02/07/2017 London News

Good evening, you're watching BBC London News.

Kensington and Chelsea Council is suspending rent for residents

living in buildings close to Grenfell Tower whose

services have been disrupted because of the fire.

It comes as the Minister for London has told the BBC that the Government

is waiting for the council to elect a new leader, and rejected calls

by the Mayor of London to put the council in special measures.

Our political editor, Tim Donovan, reports.

The leader's gone, finally succumbing to the pressure.

He'd said this storming of the town hall a fortnight ago had been

Things became untenable when he cut short this meeting of his Cabinet

But today, that was rejected by the Minister whose constituency

So I think it's important for local democracy to have its say.

It's quite a big thing for a government to do,

a quasi-judicial role for the Secretary of State.

Surely if there was ever a time to send in the Commissioners

to get a grip of this crisis, it's now.

We're waiting for the new leader to come in place at the council.

There is an interim chief executive, who's come over

from Lewisham Council and doing a good job there.

Others say the community of North Kensington would be

reassured by a government task force coming in.

I say that they've got to restore confidence of the local community,

particularly the people directly affected by the fire, and they've

What we've got is an administration in Kensington and Chelsea that have

shown they've got an inability to be able to connect.

But one borough councillor says it must be allowed

The council has to be given, in my view, as an institution that

will be there for years to come, people to come, has to be given

One of the worries I have about appointing government

commissioners to run this, is that you deny and delay

the opportunity for that reconciliation, if you like.

Meanwhile, tenants in buildings close to Grenfell Tower

won't have to pay rent for a while because

A clear gesture from this troubled local council,

as it prepares to choose new leadership this week.

Thousands of people headed to Trafalgar Square

The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said that in light of the recent terror

attacks in the capital and the fire at Grenfell Tower, this

year's celebration is all about standing in solidarity.

# We've got the world on our shoulders...#.

For many here today who fasted for 20 hours some days,

This festival is about celebrating unity.

One of the great things about London is we don't simply

tolerate difference, we respect it, we embrace it

and we celebrate it, just like St Patrick's Day,

Jewish festivals, Hindu festivals, Christian festivals, Sikh festivals.

I'm really pleased to have Eid again here, the biggest and best ever.

Eid, did loads of cooking, then I got dressed up...

We are highlighting that whole message about being one,

It doesn't matter what faith or background or religion

or country you're from, London is an amazing city

and we all want to just come together, have a good time.

The atmosphere is great, you know, we have people from all faiths

A chance, after a difficult time, to show a city united.

Well, the weather looked absolutely gorgeous at Trafalgar Square,

but how are things looking for the rest of the week?

If you're heading to Wimbledon this week, you'll need to take both

an umbrella and some sun cream - fairly typical British

We have cloud building through tonight with some outbreaks

of rain, and they'll continue into the morning.

Fairly drizzly rain, but quite a lot of cloud around first thing.

It does break up by the afternoon to give us some sunny spells,

but also quite a few showers, and they'll be fairly

As we head through the week, a shower never too far away,

That's it for BBC London News tonight.

We'll be back with BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning from 6am.

From myself and the rest of the team, have yourself a good night.

Good evening. It's been something of a mixed bag of a weekend across

Scotland and Northern Ireland, but, little further south, it's not all

fun in the sun, some putting it to other uses, making good use of that

sunshine. It wasn't just Wyke that enjoyed sumptuous sunshine, maybe in

Argyll and Bute it was a different story, and indeed widely across the

western side of Scotland, tied in with a weather front which will drag

its way down towards the western side of England, quitting Scotland

and Northern Ireland but leaving behind some pretty sharp showers.

Temperatures could dip into single