17/12/2017 London News

and his hopes for life away

from the White House.

and I'll be back with the late news

at 11 o'clock.

Now on BBC One, its time

for the news where you are.

Bye for now.

Good evening and welcome

to the programme.

I'm Katharine Carpenter.

After a decade of fundraising,

a memorial has been unveiled

in East London to honour

the survivors of World War II's

worst civilian disaster.

173 people who'd taken shelter

in Bethnal Green underground station

were crushed to death in March 1943.

Tarah Welsh reports.

It was the largest single

loss of civilian life

during World War II and today,

finally, something to

remember all those killed.

The survivors unveiled

the new memorial to mark a night

that had started like so many others

during the war.

The air raid started,

so we ran to the underground,

because we used to sleep

there of a night.

And when we got there,

it was just chaos.

This night, anti-aircraft rockets

were being tested nearby.

Nobody was warned, and they assumed

it was enemy bombing.

When it fired off and there

were all these different

people getting off buses.

So you have sort of, like,

300 or 400 people trying to get

through this narrow door,

and at that same time,

a lady at the bottom of the stairs,

holding a child, fell.

She pulled another man on top of her

and, before they could get up,

others were falling on top of them.

173 people were crushed to death -

62 were children.

I heard all the people

screaming and calling

for their mommas and dads...

SOBS.

They were calling for their mothers

and fathers and...

We just couldn't get out.

He was eventually pulled free,

but the tragedy also

haunts the rescuers.

Well...

You know...

The whole thing was

an absolute nightmare.

Despite the huge loss of life here,

survivors and people involved

were told never to speak

of what happened here.

The country was at war

and the government didn't want it

to affect public morale.

The family always talked

about the terrible Bethnal Green

underground disaster and no one knew

about it, there was no

recognition of it.

It was all hushed up.

But now, a lasting tribute for one

of the biggest tragedies

the capital has ever seen.

Two police officers have

been seriously injured,

after they were hit by a car

in northwest London.

They were returning to their vehicle

on the North Circular

near Brent Park in the early hours

of this morning when

they were struck.

The driver of a white Maserati

was arrested at the scene.

London has taken the fewest

number of refugees

following the migrant crisis

than any UK region.

Home Office figures show that around

400 people have been found

homes in the capital.

But two years ago the Government

pledged to re-settle

20,000 across the UK.

Helen Mulroy reports.

It's scenes like these that have

forced more than five million

to flee Syria and neighbouring

countries since the outbreak of war.

Violence and persecution in parts

of the Middle East are forcing

many to look for refuge,

like Layla and her family.

They came to London this year under

a government scheme that

resettles endangered children

and their parents.

The children die,

all the children die.

My children are scared

about the bomb, scared about...

He can play in the street.

This country, it's good

for my children and for me,

because...give us more options.

However, of all the English

regions, London has taken

in the fewest refugees

- just 400.

And about half of the local

authorities across the capital

haven't taken in a single refugee

under the main scheme

for resettlement.

Councils say it's because existing

pressures on housing make it more

difficult in London and elsewhere.

Yet some councils have been more

proactive than others.

Lambeth have even sent

a representative to Calais.

Housing is a real issue,

but I think we've worked very

closely with the community,

particularly the Lambeth

Citizens Group.

It's a moral case.

We can do more and we need to help

people who are living

in dire circumstances.

But writer Douglas Murray isn't

convinced resettlement in London

is the best way to help.

It costs around 100 times as much

to look after a migrant,

an asylum seeker, in Europe,

in a country like Sweden,

a country like Britain,

than it does to pay for them

to remain in, for instance,

Jordan or Lebanon or Turkey.

For Layla and her children, however,

they're just happy to be somewhere

safe this Christmas.

Thank you for giving us

the chance, the new life.

Let's get a check on the weather

now with Sara Thornton.

Good evening.

The rain we saw across London this

afternoon clears away

as we go through the night.

With the clear skies,

the temperatures will fall away

again, below freezing

in many suburbs.

Maybe a bit of mist and fog

out towards the west,

but most of us off to

a clear, beautiful start.

Sunshine as we go through the day,

highs of just four to seven degrees,

but there is some fog forming,

as we go through tomorrow evening

overnight into Tuesday.

Very slow to clear,

as well, on Tuesday.

A much milder feel for Wednesday.

That's all from me, but I'll be back

with tonight's headlines

at the slightly later time of 11.20.

Bye bye.