04/05/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - Buckingham Palace announces that the Duke of Edinburgh

has decided to stop carrying out public engagements.

He will retire from the public eye after the summer.

But today, it was business as usual - including a touch

I'm sorry to hear you're standing down.

Prince Philip - who'll be 96 next month -

has been at the Queen's side for nearly seventy years.

If we regard the Queen's reign so far as a success, and we do,

the joint author of that success is the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Palace says Prince Philip decided now was the right time

to step down and his decision was not health related.

Twins, but with very different lives - the NHS hospital trust that's paid

millions in compensation after errors at birth

The surfer rescued from the Irish Sea, after more than 30

hours clinging to his board, describes the moment

President Trump celebrates at the White House,

after Republicans help him take the first step towards scrapping

This is a repeal and a replace of Obamacare,

And National treasures - Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner -

tell us how their friendship has fuelled theatrical success.

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News...

Could Manchester United finally find a way past

the Celta Vigo goalkeeper in the first leg of their Europa

After nearly 70 years in the public eye, the Duke of Edinburgh has

decided to retire from royal duties from August.

Buckingham Palace said that Prince Philip,

who'll be 96 next month, has the full support of the Queen.

She will continue with all her engagements.

The announcement has prompted tributes from the public

Here's our royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell.

It's an image to which the nation has become accustomed over

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh side by side on official business.

Today, they were at a reception at St James's Palace.

The Duke, a few steps behind, and there in support.

Inside, meeting members of the Order of Merit.

Never mind standing down, I have trouble standing up, he said.

But, come the autumn, his attendance at events such

After nearly 70 years of public service, the Duke has decided a few

weeks short of his 96th birthday that it's finally time to step

The Palace says the decision has not been prompted by any particular

concerns about his health and the evidence would support that.

Yesterday he was at Lord's Cricket Ground,

opening a new stand, and sharing a familiar joke.

I'm the world's most experienced plaque unveiler.

Alongside all those plaques he's unveiled are the serious

achievements, things like the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

But his most important contribution has been

the support he's given to his wife, the Queen.

As she's become the longest reigning monarch in British

history, he's become the longest serving consort.

On their golden wedding anniversary, the Queen spoke about how

He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments.

But he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years.

And I, and his whole family, and this, and many other countries,

owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim

Soon, though, the Duke's public role will come largely to an end.

The Palace statement said, Prince Philip will attend previously

scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually

Thereafter, the Duke will not be accepting new invitations

for visits and engagements, although he may still choose

to attend certain public events from time to time.

Political leaders paid their tributes.

For his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen,

to his inspirational Duke of Edinburgh Awards,

and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes.

His contribution to our United Kingdom, the Commonwealth,

and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come.

I wish him well spending time doing the things he wants to do,

as opposed to being required to attend lots of events,

some of which he may find very exciting, some less so.

He's dedicated his life to public service and supporting the Queen.

I think he's more than earned his retirement.

Prince Philip, as well as the support he's given the Queen

of course, he's done an amazing amount of charity work as well.

It was in a BBC interview to mark his 90th birthday in 2011

that the Duke first hinted that he was thinking

With less responsibility, less frantic rushing about,

less preparation, less trying to think of something to say.

Six years later, that winding down is finally taking place.

It means that other members of the Royal Family will step up

It's likely she'll be seen more frequently at major occasions

with the Prince of Wales or Princess Ann.

Those who know the couple say it won't be quite

The Queen will undoubtedly miss him on public occasions.

There's no doubt that when they go out for a day together,

Having been on tours with them, having followed in the car behind

them, you see at the end of the day they get together into the car

and he entertains her hugely, telling her funny stories

about what's happened during the day.

So she will definitely miss all that and occasionally

she will strike us as a lonely figure.

But she'll be going back to Buckingham Palace,

Windsor Castle, Balmoral, and he will be there.

Slowly but surely there is a generational shift taking

Officials have made it clear that the Queen will continue

But, at the age of 91 now, her load is being lightened.

As monarch, she is still the central figure.

As today has underlined, there is starting to be tangible

Prince Philip has accompanied the Queen on countless state

He's carried out more than 22,000 solo engagements,

and made thousands of speeches while supporting charities

and organisations - including his own -

the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for young people.

Our royal correspondent Peter Hunt reflects on a long

Prince Philip has been an unstoppable Royal

While he's finally taking it easier, the organisations

Millions have benefited from the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme.

When I spoke to him a decade ago, he was modest

I know you hate the L word, but do you see it as an important

And you would both obviously argue it's still relevant?

It's relevant too, because it's part of the process of growing up.

They've been growing up with his help since 1956.

The Queen's husband may be stepping down.

Everyone is entitled to step back a little bit

and certainly his retirement from public duties doesn't mean he's

going to lose interest in what we're doing.

I think I'll still have to stay on my mettle

NEWS ARCHIVE: He's obviously got a genius for that sort of thing.

Skipping in a suit in the '50s might not have been his thing,

but links with youth clubs he fostered in his young adult life,

This London youth club benefits from Prince Philip's support

He was quite a lively man and he made lots of jokes

He went round talking to lots of different people

and he also had a meal here, which he really enjoyed

and made good comments about the food as well.

Another of his causes, the environment and conservation.

Princely passions Philip embraced long before

Probably the biggest thing he's done is help us reach lots of people

globally in different parts of the world and bring together

really influential people in support of conservation.

He's got a great convening power, he brings people together.

Travelling the world - here he was with British troops

in Iraq, when he was in his 80s - is also at an end.

The former naval officer doesn't do bland.

His bluntness has occasionally got him into trouble on his travels.

For his critics he's a gaffe-prone prince.

The most notorious was during the Queen's state visit to China,

when her husband told British students there, "if you stay

here much longer you'll all be slitty eyed".

Such public encounters, which supporters portray

as an attempt by the Prince to put people at their ease,

will now diminish, allowing Philip more time to enjoy the sport

It's a friendship, there's no holds barred.

I've had plenty of disagreements with him - I don't mean nasty ones.

Prince Philip on duty, on display during the Diamond Jubilee.

As he relinquishes all this, the princely pensioner is now

And Nicholas Witchell is at Buckingham Palace

Almost 70 years side-by-side with the Queen in the public eye. How

important changes this going to be for her? She will take it in her

stride. Of course she will. She's used to carrying out soloing

agement. She will just carry out rather more from the autumn. But she

will I'm sure missed the companionship, the levelling

influence that the Duke brings to public engagements. It's quite a

solitary life being head of state and she will miss that sense of

shared experience I'm sure, with the person with whom she's experienced

so much over the decades. It reminds us of the contribution he has made

to the success of this reign. He has no constitutional role. As the

husband of the Queen is principal role as being, as she boarded

herself at the of their golden wedding, my strength and stay over

the years. Other sense of support and frequently pithy advice in

private and that of course will continue. He's been considering this

step, as I understand it, since the turn of the year. He wanted to spend

last year, the year of the Queen's 90th birthday at her side in public,

but he is now putting into practice what he talked about at the time of

his 90th birthday, winding down, stepping back, although he has said

he reserves the right to attend some public events, decided on an ad hoc

basis. But as he does wind down now, so of course the younger generations

will have to step forward even more in support of the Queen, and one

does get that real sense now of a generational shift within the

family. Nick Witchell, thank you. An NHS Trust has paid out millions

of pounds in compensation, after errors in monitoring babies'

heart rates during birth A BBC investigation also revealed

that at least five babies have died at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital

NHS Trust as a result But the trust said the sums paid out

offer little insight Our correspondent Michael Buchanan

has this exclusive report. They're now 11 and the older

they get, the less similar Beth is fit and healthy, but Olivia

was born with a brain injury. Problems with monitoring her heart

rate and delays in delivering her She struggles to walk, can't talk

and has carers 24 hours a day. Our family life is not

the same as it should be. We've all had to make drastic

changes to our life. I wasn't able to go back to work,

I had to become a full-time... Well, I say a full-time mum,

a full-time carer, I think. And obviously I have two

children to look after. Olivia can't swallow,

so is fed through a tube. All problems the Shrewsbury

and Telford Hospital Trust Similar errors have also left other

children with brain injuries. In 2015 we have learned a consultant

at the trust told a meeting that one compensation claim for ?4.4 million

related to CTG - or foetal Two other claims, he said,

worth ?144,000, were also due to failures to properly interpret

the babies' heart rates. Medical negligence lawyer

Beth Harrison says her firm has 27 open investigations into allegations

that the trust's maternity errors We are seeing repeatedly the same

mistakes again and again. There is generally a delay in acting

upon foetal distress. I also think there is a culture

of trying to push for a vaginal These women need a Caesarean section

and they aren't getting that. The trust has been under intense

scrutiny since we revealed last month the Health Secretary has

ordered an investigation following the avoidable deaths

of at least seven babies. Over the past decade we have learned

they have paid out nearly ?25 million in compensation

following maternity errors - among the highest figures

for similar units. The trust told us they would not

comment in detail in case they prejudiced the ongoing review,

but did say claims can be and frequently are brought

and resolved many years and that the sums paid out in recent

years offer little insight into the maternity services provided

by the trust. Beth and Olivia will be lifelong

friends but basic maternity errors mean only one of them

will fully flourish. Beth is going to do all

the things that most children do, or adults -

University, work, Olivia will never do any

of those, she will always Michael Buchanan,

BBC News, Shropshire. President Trump has been celebrating

at the White House after the US House of Representatives passed

a Healthcare Bill, bringing his pledge to repeal and replace

so-called Obamacare a step closer. He vowed to "finish off"

Barack Obama's signature health care law, which offered medical insurance

to millions more Americans. But President Trump's plan may

well face a tougher ride in the Senate where Republicans

have a smaller majority. Here's our North America

Editor, Jon Sopel. Without objection,

the motion to reconsider The moment at just after two

o'clock this afternoon in Washington, when Trumpcare

became a thing. Outside, a rather different scene,

as protesters chant, "Shame." Getting the measure

through the Senate is Because, as today's debate showed,

this is a deeply divisive issue. So, I ask you, my colleagues,

does Trumpcare lower health costs? Does Trumpcare provide

better health care? Does Trumpcare protect

seniors and families? Are we going to be men

and women of our word? Are we going to keep

the promises that we made? In the Rose Garden this afternoon,

the President beamed. A time for fist pumps

and hugs with the Speaker. This is an important

legislative victory. I actually think it

will get even better. This is a repeal and

a replace of Obamacare, They are dancing a happy dance

at the White House today. The extraordinary

thing about this vote is, there has been no independent

assessment done on who will be affected, in what way,

and what the costs will be. By the time it gets to the Senate,

that will have happened. And that could affect

whether Obamacare A man who was rescued

from the Irish Sea - after clinging to his surfboard

for more than 30 hours - says he was convinced

he was going to die. Matthew Bryce had set

off on Sunday morning and was last seen heading

towards Westport Beach Eight rescue teams were mobilised

when the alarm was raised. The 22-year-old was finally

spotted by a helicopter, He's been describing his ordeal

to our correspondent, Chris Buckler. By the night-time, it

wasn't just my shoulder, Matthew Bryce is exhausted,

sunburnt and still recovering. But he's just thankful to have

survived after drifting alone in the Irish Sea for more

than 30 hours. I would say that's probably

a yellow surfboard so This picture, taken on Sunday,

shows him surfing off the west coast of Scotland,

before he was pulled out to sea The current changes

and I can't do anything. All this time the wind's pushing me

further and further and further out. He ended up clinging

to his surfboard in the middle of the Irish Sea for a day

and a half. He was eventually found halfway

between Northern Ireland and Scotland, just as the sun

was setting and a second I was pretty certain that

I was going to die with that sunset. So I was watching the sun set, I had

pretty much made peace with all, So I jumped off the board

and I lifted the board up And they flew right over

and I thought they had missed me. This is the moment he was rescued

from the water and his family could finally be told

that he was alive. You have this elation

and then, 20 minutes later, You don't know how unwell

he is and until we got that phone call from Matthew,

just to hear his voice. The search teams even managed

to recover his surfboard. Are you looking forward to being

reunited with your surfboard? I think we'll find

a good use for it. And that pledge to keep away

from the surf is one his family seem Chris Buckler, BBC News,

at the Ulster Hospital in Belfast. The general election

is just five weeks away. But today millions of voters have

been taking part in local and mayoral elections in England,

Wales and Scotland. Polls have just closed and counting

is getting under way Most of the results

will come in tomorrow. We'll be hearing the latest

from Cardiff and from Westminster. But first, Lorna Gordon

is in Glasgow tonight. Yes, all 32 local authorities are

being contested here in Scotland. One of the key battle grounds is

here in Glasgow. Will the city Chambers here, for decades dominated

by Labour, go to the SNP? Will the SNP, a party that has been

empowering national level for ten years now become the principal party

at the local level as well? The question of an independence

referendum has been one of the issues of the campaign. The

Conservatives, positioning themselves as protectors of the

union, are confident they say are making gains. The Liberal Democrats

and greens are hopeful of increasing the number of councillors they have

in certain parts of the country. Labour, it is possible, could be

looking at heavy losses. If the SNP becomes largest party here in

Glasgow, once a Labour stronghold, it will be a hugely symbolic win.

It is expected that Labour will suffer local losses in Wales as

well. It has the most to lose for the Cardiff is seen as a key battle

ground. It is one where Labour has a slim majority to defend it is facing

pressure in the west of the city from Plaid Cymru and in the north

from the Conservatives. We'll be looking how Labour fares in North

Wales. If it slides further up there, it will be seen as a bad

night for the party. Plaid Cymru has the second-largest member of

councillors here in Wales. Ill be looking to gain overall control in

Carmarthenshire. The big question, how will the Conservatives perform

in Wales? The part is looking to benefit from Theresa May riding high

in the polls. Swansea, the Vale of Glamorgan and Newport, some of the

places they will look to do well. Labour politicians here in England

are also bracing themselves for bad results. One insider told me they

are going to get a kicking. Labour has never been strong in the English

shires. Their own polling is suggesting they retain overall

control of just one council and are no longer likely to be the largest

party in Nottinghamshire or in Lancashire. They are expecting much

better news in a contest for new Metro mayors in greater Manchester

and Merseyside a close eye on what is happening in the tightly fought

contest in the West Midlands foot of this is where Labour and the

Conservatives are scrapping of crucial, marginal seats in the

general elections. The local elections do not provide as with an

exact blueprint for the general election result. The Lib Dems tend

to do much better locally than nationally. The outcome will

influence the tactics of the main parties over the next five weeks.

Thank you all. The two candidates vying to become

the next French President were back on the campaign trail today,

after clashing in a TV debate last night when centrist candidate

Emmanuel Macron called his far right challenger, Marine Le Pen,

the High Priestess of Fear. She in turn accused him

of being soft on terrorism as our correspondent,

Lucy Williamson, reports. Borders and barriers aren't really

Emmanuel Macron's thing. But when you might be

the next president of France, your supporters have

to get used to them. And so the European flags

that mark his rallies were waved today from

behind rows of fencing. France, he said, needed

to end divisions, of its people, its land,

and its social classes. We've seen that society in the UK,

where the middle-class implodes. And that was the moment that

Britain decided to withdraw Momentum is building

behind Emmanuel Macron but this fight has been getting

ever more personal. With just one more day

of campaigning left, the end of France's extraordinary

presidential race is in sight. 24 hours after a bitter debate

with Marine Le Pen, Mr Macron is still seen

as the firm favourite. Some of his voters say they are not

choosing him, so much Two thirds of the country's

Far Left supporters may not If Marine Le Pen wins,

it will be a of course. If Emmanuel Macron wins,

what will be the consequence? In five years, Marine Le Pen

will be so strong. Critics have accused

Marine Le Pen of using last But personal attacks happen

on the campaign trail, too. Today, an egg, thrown

during a visit to northern France. TRANSLATION: The French people

know my programme very well. I have been presenting it

to them for several years. I want to lift the veil,

and I believe I did that There's more than one role

at stake in this campaign. The presidency is the real

treasure but, for France's Far Right party, emerging

as the official opposition This campaign has been, in many

ways, and argument over French No matter how many European

flags are waved, every Even if France's political

map has changed. Our Europe Editor,

Katya Adler, is in Paris. You have been following this

campaign very closely. Can

anything stop Emanuel Macron now? Never say never. Polls here are

consistently showing Emanuel Macron with a 20% lead over his rival. If

he does make it, that really is quite something. He is only 39, a

former banker. Never elected before to political office. He only formed

his political party the year ago. If French voters do choose him for the

top political job in this country, which is a political and economic

heavyweight in Europe, and outsiders well, you could say that is quite a

risk. So, Marine Le Pen has a plan. The plan is to do as well in these

elections with an eye on the next presidential elections because she

thinks President Macron will be a failure. This country is really

hungry for change but it is divided over the kind of change it once. She

thinks President Macron will not be able to unite the country may not

even be able to introduce ger Matip change of you cannot form a strong

government. He is still a political novice. If he does fail she will be

waiting in the political wings. And Manchester United have been

in action tonight in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final

against the Spanish Marcus ratchet's free kick in the

second half gave Mantis United a 1-0 win. --

Alan Bennett is one of this country's greatest

Sir Nicholas Hytner is one of our most successful theatre directors.

Together they have brought some of the most critically acclaimed

works to the stage - creating huge hits like The History

Our Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, has been talking to them

about their collaboration which has lasted more than a

And that's what oracles do, they repeat themselves.

Here is a scene from Alan Bennett's play The Habit of Art which,

on the face of it, imagines a meeting between a poet, WH Auden,

But there are also plenty of jokes that allude to another

That of the playwright and his long-term collaborator,

I mean, I can only remember about two disagreements.

If you believe that art comes out of conflict,

What would you say, of all those plays that you two

have made together - some of which have become films -

Well, the thing we enjoyed absolutely every minute

of it was obviously The History Boys.

As the director of the National Theatre,

what is it about Alan Bennett plays that seem to make them

absolutely bullet-proof when it comes to success?

Well, the way Alan talks through his characters is the way

large audiences wanted to be talked to.

They trusted what he had to say, they trusted the way he said it.

There's a kind of bond that Alan creates in the way he writes,

Such as The Lady In The Van, a play - which they subsequently

turned into a film - about an eccentric old lady

who inveigles her way into Alan Bennett's life.

You're not doing me a favour, you know.

Is it true that you write about the outsider, principally?

I don't go casting about for people who aren't

in the charmed circle, as it were.

Have you ever had a situation, Alan, where you've taken a play to Nick,

he was unenthusiastic, and the play never

Nick said, I can't remember, you must have been reading some

He said, "You do repeat yourself, don't you?"

If he does, and writes another new play, he says it'll be directed

once again by Nicholas Hytner, who won't put it on at

the National Theatre this time, but at his own theatre,

which will open at London South Bank later this year.

Newsnight is about to begin over on BBC Two in a few moments. Here is

Kirsty. Tonight we report from Shepherd needs out where one of the

six drivers from the massacre in 1995 is back there, facing down

Serbs who say the genocide never happened. Join me now on BBC Two.