Bosses offer fresh talks to union members,Southern Rail dispute

Staff reporter(wp/es):
Southern Railway has offered to hold fresh talks aimed at resolving the bitter dispute over the role of conductors after commuters hit by a three-day strike voiced fury and bewilderment.
Passengers faced “total chaos” today as the walkout clashed with delayed engineering works.
Charles Horton, the chief executive of Southern's owners, Govia Thameslink Railway, today wrote to the leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union saying he will meet him tomorrow.
Mr Horton urged the union to call off this week's strike, scheduled until midnight on Thursday, and allow "productive" talks to take place.

He told RMT general secretary Mick Cash: "I'm prepared to free my diary from tomorrow morning onwards to meet and to show your serious intent, I would like the RMT to call off the rest of the strike action planned for this week.
"Everyone - the travelling public, our staff and the regional economy - have faced months of misery and disruption, and again today. We have to end this dispute now and move forward."

Mr Horton said the company was pressing ahead with changing the role of conductors to on board superviser, with responsibility for closing train doors switching to drivers.
He said: "It would be beneficial to everyone if we can do so with the agreement of the RMT, but this has to be on the basis of the principles we have made clear to them throughout.
"Our proposals remain unchanged from 8 August when we set out our full, fair and comprehensive 8-point offer, on top of previous assurances made to you.

"These were supplemented by the offer of a lump sum payment on the 3 October, which the RMT rejected last week.
"Let's hope sense prevails and we can shake hands on a deal."

Mr Cash said: "RMT is pleased that GTR have responded positively to the union's call for talks."
The union said Mr Horton has made it clear the company is prepared to "guarantee" a second member of staff on every current Southern service with a conductor on board, the issue at the heart of the dispute.
"That gives us scope to move on and to discuss the detail of the role of that guaranteed second person and to move towards a negotiated settlement to this dispute.
 "This is a golden opportunity to make a breakthrough and RMT will be at the talks tomorrow."

Woman rushed to hospital after being stabbed in Hackney

Crime reporter(wp/es):
A woman has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in Hackney.
Paramedics and police were called to Mare Street just after 5pm on Tuesday to reports of a woman suffering with a stab injury.
She has been taken to an east London hospital but it is not yet clear how serious the injuries are.
Police are making enquiries into the stabbing.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman told the Standard that there have been no arrests.

Warriena Wright fell 14 floors

 
Pic: Warriena Wright
Crime reporter(wp/es):
A tourist was so afraid of a man she met through dating app Tinder that she fell 14 floors to her death while trying to escape from his apartment balcony, a court heard today.
Gable Tostee, 30, pleaded not guilty to the murder of 26-year-old Warriena Wright in Gold Coast city, Queensland, Australia, in the early hours of August 8, 2014.
He faces a potential life sentence if convicted.
Tostee and the New Zealander met for the first time in the tourist centre of Surfers Paradise on the night she died, the Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane heard.
Prosecutor Glen Cash told the jury that Tostee did not throw Wright to her death, but intimidated and threatened her to an extent that she felt the only way to escape was to climb down from his balcony.
The court heard an audio recording made on Tostee’s phone that captured an altercation between the pair, as well as the fall.
Cash alleged that Tostee became angry after Ms Wright threw ornamental rocks at him and hit him with a telescope.
He also said that Tostee choked and restrained her before locking her out of his apartment on the balcony.
“You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony,” Tostee is heard saying in the recording. “If you try to pull anything, I’ll knock you out.”
The jury was told a neighbour heard Wright crying, “No, no, no, please let me go home,” before witnessing her falling from the balcony about 15 seconds later.
Defence lawyer Saul Holt said Ms Wright had become increasingly erratic and aggressive toward Tostee after a night of drinking and intimacy.
“What happened in this case is nothing like murder or manslaughter. It doesn’t fit,” Mr Holt said.

thousands of London firms to rocket next year

Business reporter(wp/es):
London’s businesses will be forced to hand over an extra £4 billion in tax over the next five years in an unprecedented raid on the capital’s “cash cow” economy.
The impact will start to be felt next April, when business rate bills for thousands of companies across the capital will rocket following last month’s Government revaluation.
An analysis for the Evening Standard suggests the extra burden for London could be as much as £885 million a year, although the increases will be phased in.
The West End and City will see some of the steepest hikes, with the bills of some businesses going up fivefold by 2020, and the annual total for these areas rising by £500 million.
 Experts warned the increases could devastate small shops, bars and restaurants that are already reeling from soaring rents.
They added that the extra costs would be passed on to consumers in the form of even higher prices —  in what is already the country’s most expensive place to live.
Jerry Schurder, head of business rates at consultants Gerald Eve, which carried out the analysis, said: “Yet again, the Government is treating London’s businesses as a cash cow.
"Even prior to the revaluation London paid far more in rates than any other region, but now firms in the capital have to find an extra £4 billion between them over the next five years; ultimately, it is likely to be customers that pay through higher prices.”

He added that for many businesses the extra rate burden “could be the difference between trading profitably and going out of business.
"Government should be wary of killing the golden goose, as these rises risk doing.”
High-profile businesses that will have to find huge extra sums include Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace, according to surveyor CVS, as well as Harrods, Selfridges and John Lewis.
Separate borough breakdowns from property adviser Colliers International show that revenues raised from Westminster businesses will go up £300 million — from £2.12 billion to £2.45 billion — while the City’s bill will rise by about £250 million, from £1.02 billion to £1.26 billion.

Neighbourhoods of the capital that will be particularly hard-hit include Marylebone and Brixton.
For most firms the rises will be phased in, with a 45 per cent ceiling in the first year and 50 per cent in April 2018.
However, the “relief” is much less generous than for previous revaluations. Figures from the Government’s Valuation Office Agency show that London has just 16.2 per cent of England’s rateable properties, but accounts for 32.1 per cent of its total rateable value.

Businesses in Marylebone, an area that has already seen swingeing rent increases in the past decade, called the rates hike “outrageous” and warned they would kill many businesses.
Vin Vara, who is head of the British Independent Retailers Association and runs nine Tool Shop stores in central London, said his rates bill had risen £47,610, up 38 per cent.
“All businesses will count the cost. We will have to look at streamlining our workforce. It’s a terrible kick in the teeth and there’s no doubt London is being targeted.  “The way rates are calculated has to be reformed or it will be the death knell for many independent businesses in London.”
Chemist Mahesh Soneji, 57, who has run Madesil Pharmacie in Marylebone High Street for 16 years, faces his business rates doubling to £160,000. He has also seen his rent rise from £117,000 to £180,000 in five years.

He said: “The rent increases have changed the face of businesses in London and it is going too far.
"Business rates are another tax we don’t need and we certainly don’t see the benefit. We don’t see more police or a crackdown on shoplifters.
"We would ask the authorities to look again at the way rates are calculated as it is unfair.There’s no doubt businesses will have to close.
“It makes me worry about the future, it will be a struggle to pay. There may be casualties to members of staff.”

Ali Bridarbahkt, 40, operations manager at family-owned Persian restaurant Galleria in New Cavendish Street, said his rates could double to just under £40,000.
“It comes out of the profits as you can’t just put up prices,” he said. “I just hope what they are saying we will be charged is reconsidered. New restaurants, like so many already in the area, will struggle to stay open.
"We expect another rent increase which will make things even more difficult.”
The Department for Communities and Local Government said: “Firms need to be confident that the rates they pay are accurate and fair, no matter where they are in country, and these updates will give them that reassurance.
"Nearly three quarters of companies will see no change, or even a fall, in bills, including 600,000 who from next April will have their bills cut altogether.
“For those ratepayers facing in-creases, London will benefit more than anywhere else in the country from the transitional relief scheme with almost £1 billion of support over the next few years.”
More than 140,000 properties in London will benefit from transitional relief, of which over 100,000 were small properties, the DCLG said.

Ukip's Steven Woolfe discharged from hospital

 
Pic: Steven Woolfe in  Hospital 
Political reporter(wp/es):
Ukip’s Steven Woolfe has been discharged from hospital after a bust-up with another of the party’s MEPs.
The North West England representative has claimed his colleague Mike Hookem "came at him" in a scuffle outside a meeting in Strasbourg.
Mr Woolfe was taken to hospital with a suspected head injury after suffering from seizures and collapsing later that day.
A party spokesman said: "Steven Woolfe has today been discharged from hospital in Strasbourg. He is focused on continuing his recovery and will not be making any further statements today."
Mr Hookem has denied punching Mr Woolfe and posted a photograph of his hands on Twitter to show there were no bruises.

The move came after Mr Woolfe issued a statement saying medical examinations suggested the bruising on his face was caused by more than just a fall or seizure.
An internal Ukip probe is to investigate the incident, with some senior figures saying it should bar leadership front-runner Mr Woolfe from continuing in the race to head the party.

Mr Hookem, the MEP for Yorkshire and Humber, said: "I never touched him, never hit him, never punched him, never slapped him or anything else I've been accused of doing."
The MEP for Yorkshire and Humber said he standing by his version of events and seeking legal advice, according to Sky News.

His account is at odds with North West England MEP Mr Woolfe, who told the Daily Mail Mr Hookem "came at me and landed a blow" and that he fell back and hit the door frame.
European Parliament president Martin Schultz announced that he was launching an investigation into the conduct of the two MEPs, which could see them suspended from voting and their expenses cut.

50 yrs old woman killed in south London

Crime reporter(wp/es):
Police are investigating after a 50-year-old woman was killed in a flat fire in south London.
The woman, who was left fighting for life after the blaze ripped through the flat in Morden last night, died in hospital today, police said.
Dozens of firefighters battled the fire in a ground floor flat of The Holt apartment block in London Road.
Emergency services raced to the blaze after receiving 999 calls at about 8.10pm.
The woman and a man, aged 48, managed to flee the property before firefighters arrived at the scene, London Fire Brigade said.
Paramedics rushed the pair to hospital where the man remains in a non life-threatening condition.
 Scotland Yard said the cause of the fire is under investigation by LFB and police.

Four fire engines and 21 firefighters from Wimbledon, Mitcham, Sutton and New Malden stations attended the scene. The fire was under control at 9.20pm.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Next-of-kin have been informed.
"A post-mortem examination will be held in due course. Formal identification awaits.
“At this early stage the fire is being treated as unexplained.”

anti-fascist march through east London

 
Pic: Demonstrators gather in Altab Ali Park,East London

Staff reporter(wp/es):
Hundreds of people have marched through east London to mark the 80th anniversary of a landmark street fight against fascism.
Trade unionists joined the Jewish and Muslim communities today to remember the Battle of Cable Street, in which tens of thousands of protesters clashed with police.
The march was also campaigning against the rising number of racist and anti-Semitic offences in the city.
Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan were set to join the march, which began in Altab Ali Park at midday and ended in St George’s Gardens, Cable Street.

Before they set off, Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow which Cable Street is in, said they should remember: "The Jewish community, the trade union movement, those who stood up against intolerance and fascism here in east London, so that we could live safely, and in safety and harmony."
A veteran from the Battle of Cable Street, Max Levitas, addressed crowds in St George's Gardens, alongside representatives from the Jewish Labour Movement and other left-wing groups.
The 1936 battle saw anti-fascist protestors clash with police as they campaigned against a march by members of the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley.
The politician had planned to send thousands of uniformed marchers through the East End, which has a large Jewish population at the time. Some 20,000 campaigners built roadblocks to stop them but were met by around 6,000 police officers who attempted to clear the way for the march.

The mayor of London is due to speak on the subject of anti-Semitism and racism in general at a Jewish Community event in Shoreditch Town Hall.
Mr Khan is expected to say at the event: "London today is more diverse than ever and, on the whole, is a shining example of how people from different backgrounds can live side-by-side. I am proud that in London, we don't simply tolerate each other, but respect and celebrate our backgrounds and differences.
"When we see things that are divisive, go against our British values and are just fundamentally wrong, we must call them out. Anyone who threatens our values - whether fascists, extremists or political forces seeking to divide our society today - you will fail.

"By working together, playing together, studying together, having a shared set of common values and laws that are clear and progressive, our communities can unite and stand together against anyone who seeks to divide us."
The number of hate crimes reported in the capital has risen to 50 a day since the EU referendum in June.
There were 4,986 racially motivated offences in London between June 24 and September 30, compared with 3,620 in the 99 days before the Brexit vote, according to figures from the mayor of London's office.