Political leaders have faced challenging audience questions in a BBC Question Time Leaders' Special hosted by Fiona Bruce
Rishi Sunak was grilled on NHS waiting lists, Brexit and asked if he feels any “embarrassment” to be leader of the Conservative Party, given how many changes of leader it has had in the last few years
Labour leader Keir Starmer was asked about housing costs, his plans for the NHS and challenged on why he backed Jeremy Corbyn's election manifesto in 2019
SNP leader John Swinney was pressed over independence and the recent scandals in his party, admitting it's been a "turbulent time"
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was asked about his campaigning antics, the party's spending plans and trust issues after the "broken promise" on tuition fees when in coalition government
The next question comes from Lella Violet Halloum, who says in 2010 the Lib Dems promised to abolish tuition fees but now students like her are burdened with hundreds of thousands of pounds of student debt.
"How can my generation trust you?" she asks.
A man in the audience asks Davey if the manifesto is unrealistic because the Liberal Democrats "won't be voted into power".
Davey says the "election is not over" and his party has "great ideas".
But Bruce tries to clarify if Davey thinks he can be prime minister.
Davey says it would be challenging given the polls but he does not want to put a "ceiling on our ambition".
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Notice that Ed Davey is stressing that his goal at this election is to “defeat as many Conservative MPs as possible.”
It’s subtle, but this is a huge shift in policy for the Liberal Democrats.
They used to fight against both the Conservatives and Labour in different parts of the country.
Under Davey’s leadership they have recast themselves as an explicitly anti-Conservative party.
A man in the audience asks a question about poverty, saying someone broke into his church who wanted to feed his children. He asks Davey if he can raise the tax threshold for the lowest paid.
The Lib Dem leader says there aren't the resources to do that now. But he says there is a way to tackle child poverty, saying that the two-child benefit limit is "just wrong" and has to go.
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
It’s striking that nine years after the end of the coalition government Sir Ed Davey is still receiving hostile questions about the Liberal Democrats’ decision to enter government with the Conservatives.
Several of Davey’s most prominent colleagues these days were not in politics back then, for example his deputy Daisy Cooper.
But that doesn’t apply to Davey - he was a minister throughout the coalition government, including spending more than three years in the cabinet as energy secretary.
Responding, Davey says he thinks politicians shouldn't take themselves too seriously, "that's part of the problem".
He admits that while falling off a paddleboard in Lake Windermere was "to grab attention", the actual message was about sewage and water pollution.
"I will end the sewage scandal," he says.
Davey talks about 'horse play' on the campaign trail
The second question comes from Linda Hancox.
She asks: "Britain desperately needs a leader who we can respect and trust.
"Your media profile has mainly consisted of horseplay on TV. Is this prime ministerial?
A questioner puts it to Davey that his party has a credibility issue after a "broken promise" on tuition fees, saying they enabled the Conservatives' austerity.
Davey says it was difficult being in government with the Conservatives and they couldn't get everything they wanted. He says the easy choice would have been to leave the government, but he took the "hard choice" to stay and roll his sleeves up and "and really fight".
He adds he isn't proud of every vote in government.
By Ben Chu, BBC Verify Policy & Analysis correspondent
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was asked about the scale of his party’s spending plans.
“The Liberal Democrats are planning to spend five times as much as the Labour Party in extra spending. Aren’t you going to bankrupt the country?”
The Lib Dem manifesto pledges an increase in government day-to-day spending of £27bn per year by 2028-29. That’s roughly five times Labour’s £5bn a year pledge.
Both parties claim they would offset this extra spending with extra taxation so it wouldn’t add to borrowing. But both parties also say they would allow more borrowing for investment spending.
Labour says they would borrow £1.2bn extra a year for this purpose, while the Lib Dems would borrow around £20bn a year.
While both parties say they have a target for the national debt to fall as a share of national income, Labour have said this will happen by the end of the parliament. The Lib Dems have not given a timeframe and their borrowing plans would make this difficult to achieve over the next five years.
Image source, .Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Sir Ed Davey has spent most of the campaign engaging in jovial stunts or talking movingly about his personal experiences of caring for his disabled son and, during his childhood, his dying mother.
The Liberal Democrats have sought to put the issue of care and carers at the heart of the campaign.
But he has spent the first portion of this event being grilled by the audience on his tax and spending plans.
It’s a reminder that during Question Time the audience is in control - the leaders have to talk about whatever they demand.
Bruce goes back to Alison who asked the question - she says "who knows how much we can afford" and "it's not a bottomless pit".
Davey reiterates that his party is responsible, but says other parties aren't putting the money in.
Bruce interjects, saying to Davey there are a number of areas where the Lib Dems are planning spending where she could not see the costings.
She mentions the Waspi women who lost out on pensions, and courts.
Davey says he plans to clamp down on tax evasion. He says all parties say that, but the Lib Dems are planning to invest £1bn to increase the number of tax inspectors. He says for every pound spent on this would get £18 back.
No, Davey replies, adding that the Lib Dems have put forward a costed manifesto.
He says his party has shown how it will pay for everything, including getting large corporates and oil and gas giants to pay more.
The first question to Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is from Alison Rogan.
She says: “The Liberal Democrats are planning to spend five times as much as the Labour Party in increased spending. Aren’t you going to bankrupt the country?”
Our host, Fiona Bruce, welcomes the audience, and introduces the first leader to face questions - the Liberal Democrats' Sir Ed Davey.
He has half an hour to make his case. We're about to get our first question...
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Two weeks to go until polling day. Two hours of high-octane, high-stakes political television about to begin.
First up, Sir Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats. Then John Swinney of the SNP, then Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservative Party’s Rishi Sunak will each spend half an hour responding to questions from members of the public, questions which they haven’t seen in advance.
When Sunak steps offstage at the end of the event, it will be almost exactly two weeks until the election exit poll is published by the BBC — the first sense he and the other leaders will get of how the public have voted.
Today is one of the last set-piece moments in this campaign where these four leaders will have a chance to shape what that exit poll says. It’s going to be fascinating.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Image source, PA MediaFiona Bruce is presenting tonight's show
Live performance, an audience in good voice and plenty at stake.
Not the Euros, but the next thing on BBC One tonight - the first Question Time Leaders’ Special from here in York at 8pm.
Featuring, in this order: the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, John Swinney, the leader of the Scottish National Party, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.
Half an hour each, taking questions from the audience in front of them.
Then, on Monday evening on BBC One Wales there’ll be another Question Time special featuring Plaid Cymru.
And a week on Friday there is a third programme featuring Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and Adrian Ramsay, the co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.
Tonight, you can follow the best bits here on the BBC News Live Page, the stand out moments on the BBC News at Ten, or sit back and watch the entire thing on BBC One and iPlayer.
Emily Atkinson
Live reporter
With just minutes to go until tonight's Question Time special starts, here's how you can follow along:
As always, we'll bring you live text updates right here.
Our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman will be giving live analysis - and digging into the details is our BBC Verify team.
You can also watch along live, by tapping the ‘Watch Live’ button above.
And for those of you who can’t watch along, you can catch up later with clips capturing all the unmissable moments.
Gerry Gay
Editor of Question Time
The questions for tonight’s Question Time special were chosen just as they would for any other episode of the show.
Each audience member submits questions both in advance, and on the night, on arrival.
The editorial team will then judge which series of questions to take for each leader.
This will depend on a number of things, such as the sheer number of questions on a particular topic or issue, or whether a question deals with an area of important public interest within the context of the election.
Of course, once we go live, any audience member can also just raise their hand and put a question or point to a party leader "on the hoof".
It's two weeks until polling day - and tonight, four party leaders face two hours of high-stakes questioning.
Our BBC chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman has been on set of the BBC Question Time election special - take a look:
Henry Zeffman shows off the Question Time set