this is business live from bbc news with jamie robertson and ben bland. making brussels blink — britain's prime minister is to urge the eu to come up with a post—brexit trade plan. live from london, that's our top story on friday 20th july. theresa may will use a speech in belfast to call on the eu to abandon unworkable positions and respond to her plans for a free trade area. also in the programme... retaliating on the road. the eu, mexico and canada warn the us they will strike back if it imposes import tariffs on cars. and there are the market as well. the dax is down sharply by a quarter

of one percentage point. the spanish market is down as well. and we'll be getting the inside track on all the big stories of the week, including comcast abandoning its bid to reshape the media landscape with a takeover of fox with our economics editor kamal ahmed. and as cadbury‘s launches a version of its famous dairy milk bar with 30% less sugar — today we want to know — do you think it's a good way to tackle obesity? or is itjust a marketing gimmick? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. when it comes to brexit, the northern ireland border is the biggest sticking point in talks between the united kingdom and the european union. and it's one reason why prime minister theresa may will use a speech in belfast to call on the eu to abandon what she calls unworkable positions.

at the heart of it is the matter of how trade will continue after brexit. mrs may has promised frictionless trade and in her speech will reiterate that there will be no return to a "hard border". but she has ruled out staying in the eu single market or customs union. instead, she wants a "bespoke" free trade agreement for goods. the stakes are very high for ireland in particular. the international monetary fund is warning that a return to a "hard border" would wipe 4% off its economy. others have warned the figure could be much higher. as the brexit deadline of march next year draws closer, there is a growing possibility of britain leaving the eu without a deal which is becoming more real. and today the european commission is publishing a report giving advice to companies across the eu on how to prepare for brexit. in the last few minutes, the uk's northern ireland secretary karen baradley has told bbc radio 4's

today programme it's right to be prepared for all outcomes. quite rightly, the irish government are putting in place the no deal planning. we're putting in place planning for no deal. we work closely with the irish government and have a good relationship with them. we all want to see a situation where the trade and the movements... the prime minister and i heard yesterday from those businesses that live and breathe the border, businesses where the entrance to the farm is in one country and the farm itself is in another, businesses where the quarry straddles two countries. these are the businesses that live and breathe that cross—border trade every day, and we want to make sure they can continue to succeed in the way they have. tony lloyd is the labour opposition‘s shadow northern ireland secretary and joins us from salford. am not sure if you heard that clip,

but karen bradley makes a good point. ina but karen bradley makes a good point. in a world with so much uncertainty over the post—brexit deal, it is sensible to prepare for oi’ deal, it is sensible to prepare for or outcomes, isn't it? ithink it's astonishing. we are months away now, two years on from the decision to move towards brexit, we are months from leaving the eu. and to be talking at this stage of what would be nationally collateral must, a no—go scenario —— be nationally collateral must, a no—go scenario —— no be nationally collateral must, a no—go scenario —— no deal scenario, says a lot about the lack of planning at the heart of our government and the fact that what we have got is planning that is dictated by the internal rankings of the conservative party rather than around the national interest. everybody who has looked at the situation of the irish border has known for a long time that this will be the single defining process that drives the way in which the uk and

the eu negotiate a settlement. it isn't good enough to say we want frictionless trade. we have got to have frictionless trade. you say politicians are putting party interests above national interests, but weren't there calls within the conservative party for consideration ofa conservative party for consideration of a government of national unity to sort this out? am not sure that that isa sort this out? am not sure that that is a practical possibility. who would lead such a national government? in our national parliament, you are right, we have got to have a debate about what is the minimum that allows both the eu and the united kingdom to have the kind of deal that avoids simply falling out of the eu? you made the point about the impact on the irish economy. the impact on the uk economy. the impact on the uk economy of the no deal solution would be devastating, not simply in northern ireland. for my

constituency and the city of london, up constituency and the city of london, up and down the uk, we would lose jobs hand over fist. up and down the uk, we would lose jobs hand overfist. we can't up and down the uk, we would lose jobs hand over fist. we can't afford that lack of planning. tony, what is your solution? the solution has been obvious for some time. we have got to have the uk in a customs union with the european union that pretty much mirrors the customs union we are now in, and that we don't seem to divergence from that. but if you have a customs union, you cannot do trade deals with other countries. your hands are tied. of course there are consequences, but our major trading partners are those in the rest of the european union. what would lose by crashing out could not remotely be made up by new deals with the united states or australia, new zealand or canada. it is fanciful. we have got to have that

deal with the eu. thanks very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... the messaging service whatsapp has announced restrictions on its service in india to try to curb the spread of malicious rumours. several fake stories have led to lynchings and the company, owned by facebook, has said it will test limiting the number of times users in india can forward texts, videos and photos. president trump has made an unusual criticism of the us central bank. he told cnbc he's "not thrilled" about the federal reserve increasing interest rates because a stronger dollar could hit us competitiveness. the fed has raised interest rates twice already this year. microsoft says profits rose to almost $8.9bn in the three months to the end ofjune. cloud computing was a big reason for its success, including its office programmes. it also made more money from its linkedin networking service. the chief executive satya nadella called it an incredible period. microsoft shares have risen 180% since he took over in 2014.

japanese lawmakers are expected to pass a bill later legalising large—scale casino resorts in the country. supporters say it will bring in billions of dollars to japan's economy, but i argue that legalising casinos could lead to a surge in crime and gambling addiction. katie silver is in our asia business hub in singapore. why are the japanese government thinking now is the time to take a punt on casinos? as you say, it's at the end of a really long process. japan has been considered the final frontier when it comes to wear casinos can be. yesterday, it passed in the upper house and we are expecting to see it passed the lower house. it has come in for a lot of criticism, from people saying they

object on the basis of addiction. so they say their need to be integrated resorts. they need to be with hotels or conference centres. shinzo abe is saying it will be a boost to regional economies. so these casinos will not be in tokyo, they will be in regional locations such as osaka ad hoc ido, generating a huge amount of revenue. they say will be up to 34 of revenue. they say will be up to 3a billion us dollars. this is because they would take about 30% of the revenue and they are going to reinject this back into the local economy. thanks very much. let's have a look at the markets. the nikkei has fallenjust let's have a look at the markets. the nikkei has fallen just a little bit. and trade tensions were the focus of the car industry on thursday as the us government held a special hearing on its plans for import tariffs.

the yuan has been falling, which will help chinese exports. the french market is down. the dax, there are connections between the german economy and china economy and the idea of a trade war is worrying for that economy. let's go over to paul blake and see what he has to say about the car industry question. if president trump places import tariffs on european cars, buying a new car in the us will get a lot more expensive. that's the warning from the alliance of automobile manufacturers, who warn that the tariffs donald trump has been threatening for weeks now could raise the price of imported cars by $6,000 and domestic cars by $2,000. these stats were released ahead of the us government hearing on thursday that saw strong opposition to the tariffs. for their part, german car—makers have a lot of skin in the game, with heavy investments in us

manufacturing facilities, particularly in southern states that tend to vote for donald trump's republican party in elections. they are warning that any new tariffs could threaten future investment, and through that, affect us manufacturing jobs. but the opposition didn't just come from industry. governments around the world are sounding the alarm as well. canada, mexico and the eu are all promising to retaliate. in brussels, they're already preparing for trump to make good on his latest tariff threat. insert clip! joining us is kathleen brooks, research director at city index. that was interesting, the talk of whether they will introduce these ta riffs whether they will introduce these tariffs on cars, which the trump administration has threatened. the worry is whether the eu retaliates

ina worry is whether the eu retaliates in a tit—for—tat way and the whole thing escalates as we have seen with the us and china. and the eu have said they will retaliate. what is interesting about this is that so many american car—makers are against these tariffs. there have been talks about it at the senate. the majority of people who are testifying are saying, please don't implement these tariffs, including american car—makers, because they are worried about retaliatory effects. they are also worried because a lot of the components of their cars come from outside the us, so it will push up the cost of production. let me talk about the effect these tariffs are having on currencies. the yuan is falling, which is ironic because that of course boosts chinese exports, which the americans don't particularly want. there are a lot of reasons why the yuan is falling, not least because of the slowdown in the chinese economy and this crackdown on debt. which is separate to the tariffs. it is separate and

has been going on for a long time. but you are right, the yuan is that a one year low already. if the us box chinese exports because of the tariffs, they will just find somewhere else to go. so that could flood the markets of europe, could push up our imports, because they will be more attractive because they are cheaper. i was going to ask about the dollar. the comments by president trump about his dislike of these rates going up, that is very unusual. we saw a bit of an effect on the dollar, but it hasn't really lasted. the dollar is looking strong. it is. very unusual for a president to intervene or even voice his comments. you never saw obama or george bush do that. trump has been very vocal stop he is a property developer, so of course he doesn't like high interest rates. it doesn't

matter, because the federal reserve is meant to be important. the markets are now used to.... he has a mouth like a torn pocket. anything can come out of there. today he will say one thing, then he will say he didn't mean to intervene. he flip—flops. it is not a big deal, u nless flip—flops. it is not a big deal, unless it does impact on the federal reserve going forward, but we doubt that. jerome powell was appointed by trump, but he is his own man. coming back to the side of the atlantic, we have seen so much movement on brexit and this talk about preparing for the no deal scenario. the markets haven't reacted in the jittery way that you might have expected, given that you might have expected, given that people are talking about a no deal scenario as a realistic possibility. we have seen the pound fall, but we don't think that is on the back of the political side of things. the bank of england is a bigger risk factorfor things. the bank of england is a bigger risk factor for the pound now. and when the pound falls, the

ftse usually goes up. thanks for talking as do the markets and we will see you later to go through the papers. still to come... we'll be getting the inside track on all the big stories of the week including comcast abandoning its bid to reshape the media landscape with a takeover of fox with our economics editor kamal ahmed. you're with business live from bbc news. next, ryanair has cancelled 2a flights between ireland and the uk today as pilots go on strike. it's the second of three 24—hour strikes by ryanair pilots over pay and working conditions. adam french is consumer rights editor at which magazine. if people are affected by this, what are their options for redress?m if people are affected by this, what are their options for redress? it is really bad timing for people about to jet off really bad timing for people about tojet off on really bad timing for people about to jet off on their summer holidays and there are more strikes planned

next week as well. if you are affected, the most important thing is do not take a refund and allow that like to be cancelled on you. the airline has a duty of care to you and keep hold of your ticket and they have to look after you, they have to re—route you can put you on a separate flight to get you to your destination. if your need is pressing, for example a wedding or a graduation, you can ask to be put on a different carrier's flight if they are still running. these consolations only affect ryanair, but you can go on separate airlines to get to your destination is. do not just take the to get to your destination is. do notjust take the refund, ask to be re—routed on a different flight if you still need to get where you are going. do these things put people off from travelling with the airline concerned? last year we saw a huge raft of cancellations for ryanair and it left people thinking twice about using them. strikes happen,

they are a fact of life. cancellations and delays happen, there is a constant moving picture as an airline, but it is all about how you treat your customers. around those cancellations rya nair could have done better in how it treats its customers and this time round they need to make sure they are looking after everyone affected by these strikes and put them on flight so they can get to where they are going. 0k, thank you very much, adam. you can find plenty more stories on the business live page online. we have spoken quite a lot in recent weeks and months about the troubled high street. it has been a grim 2a hours with pound world announcing its closure of 190 stores, with the last of more than 2000 jobs. your‘re watching business

live, our top story: uk prime minister theresa may will insist she's not prepared to accept a brexit deal which treats northern ireland differently from the rest of the uk when it comes to trade after the uk leaves the european union. a quick look at how the markets are faring. the dax is down, but not as sharply as some people feared. let's pick up on the brexit story with our economics editor. this insoluble problem of what to do about northern ireland and the republic of ireland as far as the brexit negotiations are concerned, there seems to be no obvious way out of this. the

government has proposed a way out, but the problem uk government has is that technically it is not deliverable at the moment. this notion of a friction free border, no border between northern ireland and the republic of our land. there is no technological solution to allowing that to happen when both sides of the border might have different regulatory structures for example. the government has put forward a proposal that it will put in place over time. the eu is saying until that new solution is actually ready, we want this backstop position which is northern ireland remains in regulatory alignment with the rest of the european union. that is the clash at the moment. but you speak to senior government people in the uk and they insist that they believe the european union will move because the european union does not wa nt to

because the european union does not want to clash with the third largest economy in europe, britain, at the same time as clashing with america and russia. the economics will be the very difficult issues. the other big economic question of our day, the us tariffs and in particular the car industry has been sucked into this conversation. the us car industry is saying we do not want this, we do not want tariffs on ca rs. this, we do not want tariffs on cars. the important thing about this is it is donald trump's backyard, the car industry. it is and a lot of people who voted for donald trump voted because of the issue ofjobs in the rust belt, the old manufacturing areas of america. donald trump made a big decision when he became president that his fight was not to reduce tariffs, he pulled out of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, there was going to be a free trade

deal between america and the eu, he was going to fight by raising taxes. the issue with cars is that europe has higher tariffs, 10% on american ca rs has higher tariffs, 10% on american cars coming into europe, that america does on european cars coming into america, 2.5%. but there are huge tariffs for european products in other areas, other manufacturing areas. rather than lower the rates, he is saying he is going to fight on each point. but economists argue that doing that risks jobs, risks prices for consumers, the very people who voted for donald trump in the first place. it is a difficult political argument to make the economics are against what he is doing. one of the biggest car manufacturers in the states is bmw and it has a huge south carolina factory and it is pumping out more ca rs factory and it is pumping out more cars than anywhere else in america and that is a european company.

cars than anywhere else in america and that is a european companym is, but donald trump ‘s supporters will say that what is happening, and there is evidence of this, is that european car—makers have put production into america because of his push and him saying if you are not in america producing cars, you will face tariffs. the problem is that might be true for some singular factories, but in the overall picture the risks are more to prices and jobs then you will gain from some european manufacturers reassuring into america. to mention briefly, comcast, a bit of a resolution it has stopped fighting disney to take over fox, and it wa nts to disney to take over fox, and it wants to come to europe and china and take over sky. it is about big media companies trying to get global reach and as much content as possible to fight the upside of netflix and amazon. that is the

pithiest summary! you can read much more from kamal with his blog online. stay up—to—date with all the day's business use as it happens on the bbc‘s business live page. there is insight and analysis from our editors right around the globe. we wa nt to editors right around the globe. we want to hear from you as well. get involved on the web page. also on twitter. and you can find us on facebook. business live, on tv and online. what you need to know and when you need to know it. what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? kathleen brooks from city index is joining us again to discuss. let's start with cadbury ‘s dairy milk and the chocolate story, offering a low sugar version, 30%

less sugar. is it gimmicky? will it help with obesity? i'm sure it does not. taking it off the shelves will help with that. but they do not have to do this, they are doing it of their own backs because the tax is based on the sugar attack. cadbury ‘s sees the tide changing and it is trying to get ahead of the curve and the full sugar version will still be available. but a spokesperson has said the new less sugar bars will taste su btly said the new less sugar bars will taste subtly different, but maintain the same taste profile. that has come up in some of the tweets. stephen said, if it is anything like what they have done to ribena and thenit what they have done to ribena and then it will taste disgusting. mandy got in touch and said we should switch to healthy options that, more exercise and chocolate should be an occasional treat. it is all about teaching children from an early age.

neal says more meddling with food, more chemicals added, and the company caving into the sugar tax. and this is my favourite from ryan who says boo. 80% of shareholders are going to ta ke 80% of shareholders are going to take a pay cut. and his salary of six and £40,000 is a lot for the ordinary person, and he is getting about1.2 ordinary person, and he is getting about 1.2 five million and that is at the low—end of the ftse 100, at the low—end of the ftse100, probably the ftse 300. we are out of touch. we were talking about chocolate. i have got one for you each. they are full fat ones.

i have not said this for a long time. we have got some significant rainfall in the forecast. it is moving its way through northern ireland and scotland at the moment and you can see from the satellite is big band of cloud which moved in from the atlantic and it is gradually spreading south and east and eventually will go into northern ireland and scotland. showery rain spread into northern england, wales and the south—west of england later on and in the west midlands. in the south east it will be dry this morning with sunshine. feeling quite fresh in these northern and western parts. down in the south east it will feel warm this afternoon with highs in the midst 20s. but with heat and humidity we are expecting to hear heavy and thundery showers breaking out from dorset and into the wash and the east of that.

intense rainfall for some of us this evening and overnight, but for everybody. very hit and miss. that band of rain in northern parts of england and wales will fizzle away. quite a warm and muggy night in the south east, temperatures 16 or 17. fresher further north and west. that ta kes fresher further north and west. that takes us into the start of the weekend and for most of us it is dry. a few heavy showers breaking out later in the afternoon across the south with another hot and humid day. awarded a further north and west with more in the wake of sunshine compared to today. temperatures getting up into the low 20s. for sunday a bit more cloud in across scotland and that will bring across scotland and that will bring a few more showers. also a dry day on sunday and there will be lots of sunshine breaking through, but a warmer days still, temperatures in the mid—to the high 20s in england and wales and in scotland and

northern ireland 21 to 23. next week it will get hotter. a ridge of high pressure in the south—east. a weather front moves its way into northern and western areas and that will be the boundary of where you will be the boundary of where you will have fresher air and the hot air moving in from the south. temperatures potentially 32 to 33 in south eastern empires of england. warm elsewhere, but there is a band in the north and the west where it will be a bit fresher. a chance of thunderstorms into next week. stay tuned to the forecast. hello. it's 9 o'clock. welcome to the programme. an expert panel has recommended to the government that some medicines derived from cannabis should be available on prescription. but some parents are still battling the system to get such medicines quickly. this programme has spoken to one mother whose mp has intervened to ask the home office to get

a licence for cannabis medicine for her son's seizures. here we are today, and we just want help. we want help and we need it now. we feel that medical cannabis is the way to go for us. we have seen the benefits and we would like some help now, please. we'll be exploring what the next steps would be to allow cannabis derived medicines to be available on prescription.