300425 BBC London, Evening News

Hello and good evening from BBC London. Coming up on the program, as Transport for London says it loses millions every year to fair evasion. We're out with enforcement officers trying to crack down on those who fail to pay.

Everywhere we go, we're falling across fair evade. There's not there's never a station. We don't get one.

Also tonight, clogging up the temps. A charity calls on the government to give a date when it will ban plastic in wet wipes. Plus, it's important that people like myself are investing.

Sir, Richard Branson on why he thinks it's a good time for business in London and his take on Trump's tariffs. And as temperatures rise, we'll be sharing some of your pictures of London blooming in the glorious sunshine. [Music] A very warm welcome to you.

We start tonight with fair evasion and how to reduce it here in the capital because it's costing transport for London millions of pounds a year. Now, those persistently dodging fairs but continuing to use public transport are being targeted by a growing team of investigators using new technology to catch prolific offenders. Our reporter Barry Caffrey has been out with enforcement officers on London Underground.

Revenue officers on patrol during rush hour at London Bridge. They're targeting frequent fair dodgers. people traveling using the wrong ticket or having no ticket at all.

And it's not long before they find one. No, no, no, no, no. Too late for them.

Use your pass. Let's go and have a conversation. Come on.

The gentleman decided to follow through behind a paying passenger. He thought he'll get away without paying. So, we've had to pull him to one side.

Thomas is one of the revenue enforcement officers working for Transport for London. He told me that there's not one typical type of fair evader. It's varied.

Most of it uh would probably be people just not paying their journey completely. So like doubling through uh behind uh paying passengers or barging through the gate nonsently thinking that no one's going to stop them. Uh and the other type we do get is like high value passes.

So people using their mother's pass or um a relative's pass who's you know not they're not entitled to use. Transport for London says the number of people evading fairs was 3. 4% 4% last year.

But while TfL says the rate is significantly lower than many cities globally, including New York, it is still costing an estimated 130 million pounds in lost revenue each year. Something TfL says is concerning. That's a really significant shortfall that's impacting on the speed by which we can renew and upgrade our network and deliver those enhancements that we all want to see in cleanliness, in reliability, in the safety and actually extending Transport for London's network.

So, what do commuters think? Usually, it's kids or youth or people maybe had one too many on the way home and but I do see it happen. Yeah.

Do you think some people just think they can consistently get away with it? Of course they do because nobody questions it. But why would they?

Because you don't want to, you know, face the repercussions. Transport for London say while the overwhelming majority of passengers do pay their correct fair at the moment around 3. 4% of people traveling on the tube are not paying the correct fair.

And it's hoped with these uh extra enforcement officers, TfL will be able to get that number down to around 1% by the year 2030. Barry Cafrey, BBC London, London Bridge. Let's get more now on the police firearms officer who was cleared of murder after shooting Chris Kaba, who is now set to face a disciplinary panel for gross misconduct.

Sergeant Martin Blake shot the 24 year old in Streathum in September 2022 after Mr Caba tried to ram his way past police cars that had hemmed him in. Our home affairs correspondent Sonia Jessup is here with me. Sonia, it does raise the question, he's been cleared in a trial.

So why is the police watchdog decided now that he should face misconduct proceedings? Well, it was actually 6 months after the shooting in 2023 that the police watchdog, the IPC, initially said that Martin Blake should face misconduct proceedings. He then, of course, went on trial for murder last year.

He was found not guilty. And the Met said it hoped that the IPC would reconsider because it said that the evidence against Martin Blake had been tested significantly as part of that trial. Now today the police watchdog has said that it's re-evaluated all the evidence and it is confident that the case does meet the legal threshold for misconduct proceedings.

So now that's a lower test than for criminal proceedings. So what happens next? Well, it's up to the Met now to set a date for that misconduct hearing.

It says it's going to approach an officer from a different force to chair it um to to ensure independence. If found guilty of gross misconduct, then Martin Blake could face the sack. Now, of course, this decision, as you might expect, is a lot of reaction today.

Uh, it's been welcomed by Chris Cabba's family. They say they are still devastated. They hope this leads to Sergeant Blake being removed from the Met.

The Met Police says that it recognizes the significant impact of Mr Kappa's death on his family. But it also says that this another lengthy process will fall heavily on the shoulders of both Sergeant Blake and on the firearms officers because of course you might remember a number of them stepped back from firearms duties after their colleague was charged. The Met Police Federation has called it a nonsensical ruling and Downing Street has said that the prime minister has confident in confidence in the police watchdog but that the government also believes the verdict of the jury in the criminal trial should be respected.

Of course, there's a lot more about this case on our website. Okay, Sonia, with the latest there. Thank you.

That's our home affairs correspondent, Sonia Jessup. Thanks for joining us this Wednesday evening. Plenty more ahead, including on the wet wipe island at Hammersmith.

There are thousands of these here. And now a charity is calling for the government to ban plastic wet wipes. [Music] He is one of Britain's most successful and most recognizable entrepreneurs who started his business career right here in London more than 50 years ago.

Sir, Richard Branson says he believes London is a prosperous place for business and that the UK is one of the few countries in the world at the moment that is stable. He was in East London today for the opening of his first hotel in the capital and spoke to our work and money correspondent Megan Owen. It has been a tough time for London's economy post Brexit, post pandemic.

How do you justify opening a hotel now? So I think uh the way to get uh Great Britain back on its feet again uh is to is for businesses to be expanding. It's important that people like myself are investing and that will, you know, get get Britain's economy going and and just improve the wealth of the nation, which is obviously what what is needed.

So, do you see London as a prosperous place for business at the moment? Oh, yeah. It was set back in my opinion from Brexit, but you know, and and I know a lot of people don't necessarily agree with that, but um but we've got to make up for the make up for that fact.

Um um and and we just got to get out and um yeah, make make London prosperous for everybody. Karma said last year that there was no reason for entrepreneurs to leave the UK. Would you agree with him?

I think the UK is one of the few countries in the world that um is, you know, stable um and a really really special country. And that's illustrated all the more recently by what's going what's gone on in America, the the complete uncertainty of what's going on in America. Um and the unpredictability of it all.

Um so I think uh UK is a great place to start your business. um like we did, you know, if we business people can, you know, generate enough uh income for the UK, then taxes will start going down for people and um and and so, you know, it's up to the thousands and thousands of entrepreneurs out there now. Um you know, to get their business their businesses humming.

You've talked a lot about tariffs, the impact of tariffs on on UK businesses. Are you confident that UK entrepreneurs can weather that storm of Trump's tariffs? whatever Trump throws at us all um we'll we'll have we'll have to deal with it.

Um and uh I think that he got a nasty shock when the whole world looked like it was going to meltdown when he uh you know thought he could get away with ridiculous tariffs. Um he's had to backtrack. Um and you know hopefully um he's he's learned his lesson and and there'll be a more sensible regime put in place.

Um and um uh but with him you you you never you never know what's going to happen and um and and it's that unpredictability that is that that has done a lot of damage in the world in in the last couple of months and Megan's here. How significant does this feel Branson banging the drum for London? Well, he's one of the country's most high-profile businessmen and he's giving his vote of confidence to the UK and also to London.

But I don't think uh other business owners, particularly small and medium business owners, would actually necessarily agree. It's been a really turbulent few weeks. We've seen the impact of Trump's tariffs, but we've also seen rising taxes and rising minimum wage.

Now, Labour say that that's all part of their uh strategy for growth, but um businesses have told me that this has been one of the toughest years yet, particularly for the hospitality sector, which is struggling already with staff shortages. Now, what's interesting is I spoke to the CEO of Branson's Hotel Group, uh, who told me that he would be in favor of a tourist tax, something that Liverpool is set to introduce in the next few months. But he also told me that the way people bounce back in London truly sets a standard for the world to follow, and I'm sure that many businesses in the capital will be hoping that they will bounce back quickly, too.

Yeah, I'm sure. Megan, thank you. Let's take a quick look at some of the day other stories.

And a fire that spread from an electricity substation to a block of flats in Maidale yesterday was due to a fault on a piece of equipment. According to UK power networks, no one was injured, but around 100 people had to be evacuated from their homes after a neighboring roof and a flat caught fire, too. And a major exhibition of Italian fashion designer Giani Versace's creations is to open in London this summer.

worn by the likes of Princess Diana, Kate Moss, and Elton John. Versace was one of the most influential designers of his generation until he was murdered in 1997. The retrospective is due to open at Arch's London Bridge in July.

Next, a quick warning. You might want to look away in a moment if you're eating because the next story is a bit gross. Thousands of plastic wet wipes thrown down the toilet are ending up in the tempames and have created an island of waste.

A charity is now calling on the government to announce a date when it will ban plastic in wet wipes. Our environment correspondent Tom Edwards has more. Welcome to Wet Wipe Island next to Hammersmith Bridge.

here. The shape of the temps has been altered by tons and tons of plastic wet wipes and volunteers are now monitoring how many there are. You're a bit immune to it cuz you've seen it before, but it is heartbreaking when you see it down here.

It's soul destroying. I say that every time. It's really disheartening to see it.

Yes. And um obviously you want to discourage people from buying wet wipes and and flushing wet wipes, especially those that say flushable when they're not really flushable. As you can see, you pick up one and it just comes and comes and comes.

So, what you think might look like mud is a heap of wet wipes, but it's not quite as bad. So, this is a wet wipe island really. Yeah.

And we're we're doing these bits because these bits are because of the the river on the bend. And because there's an outlet somewhere near here, that all comes here. So, that's a good place to to have a check.

People flush plastic wet wipes down toilets. They're not biodegradable. When the sewers overflow, they end up here.

It's hoped the new Tideway tunnel could reduce it, but these could be here for years. The wet wipes have been monitored and counted here for 6 years. There are thousands and thousands of these wet wipes here on the foreshore at Hammersmith.

It's absolutely disgusting. And it's because people are flushing these down the toilet and they don't biodegrade. The charity TE's 21 wants the government to name a date when it will ban plastic wet wipes.

We're calling on the government to ban plastic and wet wipes. We had the previous Conservative government last year commit to banning plastic and wet wipes and we're calling on this government to implement that ban. You'd like a date?

Is that right? We would like them to do it urgently. Yes.

The government says it will ban plastic wet wipes, but won't say when at the moment. London's river is blighted. Tom Edwards, BBC London.

The biggest crisis facing the capital. That's how London's housing was described today. Whether you're homeless, a renter, or trying to buy, things have rarely been tougher, according to experts at a major housing summit today run by the independent think tank Center for London.

Its new polling suggests threearters of Londoners have seen their housing costs rise in the last year and 60% of people have considered leaving the capital altogether. Well, joining me now is Antonia Jennings, the chief exec of the Center for London and our political editor, Carl Mercer. Welcome to both of you.

Um, Antonia, sadly this will probably come as no surprise to many Londoners. That's definitely the case. We know housing across the country is under a lot of strain but it seems to be under extra strain really acute strain in London and unfortunately it is very much a housing system that interacts with uh different parts of itself in the sense that homelessness doesn't exist in isolation.

So homelessness is very much linked to the state of council housing which is linked to the state of the private rental sector which is of course linked to home ownership and across the board at every single level we've seen uh budgets squeezed and you know pockets uh feeling quite dry at the moment. So it's all interconnected and car you were there. Yeah and I think it goes a bit further than that as well.

I think you'll agree Antonio that housing is the key to how London looks about the the face of London. So we've reported in the last few weeks about schools closing. We we reported on the state of the high streets and the decline of those because if people can't afford to live in communities, they move out of of particularly central London at the moment, but we're seeing it all over London.

Um they move out of those areas that there are then no children there. There are no people in the shops. So it starts to change the actual face of London.

So it's it's not just about roofs over people's heads, is it? It's it's actually about how we how we live in this city. It's 100% about that.

And I think we have to zoom out and remember as well that London still is the richest city in Europe. And the fact that we have now on average one child in every classroom in temporary accommodation. Um the fact that you know we spend 45% of our income on housing costs after housing costs.

One in four of us live in poverty. It's just not good enough. And looking ahead, what was the mood like, you know, amongst housing experts?

Well, I'll tell you how it started and then you can tell us how it finished. At the start of the conference there was there's about 150 people there, housing experts from all over London. They were asked the question who is optimistic about the state of housing and the future of housing in London.

Not a single hand went up. Not one. But Antonio, it got a little bit better, didn't it?

It did get better. I mean, I think uh at the at the core of a lot of the issues that the housing system faces is this question of funding. So, there's a lot of eyes on the spending review coming up.

Obviously, lots of hopes for long-term settlements for council funding, lots of hopes for the affordable homes program, but a lot remains to be seen in terms of where exactly and how this is going to play out. And that council funding is key. Yeah, because I had the joy of going to another meeting this afternoon of MPs, uh, a group of MPs talking about London, uh, council leaders there saying, look, we are the engine of growth, they said as councils, but we are running on empty.

pretty much everyone's a little bit broke and the system is a little bit broken as well and looking to the spending review saying we need a lot more money from government put into affordable housing but also asks about things like infrastructure the DLR extension BAU line extension build trains build transport you can build homes around it and tell you in the last 30 seconds I appreciate no quick fix we're going to be talking about this for a while but do do you get a sense of what the priority is so I really think the priority is positioning housing as essential infrastructure. Obviously, in and of itself, housing is a human rights, right? But when you think about London's other problems, crime, productivity, our status as a global city, so many of these things have their roots in housing.

And I think any government would be wise to make those connections. Yeah. Okay.

And I know Carl, you'll be following uh what happens in the Yeah. Yeah. And and the spending review, of course, to you both.

Thanks very much indeed. Appreciate it. Do stay with us.

Still to come before the end of the program, springtime in London that feels more like summertime. We gauge the mood in the capital with record-breaking temperatures expected [Music] tomorrow. Be brave, get tested.

That's the message from one of the first people to be diagnosed with HIV in London. Back in the 80s, he was known as patient L1, standing for London one. Jonathan Blake, now 74, was at a gathering in the Capitol today to see where a new memorial to those who died from the virus will be placed.

Albert Patel has been chatting to him. I was diagnosed in October 1982 at the Middle Sex Hospital. This is Jonathan Blake, one of the first people to be diagnosed with HIV in London.

I think I'm starting to freak out slightly. He was played by the actor Dominic West in the movie Pride. Die.

Your gays have arrived. But back then, HIV was a death sentence. They put me in a side ward.

Two days later they came back and they said we had the results. You have a virus. There is no cure.

You have between three and 9 months to live. There will be paliotative care when the time comes. I mean I'm 33.

Do I really want to hear about paliotative care? How old are you today? I'm 76.

You're 76. So from the age of 33 I have been living with this virus and literally you know just trying to live just every day. Jonathan was amongst campaigners and politicians who came to see where a new AIDS memorial will be placed here in Fitzrovia.

The artwork will take the form of a felled tree. We met Ms. Kimberly and her dog Lula.

Everyone who lost their life had meaning and this is a place for um their friends and relatives to come and remember them. It's a dedication to all the people who've around the world who's had to lose their life for the injustices that society has brought to them. Sorry.

Don't expect that. One of our key take-home messages today is stop the stigma because but there are worries over the progress in tackling the disease. London has made incredible progress in tackling HIV but in recent years we have seen rises.

So London has ambitious goals to meet global targets on infections on deaths but also on stigma and on current trajectories. We are not due to meet those targets. I think the most important thing to do know your status be brave.

Get tested. Alpa Battel BBC London existence. It was obvious.

Okay, before we get the full weather forecast, let's pause for a moment on the mood here in the capital. In a week that is feeling more like summer than spring, I think it's fair to say the sun is well and truly out over London with temperatures expecting to peak tomorrow. Guess what?

Chris Le drew the short straw and has to be out in Regent's Park this evening. Tough job, Chris. Someone's got to do it.

Glorious evening here in Regions Park, Riz. Um but you know for those who have been able to get away from the office today, those who have been able to be outside, what a glorious day. The hot weather obviously not for everyone, it can make life pretty unbearable for some, but for those who do enjoy it has provided welcome rest bite after a winter that felt it was never going to end.

And in places like Regions Park out and about throughout the capital today, many people have been soaking up the rays. I've been living in London for a couple years and I can't believe that the weather is like this and I don't even want to stay home. I want to go out.

I want to read a book on the bench. It's just amazing. And honestly, my mood is just always happy constantly.

I think I think everyone's just stoked. Self included. Yeah.

As I'm sure you guys are. It's um I don't know. I feel like just in general, everyone's just so happy to finally see some vitamin D.

Just being able to be out outside, no wind, full sun. It doesn't really get better. so good.

I feel like everyone's smiling, everyone's happier, everyone's outside, and such a change to the weather we've been having lately. Um, yeah, it's it's great to see everyone out here and enjoying the sun. Sounds like it's going to get warmer still tomorrow.

The Japanese garden here at Regent's Park looking respplendant. You can see the wisteria behind me in part native to Japan. and my colleague Kate Canella yesterday shared with you images of the Wisteria out in full bloom a couple of weeks early at Golders Hill Park.

We asked you to send in your photos and you did not disappoint. And as I say goodbye from a sunny regions park, here are some of the best photos. [Music] [Music] Oh, thanks again for all your pictures and the perfect weather to showcase them.

Let's get the latest from Ben who's joined us. Swaying to that music, I noticed. Very chill.

Very chill. What a week. What a week.

It's been quite remarkable. Today has been the warmest April day in seven years. Riz and tomorrow could turn out to be the hottest start to May on record.

The hottest first of May on record potentially tomorrow. We have seen a lot of sunshine today. Scenes like this right across the capital.

That was Teddington earlier on for one of our weather watches. Tomorrow mostly dry and sunny. I'll explain the word mostly in a moment.

Uh but it should be even warmer. Now, this is the satellite picture from today. And you can see this huge area of clear sky.

That's why there's been barely a cloud in the sky today, but there is some cloud trying to push down from the northwest and also clouds swarming to the south of us. That may just start to come into play during tomorrow. Tonight though, clear skies, temperatures not dropping too far.

11° there in the center of London, 8 or 9 if you live a little bit further out of town. Into tomorrow then. Beautiful start to the day.

lots of sunshine. Those temperatures will quickly start to rise. However, we may just start to see a little bit of patchy cloud and maybe even the odd shower mostly to the northwest of London.

But there is a chance of catching a shower tomorrow as the humidity builds and these top temperatures tomorrow likely to get to 29° C. That is well above what we would be expecting on the first day of May. And tomorrow evening, well, it's going to be fine out there.

some sunny spells, but I think we will just see a bit more in the way of cloud filtering in as we go through Thursday night. That said, Friday does promise to bring some spells of sunshine once again. And although some cooler air will be trying to push its way down from the north and we may just see a few showers, it is actually going to be another very warm day.

25 26 maybe 27° on Friday. Now, as we head into the weekend, well, there is a bit of a change on the way. bank holiday weekend.

Of course, the weather is going to change, but not a dramatic one because high pressure will still be in charge. There's still going to be a lot of dry weather around through the bank holiday weekend. However, these northerly winds will bring a very different feel.

So, look at the temperatures through the next few days. Tomorrow, 29, 25 on Friday, and then just 15° by Sunday and Monday, although that is actually much closer to what we should be seeing at this time of year. risk.

Goodness, Ben. Thanks very much. And that is it this sunny Wednesday.

As Ben said, by the way, you can see more of those wonderful Wisteria photos you've been sending in on our Instagram and Facebook. Thanks very much for those. Just search BBC London.

Uh from me and all the team, thanks very much for watching. And if you like even more heat and sunshine, tomorrow is the day for you. Uh from all of us here, have a lovely evening.

Take care. Bye-bye.