Immigration plan, processed meat and ‘cashless’ warning

A skills-based system will be introduced that will treat migrants equally, regardless of whether they’re from inside the EU or outside. The cap on high-skilled workers such as doctors and engineers – currently set at 20,700 – will be scrapped. And remember the long-promised-but-never-reached target of cutting net migration to less than 100,000 a year? It’s been left out, but the government says it is still committed to it.

Wrangling over the paper continued until the 11th hour. Some ministers, including the chancellor, were worried that a proposed £30,000 minimum salary for migrant workers would harm the economy – leave farmers without crop pickers or care homes without staff, for example. But Theresa May argued it was an example of how the government was honouring the referendum result. In the end, though, a compromise figure was eventually reached.

Speaking of the economy, five big business organisations have issued a joint statement warning there isn’t enough time to prevent severe disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Too much salt can raise blood pressure and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. In 2014, Public Health England asked retailers, manufacturers, restaurants, cafes and pub chains to cut the amount in their products, but it appears they’ve done better with some than others. There’s still too much salt in processed meats such as sausages and bacon, and in ready meals, PHE says. Breakfast cereals, baked beans and pizzas, though, did meet the voluntary targets. How much salt is too much? Read more.

Cash use has halved in the past 10 years, but the report says those in rural communities would struggle without it because alternative ways of paying are hampered by poor broadband or mobile connectivity. So too would some people with physical or mental health problems who find it hard to use digital services. Debt could also rise, the report adds, because budgeting is easier with cash. Sweden has experienced some of those very problems – read more.

By John Simpson, BBC World Affairs editor

China is flexing its muscles. As the second richest economy in the world, its businessmen and politicians are involved just about everywhere in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Now, though, China is taking a big interest in a very different part of the world: the Arctic. It has started calling itself a “near-Arctic” power, even though Beijing is almost 3,000km (1,800 miles) from the Arctic Circle. It has bought or commissioned several ice-breakers – including nuclear-powered ones – to carve out new routes for its goods through the Arctic ice.

Several papers pick up on news that more than 3,000 troops are on standby in case of a no-deal Brexit. The Daily Mail calls for an outbreak of common sense in Brussels and Westminster – otherwise Project Fear could soon become Project Here. The Times reports that a number of key Conservative policy pledges, including social care reforms, are to be shelved while no-deal preparations are intensified. The Daily Telegraph leads on a call from the former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab for businesses to be given tax breaks to help them weather a no-deal storm. Every front page also carries a picture of sacked Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. “Waste of space” is the headline on the back page of the Sun, which says club executives were sick of him moaning about his £400m team. Simon Kuper, in the Financial Times, concludes that “the special one” has proven an ancient footballing rule that pioneers always get surpassed.

Today Inquest verdict due into the death of Russian businessman Alexander Perepilichnyy, who died in mysterious circumstances outside his Surrey home in 2012

0700 The competition watchdog publishes its final report and recommendations following an inquiry into whether customers are being routinely disadvantaged for showing loyalty

1984 Britain signs an agreement to return Hong Kong to China after 155 years of colonial rule