13/03/2018 London News

Government's ultimate to the Moscow

over the nerve gas poisoning

Good afternoon.

I'm Asad Ahmad.

One of Labour's London MEPs

appears to be at odds

with her party over Brexit -

as she's questioned whether it

might happen at all.

Mary Honeyball has served

in Brussels for nearly two decades

but difficulties in negotiations

have caused her to

doubt the outcome.

However, another London MEP

is certain that next year

he'll be out of a job and Brexit

will have happened.

Here's our Brexit reporter,

Katharine Carpenter.

Well, apologies for that, we seem to

be having some problems. We will try

to get that report back to you as

soon as possible.

Oxford Street could be

pedestrianised in time for Christmas

after proposals to ban vehicles

were backed in a consultation.

About half a mile of the street

would become a "traffic-free

pedestrian zone" under the plans,

which the Mayor's office says

will make it "one of the finest

public spaces and shopping streets

in the world".

A final decision is due

in the coming months.

An Independent chicken shop

in Reading claims its being

bullied by the restaurant chain

Nando's - because of its success.

Nando's has launched legal

action against the shop

called Fernandos, saying its copying

its name and images.

Lawyers for Nandos have

written to the owner,

Asam Aziz calling on him to rebrand.

Mr Aziz denies he's copied

the name, saying he got

the idea from a TV show.

Let's see we can go back to that

report about the London MEP who

thinks Brexit may not happen.

For 18 years, Mary Honeyball has

made this journey. She still

believes Brexit could be stopped and

denies it has an impact on who work

here yet.

Obviously everybody here

is aware Brexit, but we are still in

the European Union and getting on

with our jobs.

But for one of the

two London MEPs who voted to leave

the EU, things have been more tense

at times.

On other things that went

through my mind is Will I have to

resign, will I lose my job? I was

prepared for that. I thought I

should put my own position ahead of

my decision.

The UK has 73 MEPs,

eight of them represent London, and

they earn just over 100,000 per year

before taxes, with generous pensions

and allowances. Mary Honeyball

admits that maybe they could have

done more to counter the perception

by some that they are living the

high life in Brussels.

One of the

consequences of Brexit is that

Europe, European Parliament, what

the EU does, is suddenly shot up the

political agenda. Sadly it has taken

Brexit for people to take an

interest in it. Now I think we are

getting a lot of exposure and people

do know who we are and what we do.

For Mary, that involves meetings

like this Brexit briefing with her

political group, and work with the

women's committee.

It would be a

real shame to miss seeing something

you have worked on for a long time

not actually happening, in practice.

She also says she is unclear about

when her role will end, although her

colleague has no doubts.

My job will

come to an end at the end of March

2018. At that time, the UK will

leave and there will be no British

MEPs.

Will you feel sad about it,

despite your vote?

Of course, I have

made many good friends, I have been

an MEP for nearly 14 years. And it

has been a large part of my life.

Both of them are coy about their

future ambitions, saying there is

still much work to do over the

coming year.

Two London mosques have gained

Grade II Listed status

to recognise their "historic,

architectural and

cultural importance".

The Heritage Minister said

the Islamic Cultural Centre

at Regent's Park and the Fazl Mosque

in Southfields celebrated the rich

heritage of Muslim communities -

which go back hundreds of years.

It's been described

as an exceptional place of worship.

Now London Central Mosque has been

given Grade II star listed status,

recognising its historic

and cultural importance,

and protecting it for

future generations.

Mosques and the Muslim faith

are an extremely important part

of our national culture and life,

but they are somewhat

under-represented on our list

of important buildings.

So, it's really rewarding to be able

to undertake this exercise

and protect the most important

mosques, and celebrate them.

The movement to establish a central

mosque in London spans

from more than 70 years,

although the first fund

for the new mosque was set up

in 1910, construction didn't

start until 1970.

It was finished seven years later.

From outside, you can really

appreciate the architecture.

Regents Park was picked

as a location under

Winston Churchill's government back

in the 1940s, in recognition

of the importance of the Muslim

community in an increasingly diverse

British society.

While mosques are still typically

established that local community

level, the London Central Mosque

remains the first remaining example

to be built at a diplomatic level.

Of the main points of the campaign

to the mosque was that, the time,

and this is from 1910 onwards,

the argument was that there

were more Muslim subjects

in the British Empire

than there were

Christian, for example.

But that there was no

nationally significant Mosque

in Britain to represent that.

The Fazl Mosque in Southfield,

in London, has been given

Grade II listed status.

Both mosques join a group

of around 20 celebrating

not only the buildings,

but the heritage of Muslim

There's concern that hundreds

of promising young footballers may

be slipping through the net -

because they're too

small for their age.

It comes after research

highlighted the issue

- and it's something BBC

School Reporter, Gianni went down

to Charlton Athletic Academy

to look into.

The Charlton manager Karl Robinson

has been aware of the loss of small

players for some time.

He says that this can

lead to talented players

leaving their clubs,

and in some cases dropping out

of the game completely.

I think them days have gone,

where size is paramount.

Certain managers would

recruit purely and simply

on the physicality.

I think there was a thing

about Mourinho, about the type

of players that he recruits.

But, no, not for me.

I don't think size

is an issue any more.

Sanchez!

Oh, Sanchez has scored

an absolute beauty.

Some of the leading Premier League

strikers, such as Alexis Sanchez,

are small in stature.

That was unstoppable.

But is it all about

physical attributes?

If youngsters have those mental

attributes, which means they're

willing to look for a coping

strategy, so they can compensate

for what might be a temporary

disadvantage in size,

if they've got the mental

attributes to cope with that,

develop coping strategies,

then they'll probably be fine.

That is a good ball

through the middle for Defoe.

Snap shot.

Smaller players like

Jermain Defoe have had long

and successful careers.

So youngsters shouldn't be put off

because they are a few inches

shorter than everyone else.

Now the weather with Kate.

Good afternoon. Despite it starting

rather grey this morning, quite

quickly we saw this, blue skies,

sunshine and brakes on a cloud.

Really quite pleasant first thing.

Since then, the clouds rolling back

in. We're going to see a patchy

cloud here and there through the

afternoon. Still bright spells,

sunny spells, with a small risk of a

shower. Most places managing to

avoid them. This cloud is migrating

slowly eastwards. Temperature is not

that bad until 11 Celsius.

Overnight, clear skies, temperatures

dropping down a little further than

it has recently. A much colder night

tonight, out in the suburbs and

beyond. It could get down to zero.

Patchy cloud through the early hours

of tomorrow morning. Most towns and

cities hovering just above zero.

Tomorrow morning, a bright start.

Quite chilly. Through the day, mild

air moving in. We will see a

strengthening south-easterly wind.

That will start to the course of

tomorrow afternoon. A breezy day.

Still mild. The maximum temperature

of 14 Celsius. It's all change

overnight Wednesday and into

Thursday. That south-easterly wind

starts to go from the East, and we

lose the milder air. It is replaced

with colder air from the east. Much

colder air as it heads into Saturday

and Sunday. Yes, you will notice

things could turn progressively

wintry, with temperatures

significantly colder and we could

see wintry showers.

That's it.

Riz will be here at 6.30

with our next news on BBC One.

But for now, have a

very good afternoon.