Avid Newscast listener? Well, you're in luck – we've got a new episode for you.

Listen as Laura Kuenssberg talks with Paddy O'Connell and Henry Zeffman about her interview with Rishi Sunak this morning, in which the prime ministers defended his party's record in power, insisting the country is a better place to live now than it was in 2010.

Labour's campaign chief Pat McFadden was also on the programme, and the hosts discuss why he appeared instead of party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Find the full episode here.

Our poll tracker measures how people say they intend to vote in the 4 July election.

The latest results show quite a lot of variation between the polls, but they all agree that Labour has a big lead over the Conservatives, according to senior political analyst Peter Barnes.

The polls have had quite a broad range of figures over the last few days, particularly for the Conservatives and Reform UK.

This is partly explained by how different polling companies deal with people who say they're undecided about how to vote - but there's certainly more variation than at the same stage of the last election campaign in 2019.

You can find our tracker and read more analysis here.

If you're just joining us this afternoon, let's bring you up to speed on what's been happening today.

• Rishi Sunak told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the country is in a better place now than it was when his party took power in 2010. Asked if he believed he will remain prime minister after the election, he replied "yes"

• He also defended taking donations from Frank Hester, a businessman who has apologised for racist comments about Diane Abbott
• Labour campaign chief Pat McFadden ruled out any return to freedom of movement in his party's pursuit of a new trade agreement with the European Union.
• He also said setting up a publicly-owned energy firm would save people money in the long-run after being pressed on how the policy would work
• Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told reporters in Cheltenham that he has expanded the potential seats his party could win, adding that he's “not taking anything for granted"
• Speaking about Reform UK candidates who were caught making inappropriate comments, Nigel Farage said his party has had a “few bad apples" but that they're "gone"

Just catching up? Here's a few of the latest images from today's campaign trail:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Ove the last few weeks, we've heard the UK's main political parties announce their campaign promises ahead of the 4 July election.

Unsure who to vote for? Fear not – we've made a handy guide summarising where parties stand on issues that matter to you, which you can find here.

Phil Mackie
Reporting from Reform UK event, in Birmingham

Reform UK said it had sold four and a half thousand tickets for today’s event and hundreds more paid on the door. Although they all had to walk past a small protest, most ignored the chanting.

This was a slickly staged event in a venue more used to hosting pop and rock stars than politicians, but nonetheless the Reform faithful were treated to a selection of the party’s greatest hits on subjects like immigration, net zero, the NHS and the culture wars.

There were loud boos for the other party leaders and the mainstream media, especially Channel 4 and the BBC. Cheers every time anyone used the phrase “common sense”.

The most rapturous applause was for the headline act. The thousands who’d paid to come wanted to hear from the party leader Nigel Farage. As the lights dimmed, thousands of camera phones were switched to record, and fireworks lit up the stage. He shrugged off the last week’s difficulties, once again blaming them on establishment forces.

With less than a week to go until polling, the purpose of today’s event was to keep the campaign’s momentum going. At the rally, the party faithful were certainly exhilarated, and it will hope the cheers at the NEC translate into votes on Thursday.

Image source, Reuters

Farage goes on to criticise media coverage of his campaign, including BBC News.

Last night, he said he would “boycott” appearing on the BBC after claiming the audience for his Question Time appearance was "rigged", which the BBC refuted.

Farage tells the hall he will campaign for the abolition of the BBC licence fee with "added vigour" after the election.

He then describes a recent Channel 4 documentary – which uncovered people on Farage's campaign making racist and other offensive remarks – as a "put up job" and "gross".

Farage has repeatedly claimed one of those filmed, Andrew Parker, was an actor. Channel 4 has categorically denied anyone was paid as part of the documentary.

Turning to Reform UK candidates who have been caught making inappropriate comments, Farage says: “Have we had a few bad apples?

"We have - but to my knowledge, no one involved in an organised betting ring is standing for us.”

He says those candidates are “gone” and “we’ll never have them back”.

Image source, Reuters

Nigel Farage has taken to the stage at Reform UK’s rally in Birmingham, describing the event as the “thinking man and woman’s alternative to Glastonbury”.

Discussing his U-turn on standing as a candidate earlier in the campaign - he had ruled it out but is now running in Clacton, Essex - Farage says his life in the four years since leaving frontline politics was "pretty good” and that he “earned more money than I have for 30 years”.

Farage tells supporters he couldn't “stand aside” when he saw what the two main parties were offering and decided to “come out of retirement”.

“Something is happening out there, something remarkable,” Farage goes on, saying he’s seen higher levels of support from young people for his politics than ever before.

Image source, PA Media

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has pledged to give patients the legal right to see a GP within a week and start cancer treatment within two months under its proposal for a new patients’ charter.

The party is also proposing a new legal right to a second medical opinion across the NHS, and also free dental check-ups for children, pregnant women, new mothers, and those on low-incomes.

"There has never been a worse time to be a patient, with health services overstretched and NHS targets routinely missed,” Davey says.

The Lib Dem leader says his party has put health and care "at the heart of our fair deal for the country".

Image source, Reuters

Reform UK is holding a large rally at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, which Nigel Farage says 5,000 people are attending.

The party’s chief executive, Paul Oakden, opened it by telling supporters his aim is “to make Britain great again".

The party's crime spokesperson Ann Widdecombe, a former Tory MP, said the party “will bring back common sense” and “get rid of woke” as she set out the party’s policy plans on tax, education and immigration.

Nigel Farage is due to speak soon - we'll be listening to his speech.

Is Labour still on track for a landslide victory?

Here's Prof Sir John Curtice with his analysis of the latest polls and whether there has been any significant change.

Tom Symonds
BBC correspondent reporting from Liberal Democrat campaign bus

The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has “expanded” the party’s list of potentially winnable seats, claiming growing numbers of Labour voters are backing his party against the Conservatives.

He told reporters the Lib Dems could take seats in the Cotswolds, Dorset, and Devon, some of which have Conservative majorities greater than 15,000.

The Lib Dems currently have 15 seats, and party officials believe they could win more than 30 and possibly as many as 50.

“The voters across the whole of the West Country look like they’re turning to us to beat the Conservatives,” Sir Ed said.

But he added that the party is “not taking anything for granted".

The Lib Dem leader listed 12 seats he has become hopeful of winning since the campaign started:

St Ives, Cornwall North, Devon North, Devon South, Torbay, Yeovil, Taunton and Wellington, Wells and Mendip Hills, Dorset West, Dorset Mid and Poole North, Cotswolds South, and Cotswolds North

This morning, he visited Sandford Parks Lido in Cheltenham, plunging down a waterslide into the pool to join Lib Dem activists for a bracing aqua-aerobics session..

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

Nigel Farage has dismissed as “cobblers” allegations that Russian bots are interfering in the general election campaign.

The Reform UK leader was responding to an investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Company, external (ABC) which said it had identified five Facebook pages with a combined 190,000 followers promoting a Kremlin perspective and sometimes posting support for Farage’s party.

The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, who is responsible for national security, said the revelations were “gravely concerning” in comments first reported by the Sunday Times.

The Conservative chair Richard Holden has written to the Cabinet Secretary asking for details of any investigations the Cabinet Office is pursuing.

Asked about the ABC investigation on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Farage responded: "Oh, don't talk cobblers."

He added: "This is the Russia hoax” and asked why Dowden wasn’t questioned about donations to the Conservatives from Russian sources.

Missed this morning's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg? Here are the key moments:

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended his party's record in power, insisting the country is a better place to live now than it was in 2010. He accused some commentators of talking "declinist nonsense" about the UK's economy and standing in the world and said he continues to believe Brexit was the right decision for the country. Sunak was also asked if he believed he would remain prime minister after the election, to which he replies "yes"
• Earlier this week Sunak criticised Nigel Farage after a Reform UK canvasser made racist remarks about him - but today he defended taking millions of pounds in donations from Frank Hester, a businessman who has apologised for racist comments about Diane Abbott
• Labour campaign coordinator Pat McFadden, who has been described as one of Sir Keir Starmer's inner circle, ruled out any return to freedom of movement in the party's pursuit of a new trade agreement with the European Union
• He was also pressed on the substance of Labour's plans for a publicly owned energy company - insisting it would save people money in the long-run by investing in the green transition
• Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper refused to give an "artificial" number on what she felt would be an acceptable level of immigration, having previously suggested net migration was too high. She instead said the Lib Dems had a domestic workforce plan aimed at reducing the number of migrants needed to fill roles such as in caring and the NHS
• Finally, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn accused the two main parties of a "conspiracy of silence" on the public finances - but was pushed over independent analysis of his own party's plans, particularly on independence, which suggests they could lead to much higher borrowing. He said an independent Scotland would be free to invest in its economy, in particular in the transition to green energy

Earlier on the show, Laura challenged Labour's Pat McFadden on his party's claim that its planned green energy firm, GB Energy, would result in a £300 annual saving on people's energy bills.

Here's what he had to say:

The show wraps up with some thoughts from the panel.

First Harriet Harman is asked how she feels about the upcoming election, given her party has a commanding lead in the polls.

She says she can feel "hope" among the public but is still nervous.

Harman stresses that Labour shouldn't be too confident and that she is relieved at the prospect of being able to celebrate if her party does win because she is not a candidate.

Gesturing to Lewis, who is also standing down at this election, Harman says: "Unlike Joe Biden, we know when to go."

Lewis says the final days of a campaign are tough on candidates and that it is "heart in mouth" every hour, but that there is "nothing quite like" results evening, calling it exhilarating.

Fearnley-Whittingstall says he's "excited" at the prospect of a change in government, but that after the election his focus will be on "making sure it does the right things" on the environment and farming.

And that's it.

Stay with us for a recap of the main news lines from the show, analysis, video and other updates.

Laura asks Flynn a question she has asked every politician this morning - can you tell us about a mistake you made?

Flynn says he doesn't believe he spent enough time with the Tartan Army (Scotland team) in the football Euros. They should have carted him off to Germany for the duration, he says.

Laura points to further analysis from the influential IFS think tank on the SNP itself, saying the party is skirting around the issue of one of its key focusses: Independence.

Its analysis suggests if the SNP achieves its goal of independence, high levels of public borrowing and either significant tax rises or cuts to public services in Scotland would be necessary.

Flynn responds, saying that if Scotland were independent, it would be able to invest in its own economy and in the transition to net zero, for example.

He adds that the SNP stands apart because it wants to be a part of the European single market, and that it is supportive of immigration.

Now we're hearing from the SNP's leader in Westminster Stephen Flynn.

The interview begins with him being asked about the party's strategy to criticise both Labour and the Tories on their spending plans.

It's put to him that the economics think tank the IFS has also said the SNP plans would require extra tax or spending.

He accuses the main parties of a "conspiracy of silence" on public finances, and calls for more spending on vital services.