James Gregory

It's been another busy day of campaigning as polling day edges ever nearer. Before we leave you today, let's take a look at what the main parties were up to.

The big news story of the day was the continued reaction to comments made by a Reform UK party campaigner in Nigel Farage's Clacton seat (full list of candidates here) which were exposed in a Channel 4 investigation.

Throughout the course of the day, Farage insisted the man at the centre of the investigation was an actor and it had been a "set-up". Channel 4 says it stands by its "rigorous and and impartial journalism".

He continued to defend himself during a BBC Question Time special. Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay also appeared on that show, and was questioned on transport infrastructure, immigration and comments made by some of his candidates.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned a racist term used about him by the campaigner, saying: "It hurts and it makes me angry."

In the last BBC Panorama interview with party leaders, Ed Davey defended the Lib Dems' approach to housebuilding.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer was on various BBC outlets this morning. He told BBC Breakfast his priority was to stabilise the economy.

The SNP's John Swinney appeared on the programme minutes earlier, defending his party's record in Holyrood and maintaining "this is not a moment for spending cuts".

We're now entering the last weekend of the campaign and tomorrow the main parties will be marking Armed Forces Day.

Do the ‘vast majority’ of small boat migrants not qualify as refugees?published at 22:51 British Summer Time 28 June

22:51 BST 28 June

By Lucy Gilder

Speaking earlier on Question Time about migrants in small boats, Nigel Farage said: “I promise you the vast majority of these young men crossing the English Channel do not, and never would, have qualified as refugees.”

But his claim that the vast majority do not qualify as refugees is not supported by government figures.

They show that 67% of asylum applications by men (aged 18-24) who arrived by small boat were granted refugee status in recent years. , external

This figure refers to asylum applications that received a decision - excluding withdrawn applications - between January 2018 and March 2024.

Since 20 July 2023, when the Illegal Migration Bill became law, there have been no grants of asylum to anyone who arrived by small boat on or after this date.

Image source, PA Media

A big theme of tonight's questions to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage centred around comments made by party campaigners (who were caught on camera making racial slurs) as well as offensive comments made by some candidates.

He also faced questions on his immigration policies, his party's pledges on tax, and medicine shortages.

Here are some of the key moments from his time on BBC's Question Time leaders' special tonight:

• Straight away, Farage was asked why Reform UK "attracts racists and extremists". Farage insisted he had done more to drive the far right out of British politics than "anyone alive"
• He reiterated his claim that Andrew Parker - the man at the centre of the Channel 4 investigation - was an an actor and it was a "total and utter set-up" (Channel 4 said earlier it stood by "our rigorous and impartial journalism")
• He was also asked why candidates who had made offensive comments, to which he repeated his position that Reform had problems with a vetting company it had hired
• Farage was pressed on his plans to stop small boats crossing the English Channel, claiming the UK needed to leave the "meddling court in Strasbourg" - or the European Court of Human Rights - and if it came to it the Royal Marines will "take them back to the beaches"

• On tax, Farage said he wants to lift the threshold at which people start paying tax to £20,000 per year
• One audience member, a doctor, raised the issue of medication shortages since Brexit because of supply chain issues. Farage said the UK could now buy drugs from "anywhere"

Image source, PA Media

Sacrifices or gains?

Right from the off, Ramsay was pressed on his policies - with the audience asking what they needed to sacrifice to hit the party's pledges. Ramsay pushed back, saying the UK needed "big changes" in the NHS, schooling and nature. It's about gains, not sacrifices, he said.

Ending petrol and diesel cars

The Greens are pledging to end the use of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035, external - how would they compensate for that? Ramsay talked of a scrappage scheme, but wouldn't be drawn into specifics.

Trains and planes

He was pushed on plans to ban domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train. Trains should be cheaper than flights, Ramsay said, which would be achieved by “bringing the railways back into public ownership”.

China and India

Ramsay said the UK should produce more goods domestically, and has a global role to play, when pushed on China and India's carbon footprint relative to the UK's.

A 'world without borders'

He defended the party manifesto's reference to a "world without borders", saying the UK benefits "economically and socially" from migration. But he said a world without borders was a "long-term vision".

Candidates' Israel-Gaza comments

Bruce pushed him on some of the Green Party candidates who have made comments about the Israel-Gaza conflict, including one who said the 7 October attack by Hamas was orchestrated by Israel. Ramsay said he didn't support their views, and concerns were being investigated by the party.

Does the UK have the leakiest homes in Europe?published at 21:51 British Summer Time 28 June

21:51 BST 28 June

By Mark Poynting, BBC Verify

Talking earlier about people’s high energy bills, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay pointed to the UK having the “leakiest homes in Europe and we haven't insulated them”.

It is true that UK homes typically lose heat more quickly than their European neighbours - in some cases up to three times as fast, external.

That increases the energy needed to maintain comfortable room temperatures in winter, meaning higher energy bills and more greenhouse gas emissions.

Part of the reason is the UK’s housing stock, which is among the oldest in Europe.

Another reason is poor rates of insulation fitting. These fell sharply in England in the second-half of the 2010s after former Prime Minister David Cameron cut funding for green schemes.

Last year, the government introduced the Great British Insulation Scheme in England, Scotland and Wales, to help cover the cost of better insulation in about 300,000 of the poorest-performing homes.

However, in September, Rishi Sunak scrapped regulations that would have required landlords to meet minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes.

This move “will lead to higher household energy bills”, the independent Climate Change Committee said, external.

What is the Green Party’s policy on petrol and diesel cars?published at 21:19 British Summer Time 28 June

21:19 BST 28 June

By Mark Poynting

A little earlier Adrian Ramsay was asked how much the Greens would pay for people scrapping a petrol or diesel car.

Ramsay didn’t give a figure, as my colleague Hannah Miller said in the previous post. But his party has pledged to end new petrol and diesel vehicle sales by 2027 and to end their use entirely by 2035. This goes far beyond other parties.

Under other parties, people could continue to drive their current cars, or buy second hand petrol or diesel vehicles. The same would not be true under the Greens.

The Greens say their more radical approach is needed given the urgency of tackling climate change and improving air quality.

But there will inevitably be concerns around costs.

Electric vehicles are getting cheaper, and could be as cheap as an equivalent petrol or diesel later this decade.

The Greens have pledged an “extensive scrappage scheme” to help people make the switch, for which they have pledged £5bn per year by the end of the Parliament.

Hannah Miller
Political correspondent

The very first question to Adrian Ramsay summed up the challenge the Greens face trying to convince people who might sympathise with their commitment to the environment, but feel they can’t afford to make expensive choices.

The party wants to scrap all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, and Ramsay couldn’t answer exactly how people would be recompensed for that.

Any party in government would have to come up with an answer, but the Greens are unlikely to end up in that position.

Policies such as this are ambitious, and the party is proud of their ambition. They think voters want to see more of it from political leaders.

Is the UK the fourth biggest exporter after Brexit?published at 21:08 British Summer Time 28 June

21:08 BST 28 June

By Anthony Reuben

A little earlier, Nigel Farage was asked about the UK leaving the European Union and said: “We've gone from the day we voted Brexit to now, from being the world's seventh biggest exporter to the world's fourth biggest exporter.”

This is a claim that BBC Radio 4’s More or Less has been looking into.

The key point is that the UK has only reached fourth place if you include gold, and the Office for National Statistics, which compiles the trade figures, warns, external precious metals "can be large and highly volatile, distorting underlying trends in goods exports and imports”.

Emily Fry, from the Resolution Foundation think tank, has explained that this gold is mostly the sort that sits in vaults and is traded without necessarily moving it between countries.

She has pointed out that once you exclude gold, the UK drops to being the sixth biggest exporter.

That was a whirlwind hour with both Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay and Reform leader Nigel Farage grilled by the Question Time audience.

Stick with us for analysis.

Image source, PA Media

Next, an audience member says the Green Party (who we just heard from) is "full of hope, but what I get from you is fear - does it bother you?"

Farage insists he wants to help the the poorest in society economically and psychology.

He adds that he wants small business to be free from regulation to become more profitable

He says Labour will win the election and he's offering a positive platform - but that Britain is “broken”.

Next up, an audience member asks: How much better off are you because of the taxes you don't have to pay after Brexit? It's met with applause from the room.

"I'm not," responds Farage, and adds that everyone is worse off because the tax burden has risen so much for working people.

He claims that everyone will be "paying more tax" under a Labour or Conservative government.

• You can compare the parties' pledges on tax in our interactive manifesto tool here

Another audience member - a doctor in the NHS, who says her parents migrated to the UK - raises the issue of medication shortages since Brexit because of supply chain issues.

"As someone we have to thank for Brexit, what do you propose we do about this?"

Farage says he wasn't blaming migrants for problems in the NHS, he was blaming the population "explosion".

Bruce pushes him on the question about medication shortages.

Farage says the UK has been freed from the European Medicines Agency, and as a result the UK's vaccine rollout during Covid was faster. This isn't quite right, as our colleagues in BBC Verify looked into before here.

"We can buy drugs from anywhere in the world," Farage says.

"It's not working," the doctor hits back.

Farage says he wants to lift the threshold at which people start paying tax to £20,000 per year.

Bruce challenges Farage on this point, and that under Reform's pledges on tax, the top 10% of households would receive 28p per pound, but the bottom 10% would only get 2p per pound.

Farage says this is wrong in percentage terms, claiming the lowest income people will receive more.

• More detail on that tax pledge - Reform says it would raise the minimum amount someone earns before paying income tax from £12,570 to £20,000 a year, and the threshold for the 40% rate from £50,270 to £70,000.

Could migrants in small boats be returned to France?published at 20:53 British Summer Time 28 June

20:53 BST 28 June

By Tamara Kovacevic

Answering a question a little earlier about migrants arriving in small boats, Farage said: “We’ll pick them up in the Channel and take them back” to France.

However, it is not clear how the party would be able to do this under international law.

International maritime laws do allow a state to pick people up at sea if they are “in danger of being lost” but they do not allow them to be taken to another state without that country agreeing.

Ainhoa Campàs Velasco, a maritime law expert from the University of Southampton, told BBC Verify that migrants could not be returned to French shores “without prior agreement with France".

There is no such agreement between the UK and France.

The two countries agreed a joint action plan in 2019, external which does provide for cooperation, but it does not allow one country to bring people rescued in the English Channel to the other country's ports.

Farage also said in his answer that, if necessary, he would use the Royal Marines.

Farage says that the UK has gone from being the world's 7th biggest exporter to the 4th biggest.

Not in goods, Bruce points out, but in services.

Farage says there are two "massive disappointments" with Brexit, including that the UK did not "free up" small businesses and get rid of rules and regulations after Brexit.

• Reform UK pledges include some big tax cuts for small business, including introducing a corporation tax free allowance of £100,000 in profits.

Waseem Choudary asks: "You claim Brexit would help Britain prosper. Why hasn't it?"

Hannah Miller
Political correspondent

The first ten minutes of Nigel Farage’s appearance were taken up with questions about the views of his candidates.

Nigel Farage appeared to withdraw his support for one of them live on TV, saying he "wouldn’t want anything to do with them".

It is too late to stop candidates appearing on the ballot paper and voting has already begun, so the impact of this move may well be limited.

Farage has repeatedly claimed through this campaign that he "inherited" candidates, having taken over the leadership after the election was called.

Will voters accept that explanation? Or will they think Farage is ultimately responsible for the culture in the party he founded?

Image source, PA Media

An audience member asks Farage, if you had to seek asylum from a different country, how would you like to be treated?

He says we have always understood what a "genuine refugee" is, and claims that the vast majority of people crossing the English Channel "do not qualify as refugees". We'll get out colleagues from BBC Verify to look into this shortly.

Image source, Reuters

We have the Royal Marines, Farage begins - but Bruce injects, pushing him on how exactly he plans to return small boats crossing the Channel to France.

We need to leave a "meddling court in Strasbourg" - the European Court of Human Rights - "get back our own sovereignty" and say that anyone coming by this route will not get refugee status.

If that doesn't work, he says, we will "pick them up in the Channel".

• Reform UK's manifesto says it would “pick up illegal migrants out of boats and take them back to France”. It also says "zero illegal migrants" would be resettled in the UK and asylum seekers arriving illegally would be processed rapidly and "offshore" if necessary.

The next question comes from Dee Williams: "Your core pledge concerning illegal migration states that migrants in small boats could be returned to France. How will this be achieved?"