this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at eight. the government attempts to calm fears of a no—deal brexit by setting out advice for people and businesses about how to manage if it happens. contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a blt after brexit, and there are no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies. but will that blt cost more? we'll be getting reaction from those at the sharp end. after two and a half years in prison, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, jailed in iran and accused of spying, is reunited with her daughter after being temporarily released. we have had so many dashed hopes and false storms and i had heard rumours this might happen and i didn't believe them. also coming up, president trump hits back at his critics. the us president warns that there could be severe consequences if he were to be removed from office. i don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a greatjob. i tell you what, if i ever got

impeached, i think the market would crash. and taking bikes for the wrong kind of ride. vandalism and theft threaten one hire scheme in manchester. good evening. 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 sets out the government's preparations for any impact. brexit secretary dominic raab says that ministers have a responsibility to plan for all outcomes. the documents cover a range of concerns. consumers could 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. and new medicines coming into the uk will have to be checked, as drug companies are told to boost stockpiles. but there was little in the papers on the contentious issue of trade across the border with ireland. british firms are told to seek the advice of the irish government. 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 ourjoint 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. a brexiteer to his fingertips, he was keen no one swallowed any scare stories like a 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 for many. no more eu cap on charges for spending. access to bank accounts and spending could change.

businesses could face increased costs and slower transaction times. worried about medicines, a british agency would take over regulation and assessment. some medicines were being stockpiled but shortages could not be ruled out. 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, which has been promised no hard border, northern irish businesses are told to ask ireland for guidance. do you accept a no—deal brexit macro would 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 about taking a sober assessment of that and working out 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. brexiteers might call

that scaremongering. the chancellor and his friends would say it is simply facing harsh reality. few mps like the idea of a no deal brexit. are the opposition parties backing the government? of course not. eight weeks before the october summit, which is supposed to be the end of negotiations. 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 hard ball and saying any kind of brexit will come at a cost. it will lead to disruption 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. the headline is pharmaceutical companies have been warned to stock up companies have been warned to stock up on medicine to cope with a no—deal brexit. dominic raab says there needs to be an additional six weeks supply stored in the uk. 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 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. as for the impact on business and finance, firms have been told that future trading with the eu might mean renegotiating contracts with suppliers and customers.

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 neatly 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. with the release of this government advice, what could a no—deal brexit mean for ordinary people across the uk. time keeps on ticking towards brexit day. seven months until the 29th of march. but what would a no—deal brexit 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 expats who live in the eu but do their banking or have pensions and financial products in the uk. under a no—deal scenario, moving their money, getting access to funds, would even harder. would be 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 i do that without being charged? also the transferring of my wages

from an english bank account to my french account. 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 lettuce is from spain, the chances are that the cost will go up because of the increase in red tape forfood importers. the national farmers' union has warned 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 place just in case. judith moritz, bbc news. we can speak now to catherine

barnard, who's a professor of eu law at cambridge university. she joins us live now from portugal. what do you think the effect is of all of this, the information on negotiations, because part of it is setting out a worst—case scenario but coming to a deal that avoid that. that is what dominic raab the brexit secretary said in his speech. but it is slightly odd because he used the language of it being unlikely a no deal will arise, even though liam fox, who is the secretary of state for national trade said it is a 60—a0 chance no deal will arise so there is clearly disagreement within government about how unlikely no deal is the

stumbling block is over northern ireland where little seems to have moved, albeit at the moment dominic raabis moved, albeit at the moment dominic raab is in negotiations with michel barnier on the european side to address the northern ireland problems. when we talk about what might happen if the sides failed to reach agreement by the end of march, when we leave the european union, even the most committed doomsayers will not say all of these things will not say all of these things will come to pass simultaneously. the 29th of march is the date we are due to leave and if there is no deal most would accept there would be major problems on the 30th of march, particularly at the ports and airports. these are what the notices are about, to warn people to get prepared. the european commission

has published notes of a similar kind and a lot of business is already aware of what is in the notices and are trying to work out how to respond that they are trying to respond when they still hope the uk will come up with some sort of deal. the government says if we leave with a no deal, we would not impose unilaterally checks on goods lorries coming in through dover or the other channel ports. on that basis, they would argue it could be business as usual. except that it ta kes two business as usual. except that it takes two to tango and we know that evenif takes two to tango and we know that even if the uk government does not impose checks and customs duties, your french customs officer on the 30th of march will say, we have to do what eu law says and eu law says we have to check these goods coming in from what is now a third country and impose charges. if the eu were

generous and that is what dominic raabis generous and that is what dominic raab is asking for, they say please, we wa nt raab is asking for, they say please, we want you to cooperate in good faith, if the eu says we will waive checks and tariffs, that creates problems for the eu and uk, because under wto rules, you have to treat all non—eu states the same, which is known as the most—favoured—nation principle, which means in theory the eu and uk would have to extend these rules to goods coming to the —— from other parts of the world. it may be that others recognise we are in transition but there will be problems under the wto rule. what will confuse people is they were told by government that effectively there would be no change between the last day in the european union and thursday outside because the common

law agreed between eu members, i have used the wrong word but the law agreed, built up over the past 50, 70 years, would be transferred into uk law and we would get rid of the bits we did not want as time went on. that is right within the uk but the trouble is that a lot of trade and deals are bilateral which means while the uk can say we will carry on respecting the standards and certificates coming from the eu, the fa ct certificates coming from the eu, the fact is that the british companies wanting to sell goods into the eu, the eu says we are third countries now and therefore the eu will impose necessary checks. the legislation passed by the uk government only operates on the territory of the uk. the uk government has no mandate to tell the eu what to do which is the

problem because things can be business as usual in the uk but not on the other side and that is where exports go. professor, thank you. 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, down from nearly 190,000. but overall the net migration of people coming here from everywhere else is 270,000, still way above government targets. and you can find out more detail about what's in the government papers with our analysis on the bbc website — www. bbc. co. uk/politics. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers.

our guestsjoining me tonight are the author and journalist rachel shabi. and laura perrins — the co—editor of the conservative woman. the headlines on bbc news. the government sets out its advice for people and businesses on how to manage if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. the british—iranian woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is granted three days' temporary release from prison in iran. president trump warns that any attempt to impeach him would have severe consequences for the us economy. sport now and for a round up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. england winger chris ashton has been banned for seven weeks

after he received a red card for a tip tackle in sale sharks' preseason friendly against castres last week. ashton contested the charge of foul play, but was found guilty by an independent panel process and will miss the first six rounds of the premiership campaign. our rugby union reporter chris jones has more. u nless unless the panel dismissed the sighting he was always going to get a hefty ban because the lowest he could've got was six weeks because hea could've got was six weeks because he a dreadful record, in 2016 he had two bands, one for making contact with the eye area and another for biting and the panel added one week on. he argued he was provoked but the panel did not see that as appropriate, seven weeks, six rounds of the premiership and a big blow for his team who would have wanted

their star signing up for his team who would have wanted theirstarsigning up and for his team who would have wanted their star signing up and running and a dent in chris ashton‘s international aspirations given he returned from france with the purpose of getting back into the england mix for november internationals. celtic were held to a 1—1 draw after conceding another poor goal, in the first leg of their europa league play—off against suduva in lithuania. the game was just three minutes old when olivier ntcham nodded them in front against the lithuanian champions, but their frailties at the back were exposed ten minutes later. still lots of work to do in the second leg. elsewhere it's goalless between rangers against ufa, while burnley are losing 3—1 against olympiakos in the second half of that match. ben gibson sent off. hampshire's james vince is the only addition to the england squad ahead of the fourth test against india. the 27—year—old was dropped after the tour of new zealand in april but will now provide cover forjonny bairstow, who broke a finger in the defeat at trent bridge.

i think the question about vince, it will be his third chance and whether he has already had opportunities. he is only averaging below 25 in tests, so is only averaging below 25 in tests, so is he good enough at this level? he has been banging the door down, scoring 847 runs, averaging above 55 with county championships, james vince. probably his last chance but probably deserved. 31 years after his first winner, markjohnston has broken the all—time record number of british winners for a racehorse trainer. he has reached a record 4,194, at york's ebor festival today. and it was with the outsider — poet's society — ridden poet's society, ridden by frankie dettori — with a win in a handicap chase, to give the 58—year—old scot the record outright. he had been tied with richard hannon sr who retired five years ago. his first win came in 1987 and times have certainly changed in the sport since then.

my most abiding memory is coming home and watching teletext, just putting the results on teletext and having nothing else on the television all night. there was obviously no racing channels in those days. i had huge ambitions to train lots and lots of good winners. but i don't know if i was thinking about 4194. and just time to tell you that andy murray has just been drawn against the australian james duckworth in the first round of the us open, starting on monday. british number onejohanna konta has a tough start against french sixth seed caroline garcia. i'll have more on that draw and all the day's sport in sportsday at 10:30. you are making me no stout chick with talk of teletext and ceefax. 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. 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 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.

joining me now is tulip siddiq, labour mp for hampstead and kilburn, who is nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's local mp. this is wonderful news, but it is only three days. i spoke to richard ratcliffe a long time after we heard the news and it came as a surprise. we have been asking for a temporary release for a long time, whether it was the christmas, her daughter's fourth birthday, on the 11th of june, and we were denied over and over again so it is almost hard to believe she has been granted three days but i can tell you in two and a half years of being next to richard and campaigning, this is the happiest i have heard him. he saw

his wife for the first time in two and a half years on skype because i forget that he does get to speak to her on the phone from prison but people listen to the conversations and he cannot see what she looks like so when i spoke to him the first thing he said was, i saw my wife after two and a half years on skype. it must be a huge relief, not least to see that she is physically in reasonable health, but that cannot disguise the mental anguish she and the rest of the family have been going through and the supporters in the campaign you are involved in. how do you try to persuade the ukrainian authorities, having convicted her of the crime she says she did not commit, how do you persuade them this should be a permanent change, that that lease short of her coming back to the uk she should ease to be allowed to live openly in iran? her lawyer will

be going to try to negotiate a longerfurlough on be going to try to negotiate a longer furlough on saturday. as you have been told, it is only three days. with her daughter. not in prison. the lawyer will try to negotiate a longer release of furlough but there is no guarantee that will be granted. richard and i both agree the fact that the new foreign secretary jeremy both agree the fact that the new foreign secretaryjeremy hunt did say he was considering giving her diplomatic protection is probably one of the reasons this has happened. i will be the first to say i have been critical ofjeremy hunt in the past in his previous role, but i have to say it is very strong and strident from a foreign secretary to say he wants to give her, or is considering giving her

diplomatic protection, because it means she is treated as a british citizen, that there is recognition of the violation of her rights. this is what hasn't happened while she has been in prison. she has never been seen as british, she has always been seen as british, she has always been seen as iranian which means she has no access to consider services and the embassy. jeremy hunt saying this publicly, he would consider giving her diplomatic protection, it has made a big difference. thank you for joining has made a big difference. thank you forjoining us to talk about that good news. an application to join the conservative party by the leave.eu co—founder and former ukip donor arron banks has been turned down, according to the conservative party. mr banks and the pro—brexit group's communications director, andy wigmore, both announced on social media that they werejoining the tories.

but a conservative party spokesperson said this evening that their applications for membership had not been approved. earlier this week mr banks called on supporters of his pro—brexit leave.eu group to join the conservatives. well we can speak now to our political correspondent susana mendonca, who's following this story, for at westminster. this looked like an opportunity for the conservative family riven by the eu scenario, written in particular by the argument over whether to have a referendum in 2016 and the people who went off to join and found ukip, finally going home. why doesn't the party see it in that way? we had a conversation with the conservative party and a source said the reason they rejected this bid for membership is they think both arron banks and andy wigmore are people who would be likely to bring the

party into disrepute. it is clear the conservative party do not see them as the kind of people they want in the party. you touched on they we re in the party. you touched on they were people involved in the campaign to, one of the campaign groups pushing for britain to leave the eu in 2016 and in terms of that campaign, we know since then the electoral commission found this group is to have breached electoral rules and find it and andy wigmore and arron banks had to answer questions in front of mps around whether or not arron banks had links to russian businessmen and they deny that. they are people who have been in the news for those reasons and so not surprising they were turned down. the applications, i have seen the letter they say they have got from the conservatives saying they are members and andy wigmore told me

he received a warm letter saying he was a signed up member but important to know those messages are sent out automatically when someone signs up to bea automatically when someone signs up to be a member of the party and the party then has the right to revoke the membership. are they worried some of the things they have been saying on social media, they talked about trying to ensure it is a proper brexit the government delivers and they are the right kind of conservatives who are members come the next leadership election, that means they had an agenda that was about promoting that as much as it was about everything is happy again on the right of conservative policy? that is a concern for the conservatives, the idea peoplejoin your party in order to take the leadership in a certain direction. the labour party had peoplejoining that took it more to the left. if

you have people who support arron banksjoining, they you have people who support arron banks joining, they will take you more to the right and arron banks told grass—roots members of the group they should join the party to influence and vote for somebody who is more hardline brexit, somebody like jacob rees—mogg, boris johnson, that kind of idea is something that has raised concern in the party. we heard from william hague who spoke about how there was a risk if the party changed rules on how it elects leaders that potentially it could be swamped by new entrants and he was talking about the need to keep rules the same. there is no suggestion at the same. there is no suggestion at the moment the rules will change. the mps decide which people go on the shortlist and then the general population of the party vote on those people but the idea the party would be swamped by people who are

more to the right, people who want us more to the right, people who want us to have a harder brexit, that does not seem to be something in terms of these applications the party seems keen. thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather. it has been a cooler, fresher feel for all of us today and if anything, it is going to get cooler over the next few days. we have seen a band of rain moving southwards. that then clears away, but the show keep going in western scotland, northern ireland and over the irish sea. there will be a big difference in the temperatures compared with last night in the south—east. a semi—starved for many southern and eastern areas —— a sunny start for many southern and eastern areas. the blustery wind will push the showers further south and east. by the end

of the afternoon, those showers will be heavy with hail and thunder, and temperatures could be lower on friday. saturday looks generally dry, with fewer showers and more sunshine around. cloud and outbreaks of rain on sunday before it turns drier, brighter and warm—up on monday. —— warmer. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the government sets out its advice for people and businesses on how to manage if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. the british—iranian woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe

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 an overhaul to make the exams more demanding. let's return to our top story — and the government has published the first set of documents giving people and businesses advice on how to manage if the uk leaves the european union without a deal. releasing documents relating to 24 areas of the economy, the brexit secretary, dominic raab, stressed that no—deal was "unlikely". meanwhile, the chancellor, philip hammond has written to the chair of the treasury committee, nicky morgan, warning of "large fiscal consequences" in the event of a no—deal. joining me now is gareth wynjones, a beef and sheep hill farmer in north wales. i gather you have had a chance to look at the government website to

look at the government website to look at the government website to look at what this might mean for you. what have you made of what you read? really confusing. i had a quick scan of it. i haven't gone through everything. but it is just more bumpf, nothing we can build a foundation on. we are having a deal for something we are not going to have a deal or no deal. it is smoke and mirrors. it's really confusing. we are people who want to work the land and produce food, look after the environment, make sure the wildlife and countryside in the best shape. and all we are getting is all kinds of different information. how much of your lamb at the moment is exported to other eu countries outside of the uk? that is another big problem for us. 90% of the hill bmb big problem for us. 90% of the hill lamb goes over into europe. if we

don't get an open market, we could have real problems. italy, france, portugal, a lot of these countries ta ke portugal, a lot of these countries take ourlamb. if portugal, a lot of these countries take our lamb. if i was a farmer out there, i would take our lamb. if i was a farmer out there, iwould be take our lamb. if i was a farmer out there, i would be lobbying my parliament to say, look, let's stop theirlamb coming parliament to say, look, let's stop their lamb coming because it's a better product. let's put tariffs on it. it would be a devastating effect for us, because lamb is so much in demand in europe. even as members of the european union, that hasn't stopped things like that happening in the past. remember the beef ban and the things that were caught for beef farmers even though we were in the european union. i understand you voted to remain, but you accept the result of the referendum and now you accept what will happen, but you would like to know what it will mean for you, i guess. ivoted

would like to know what it will mean for you, i guess. i voted remain and i was for you, i guess. i voted remain and iwasa for you, i guess. i voted remain and i was a big believer in it. but the majority of people wanted to get out. so i was with these guys, the brexiteers, but when you read that kind of bumpf, we need some kind of structure. we need a person to drive this forward, all we are in deep trouble in this country. as an industry, our fabulous at producing stuff. we a re industry, our fabulous at producing stuff. we are brilliant wall are doing. and as a country, we are really stru ng doing. and as a country, we are really strung together. we need to pull together. but government has to be leading the way. these people are steering this ship. if they are not steering this ship. if they are not steering it in the right direction and giving the wrong messages, they are giving people problems and worries at night. we need to get the structure right. we need to drive forward and we needed to be positive. gareth, stay with us if you can while i talk to upload other

people who are affected by this. we will see if what they have to say chimes with your feelings and whether they can give you any reassurance. with me is ian wright, chief executive of the food and drink federation. we're alsojoined by rod mckenzie, managing director of policy and public affairs at the road haulage association. ian, do you share gareth‘s concern about the lack of clarity or is this going some way towards telling you what the government would like to see? i thought gareth put it very well. the point he made that we never hear in this conversation is the commercial advantage of people in europe of not doing a deal. we a lwa ys in europe of not doing a deal. we always hear that the europeans must doa always hear that the europeans must do a deal. no, they must. there is a commercial advantage for european farmers and european food manufacturers to not doing a deal because the brits over perform in the eu market and therefore, are

exports are at risk if we cannot find a deal. so i have sympathy with what he said. it's a great that the government has started to address the question of no deal. and as they do it, it becomes clear that it is a very grisly prospect. and one that the government says is not its preferred option. but it can only go so far unless the eu is prepared to meet it halfway. the perturbing fa cts meet it halfway. the perturbing facts about a lot of this, and it was put dominic raab this morning, i was put dominic raab this morning, i was there when he made what was actually a good speech and i am encouraged that you have a secretary of state who seems open to also conversations. has that not been the case in the past? well, they have not been quite as willing to accept the prospect of no deal. it is only seven months away. the clock is ticking so loudly now. we are not in injury time, we are now in extra time. but what worries me is this idea that the european union has to

be bought in to save the uk government from its own red lights. why would they? let me speak to rod mckenzie from the road haulage association. we were hearing from ian about a clock ticking. some people think it's a time bomb. what about in your industry? it is a good point. we have just about in your industry? it is a good point. we havejust been about in your industry? it is a good point. we have just been talking about extra time. i think we might be entering a penalty shoot out at the moment. it has come very much too little and very much too late. for the road haulage industry, the key business that moves 4 million lorries each way across the channel every year, the prospect is terrifying. if there is no deal, we are talking about queues in kent, the like of which we have never seen before. what about the argument the

government makes, which is that they will unilaterally make a decision if necessary not to impose any extra checks on your drivers coming backwards and forwards, and that if there are checks, they will be imposed by the eu, not by britain? well, the government says that. but our worry is that if you are a business in britain that is trying to trade via a lorry, it doesn't matter if the french don't do the same as we do and let all the lorries go, there will be chaos. and there will be chaos notjust on the french side, with lorries backed up there, there will be chaos on the other side. remember, a lorry can't move on to a ferry if the ferry is stuck on the other side because of queues. so unless there is a degree of mutual arrangement here, and i am talking about a deal, this is not going to go away. is this brinkmanship? if it is brinkmanship,

it looks very irresponsible to business. we have been saying for many months that the eu and uk governments need to stop grandstanding and they need to get down to substantive negotiations and we need a transition agreement that lasts for a couple of years to get us lasts for a couple of years to get us into the proper shape. there are things missing today that are not being talked about. what about permits that would allow us to go across the channel? at the moment, we trade under what is called a community licence, which means we can roll on and roll off, no checks everything is easy—peasy and no delays. we need permits if we are to sort that out and there is no sign of that in this document. ian, a lot of that in this document. ian, a lot of this debate was about getting back control. we were told we would get back control of our borders. do

you think people are surprised to hear that the government doesn't intend that to be any checks? presumably, checks is part of control. that is one of the problems. what rod said is important. the government can unilaterally decide not to have controls and health checks, plant safety checks, and i can say it is not going to have immigration checks or terrace. the trouble is, the queue starts a bit further on and on the other side. and if we are not going to be allowed into europe without those checks, there will be chaos. people will say two things was the one is that many businesses are now international businesses, so why aren't many of those lobbying is ha rd why aren't many of those lobbying is hard in brussels as they are doing interviews like you in the uk and putting pressure on those other governments? they are. that is happening. those businesses who do business in britain, there is no interest in this turning into chaos.

asa interest in this turning into chaos. as a consequence, they are lobbying in brussels. and more importantly, they are lobbying in their home capitals, be it in rome or paris or madrid or berlin. but it is important that people understand firstly the issue about the clock ticking and secondly about the practicalities. sorry to introduce a new subject, but today we heard all about customs checks and the new custom system. there are seven months to go before we introduce a massive new it system. everybody knows that governments are useless at bringing in it systems, and so our businesses. the idea that you can introduce a new it system with new customs paraphernalia and new checks seven months before it is supposed to go live, it is nonsense. we have been rolling out a new computer system for bbc news, and that has had various delays which are perfectly normal, because you

have to check things and some things don't work and you try again. if that happens, rod mckenzie, what does that mean for your members?m means chaos. on this customs system, with which again, we have seven months to go, the government is expecting people to hire customs experts to help their business. in other words, they are adding more cost to people's businesses. and time is money. this is even more chaotic. if the bbc has trouble introducing a new computer system in his newsroom, multiply that by many thousands of times and you have a real economic problem for uk businesses that is being inflicted upon them because of the lateness of these negotiations. let me give the last word to gareth wynjones in north wales. gareth, has anything you have heard from robert ian —— rod and ian offered you any reassurance? yeah, i think we are

all in the same boat together. we have all got a problem, whatever the business is. but britain is a fantastic country and we can do this. but we really have to work together. one thing i would like the government to listen to is to listen to people at the coalface. listen to people while working and producing these things and try to make a living. we want our families to be able to pay the bills. we want to pay our mortgages and live happily. we don't want to be multimillionaires, but we want it to be fair. so let's listen to the people. becks it was voted for —— brexit was voted for and we need something structural for every business. on the transition period, we are at that final whistle, a couple of months to go. maybe they should take their foot off the accelerator and let's do this slowly

so we accelerator and let's do this slowly so we have got something structural to go forward, instead of having this deadline and all this pressure wherever they might go wrong. gareth wyn jones wherever they might go wrong. gareth wynjones in llanfairfechan in north wales and rod mckenzie in kent and ian in the studio, thanks for being with us. if it's any consolation, the bbc news computer system is now working and we are running it now on the news channel. president trump has warned that any attempt to impeach him would have severe consequences for the us economy. in an interview with fox news, mr trump spoke of an economic crash if he was removed from office. he also discussed his relationship with his former lawyer michael cohen, who earlier this week told a court that he'd broken us electoral laws on the orders of mr trump. and he was asked about his former campaign manager paul manafort. i didn't know manafort well, he wasn't with the campaign long. they got him on things totally unrelated to the campaign. and by the way, they got cohen on totally unrelated to the campaign. i'm not involved, i wasn't

charged with anything. people don't like to say that, but i wasn't charged. i don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a greatjob? i'll tell you what, if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash. i think everybody would be very poor because without this thinking, you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe — in reverse. and president trump was also asked in that same fox news interview whether he had any sympathy for his former campaign manager. are you considering pardoning paul manafort? i have great respect for what he's done in terms of what he's gone through. you know, he worked for ronald reagan for years. he worked for bob dole. i guess his firm worked for mccain. he worked for many, many people for many, many years, and i would say what he did, some of the charges they threw against him, every consultant, every lobbyist in washington probably does. also this evening,

the us attorney general jeff sessions has become involved in a public row with donald trump, after the president again attacked his handling of the russia investigation. our correspondent chris buckler is in washington. the relationship was very warm between these two men? yeah, but there have been moments whenjeff sessions has faced donald trump's i are very publicly. that was the case again today in that interview with fox news, in whichjeff sessions, he said, had only been appointed because he had been part of the campaign, suggesting that he had been appointed almost as a matter of loyalty. jeff sessions has also been criticised on several occasions for not, in mrtrump's criticised on several occasions for not, in mr trump's view, getting a handle on the special counsel investigation being led by robert mulligan to those allegations of interference in the 2016 election, allegedly by russia. in this statement from jeff sessions, he has

hit back extremely hard. he has said, while i am attorney general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. that is a direct message to the president. he has also gone on to defend those who work in the department ofjustice the investigators. he describes them of the best the world. it's a real sense that with this difficult week that donald trump has had, the attorney general has felt it is important for him, but also he has been able to strike back at donald trump and say, hands off the special counsel investigation. it will continue. do not get involved in that. chris buckler, thanks very much. 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 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest. the overall pass mark of a 4, 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 9 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. if 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. a bicycle hire firm is threatening to pull out of manchester because of an increase in theft and vandalism. mo—bike 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 10% 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 that 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. britain's longest—serving poppy seller has died at the age of 103 — nine days after being presented with her mbe. rosemary powell had spent 97 years collecting for the royal british legion — after first helping her mother sell poppies on richmond bridge for the very first poppy appeal in 1921, at the age of six. earlier this year, she said she'd be hanging up her tin for the final time, and was included in this year's queen's birthday honours list for her remarkable service to the legion. she herself had known the cost

of war: four of her uncles died in the first world war; another was a lifelong invalid from afghanistan in 1914. let's see what the weather prospects are. it has felt cooler and fresher for all of us today and make it even chillier over the coming few days. we have some showers tonight. those will retreat towards the north—west, scotla nd will retreat towards the north—west, scotland and northern ireland. for many southern and eastern areas, it will be dry and clear with a north—westerly breeze. significant drop in temperature tonight compared with last night in the south—east. single figures elsewhere. so a

cooler start, with increasing amounts of cloud and increasing amounts of cloud and increasing amounts of cloud and increasing amounts of showers. a blustery wind will push the showers east through the day. if anything, temperatures tomorrow may be a shade lower than today. on saturday, we have fewer showers and more sunshine. still not that one, but it will be warmer than on sunday, when there will be cloud and outbreaks of rain around. but it should become drier, brighter and a little bit warmer for bank holiday monday. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. the uk government outlines contingency plans for a no—deal brexit — telling british businesses to plan for customs checks, and drug makers to stock up on extra supplies. bit is not what we want and not what we expect but we must be ready. donald trump's coming out fighting in defence of his presidency, and he's even addressing the possibility of impeachment i don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a greatjob. i'll tell you what,

if i ever got impeached, i think the market would crash. a british woman held in iran gets temporary release from jail, and is reunited with her daughter — her family want her freed for good. and we'll be talking about australian politics —