London Tonight Tonight

Good afternoon

First tonight, Simon Harris reports on a potentially major U-turn by London Mayor, Boris Johnson over his commitment to scrap the western extension of the congestion charge. It was one of the key promises of his election campaign, but now those in charge of the City Hall purse strings could be leaning on him to back down and let it go ahead. Officially, it's still earmarked to be scrapped, but doing so could cost over seventy million pounds.

Here's another story that most of us will have a strong opinion on: Wheel clampers, blighters that they are! Well, one council think it has hit upon the answer to this scourge of modern motoring. From now on, anyone found clamping in Windsor and Maidenhead could be slapped with an Asbo. Piers Hopkirk will be treating this story with his usual impeccable sense of journalistic truth, balance and impartiality, but a great idea, I say!

Continuing the motoring theme, learner drivers. Loads of us have been there and let's face it, it's no more fun being the one that's holding up the traffic than it is being stuck behind them while they undertake their 87 point turns. But four hundred learners on the road in your area each day?! That's what's happening in South Woodford, apparently, so no wonder the residents are getting fed up. I mean, there's only so much kangaroo-hopping, stalling and revving the engine to the point of explosion during a hill start you can witness before you dump your car and get a push bike instead...hang on...maybe Bozza's behind all this! Lewis Vaughan Jones investigates.

The big showbiz coup of the day though is the arrival of a musical megastar to the London Tonight studios. Do you want some clues? He's a two-time Grammy Award-winner who's sold 53 millions albums worldwide. He's immortalised on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has worked with everyone from Ray Charles and Luciano Pavarotti to Ne-Yo and Lady GaGa. Got it yet? Ok, think long flowing 80's hair and massive power ballads? Michael Bolton, of course! Actually, when you read his biog, he's had an astonishing career. He has millions of devoted fans around the world and is coming to London for gigs at the The Royal Albert Hall on November 2nd and 3rd. We'll be having a chat later.

Matt and Lucy

Weather Blog

 

Good evening,

 

I wish that, when he banned the consumption of alcohol on public transport, Boris Johnson had extended it to eating food as   well. The smell of food in a confined space when you are not necessarily feeling hungry yourself can be pretty offensive. That coupled with the motion of a moving vehicle is almost guaranteed to cause queasiness. Today I shared a tube carriage with a clown, a class of approximately 30 seven-year-olds & a woman eating a Chinese banquet out of a pale pink tupperware container. The weather's reasonably warm above ground & below ground it is inevitably a few degrees warmer. Effectively it was like being trapped in the warming drawer of a gently rocking oven with a soundtrack of screaming children. A step closer to Hell than I care to go.          

 

The relief of stepping out into the fresh air at my destination was priceless.

 

Maybe I should turn this negative into a positive & resolve to walk everywhere while the weather is good. I may end up being late for everything but I won't feel nauseous & my fitness will improve. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Hope to see you later, 

 

Robin