According to a report by the childrens commissioner for england, who says the situation is a scandal. Cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic cleric to be found guilty of child sexual abuse, has lost an appeal in australia against his conviction. President trump has cancelled an official state visit to denmark after the nations Prime Minister confirmed greenland was not for sale. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. The government has appointed a panel of experts to review the h52 Railway Project to check whether and for how long the project should continue. The first segment of h52, the line between london and birmingham, is due to open at the end of 2026. The second phase linking leeds and manchester is due for completion by 2032 33. In 2015 the cost of the project was predicted to be more than £55 billion. But borisjohnson has said he expects the costs to spiral to over 100 billion. This morning the transport secretary grant shapps didnt rule out scrapping the project. This is a genuine review to see whether we are going to get the benefits from it, what the full costs are going to be from this project. Because it is so much public money involved, the responsible thing to do is to really look at it and say is this actually going to stack up . Does it work for the country . So you are not ruling out that hsz, High Speed Two, could be cancelled, even though more than £7 billion has already been spent, and youre unlikely to recoup all of that money . Of course, the thing is, you could get some money back and, you know, the point about this is just because you spent a lot of money on something should not mean that you just carry on ploughing more and more money into it. But what weve said, what the Prime Minister made very clear during his leadership election, is we want to see great infrastructure in this country, we want to see it stack up, we want to see it work for rail commuters, people right across the country, so we need to have a look at hsz, we need to make sure that it is under control, that the money is being well spent, if that is the way we go, and that its actually going to provide the benefits that the country wants. Until weve done that, i cant pre empt the answer until weve carried out that investigation. But hs2 could be scrapped . Clearly if you are going to look at something from scratch and youre going to take into account all of the costs and all of the benefits and have, if you like, starting with a blank sheet then of course the outcome could be any of these things. We want to build great infrastructure. That is exactly our purpose and we believe in Building Infrastructure for the future. Its got to be the right infrastructure and its got to actually be beneficial for everybody, notjust along the route but for the whole of the united kingdom. Our news correspondent andy moore has been taking a look at whats been announced today and joins me now. This is being described as a no go or go decision which we will get in autumn but in a sense we are already gone on this because of the uk has spent £7 billion already on the project. Development began last autumn at euston station. I drive by on the western section of the m25, there are access roads built, electricity pylons taken down, a lot of earth moving. Something like 9000 people are due to be employed on this project. 900 homes have been bought by hs2, some of those are lying empty at the moment, so a lot of people will say if it is cancelled, we havent got that far yet, it will be a huge reversal of government policy. We have had some comment from stop hs2, campaigners against it, saying it is no good to announce this part of government are serious about it being a serious review they have to stop the irreversible destruction happening right now. How much do we know about the terms of the review and what they will look at . It will be chaired by douglas 0gilvy, former chairman of the project, and it will be short lasting, it will report by autumn, and what grant shapps is saying is that the government is clear that infrastructure has the potential to drive economic growth, redistribute opportunity and resources a cross redistribute opportunity and resources across the uk but that must be subject to continuous assessment of the costs and benefits and that is why he says they are undertaking this review. It will look at all the evidence available and provide the department for transport with clear advice on the future of the project. It has not been without controversy and it looks like it will continue. Yes. A lot of people along the route were very concerned, concerned their properties have already been blighted. But it is a project that will increase the speed of transport to birmingham and the north, not only the speed but the capacity. We are told that if it is completed then the uk will be able to move tens of thousands of people an hour speed between the north and south of england. Joe rukin is from the stop hs2 Campaign Group. Hes currently walking the route of hs2 and joins me now from hoo green, near knutsford in cheshire. What is your response to the announcement . Three weeks after borisjohnson said he would start the review, he started it. The phrase independent is worrying from oui phrase independent is worrying from our point of view because douglas 0gilvy is the former chairman of hs to limited so he is being given the chance to mark his own homework and see what happened in the years since his absence. When he was there he was nicknamed captain invisible, so we are not totally convinced that this is going to be the best review you could possibly have, and what has happened in the past when hs2 has happened in the past when hs2 has been in trouble they have just said they had to invent economic benefits and have outlandish figures forjobs. Thejobs projections at the moment, if hst was ready tomorrow, it would apparently eradicate unemployment in england. This is ridiculous because projects like this dont create jobs, apart from at the stations, but the influence the location ofjobs, not create them. If this is a genuine review and if the government is genuinely looking at saying it is a yes or no decision, they must stop work now, because irreparable damage is being done, as we speak, right now, two unique habitats, ancient woodlands. They are coming down. Hs2 limited i think have got wind of this and realise there is a chance the project might be cancelled so they are sending out possession orders for land like there is no tomorrow, with no intention of paying for the land itself, just taking possession of them, so it is a legal night nightmare. 0nce ancient woodlands have gone they are gone. I think there is a school of thought at hs2 limited that if they create as much damage as they can then they will look pretty stupid if they cancel it. That has to stop now. Im sure those involved in the project would refute a lot of what you have said. What do you think are the key questions you want answered before a decision is made . The key questions you want answered before a decision is madam the key questions you want answered before a decision is made . It is patiently obvious that hs2 has been overbudget for a number of years and the first question i want answering is who knew and how long have they known far and was parliament misled . You have had mps saying parliament has been misled. Lord berkeley said hst limited is rampant with fraud. There are serious questions about the probity of this project because it seems that what has happened over the last nine years as whenever hst has been in trouble or any criticism it has just been fingers in the yea rs it has just been fingers in the years and nobody listened. Hs2 has been rated as amber red, danger of failing, every yearforsix been rated as amber red, danger of failing, every year for six years running. Every time a report like this comes out they say everything is fine now and then of course next time again it is amber red again. It is the worst project on the governments books since the inception of the Major Projects authority. Nothing has happened. When the Public Accounts Committee look at it, the lords economic committee, treasury select committee, they said it is a disaster, we have had a parade of transport secretaries to say it is fine. Hs2 has only got this far because it has been lobbied for by the people who want to build it. There is a multi billion pound industry behind hs2 that needs this project completed. They dont care how much it is going to cost. From their point of view the more it goes over budget the better because the more money they will make. Thank you very much. A body has been found during the search for a child who fell into the river stour at sandwich in kent. Six year old lucas dobson has been missing since last saturday. Kent police said the body has not been formally identified but lucas family have been told. The man accused of murdering pc Andrew Harper, who was dragged under the wheels of a vehicle in berkshire last week, has appeared by video link at reading crown court. Pc harper was killed last thursday evening in the village of sulhamstead while responding to reports of a burglary. Jed foster denies any involvement in the officers death. Borisjohnson will meet the german chancellor, Angela Merkel, in berlin later today as he tries to persuade the eu to agree to fundamental changes to the brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Allies of mrs merkel have accused mrjohnson of making a completely impossible request, and not being serious. The major Sticking Point remains the backstop, an insurance polcy that would keep the uk in the eu customs union, to prevent the return of border checks on the island of ireland. 0ur Political Correspondent iain watson is in westminster. What do you think borisjohnson will hope to achieve given he has already had quite a clear message from Angela Merkel in advance of the meeting . Partly this will be showing he is reaching out to european leaders, he will be welcomed by our military guard, there will be a mini press co nfe re nce military guard, there will be a Mini Press Conference stressing cooperation with Angela Merkel in other areas, international fairs, security etc, but fundamentally there is a big gap on brexit. He says that cant be a deal with the Northern Ireland backstop and she says there cant be a deal without one. How did they bridge the gap . Her compromise suggestion is if borisjohnson goes along with this deal in the short term and accepts the backstop then she will work desperately hard with other eu leaders to make sure it is never implemented. That will not be enough for borisjohnson implemented. That will not be enough for Boris Johnson and implemented. That will not be enough for borisjohnson and many of his supporters on the conservative backbenches. I think what he is trying to achieve it is simply an attempt to say to Angela Merkel and president mac present Emmanuel Macron is that they should not listen to people who say they can block an ordeal. He says he is serious about leaving on october 31 so if they have a compromise or some kind of deal then now is the time to do it. That will be his message. There are others in the conservative party who think he up to something quite different. Ed vaizey suggests he is going through the motions and hell bent on no deal so his agenda is to blame the other european leaders forforcing is to blame the other european leaders for forcing britain out without a deal. We are joined from tyrol in austria by thomas matussek, former german ambassador to the united kingdom, and now a Senior Advisor at flint golbal, which advises companies on german and european regulatory developments. We are hearing allies of Angela Merkel say the Prime Minister is making a completely impossible request and not being serious as he comes to see her. Nevertheless the meeting will be good and useful. You remember the Prime Minister said about two weeks ago when and if the europeans look into our eyes and think, my god, the british are serious, but it also works the other way round. If he looks into Angela Merkels eyes and into the 5a eyes of the 27 european leaders, he will see, my god, they are serious, and they stand firm on the backstop and the agreement which has been signed, but there is ample scope in the political declaration to talk about their future relationship and hopefully come to a relationship and hopefully come to a relationship which makes the backstop obsolete. I think this is the purpose of the meeting. You have underlined the issue that it is almost a game of chicken. We have seriousness in the eyes of all those people involved and nobody seems willing to budge. We cannot budge on this because if we forgo the insurance policy of the backstop, we risk a hard border in ireland, risk pulling the carpet from under the good friday agreement. There is danger of the troubles restarting again. That is a matter of great seriousness, life or death, for ireland, and the europeans are not prepared to throw ireland under the bus in order to get some arrangement with britain. There was a lot of talk in this country at the moment about the implications of a no deal brexit for british industry. As somebody who himself is now working with companies on political and regulatory developments, how concerned are German Companies about the implications of no deal on the 3ist the implications of no deal on the 31st of october . The germans dont like no deal but in the scale of priorities, the integrity of the Single Market is much more important than business with britain and i believe the percentage of german business with britain is much, much lower than the other way around. An extra £9 million is to be given to local councils to help them prepare for brexit, with half the money going to areas with major ports. Ministers say the funding will help councils develop local brexit plans, and cover additional staffing costs. Kent council will get more than £2. 5 million due to the potential pressure around the port of dover. The headlines on bbc news. The government is to review the high speed rail link hs2. The transport secretary says all options are on the Table Including scrapping it. A body is found by Police Searching for six year old lucas dobson who fell into the river stour in kent on saturday. Borisjohnson will meet german chancellor Angela Merkel in berlin later today to repeat his demand for fundamental changes to the brexit Withdrawal Agreement. And in sport, enough is enough, Manchester United players urge social Media Companies to react after paul pogba receives racist abuse online. Englands women book a place in the semifinals of the euro hockey championships with a narrow win over belarus. Ireland could join them with a win over germany, it is 00 them with a win over germany, it is 0 0 in the First Quarter. And england batsman jason 0 0 in the First Quarter. And england batsmanjason roy has come toa england batsmanjason roy has come to a concussion test and is available to play in tomorrows ashes test at headingley. He was struck in the neck yesterday. Ill be back at 1130 am. A report has warned there are more than 200,000 children in england without a permanent home, with some living in converted office blocks or even former shipping containers. The childrens commissioner, anne longfield, says whole families are being housed in flats little bigger than parking spaces. The government says its invested £1. 2 billion to tackle all types of homelessness. 0ur social Affairs CorrespondentMichael Buchanan reports. Im joined now by polly neate, the ceo of housing and Homelessness Charity shelter. This report makes pretty bleak reading. It is really depressing and i have met mums whose babies are not reaching developmental milestones because there is literally no is based to crawl between the wall to wall beds in the one room in which the families living in a hostel. Sadly it is not that surprising to us sadly it is not that surprising to us at shelter. We see this all the time in our services up and down the country, but bleak as the word, isnt it . Housing in shipping containers, supposedly temporarily, have you come across this . Yes, and totally unsuitable bed and brea kfasts, totally unsuitable bed and breakfasts, converted office blocks with potential fire risks, breakfasts, converted office blocks with potentialfire risks, places with potentialfire risks, places with no windows, i mean, frankly this really has got to be a wake up call to a new government. This is a failure of successive governments over the years to see the housing crisis in terms of anything other than Home Ownership on one hand and rough sleeping on the other hand. Actually these homeless families are the real human face of our housing crisis and the reason for it is a decades long failure to build social housing. We have to see a change. It is about political will and frankly about money and we need to see the new government make a stand on this. Local councils have said they have a funding gap of £159 million. Does that get them off the hook or are their legal obligations some of these councils are not making . They are between a rock and a hard place and it is absolutely right that in order to build enough social housing that the country needs, it will need investment from government so, yes, thatis investment from government so, yes, that is true, councils do have legal obligations though and families should not be in inadequate or dangerous accommodation at all and certainly not for the length