Image source, Reuters

With just seven days to go before people can cast their vote in the general election, it's been a typically eventful day of campaigning.

That all seems to have wound down for the night now, which is a sure sign it's time for us to head off.

Want more? There's still plenty to keep you going from across the BBC:

• Listen to the latest episode of Electioncast for a look back at the defining moments from the campaign here
• Subscribe to our Election Essentials newsletter for key analysis every weekday here
• Stream the latest news on the election on iPlayer here
• Check out the latest trends on the country's voting intention in our poll tracker here
• Get involved by telling us which issues matter to you, what you want us to explain, and where you want us to report from here

Otherwise, thanks for joining us. We'll be back for more from the campaign trail tomorrow.

We'll be wrapping our general election coverage up for the evening soon.

But for any late joiners in need of a catch up, here's a look back at what happened on the campaign trail today:

• Reform UK campaigners in Clacton, where party leader Nigel Farage is standing as a candidate, have been filmed by an undercover Channel 4 team making racist, homophobic and Islamophobic comments

• Farage said he was "dismayed" by the comments, and Reform UK said those who made them will no longer be part of his campaign
• One Reform canvasser used a racial slur to refer to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

• Earlier on, the Metropolitan police said seven officers are being investigated over alleged bets made on the election

• Rishi Sunak said it wouldn't be right for him to say more while inquiries were ongoing - and also refused to say whether he had told a parliamentary aide about the election date, before Craig Williams placed a bet on it
• Meanwhile, Keir Starmer told reporters that a victory for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party in the upcoming French election would not stop Labour working with France on small boats crossings
• And Lib Dem leader Ed Davey defended the party's policy of banning cigarettes but legalising the sale of cannabis

Education is back on the agenda for the Conservatives tonight.

The party has once again attacked Labour's VAT plans for private schools, saying it could push some pupils into the state sector.

They've also been promoting their own plans for education from their manifesto, including their ongoing expansion of funded childcare and banning mobile phones during school.

They also point to the Advanced British Standard, a new post-16 qualification which they say will combine academic and vocational elements, and say they will also do away with "rip off" university courses.

The Conservatives say they have been driving up standards in things like reading and maths while they've been in government, and that they have improved teachers' starting salaries too.

Labour, meanwhile, have pledged to introduce free breakfast clubs and also shift the curriculum towards more creative subjects and sport.

While the Northern Ireland political leaders' final TV debate was of course about the general election, many devolved matters took centre stage.

Politicians clashed over health, trust, how Northern Ireland is funded within the union, and the Middle East conflict.

The political leaders also debated the collapse of the devolved government at Stormont, institutional reform and the policy of abstentionism.

Two leaders were notably absent. The UUP and Sinn Fein were represented by other senior members of their parties.

The general election campaign in Northern Ireland has been described as lacklustre so far.

With just one week left to go before voters go to the polls, tonight’s debate will do little to change that.

A 20% jump in the number of postal votes for next week's general election is causing headaches for election teams, the organisation in charge of the system has warned.

The Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) say they expect postal votes to top 10m at this general election - up from 8.2m in 2019

More than 1.3m applications for postal votes were made just between 22 May and 19 June, which is more than the total figure of 937,000 at the 1997 election.

"Election teams are doing their very best to run this snap election, but with a short timetable - plus print and delivery suppliers working at capacity - demand is overloading the system," the AEA says.

Printing postal votes is a "complicated process", the AEA says, with security checks and the need to match the correct ballot paper, personalised envelopes and instruction sheets.

Voters can apply for postal votes up to 11 days before an election, but the association say if this increased to 16 days, there would be more time to organise the ballot packs and for voters to send them back.

Image source, .

There's just one week left until the end of the 2024 general election campaign.

On today's Electioncast episode, host Adam Fleming is joined by Lucy Fisher of the Financial Times, John Stevens of the Mirror and Ben Riley-Smith of the Telegraph to look back on the defining moments of the campaign so far.

Adam also catches up with political editor Chris Mason, who has been on the road with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

• Find the latest episode of Electioncast on BBC Sounds.

Image source, PA Media

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that his party is not "perfect" after undercover filming by Channel 4 News.

"They're not part of the mainstream political Oxbridge speak, we understand that. In some cases one or two people let us down and we let them go," Farage says of the campaigners at an event in Lincolnshire.

Chairman Richard Tice, who is alongside Farage at the Hubberts Bridge Community Centre in Boston, where he is standing for election, says the comments were "inappropriate".

"The reality is that we're a fast-growing movement, and when you've got unpaid volunteers, some people behave inappropriately. And they're gone," Tice adds.

• A full list of candidates standing in Boston and Skegness can be found here

We can bring you more now on our headline story, that Reform UK campaigners were filmed by an undercover Channel 4 team making racist, homophobic and Islamophobic comments.

Earlier, we bought you a statement from party leader Nigel Farage responding to the footage.

Peter Harris, Reform UK's campaign manager in Clacton, has now also commented, saying he is "appalled by these reported comments".

"All parties in such a short campaign are having to deal with the challenges of working with many activists they may not have met before," Harris adds.

"Any individuals who have been identified as making unacceptable comments and holding those views are not welcome in our campaign. We are running a campaign to represent all voters in Clacton."

• For a full list of candidates standing in Clacton, click here

• Warning: This post contains offensive language

The footage broadcast by Channel 4 shows a man identified as Reform UK canvasser Andrew Parker using a racial slur to refer to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent.

Parker is also heard describing Islam as "the most disgusting cult out" and suggesting army recruits should carry out “target practice" by shooting at small boats bringing illegal migrants to the UK.

At one point Parker tells voters Reform were "kicking all the Muslims out of the mosques and turning them into Wetherspoons".

During campaigning, he advises the undercover reporter to use the term "illegal" when discussing immigration, especially when addressing non-white households.

Ahead of the publication of the footage, Parker made a statement to Channel 4 claiming "neither Nigel Farage personally or the Reform Party are aware of my personal views on immigration".

Parker said: “I have never discussed immigration with either Nigel Farage or the Reform Party and that any comments made by me during those recordings are my own personal views on any subject I commented on.

“I would therefore like to apologise profusely to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party if my personal views have reflected badly on them and brought them into disrepute as this was not my intention."

• Read our full report on this story here.

Under the lights and behind the lecterns, five leading politicians are taking part in the last big TV event of this campaign in Northern Ireland.

They are vying for votes across 18 constituencies, where around 1.4m people are eligible to vote.

Although this is an election to the UK Parliament, voters in this part of the UK will take into account what the parties are doing in the devolved assembly in Belfast.

Four out of the five parties represented in tonight’s debate are in the power-sharing coalition at Stormont - Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Alliance Party, and the Ulster Unionist Party. The nationalist SDLP leads the opposition.

Unusually, two party leaders are standing against each other in this election.

In Belfast East, the DUP’s Gavin Robinson is defending his seat against Naomi Long, of the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither unionist nor nationalist.

We may get a sense of this pivotal election battleground as both take part in the debate tonight.

The issues which could feature include the constitutional future of Northern Ireland, and funding for public services.

While the likes of healthcare and education are largely run from Stormont – the total budget allocated to the devolved government is decided in London.

• Our colleagues in Northern Ireland will be covering the blow-by-blow from the debate from 21:00 BST here
• A full list of candidates standing in Belfast East is also available here

With exactly one week to go until polling day, the leaders of the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems have coincidentally decided now is the right time to showcase their artistic talents through the medium of clay.

Sunak has been at a pottery factory in Derbyshire, Ed Davey has been painting bees in Somerset and Starmer has taken a visit to a ceramics business in Stoke-on-Trent.

It's all smiles with just seven days to go - and no crisp white shirts appear to have been damaged in the making of these campaign photos.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Later this evening, the leaders of Northern Ireland's five largest political parties will face off in the second TV debate of the general election campaign. Here's what you need to know.

The basics:

• The debate begins at 21:00 BST
• It will be broadcast on BBC One Northern Ireland, BBC iPlayer and the News Channel, and will also be streamed - with text updates and analysis - on the BBC News NI website

Who is participating?

• Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson
• Sinn Féin's Chris Hazzard
• Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood
• Alliance leader Naomi Long
• Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader Robbie Butler

What's the format?

• The debate will be hosted by BBC journalist Tara Mills, and the politicians will face questions from a studio audience
• Each representative will have the chance to respond to questions from the audience and to set out their position on key issues

Image source, PA Media

Reform UK have condemned campaigners for the party who were recorded making racist, homophobic and Islamophobic comments while campaigning to elect Nigel Farage as MP.

Undercover filming by Channel 4 News within the Reform UK campaign in Clacton, where Farage is standing for office, also uncovered an apparent admission the party has breached the local electoral campaign spending limit in the seat.

Alongside canvassers, the report also revealed comments by several of Farage's senior aides.

Reform UK said those making "unacceptable comments" will no longer be part of Farage's campaign.

Responding to the footage Farage said: "I am dismayed by the reported comments of a handful of people associated with my local campaign, particularly those who are volunteers.

"The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform UK policy. Some of the language used was reprehensible."

• For a full list of candidates standing in Clacton, click here

Summer came to meet me this afternoon in Blackpool. Not just the season - although it is glorious - but 20-year-old Summer Lyles.

Like a lot of young voters we've been speaking to for Newsbeat's Race Across the UK, Summer's not sure who she'll vote for next week or if she'll even bother.

"Not a lot of young people watch the news," she says. "I am one of them."

Summer's clocking in for work at a nearby arcade and says there's a lot of job opportunities for seasonal work - but when it comes to a career it's a lot harder.

"The only long-term jobs I can think of in Blackpool are waitressing or retail," she says. "Not really a career."

She'd like an incoming government to focus on making more opportunities for young people in the north.

"The north is not as well looked after as down south," she says.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, meanwhile, has been bouncing around the campaign trail once again - from painting pottery in Manchester, enjoying the water on an inflatable surface in Surrey, to feeding alpacas in Shropshire.

Speaking to our correspondent Jenny Hill - while petting a new fluffy friend named Pele - Davey says that they have put health and care on top of their plans for this election, and hopes more and more people flock to vote for them.

"I know they say be careful working with animals but these are fantastic aren't they?" he says from the alpaca pen.

"It's a lot easier than falling off a paddleboard in Lake Windermere."

Image source, PA Media

Meanwhile in Leeds, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is also still up and running.

He doubles down on his earlier message of one week to "save Britain from a Labour government".

He repeats that he is "not blind to the frustrations that people have with me, with our party", but says that this election is "not a referendum on me, on the Conservative Party".

Instead, he says: "This is a choice about the future of our country and a choice with profound consequences for you, your families and our nation."

He says Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has "changed his mind on almost every position that he's taken", and urges voters to think what a Labour government could mean for the country.

Image source, Reuters

Many Britons will be enjoying their evening meal, or relaxing on the sofa - but with one week to go before the election, our political party leaders are not slowing down.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has just given a speech in Bollington, Cheshire, in which he reemphasised his core messages.

He says there's a "decade of national renewal on the horizon" and speaks of Labour's "proud manifesto" for wealth creation.

Looking ahead to polling day, he warns against complacency. "Every vote has to be earned," he says. "Polls do not predict the future."

He says the choice at the ballot box is either a "brighter future" and change under Labour, or "five more years of this" under the Tories.

Image source, Getty Images

When Scotland declared its independence from England, the words came from the heart.

"It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Seven centuries have passed since the Declaration of Arbroath quoted above, , externaland Scottish nationalism now strikes a rather different tone.

"We are a moderate left-of-centre party in the mainstream of Scottish public opinion," said the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, John Swinney, as he unveiled his party's manifesto for the general election last week.

Independence, he said, can deliver "a stronger economy and happier, healthier lives".

You can read my full piece here.

Image source, Getty Images

SNP leader John Swinney says he is "giving it my all" during the election campaign.

Speaking to reporters in Edinburgh, Scotland's first minister also claims the election is over in England and that Labour will "wipe the floor with the Conservatives", but says there's still a contest between his SNP and Labour.

"I'm giving all I've got to this election campaign and I'm giving everything I've got to being First Minister of Scotland," Swinney says.

Image source, EPA

Sticking with advertising, Labour is spending more than the Conservatives and reaching more people per pound, according to an analysis of campaign spending over the election.

Research by Who Targets Me, external found that the Tories pay £9 per thousand impressions for their Meta ads – while Labour pays £4.94 per thousand.

This cost difference is due to the Conservatives using a more expensive method, targeting users who match specific voter profiles – sometimes known as micro-targeting.

Labour, by contrast, are targeting specific geographic locations which allows them to spend less per impression.

The analysis also found Tory ads focus heavily on negative messaging, with many ads attacking Labour rather than promoting Tory policies.

Since 22 May, the Conservatives have run 1,686 ads on Meta - which owns Facebook and Instagram - with only seven (0.4%) mentioning Tory policies, according to Who Targets Me.

Labour's ads emphasise a message of "Change” – with only 1.6% mentioning Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.