You re watching bbc newsroom live its11am and these are the main stories this morning. The duke of sussex says there was really no other option in stepping back from being a senior royal. Prince harry speaks publicly for the First Time Since the new royal arrangments were announced. The decision that i have made for my wife and i to step back is not one i made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges and i know i havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. Two men are arrested on suspicion of murder after three men were killed in North East London. Despite the best efforts of paramedics on the scene, they were pronounced dead on the scene. So, an absolutely tragic
event to take place here. Tony to ny h olley tony holley standing down after seven tony holley standing down after seve n years tony holley standing down after seven years in the role. A leak of a government commissioned review suggests the h52 High Speed Rail link could end up costing £106 billion. A respiratory virus in china has spread from wuhan to other major cities with more than 130 new cases reported in two days. An urgent review into the safety of smart motorways is set to be released after nine people were killed last year. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Prince harry has spoken out for the first time about the decision to step back as a senior royal, saying he is taking a leap of faith. Speaking at a Charity Event last night he said that he and the duchess of sussex had hoped to continue serving the queen without public funding but that had proved to be impossible. Before we hear what harry said last night, lets just recap what this deal means Going Forward for both him and meghan. Firstly, both of them will retain their hrh titles, short for his or her royal highness, but will no longer be able to use them. As senior royals, they both carried out official duties last year between them that amounted to 284 events. That number will now drop to zero. But they can continue supporting their favourite causes and can attend royal events at the invitation of the queen. Currently, the couple receive £2 million a year from the sovereign grant, funded by taxpayers, and harry and his brother william split nearly £5 million from Prince Charles duchy of cornwall. Harry and meghan will now no longer receive any grant money,
and while theyll still receive money from Prince Charles, that will now come from his private investments. Harry has three official miliatry roles which he will now have to step back from. And they currently live rent free at frogmore and taxpayers paid £2. 1i million towards renovations. That money will now be paid back, and they will begin paying rent on the cottage. Lets listen now to more of prince harrys own explanation for the decision to step away from the royal stage. The decision that i have made for my wife and i to step back is not one i made lightly. It was so many months of talks, after so many years of challenges, and i know i havent always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option. Right, but as far as this goes, what i want to make clear is were not walking away. And we certainly arent walking away from you. Our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations but without public funding. This unfortunately, that wasnt possible. Ive accepted this, knowing that it doesnt change who i am or how committed i am, but i hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that i would step my family back from all i have ever known to take a step forward into what i hope can be a more peaceful life. I was born into this life and it is a great honour to serve my country and the queen. When i lost my mum 23 years ago, you took me under the your wing. You looked out for me for so long, but the media is a powerful force and my hope is, one day, our collective support for each other can be more powerful because this is so much bigger thanjust us. It has been our privilege to serve you and we will continue to lead a life of service, so in that respect, nothing changes. It has also been a privilege to meet so many of you and to feel your excitement for our son archie, who saw snow for the first time the other day and thought
it was bloody brilliant. Laughter. I will always have the utmost respect for my grandmother, my commander in chief, and im incredibly grateful to her and the rest of my family for the support that theyve shown meghan and i over the last few months. I will continue to be the same man who holds his country dear and dedicates his life to supporting the causes, charities and military communities that are so important to me. Together, you have given me an education about living, and this role has taught me more about what is right and just than i could have ever imagined. We are taking a leap of faith, so thank you for giving me the courage to take this next step. There has been a significant amount of disappointment online from the military community. A former officer
in the british armyjoins us now. What is your view of those pathogen is being severed 7 what is your view of those pathogen is being severed . It is sad because he was a valued member of the royal marine corps. He will be missed and will be hard to replace. We have to think about his circumstances. He is a young man with a difficult start in life losing his mother so early. He has served the country with honour and distinction and has now found happiness with his young family. If that is his priority, i think we should respect that. What does that actually mean to the army . What did that role intel for him . The kudos of having that. My experience and a general experience of the royal family is that it is a caring institution. They were
com pletely caring institution. They were completely ignored by the rest of the media and the government. So it is at times like that it really becomes valuable and i think prince harry will be missed but we have got to respect his well being and his happiness. Who do you think might step into the roles . It would be appropriate . They are different roles and i think that discussion will be coming on as we speak. It will be coming on as we speak. It will be coming on as we speak. It will be wrong to speculate because there is a number of factors that coming to decide who takes on those various roles. What are the factors . The Royal Marines want someone who has some connection with the Royal Marines. Other regiments would be looking for someone who has a certain empathy or connection with,
not just a certain empathy or connection with, notjust a regiments, but the people who make up the regiment, the families. They are all different. They are looked after separately according to circumstance. they are looked after separately according to circumstance. I am just thinking, is a someone in the royal family who has the experience . Prince edward didnt finish his marine cost so i think that probably rules him out but he might be the quy rules him out but he might be the guy, it is hard to stay. It is wrong to speculate because many other factors have to be taken on. It is hard to say. Thank you for joining us. Three men have been stabbed to death at ilford in North East London. The metropolitan police say they were called to reports of a disturbance near seven kings Railway Station yesterday evening. The men were said to be in their twenties and thirties. Two people have been arrested. Danjohnson is at the scene. A big Police Investigation in this part of east london this morning. And quite a big area that is being taped off. This is the focus of the investigation. You mayjust be able to make out the yellow and white Police Forensic tent on the corner there. That is where we believe at least one of these men died last night. Three of them were found with serious stab wounds here after some sort of fight that erupted here in the streets before 8pm. And that is why there is such a big area cordoned off. There is a row of shops that is taped off by police, an area around the Railway Station as well as this residential street here. A lot of evidence for them to gather. There is a Police Helicopter above, presumably taking photos of the scene and a lot of concern in the community aboutjust how brutal this attack seems to have been. Well, in the last hour we have got an update here from the local Police Borough commander. He is chief superintendent stephen klayman from the metropolitan police. The incident took place around 7 40pm yesterday evening. It started near seven kings Train Station and moved to where we are now. It was a fight involving two groups of men. We believe those men were from the sikh community. The result of that fight, which involved knives had three people fatally wounded. This despite their best efforts, they were pronounced dead by paramedics on the scene. An absolutely tragic event to take place here. I can update that the enquiry overnight, two people had been arrested in relation to murder. We believe the parties are known to each other. We dont know more at this stage and i can speak about causes. This is why we need witnesses to come forward and give us more witnesses to come forward and give us more information about what they saw. And potentially information surrounding the event. We will be releasing the incident number. Someone doesnt want to speak to the police, please call crimestoppers. The two people in custody are 29 and
39 years old. Police have ruled out terrorism as a motive for this attack. They believe it is some sort of dispute within the community and some people who live here say there was a disturbance on saturday night, suggesting that perhaps this could have been something that followed on from that. A brutal attack. There are some videos on social media showing the aftermath of this incident and there are some very graphic images within that. That is a sort of Evidence Police are coming through. Certainly there has been concern at such a loss of life because of knife crime. The report which has been seen by the Financial Times also recommends that the second phase of the project, linking them to manchester
and leeds, should be paused to see whether conventional rail lines could be used instead. Lets take a look at what we know so far about the key facts and figures around hs2. The key facts and figures around hsz. The the key facts and figures around hs2. The existing budget is £55. 6 billion. That compares to the original budget of £32. 7 billion. 7. 4 billion has already been spent and with this new projective figure of over £100 million for the total projected cost. According to hs2 there will be 9000 jobs supported by there will be 9000 jobs supported by the railway. There will be 345 miles of new high speed track and it is estimated that the journey time saving between london and manchester will be 15 minutes. Earlier my colleague spoke to our business presenter and asked him how on earth we got to this number of £106 billion. It is the old thing of
optimism bias when people start a project, people approve those numbers because they want the project approved but once you do some research, look at what will be required, we live on a small crowded island it was always going to be an expensive exercise. 106 billion is a very big number. There is an resemblance between this number and another number a week ago. He said the eventual number would be 107 billion. People said that was ridiculous. Now a leaked version of the official review says it was 106 billion. He was right all along. It is interesting that they said it was a drop but they said it was accurate. It is interesting the idea of de scoping the project. Not it a
pure high speed line. Making it not a high speed line, only a high speed line north of birmingham. That has made andy burnham furious this morning. They said that the north should not accept second best. Other people have said the best use of transport funds north of birmingham is actually improving local lights. That is really what frustrates people. They are so poor and it would be better to spend that rail money not on a high speed line running straight past these communities but improving local services so people can get to work. The duke of sussex says there was really no other option to stepping down as a senior royal. It was prince harrys first speech since the announcement that he and the duchess of sussex intended to embark on a new life. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after three men were stabbed to death
in North East London yesterday. In sparta, england has taken a bit to be in the third test against south africa. They took the four wickets they needed to clinch the win. Venus williams has been knocked out of the first round of the australian open. The victory comes six months after. Eddiejones names his england six nations squad later today. I will be back with more on those stories after half past. He will remain in the role for the next six months after seven years in
thejob. He said it was next six months after seven years in the job. He said it was a next six months after seven years in thejob. He said it was a hard decision but he wanted to put the interests of the organisation first. This was a big surprise. Why is he going . I spoke to friends of his this morning who thought he was going to stick around until 2022. That is what a lot of people, including some Senior Management at the bbc felt. He has done seven yea rs the bbc felt. He has done seven years and that is a long time in a job which is exceptionally demanding andi job which is exceptionally demanding and i think the nature of the bbc director general, it is a tough job because of relentless scrutiny from social media. But also you have to think that the bbc is currently in this posture which is basically brea ks this posture which is basically breaks for an enormous fight with the government and the bbc has to make a case for a new chapter in a couple of years in the half term negotiations. They will try to get formally been taken in 2027 but
there will be a discussion in 2027. A discussion soon. I think lord hollis done that pretty effectively for most of the seven yes but he properly feel that it requires a burst of energy and new thinking and that it burst of energy and new thinking and thatitis burst of energy and new thinking and that it is time to pass a button on. That brings us to the question of who will pick it up . You want me right now to tell you he will be the next director general i think there are a number of internal directors who are strong candidates. Charlotte mower, James Pernell, a key strategic figure at the bbc. What are people in the commercial sector will fancy it and the decision will rest with the bbc board. Sadly, i dont know who will be the next director general at this point but i think the decision will be, do they need someone who will be best to make a political argument with the government and to secure aRoyal Charter, who has got that negotiating skills, or do they want someone negotiating skills, or do they want someone who will fundamentally question the bbc two commercial model and say that in the world of netflix and apple tv plus and disney tv plus, we need to think about how the bbc can commercially compete in the bbc can commercially compete in the new world. Lord hall as elements. They would have the political clout to deal with westminster, the commercial nous, the editorial ability to be responsible for all these journalists and the managerial skills. It is an unbelievably tough job, one that has got significantly tougher. Being director general at the bbc in 2020 is properly tougher than ever. It will require someone with phenomenal skills. Seven years asa with phenomenal skills. Seven years as a long time to be on the job. With phenomenal skills. Seven years as a long time to be on thejob. How
does he leave the bbc . as a long time to be on thejob. How does he leave the bbc . I think he said he left the bbc in a stronger position than when he came. It is important to understand about his leadership that. Crisis management. He arrived. It followed the revelations ofjimmy savile and the disgraceful mistreatment of lord mcalpine by bbc news. He had to steady the ship. There was a crisis. As a former news hand people thought he was effective at that. The second stage was this big negotiation with Coalition Government over the new terms of the Royal Charter and the new governance structure. The people who keep the bbc doing itsjob properly structure. The people who keep the bbc doing its job properly change from being a bit bbc trust to be
ofcom and his new government structure was a big change. There is a question over that negotiation with the government. The bbc would argue that he was effective and got argue that he was effective and got a good deal. One of the spill overs was the bbc had to reveal much more information about salaries and that dominated the third chapter of his tenure. But really this final phase, the last two or three years, has been about negotiating a new world of technology and on that he has done more than most people are given him credit for. Bbc iplayer went up to 12 months. He merged the bbcs commercial brings. He announced a Big Partnership with discovery. A lot has happened which doesnt necessarily get to the headlights. The issues of gender pay and equal pay has been more headline grabbing. But over those three phases, we could say he has faced challenges and navigated it pretty well but whoever succeeds him will have to deal with that technological challenge above all and be incredibly effective. Illegal migration in small boats will continue to be a challenge for Law Enforcement agencies, according to the National Crime agency. It says gangs based in france are working together to smuggle people across the channel and have developed their tactics to evade detection. Lets cross over to dover now, and our correspondent colin campbell. A dinghy full of migrants arrives on a kent beach. Its summer. Theyve just crossed the English Channel. Last year, the sm