the uk can handle a no—deal brexit. that's the message from the government as it offers advice, on how to cope. a raft of documents have been released, covering everything from credit cards, to pensions, medicines and trade. it's not what we want, and it's not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. i thought the proposals were bland, thin on detail, thin on substance, and i don't think they are going to reassure anybody. with barely seven months to go before brexit, we'll be assessing what a no deal might mean for you. also on the programme... reunited with her daughter, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, jailed in iran and accused of spying, has been temporarily released. we've had so many dashed hopes and false dawns, and i had heard so many rumours that this might happen and i didn't believe them.

i got igota i got a six in english! gcse pass rates are up, despite tougher new exams. and taking bikes for the wrong kind of ride. vandalism and theft threaten one hire scheme, in manchester. and coming up on bbc news, sale winger chris ashton has been in front of a disciplinary hearing after his illegal preseason tip tackle. we'll have the latest on sportsday at 6:30pm. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. with just seven months to go before the uk leaves the european union, the government has moved to allay fears, over the consequences of no deal being reached with brussels, on future trading arrangements.

it's released a raft of papers offering advice to businesses and individuals, and setting out the government's prepararations for any impact. the brexit secretary, dominic raab says while no agreement with brussels is unlikely, ministers have a responsibility, to plan for all outcomes. the 2a documents cover a wide range of potential concerns. consumers would face slower and more costly credit card payments buying eu products, and british citizens living abroad could lose access to their bank accounts. businesses exporting to europe may have to renegotiate contracts to reflect customs and tariff changes, and hire additional expert staff. new medicines coming into the uk will have to be checked, and drug companies have been told to boost stockpiles. but there was little in the papers on the deeply contentious issue of trade across the border with ireland. british firms are told to seek the advice of the irish government. we'll be analysing what the documents suggest a no

deal could mean for you, with our specialist editors, but first here's our deputy political editor, jon pienaar. for millions of brits, a brexit deal would mean change. but no deal could mean more and quickly. card spending in europe more costly. no guarantee brits could use eu bank accounts the same way or draw pensions. medicines would be stockpiled but no promise they wouldn't run out. traders would face new customs duties and safety checks and bureaucracy at a stroke. no need to panic, says the brexit secretary. the uk had to be ready for anything. we are raising this issue with the eu to impress upon them arejoint issue with the eu to impress upon them are joint responsibility to minimise any harm to uk and european businesses and citizens. those lives, those livelihoods on both sides, should be put ahead of any narrow political interest. brexiteer

to his fingertips, he was keen no one swallowed any scare stories by 93v one swallowed any scare stories by gay hit to the british sandwich. you will still be able to enjoy a blt after brexit. and there are no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies. maybe so, but there would be sudden change and costs from any. no more eu cap on charges for card. access to bank accounts and spending could change. businesses could face increased costs and slower transaction times. worried about medicines, a british agency would ta ke medicines, a british agency would take over regulation and an assessment stop —— and assessment. and for a british exporters, no deal would mean big changes. new software to buy, consultants to hire, warehouses. and if you trade with ireland, with the uk has promised no ha rd ireland, with the uk has promised no hard border, northern irish businesses are told to ask ireland for guidance. do you accept a

no—deal brexit macro would deal —— leave the country worse off? the uk would be better off outside of the eu and any scenario long—term but i recognise the risk of the short—term. these technical notes are taking a sober assessment of that and working at the practical ways to make it work. some ministers are frankly alarmed at the prospect of leaving with no deal. the chancellor has written to a senior colleague today warning that economic growth could take a hit of nearly 8% over 15 years. messages might call that scaremongering. the chancellor and his friends would say it is simply facing harsh reality. few m ps it is simply facing harsh reality. few mps like the idea of a hard brexit. are the opposition parties backing the government? of course not. the government isjust publishing these vague papers and they are not even publishing all of them. presumably the other 50 are

still being written. that will not reassure anybody. the likelihood of a people's vote is now growing. when we have a no deal, which is obviously unacceptable and highly disruptive and we have a government deal which is poor and disruptive, what else do we do? in brussels, the eu is playing hardball and saying any kind of brexit will, at a cost. it will lead to destruction regardless. with a deal or without a deal. that is why everybody, particularly economic operators, need to be prepared. the agreed time to sketch out britain's future relationship with the eu has almost run out. talk of crisis has become a cliche. expect to hear it again. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. pharmaceutical companies have been told they must stock up on medicines, to cope with a no deal brexit. dominic raab says there needs to be an additional six weeks supply of medicines stored in the uk. a no deal would also mean all new medical products coming into the country, would have to be approved. with his assessment

of the government's advice, here's our health editor hugh pym. there have been fears that supplies of medicines could be held up if there is no deal and there are customs delays at channel ports. the worry was that essential medication for patients, which has to be imported, might not be available. hospitals and pharmacies weren't sure whether they should stockpile. but ministers are telling them there won't be a problem. the government has today written to hospital managers and others in the health and care system saying they don't need to worry about building up extra supplies, that will be taken care of. at the same time, doctors have been urged not to sign longer dated prescriptions for patients who might feel they need extra medicines. ministers have told the pharmaceuticals industry to build up six weeks worth of supplies of medicines which are imported from elsewhere in europe. the letter to the nhs really is a first step, and i think that hospitals and other organisations throughout the nhs

will be expecting more detailed guidance. i mean, these are organisations that are used to emergencies. but this is a pretty unprecedented situation. if there is no deal, drug companies will have to get new products approved twice — once by british regulators and once by their european counterparts — adding an unwelcome extra layer of bureaucracy. hugh pym, bbc news. what about the impact on business and finance of a no deal brexit? well, firms have been told future trading with the eu, might mean renegotiating contracts with suppliers and customers, because of customs and tariff changes. they've also been advised to hire expert advisers to cope. here's our economics editor kamal ahmed with his analysis of what a no deal might mean for business. the banks and insurance companies of the city of london, a sector that sums up the challenges of a no—deal brexit. it's a sector that is closely intertwined with the rest of the european union. it's important economically

and if there were no deal, it would be facing higher trade barriers. higher trade barriers mean one thing: higher costs. ultimately, they tend to be passed on to us, the consumer. just as it did for the financial services sector, the government today outlined the challenges for the food sector. new tariffs, new regulations, described as frightening. a concern shared by many businesses across the economy. only a third of iod members have ever actually done any active contingency planning, the rest have been waiting for more information to come out from the government. this is some welcome detail, long overdue, but what we would like to see more of in the future is what the government plans to do to really mitigate the impact of no deal. some firms have welcomed the fact that at least there is now some detail. some detail about what the government believes are the possible challenges of red tape, the increased costs of disruption of a no—deal brexit.

kamal ahmed, bbc news. so, what does a no deal brexit mean for ordinary people across the uk? our correspondent judith moritz reports. time keeps on ticking towards brexit day. seven months until the 29th of march. but what would a no—deal brexit macro look like for you and me? in the event of that happening it could prove more expensive for brits to shop within the eu. whether you are going there on holiday or shopping here online, if you use your card to make a payment, the chances are the bill could go up. at the moment there is a ban which stops you being stung with a surcharge for using your cards. but that would stop. if you are receiving a parcel from the eu,

there could be further costs because goods will no longer be eligible for vat relief. what if you have decided to escape this weather and move abroad? there are warnings for ex pats abroad? there are warnings for expats who live in the eu but do their banking or have pensions and financial products in the uk. under ano financial products in the uk. under a no deal scenario, moving their money, getting access to funds, would even harder. adam lives between london and provence in france. my concerns would be savings, accessing savings from the uk whilst in france. i will also be using my credit card in france. can ido using my credit card in france. can i do that without being charged? also the transferring of my wages from english bank account to my french anchor card. will that still be possible and will it be more expensive? how much more expansive? what about the food on our plates? dominic raab says we will still be able to enjoy a blt after brexit.

but if the bacon is from denmark, the tomatoes are dutch and the lettu ces the tomatoes are dutch and the lettuces from spain, the chances are that the cost will go up because of the increase in red take herfood importers. the national farmers' union has one of the disastrous cliff edge scenario for uk food supply chain. but the brexit secretary says there will be no sandwich famine and no need to use the military to keep the shelves stocked. the big question is how likely is a no—deal brexit? the government says not likely. but as it's putting its plans in placejust in case. —— but it is putting its plans in place just in case. —— but it is putting its plans in placejust in case. judith moritz, bbc news. in a moment we'll talk with our deputy political editor, john pienaar, at westminster. but first, damian grammaticas is in brussels for us this evening. what has been the reaction to these documents from the folk where you are? they say they have been producing their own documents like this for nearly a year now because they say that absolutely clearly

brexit will have impacts as an automatic operation of the uk leaving the eu customs union, single market, its legal structures. they have been warning for a long time that companies and individuals need to face up to that. the uk approach seems to be saying on the one hand it would hope the reciprocation from the eu. on the other hand, things like banks trying to sell services into the eu, companies would have to follow eu rules. the eu side say they are negotiating only for a withdrawal agreement to settle those issues. they would not have, they say, separate negotiations are no deal. and their notices make clear that they will, in the case of no deal, treat the uk as a third country. very little scope for special deals. one other thing they will have noticed today, dominic raab saying these have been produced because the eu may not match the uk ambition and pragmatism and they may

not be a deal because of that. that would sound from here like a blame game. they have already said this week the negotiators would not be move by any attempt to blame them. damian grammaticas. let's doctor john pienaar. the government is confident it can reach a deal within the time frame but it looks as if this could go to the wire? absolutely. you couldn't call this a particularly comfortable moment for dominic raab. he campaigned for a leave. moment for dominic raab. he campaigned fora leave. he is a moment for dominic raab. he campaigned for a leave. he is a true believer. perry was today setting out plans to deal with the failure to get the deal brexiteers said would be easy to compass. he also said today it deal with the eu inside. maybe so. calais is within sight of dover. the political gap between the two sides may turn out to be unbridgeable. the dominic raab and those who agree with him, it seems common sense there will be a deal in the end. in the end the former remainers and those who have

deep doubts see the cost and the destruction that could go with brexit as national harm. the other side of see it as bombs on the road oi'i side of see it as bombs on the road on the way to a better future. dominic raab could be a more comfortable colleague than his predecessor, david davies. you could say his confidence in getting a deal is about his faith. you could also say it is about wishful thinking. john pienaar there. and again, damian grammaticas in brussels. the british woman nazanin zaghari ratcliffe, who's been imprisoned in iran for more than two years, has been temporarily released. her family says she's been freed from jail in tehran for three days. she'd been accused of spying, a charge she denies and has already been reunited with her four—year—old daughter. caroline hawley reports. a first family photo of freedom. imagine the moment after nearly two years in prison, eight months of them in solitary confinement. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was still in her bed clothes this morning when she was given ten minutes to get ready to leave jail. her husband richard,

who has campaigned tirelessly for her release, called today a very happy surprise. just really positive, we have had so many dashed hopes and false dawns and i had heard rumours that this might happen and i didn't believe them. you know, because after this many, it's easier to keep coping by not getting your hopes up too high. the family haven't been together since the spring of 2016, when nazanin took her daughter to see her grandparents. here she was in tehran with gabriella just a week before she was arrested by iran's revolutionary guards at the airport on their way back home to london. last december, borisjohnson went to iran to try to push for her release after he was accused of complicating her ordeal by saying she had been training journalists. richard ratcliffe today thanked the new foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, for all he has done to help. mr hunt tweeted that her imprisonment was a gross injustice, and she must now be permanently freed.

today is a good day. and probably at this point we are trying to assess what it means and where we are — i still want her home. i still want them both home. i still want the government to help organise that. for now, nazanin has simple plans with gabriella who, until now, she has only seen in prison visits. she told her husband on the phone... she's been granted just three precious days of freedom, but her lawyers are planning to ask for more. the time is 17 minutes past 6. our top story this evening... the government publishes its plan in the event of a no—deal brexit. four men are found guilty of smuggling £41 million worth of cocaine into the uk on a private jet. coming up on sportsday, james vince

is the only change for england. we will be asking whether it's enough to bounce back after defeat at trent bridge. gcse pass rates in england, wales and northern ireland have risen slightly, despite tougher exams for some. it was the first time most of the subjects in england were graded from nine to one, with nine being the highest. the overall pass mark of a four, equal to the old c grade, was achieved by 69.2% of those tested in england. only about 4% of entries achieved the top grade nine in any subject, here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys. i passed everything! surprise, and disbelief. they have been so worried. new tougher gcses, new number grades, and all from the exams. no wonder it was hugs all round.

i even got better than i expected. i'm so happy. relieved. very, very relieved. it's been a very tough year for teenagers, parents and teachers because of all the uncertainty around these new, harder gcses. even so, the results here have improved, but it's taken a huge amount of extra effort. they offered pupils everything from extra counselling to more hours. the head says it was right to make gcses tougher. so we lengthened the school day by 45 minutes, and we ensured that in the morning during form time that our students were getting coaching time as well. all our students stayed after school. they have been through every emotion. today they told me success had had a cost. horrendous. yeah. it was more nerve—racking that we didn't know how...

like, we didn't know what we needed to pass because there was nothing we had seen before. we now generally do know more and have been taught more than previous year groups, so it makes me feel good going out into the world. when i got to year 11 it was like snapping, everything got so much pressure so you had to be able to cope with it and i think itjust helped with our resilience. across the uk, gcse results changed little. in england, 69% passed with a grade four or above. in wales, 63% above a c and in northern ireland, 82% also passed. for many, this is the next step. today they were signing up at newcastle college, some after taking a compulsory resit here in maths or english. great idea. itjust gives everyone an extra chance. you don't think you have worked as hard in your first set of gcses. itjust gives you a chance to work

harder and actually hit that target you have set yourself. but for tonight, there will be many parents just as relieved as those who have got results. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. if you're getting your exam results this summer, and want help with what to do next, the bbc has a dedicated website. it's called bitesize, where you can get plenty of information on education and careers — that's at www. bbc.com/bitesize. it was one the biggest drug seizures the uk border force had ever dealt with. well, now four men have been convicted of smuggling on a private jet half a tonne of cocaine, with a street value of more than £41 million. 15 suitcases of the drug were found at farnborough airport injanuary, on a plane returning from columbia. tom symonds reports. it was like a scene from a crime drama — the sleek private jet paid

for with £130,000 in cash, arriving at farnborough airport. 15 heavy suitcases unloaded, the gang whisked off in their hired cars. but they didn't get far. customs officers pulled them overfor a search, one of the gang watching. inside the first case was a serious amount of cocaine. we've been asked not to show the face of the customs officer, but he has a big smile. presumably they don't get many days like that. well, this is one of the largest seizures in our airport's history. but it is a day that we want to celebrate and show that this sort of activity, and people that are seeking to smuggle illicit goods into the country, our officers are there to identify them and take action. 15 suitcases, half a tonne of cocaine, worth £41 million on the street. this was the smugglers'

second flight to bogota. they had a corrupt official working in a ground handling company there. the national crime agency worked back through cctv, tracking their movements. here, they're setting the combination locks on their suitcases. these earlier baggage scans are thought to show the millions in cash they flew out with to pay for the drugs. both times, they arrived back at farnborough, possibly chosen because it's small. two years ago, the border force customs operation at this airport was criticised by the independent inspector. he said staff were carrying out too few baggage checks, they were concentrating instead on immigration. the national crime agency says that small airports like this are vulnerable to smuggling. you are never going to really win with that, a utopia scenario is having all those airports or strips for landing aircraft manned by resource, but that's not going to happen. so it's being clever around systems,

around bringing people and experts together that can actually look at information and work out who they can stop. the border force says it is now doing more checks at farnborough. we have taken that report incredibly seriously and have upped our efforts in that environment. the four men posed as rich businessmen heading to bogota for a concert by the singer bruno mars. they have been jailed for between 20 and 24 years. tom symonds, bbc news. the number of eu citizens coming to the uk is continuing to fall. net migration from the eu — the difference between those arriving and those leaving — was 87,000 in the year up to march. that's less than half the numbers in 2016. but overall the net migration of people coming here from everywhere else was still way above government targets. jeremy corbyn has suggested that a windfall tax could be levied on technology giants like google, amazon and facebook to pay for public interest journalism. speaking at the edinburgh

television festival, the labour leader called for a digital licence fee to help fund the bbc, paid for by big tech companies and internet providers. a bicycle hire firm is threatening to pull out of manchester because of an increase in theft and vandalism. mobike says it'll end its service in "weeks not months" unless there's a reduction in theft and damage to its bikes, which can be unlocked with an app and parked anywhere. the chinese company says 10% of its fleet in manchester was taken out of use last month alone. here's dan johnson. unloved, abandoned, unrideable. and mobike says enough is enough. so, we launched in manchester over a yearago, and by and large, the people of the city have really taken to it. but in the last few months, we have seen an increase in vandalism and theft and so today we're losing up to a tenth of our bikes per month, and of course that's not sustainable.

this is the marketing, but it's now mobike not feeling so good about some people's choices. i'm not surprised, though, because the amount that i've seen that are vandalised or laying around, that are broken, there's always a broken one knocking around. they litter the streets, you just see them falling over everywhere. i like the idea of it in principle. i think it's a real shame that people don't look after stuff, especially when it's for the good of the community like that. it's notjust this city that has experienced problems like this. it's notjust this company, either. there are some bigger issues raised about responsibility and how we share, how we live and work together. we had real concerns actually about what we call a dockless scheme, where the bikes can be left anywhere. we said to them, we thought that was prone to higher levels of damage and loss. we would probably have designed it in a different way. that said, we want to work with mobike to iron out some of these problems and i do make that appeal to people here to respect the bikes and respect this scheme. mobike says if people don't, it'll be off.

dan johnson, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's mel coles. cooler conditions have been creeping southwards as we have gone through the day today. we have seen some dry and bright conditions but also some outbreaks of rain and showers, particularly through northern ireland and scotland as we have gone through the afternoon. you can see nicely from the radar the culprit for bringing in this air. the weather system clear down to the south and east and fizzled out, the second one stretching up to northern england through this evening will also gradually fizzle. dragging in this cooler airfrom also gradually fizzle. dragging in this cooler air from the north and losing the humidity. further showers overnight for northern ireland and north—west scotland and some of those will filter so overnight into

parts of lancashire and cumbria or elsewhere it will be chilly. temperatures widely into single figures, particularly in rural spots. friday, one thing you will notice about the weather on friday is the blustery winds, particularly around any showers and there will be plenty of those. they get going for northern ireland and north—west scotla nd northern ireland and north—west scotland but then as the day gets going they work to the south and east. notice the temperatures widely in the mid to high teens at best through friday so much fresher feel. we continue that pressure we go into saturday. quite keen wind down the west coast initially but a region of high pressure will settle things down. for most it will be a dry day with the chance of some showers and in the sunshine it should feel fairly pleasant, but waiting in the wings is another weather system on sunday and that will bring some rain in from the west. the cloud

increasing ahead of it but remaining cool increasing ahead of it but remaining cool. by bank holiday monday it gradually starts to clear away. thank you for that. goodbye from me. now on bbc one, let'sjoin our news teams where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday. the government sets out its advice for businesses on how to manage if the uk it leaves the eu without a deal. the british iranian woman is reunited with her daughter after being granted three days temporary release from prison in iran. gcse pass rates in england, wales and northern ireland have risen slightly despite the overhaul to