borough,

but also of community tensions and a

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special bit on election law. Police

staff and detectives will be

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trained, and on polling day itself,

there will be at least one police

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officer on every polling station. We

were told police leave has been

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cancelled for that day as well.

Plus

challenges for the local authority?

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Yeah. They say they have learned

lessons from what happened before

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and have put in new things. If there

are more than five voters registered

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at one house, for example, they are

visiting them specially and making

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sure it checked out. There are also

extra checks being done on postal

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voting, which was one of the

significant issues identified by the

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election court. So a lot of work is

being done, but there are no

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promises that it will be

trouble-free.

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The Prince of Wales and Duchess

of Cornwall have opened

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a new electricity superhighway

supplying power

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to the capital today.

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Prince Charles went underground

to learn more about the seven year

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project to rewire the capital via 20

miles of tunnels to

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meet growing demand.

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To mark the centenary

of women getting the right

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to vote, we've been

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speaking to some of the pioneers

who have lived through

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the changes that followed.

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At 101 years old, Mary Ellis

is the last surviving female pilot

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from the Second World War.

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Sarah Harris went to meet her.

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She was born before women first got

the vote, and became an aviation

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pioneer. Even at 101 years old, Mary

likes to visit Biggin Hill to see

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the plane she flew solo during the

Second World War, much to the shock

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of the male ground crew who

initially refused to take her to

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check in.

We can't go, we are

waiting for the pilot. And I said, I

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am the pilot! There was little me in

my navy blue and gold blazer, you

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know. They wouldn't believe me. They

sent two men in to search the

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aeroplane to make sure.

NEWSREEL: The third anniversary of

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the Battle of Britain...

Female

pilots flew the planes from the

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factories where they were made to

RAF bases, but that didn't keep them

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out of danger.

Along came another

aeroplane beside me, with German

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markings on it. And I thought, ooh,

my goodness. I hadn't seen one of

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those before. And I waved him away

like that, and he waved to me like

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that. I was so frightened. And

eventually, he did go. Thank

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goodness.

Now Mary encourages other

young women to take up flying in a

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world still dominated by men. She

says there's nothing quite like it.

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Up in the air on your own, and you

can do whatever you like.

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Now let's check on the weather,

with Kate Kinsella.

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Still chilly out there.

Yes, and it

will stay cold, especially tonight.

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Today, many of us woke up to a very

chilly start. We had a bit of snow,

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mainly towards the east. In parts of

Essex, we had a dusting of snow. And

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we had a bit towards the north of

London as well. But gradually, the

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snow showers have been clearing away

and we have got sunshine. Despite

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the cold weather, we are seeing

little glimpses of spring. Let's

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hang onto those as we go through

this chilly afternoon. We have got

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some sunshine and it is a nice

afternoon if you don't mind the

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cold. The northerly breeze has

cleared the cloud away, so it is a

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sunny afternoon, but chilly

temperatures. We are looking at a

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maximum of six Celsius inside the

M25. If you factor in the wind, it

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will feel colder. Tonight, the

temperature is set to drop right

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down, a really cold night. A

bitterly cold start to tomorrow

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morning, but a bright and sunny one.

Gradually tomorrow, we will start to

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the cloud feeding in from the

north-west. So to turn grey, but

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overnight, we pick up a

south-westerly wind. So it is not

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going to feel quite so bitter. Then

another cold front overnight,

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bringing with it a bit of rain as we

head into Friday morning. But the

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less cold air does not stay long, as

it starts to feel chilly again by

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the time we get to the weekend.

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That's about it from me.

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Riz Lateef will be here

with our 6:30 evening programme.

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But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.

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