the biggest shake—up for a0 years, says the government, as it unveils its post—brexit immigration policy. people from all over the world will be allowed to come and work in the uk based on their skills, rather than where they're from. we are absolutely not closing our doors. we are simply making sure that we have control over who comes through them. also tonight — angry scenes in parliament as the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, appears to mouth "stupid woman" at the prime minister. they are not impressed, and neither is the country... mr corbyn later told mps he'd said "stupid people" — not "woman". as the government hints that the roll—out of universal credit could be delayed again, we look at the impact of welfare reforms in the north east of england. i didn't stop working because i'm lazy. ijust need help now. undeterred laughter hurdle,

co nsta ntly, a nd undeterred laughter hurdle, constantly, and it's too much. —— and it's hurdle after hurdle. china's creeping influence across the globe — we have a special report as it's named as america's number—one security threat. old marley was dead — dead as a doornail. one of charles dickens' best—loved stories, a christmas carol, turns 175 years old today. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, we'll bring you all the details from tonight's league cup quarterfinals, including the north london derby between arsenal and tottenham. good evening. one of the key reasons that millions of people voted to leave the european union was to get immigration under control. today, the government set out its post—brexit plans in

what it says is the biggest change in immigration policy for decades. in the long term, those who the government describe as low—skilled workers from eu countries will no longer have the automatic right to work here. but under the proposed plans, so—called low—skilled workers from all over the world would be allowed to come for up to a year. the cap on the number of high—skilled workers coming here will be scrapped, with skilled workers needing a possible minimum salary requirement of £30,000. current net long—term migration, that's the difference between those arriving in the country and those leaving, was 273,000 between june 2017 and 2018. that's down compared to previous years. the prime minister insisted the government will stick to its target of under 100,000. but the last time that happened was over 20 years ago. the proposed new rules won't be phased in until 2021, as our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. in factories, firms, towns and cities,

in our daily lives, british and european citizens live and work side by side. staff at this company in salford know it's going to change. i think having some sort of system is always a good idea. we're 17 different nationalities, and probably english are the minority. i came as a not fully qualified or educated person and started working on the bottom of the food chain. the boss is worried shifting the system will mean more hurdles for him. we've got people of all colours, all creeds, all nationalities, and it's a fantastic melting pot of skills. anything thatjeopardises, anthing dilutes that we would be very much against. there won't be an end to immigration, but our exit from the eu means she has a chance to change the controls. people voted to leave the european union,

they voted for change. they wanted us to take back full control of our borders, and for the first time in decades we will be ensuring that it is the uk government that sets the rules for who can come here. this is far from a straightforward crackdown on comings and goings. there won't be a limit on who can come if they have a high level of skills and can get highly paid jobs. that level‘s yet to be set. and there's no plan for a cap on the number of less qualified workers who could come for a year. but a lot is on the move, because while we're in the eu, people from all over the continent have been allowed to move here for good, and that works the other way round. ministers are sketching out these big changes because of brexit, because of how we voted as a country in 2016. right now, people from all over the eu — whetherfrom poland or portugal, spain or slovakia — have the same rights to come and live and work here as we do. but that will come to an end, and people from any part of the world will have to

jump through the same hoops to live and work in the uk. and even inside the government, there's tension over how tight the new system should be. you might remember the tory‘s promise they'd get immigration down to under 100,000. but the home secretary didn't sound so keen on that today. there are no targets in this white paper. it is a system that is designed to help bring net migration down overall, but there are no targets that are set. he cannot talk about an outward—looking global britain, and meeting the needs of society and employers, he cannot do that and also be part of a government with a rhetoric of cracking down on migration. for the prime minister, these changes are part of keeping the promises of brexit — even though the government's own plans suggest the measures might hit the economy. decisions perhaps based on today's politics,

rather than what we can know about the years ahead. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. so what impact will the government's new immigration system have on the people who are already here working? and will the new measures be enough for those who wanted tighter controls on migrants? our home editor, mark easton, reports from folkstone, which voted to leave. crossing the uk border. after brexit and the end to free movement to and from the eu, who should be allowed to drive, say, through the channel tunnel, to live and work in the uk? the reason the government's immigration policy is now more than 18 months late is that the government simply can't agree on what should happen at the border, like right here on the channel tunnel. so is it about cutting numbers or what's best for business? today, the answers are belatedly emerging from the darkness. high—skilled workers will be welcomed, low—skilled workers will be able to come for a short time.

there's no target on cutting net migration. so in folkestone, where the tunnel surfaces, a town that voted emphatically to leave the eu, how do locals here view the proposals? i don't think anybody‘s got any problem if... well, me personally, if anyone wants to come over here and work for a living, they're welcome. can i ask you which way you voted in the referendum? i voted the same as last time — out. out? out. i think we should get the numbers down, but the ones that should be here working and making good in the nhs and things like that should be encouraged to come in. i think we should cut them all! that sounds awful, i know. you think it's about numbers, do you? yes, yes, absolutely. this hospital is particularly concerned about the idea of a ban on eu workers earning less than £30,000 a year. javierfrom spain is a nurse — so is monica from portugal. petronella from romania is a nursing assistant.

none earn more than £30,000. we'd be very concerned about the impact of an arbitrary salary cap. pay is not a proxy for skill level. this is what freedom of movement looks like now. these young dancers are very unlikely to earn anything like £30,000 a year. if the eu members of this troupe were no longer here, the few remaining british would dance alone. professional dance companies at the higher level in this country employ something like 30—35% eu nationals, and if they were unable to recruit those people because of the barriers to visas and salaries, those companies would be decimated. the birth of this policy has been difficult, and it may not be over yet. there's further consultation, of course, it has to navigate its way through both houses of parliament, and perhaps most importantly, any free—trade deal negotiated after brexit may well include special opt—outs and deals on immigration — not least the one with the eu.

controlling immigration is about balance. fewer foreign workers here, most economists agree, will make the country poorer. but brexit has given voice to those who want to see far lower numbers. mark easton, bbc news. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has denied calling the prime minister a "stupid woman" during prime minister's questions this afternoon. he was caught on camera appearing to mouth the words during heated exchanges at the despatch box. it caused angry scenes in parliament. mr corbyn later returned to the commons and said he had, in fact, said "stupid people". 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, reports. rowdy scenes in the house of commons, nothing new there, but this went way beyond the usual heated exchanges. order! calm down! asjeremy corbyn left the chamber, conservative mps accused him of misogyny, and this is what they'd witnessed minutes before.

oh, yes, he is! oh, no, he isn't! theresa may with a seasonal pantomime—themed attack on the labour leader... look behind you! they‘ re not impressed, and neither is the country. jeremy corbyn looked furious, and then this... he insists he muttered "stupid people". plenty of others think he said "stupid woman." the prime minister's team had to quickly explain to her what they'd seen. everybody in this house, particularly in this 100th year of anniversary of women getting the vote should be aiming to encourage women to come into this chamber. tory mps leapt to their feet. i saw it, sir — i saw him say it. he muttered words which were quite clearly visible, accusing the prime minister being a "stupid woman". disgraceful! conservative mps and ministers tried and failed to persuade the speaker to watch the video footage circulating on social media.

then a jaw—dropping moment, as the speaker himself came under attack. ..why it is that when an opposition member found that you had called me a "stupid woman", you did not apologise in this chamber. no, no, no... mr bercow said he'd dealt with that matter months ago. all political parties say they want to do more to encourage women to take part in politics, but parliament has struggled to deal with accusations of sexism and inappropriate behaviour. today, jeremy corbyn found himself in the firing line. jeremy corbyn. this afternoon, he had to come back to the commons to explain himself to mp5. i referred to those who i believe were seeking to turn a debate about the national crisis facing our country into a pantomime as "stupid people". mr speaker, i did not use the words "stupid woman". senior labour figures say this was a phoney row

contrived by the conservatives. of course, everyone else will make up their own minds. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. a labour mp is facing a possible jail sentence after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice following a trial at the old bailey. fiona 0nasanya, who's been the mp for peterborough since 2017, lied to police to avoid a speeding charge. the 35—year—old solicitor was accused of colluding with her brother about the incident last summer. a labour spokesman said she has been suspended from the party and should resign as an mp. the european commission has published a series of contingency measures designed to limit what it calls the most significant damage that would be caused by a no—deal brexit. the measures include temporarily allowing british airlines to operate flights into and out of the eu but not within in it. hauliers will be able to carry freight by road into the eu for a nine—month period without having to apply for permits. uk financial services regulations

— in a limited number of areas — would be recognised as equivalent to the eu's for up to two years. the commission also urged states to take a "generous" approach to the rights of uk citizens in the eu following a no—deal brexit, provided that was reciprocated. 0ur berlin correspondent, jenny hill, reports on how a no—deal brexit might affect germany and asks if they're prepared. in the festive capitals of europe, goodwill is in short supply. this the season to prepare for the worst. germany's small businesses uncertain how to prepare for no—deal, when your british customers bring in 10,000 euros a month and expect delivery within two days of order. translation: we are not prepared. many businesses are not prepared. we have to do everything ourselves. we need information,

to be actively briefed. instead, i feel the government is waiting and hoping for a soft brexit. britain's last—minute diplomacy dash yielded warm words but no concessions. angela merkel remains optimistic that the brexit deal will succeed, but she is now also making plans in case it doesn't. i believe germany's woefully unprepared, the government still says that it believes in the deal being ratified in the house of commons. well, looking at the political situation in the house of commons, we see no majority in the tories, and with a prime minister who has to implement something that she probably doesn't even believe in. it's a little bit like theresa in wonderland, boris johnson as the march hare. there's much at stake, not least for the german car industry — britain's its biggest export market. but when the man who represents the industry sits down with angela merkel,

he doesn't lobby for a softer approach to britain. the first priority for us is that the remaining 27 member states stay together, and that has to be the first priority, and not making concessions that invite others to go the same way as the uk is going. brexit has stirred many emotions in the heart of germany — sorrow, frustration, confusion, and what the germans really can't abide, uncertainty. perhaps that is why so many here now want britain to either get on with it and leave — or even change its mind and stay. jenny hill, bbc news, berlin. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has hinted that the roll—out of universal credit could be delayed yet again to ensure the system works properly. all claimants were due to be on the benefit, which merges six welfare payments into one, by december 2023. but there have been complaints about the slowness of paying those who claim it.

hartlepool in the north east of england has been hit hard by the extent of the welfare changes since 2010. in the second of our series looking at the impact of public sector cuts, our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports on the unintended consequences of welfare reform. welfare reform was not meant to make a poor town poorer. me, i'm living on nothing at the moment. i don't live day to day. i live hour to hour. a drive to get everybody into work should not be causing evictions. at the moment, i'd rather keep the house empty and pay council tax than push somebody in who won't pay the rent. a system that is here to help should not appear heartless. i didn't stop working because i'm lazy. ijust need help now. in hartlepool, people once queued for work. today, they queue for food. at this church each

thursday, the poor take the place of parishioners. helping in january because we didn't have food for three days. many have suffered and of its actions or delays. what started last year as a meal for 15 is now feeding more than 100. in the first 32 minutes, 120 people came through the door, so we ran out of bags. in 2010, there were no soup kitchens of food banks in hartlepool. today, there are nine. how much money do you have right now? nothing. i haven't got any family or friends i am here on my own with one friend who doesn't have any nothing. she and rob live in this flat. two care leavers, friends since childhood, they are struggling to live without universal credit. if you could call it a kitchen. that

is the whole food cupboard. kelly was sanctioned for missing an appointment while visiting her family in tyneside. nothing. what did you have in here? white goods. cooker, microwave, bed, washer. i've got loads of toiletries but i couldn't use them because i had no hot water. but how will you get food for the next few weeks? 0ne one thing about me and him. we are survivors. while they eke by, others have become desperate. on a recent patrol in hartlepool, police say that petty thieves have blamed their crimes on delays with universal credit payments. in the last year, i've seen probably about half a dozen people who have been arrested on suspicion of theft and said the reason they are stealing was to feed themselves because of this new universal credit. universal credit usually covers rent and living expenses and can amount to more than £1,000 per month,

more money than some have ever known. the temptation to spend can be overwhelming. in the last year we've had evictions for 15 to 20. all of them were universal credit. kevin owns nearly 200 properties in hartlepool and has always had tenants on housing benefit paid directly to him, but the new system pays rent direct claimants, forcing kevin to evict and blacklist people. we've got 200 300 people we can't take because of the universal credit. and this is new? just the last year. the government say advance payments are available with universal credit so nobody has to go without money. the public have broadly supported welfare cuts since 2010 and the new system is less generous, more arduous. the last seven years of my life... this woman has been navigating the payments system since her husband died in april,

and his sudden death from cancer meant she had applied for universal credit. in those six days of him passing away, i was at thejobcentre seven times in total. haley was penalised for having a spare bedroom then told she'd lose disability payments. her experience highlights how the system worked, the changes made since 2010 but, for hayley, it's been a living hell. it's too much. you think, i've worked looking after other people for 20 years. i didn't stop working because i am lazy. ijust need help now. and you just... it is hurdle after hurdle constantly, and it's too much. no one has been immune from welfare reform,

but its impact has been uneven. the problems in hartlepool will be recognised in many other struggling towns. the united states has begun to withdraw its 2,000 troops from syria saying they could all return home within 100 days. president trump said the islamic state group had now been defeated in syria — a claim strongly rejected by the british government, which tonight said there remains much to be done to tackle the threat of is. 0ur north america editorjon sopel is at the white house for us tonight. so president trump's decision comes as something of a surprise then? that is an understatement. normally with decisions like this it requires planning and co—ordination, notjust with departments, but with allies like britain and france and with capitol hiv. —— capitol hill. you

had the national security advisor saying the us won't leave syria until iran leaves. you had the defence department saying isis is not defeated and there is work to be done. the state department said we are not complete in our work, it will be some time before we can pull out. the reaction as you might imagine has been swift about this. marco rubio says the decision to pull out of syria was made despite overwhelming military advice against it and it is a major blunder and will haunt this administration and the us for years. donald trump's closest ally in the senate said it isa closest ally in the senate said it is a gift to isis. there has been a white house briefing on this and the spokeswoman when asked, when will the first troops leave, she wasn't able to say. of course, there are big questions with all of this. the

kurds who are fight with the americans, are they going to be abandoned and exposed to the turks? where does this leave iran and russia who now seem to have syria to themselves. there are a lot of questions tonight. and very few a nswe i’s. questions tonight. and very few answers. thank you. let's take a look at some of today's other news. millions of loyal customers are being "ripped off" by companies that provide mobiles, broadband, savings, home insurance and mortgage deals. that's the verdict of the competition watchdog. it says by staying loyal, most people losing around £900 a year. the high street bank santander has been fined nearly £33 million for failing to process properly the accounts of customers who'd died. the financial conduct authority found that the bank had failed to transfer money to beneficiaries. santander said it was ‘very sorry‘ for the mistakes, which affected more than 40,000 customers. manchester united have appointed their former striker

0le gunnar solskjaer as caretaker manager for the rest of the season. solskjaer spent 11 seasons at the club, scoring the winning goal in the champions league final in 1999. he'll replace jose mourinho, who was sacked yesterday. china is america's number one national security threat — a far greater worry than russia. that's according to one of america's most senior intelligence officials. it comes amid growing pressure on beijing from washington amid claims of economic espionage. but the threat extends beyond that even to hollywood and the influence china is exerting there as our security correspondent gordon corera reports. so is is what we would call our "wall of shame", which is a depiction of the individuals over time here in the us that have really betrayed our country. bill evanina is america's top spy—catcher. outside his office in the country's intelligence headquarters are reminders of those who have betrayed america's secrets over the years. but he's clear where he sees

the threat coming from today. china is number one by farand i think espionage is a part of that. from where you sit, do you see china as a greater threat than russia ? yes, i think russia has its own skill sets with respect of threat to our national security, but it pales in comparison to the national security threat posed by china. washington says chinese spies have been stealing secrets to grow their economy. this china spy, xu yanjun, is awaiting trial in america. he is accused of stealing aviation secrets to help chinese companies. general electric aviation in america spent decades developing hi—tech material for engines. xu is alleged to have enticed an american engineer to come to china, asking him to prepare plane tickets and put material on a hard drive. when xu met the engineer in europe to pick up more secrets, he was arrested. it is notjust regular spies the us worries about though. they use scientists, engineers,

businessman, any types of walk of life. theft of research from universities is a particular concern. but washington is worried notjust how china gains economic power, but also how it then wields it, particularly in trying to shut down discussions of subjects it considers sensitive — like tibet or taiwan. their influence on activities in the us are very prolific and they are around the globe. i think the influence part of that is a security risk, it is part of a slippery slope, where you have self—censorship and a free society. concerns extend beyond washington. in austin texas, the university went through a divisive debate this year, rejecting significant new funding, because of concerns it risked chinese communist party influence. and the concerns over censorship even extend to hollywood. i see through you! the 2016 hit dr strange featured a british actress playing a character who had originally been tibetan, a decision partly taken to avoid

offending china. i pushed your astral form out of your physical form. at his home in austin, the film's screenwriter said no one told him what to do, but china does shape how people think. as a screenwriter, you start talking about things with other writers and go, "oh, well i'm thinking of doing this," so it's like, "well, you can do that, but you will have to cut that out china, because china's a very big market now, it's very large." what you're talking about is self—censorship, rather than censorship, where someone's telling you what to do. yeah, no, absolutely. in the uk, there are similar concerns, but spoken more quietly. in terms of espionage, a former engineer from rolls—royce is currently under police investigation for allegedly passing information to china. he has reportedly denied the claims and has not been charged. and there are concerns at universities about the way in which chinese money and influence can restrict the ability to discuss certain topics. there are serious concerns around western academic

communities about how the chinese presence in western academies are discouraging a critical discussion of certain issues sensitive to the chinese regime. for example, the so—called three ts — the three ts that are tibet, are taiwan and are tiananmen square. washington is determined to confront china over espionage and influence. britain, keen on main training trade ties, has been less vocal, but it soon may be forced to choose. the artist banksy has confirmed that a new graffiti piece that has appeared in south wales is his. the work — on the side of a garage in port talbot — has predictably attracted a lot of interest since its appearance. the owner of the garage says he hasn't slept for fear it might be vandalised. one of charles dickens' best—loved stories, a christmas carol,

is 175 years old today. the story of scrooge, the miser who is forced to become compassionate by ghosts, was written in condemnation of the child poverty that dickens saw around him. the first edition, published in december 1843, immediately sold out and the tale has captivated people ever since. david sillito reports. # god rest you merry gentleman... marley was dead. to begin with, there was no doubt whatever about that. the register of his burial had been signed by the clerk. a christmas carol. simon callow is at the moment performing it onstage twice a day in this, its anniversary year. i'm holding this very gently because this is an original, a christmas carol, published exactly 175 years ago and they all sold out within five days. and while it would be going too far to say dickens invented a victorian christmas, he certainly, for millions of us, defined what christmas should be.

he certainly gave christmas a meaning which it had not had before. he says, "it is the only time in the long calendar of the year that i know of that men and women open their closed up hearts freely and think of those below them as fellow passengers to the grave." a christmas carol by charles dickens. who are you? what do you want? the story of scrooge and his night of ghostly encounters goes down through the generations. what do you want with me? much. there have over the years been 73 film and tv adaptations and marking today's anniversary, a display at the london pall mall gallery.